How to Kill Mushrooms With Vinegar

Mushrooms may taste good in dishes or look cute as a ceramic decoration, but some homeowners tend to get frustrated when pesky mushrooms pop up on their lawn. Although most mushrooms won’t harm your yard and can actually benefit your lawn’s health, you can kill mushrooms with vinegar if you aren’t a fan of them.

The next time you’re going through a rainy season and mushrooms start popping up in your yard, don’t rush to the store to pick up a fungicide. You can grab vinegar right from your cabinet and get rid of the mushrooms.

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Types of Mushrooms in Yards

Different types of mushrooms can show up in your yard, with some being totally harmless and others being toxic. Three types of mushrooms you might find in your yard are horse mushrooms (Agaricus arvensis), meadow mushrooms (Agaricus campestris) and death angel mushrooms (Amanita virosa). Horse mushrooms have white caps that look a little bit yellow, and they’re not toxic.

Meadow mushroom caps are also white, but the gill (the inner side of the cap) is dark brown. Just like horse mushrooms, they’re not toxic. Death angel mushrooms have caps and gills that are both white, and they are toxic.

What Causes Mushrooms to Grow?

Mushrooms appear in a yard for a variety of reasons. Lawn mushrooms are types of fungi, so they thrive in moist conditions. You’ll notice mushrooms growing in your yard if you’re experiencing a lot of rain, if you’re watering your yard more than usual or if they’re breaking down decaying matter, such as animal excrement and grass clippings.

Effects of Mushrooms on Grass

Most mushrooms won’t damage your lawn, so if you’re not super worried about the way they look in your yard, you can just let them be. Although most mushrooms won’t damage your yard, you want to ensure that your soil isn’t always soggy because soggy grass can cause turf disease. Mushrooms can help, though, because if your yard has a lot of dead plant matter or debris, mushrooms will help break down those materials and add extra nutrients to your lawn.

Controlling Mushroom Growth

If you don’t want mushrooms in your yard, the best course of action is prevention. Since mushrooms like to grow in damp and dark environments, you want to make sure that your yard is getting a lot of sunlight. If your area is experiencing a lot of rain, make sure that you have a good drainage system set up so your yard isn’t developing a lot of moisture. Also, make sure there aren’t piles of dead or decaying plant debris in your yard.

Killing Mushrooms With Vinegar

If you want to get rid of mushrooms, the easiest way to remove them is by picking them with your hands. Make sure that you remove the entire mushroom by the root and always wear gardening gloves. Although you can use a ready-made fungicide to kill off mushrooms in your yard, you can also create your own fungicide by combining vinegar and water.

Vinegar has an active ingredient called acetic acid, and acetic acid does an amazing job of killing garden mushrooms. All you have to do is mix 1 part white vinegar with 4 parts water in a spray bottle. When spraying the homemade fungicide, make sure that you’re only spraying it on the mushrooms because vinegar can kill plants and grass.