Many people are making claims that it is easy to grow morel mushrooms on the farm. This is one mixture circulating around on social media. True or not true? We have never had an easy time growing morels where we want.
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I’m skeptical myself… i grew up in an area people would go looking for morels in the springs and where plenty of folks grew their own food… never have heard of anyone growing their own morels where they wanted though… always thought they were extremely finicky about where they grew.
Would be curious to hear about any different experiences though.
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I grew up where people would go hunting for them in the woods. I’ve never heard of a way to grow them. I’ve heard that they like to grow near certain trees and stuff. But as far as being able to farm them, I think if it was easy and possible. There would be a boom of diy mushroom kits for them. They are probably the best mushroom I’ve ever eaten before.
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When reading up on growing mushrooms before, the harder types to grow you need controll over co2 levels(controlled through the ventilation), humidity, and temperature to provoke the mycelium to spawn. I would think if you don’t have the elaborate setup the only easy way to grow morels is to try getting them established around a tree you just cut down.
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If this is suggest for growing cultivated morels, then no, morels are mycorrhizal with trees. There was successful cultivation of one strain of morels in Japan without trees, but from what I understand the strain was unusual and the protocol complex. If you used the directions you posted with the right morels and under the right trees (eh-hum, apples) you could have luck. I question the salt bit, though. I always throw my wild mushroom trimmings and already occupied mushrooms (mushroom maggots) under the right trees on my property. No luck yet. Side note: the burnt wood chips is for West Coast where you get post-fire fruiting. Not as common on the east coast. Also, I think you’d be a lot more successful with fresh morels, but I’d rather eat them.
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One place where morel cultivation is successful is China. You can find lots of information about it by Googling “morel mushroom cultivation in china”. They use a particular species of morel that is saprobic and usually found in landscape mulch. The morels normally found in the woods are associated with various trees or bushes and would be very difficult to cultivate.
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I have tried collecting wild morels… and washing them… and collecting the wash water… then going out to the woods in a location known to grow morels… and pouring that wash water (which should have spores in it) out around some host trees.
Others had reported success with that… I did not have any luck.
TNHunter
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I had that exact same luck. Every year i dump morel wash water outside never growing mushrooms. For those who dont know the reason we both wash our morels and even soak them overnight with a little salt added is because they attract bugs and animals as well as us. One year, i had compost piles catch fire in an old field i dirt farmed 15 years ago. The field had cedars in the fence row because the neighbor lady likes them. In with the cedars grew a few elms i sawed down. In the middle of that field, one year, i was mowing and hit a morel. I got off the mower and found a dozen more all buried just under the layer of dried grass in a 40-foot area. The point is they do indeed like elm, cedar, burned wood ashes, water. Can we duplicate that exactly and farm raise them is the real question.
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They seem to do well in burned out cottonwoods around here.
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They seem to like bark / wood chip mulch.
I know for a fact that their mycelium live in the soil on my property, because a few popped up after I cut down some fir trees. But they haven’t fruited outside those conditions and I’m not going to cut down trees just to get morels.
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Is this a morel?
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Yes, 100%! Or at least everything in those photos. If you want to eat them, you should also learn false morels and make sure none of the ones you pick are those, since they often grow in the same areas.
Or post a photo of all the ones you pick and I’ll tell ya 
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I’ve been reading since i found these. Honestly or was such a surprise cause i was picking weeds right before i saw them.
I stuck the 3 that i picked into a cup with water. Will water that same area later and eat it tonight
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I have done the same with no good results.
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Has anyone tried washing morels in well or spring water? When I brewed beer I couldn’t get yeast to fire up using tap water but never had a problem with spring water from walmart or well water. Just a thought…
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we have two massive old ponderosa at the house. on the north side of the house by the corner where one tree is, I made an experimental morel bed.
I got morel spawn from northspore to try it out and put it all in last fall.
burnt pine charcoal and ash from a bonfire. pine straw, bark and fallen branches from our trees. all mixed with the spawn. I put a piece of burlap on top. then more layers of the pine straw, bark and spawn. covered it all with wood chip and pine straw pretty deep. it’s by our rain barrels where the overflow goes all winter and spring.
I pulled back the burlap this past week and it’s all mycelium under there. hoping it’s the morel! we have some time in their season still here so I’ll update if any come up.
I think I have a chance because they do grow round here and we have the two big old trees and their droppings for the mushrooms to eat.
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Morels grow on both sides of my driveway beneath cedars, a sycamore, and an elm tree.
This year I dug up some wild mulberry seedlings from the area and noticed a lot more morels growing where I had disturbed the soil. Then I read that disturbing soil can stimulate model growth.
Here’s a great resource: Ecology and management of morels harvested from the forests of western North America. | US Forest Service Research and Development
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