TOPIC: Morels

Interesting Tran.
So do your blacks pop up at the transition line from the nutrient rich soil blend right next to a low nutrient rich soil blend.
Kind of like \"Barrier\" hunting for morels when the mic run hits a rock, rusty fence line, rusty trash pile, edge of woods and corn field etc?
Thanks,
Latt

PS,
How did u seed your blacks. Spores, plugs, salt free rinse water with spores in it??

I hunted last Sunday and again this Saturday... and found ZIP, NADA, not one single Morel.

Our Dogwoods are in full bloom now, and redbud blooms are almost gone.... But we have not had any real good soaking rains followed by warmer weather.

Had a lot of cool spells instead after rains... which I am wondering if that is why ours have not shown up yet.

I will keep looking... and hoping to find a few soon.

On the subject of growing them... I found this with a google search.. Looks like this place in Michigan has been growing them successfully for a while.

www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/4859362

Below are some details on how it is done. Don't think the average guy is going to be able to do all of that. Seems to be a lot of science and controls that have to be in place for success.

TNhunter

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How to turn cells into morels
At Diversified Natural Products Inc. in Scottville, growing morels requires many steps, perfect conditions and advanced scientific techniques.


The process starts with a substrate, or growing medium, made of leaf and bark composts, plus a second medium of steamed wheat mixed with sugar and yeast. The wheat is the food for the morel's first stage of growth.


Each day, 600 one-gallon starter bags of substrate are prepared by hand, with a layer of wheat on the bottom and compost on top. The bags are wheeled into a walk-in steel chamber, where they're sterilized to kill organisms that might hinder the growth process.


After cooling, the compost is sprinkled with wheat grains covered in morel inoculate -- the microscopic cells that start the growing process.


The inoculate is continuously produced in DNP's high-tech lab, which features HEPA filters, biohazard hoods to kill contaminants, and a cryo-freezer where the company's proprietary stock cultures are held at minus-80 degrees Celsius.


After being inoculated, the bags of compost and wheat are set in a climate-controlled room.


There, over the next five to six weeks, the inoculate will grow white, weblike strands that reach down through the dark compost and into the nutrient-rich wheat at the bottom of the bag. At the end of this stage, the web-filled compost will have solidified into a black, rock-like mass called a sclerotia.


The sclerotia is broken into chunks and planted in trays of soil. Over the next six weeks, the trays are moved through a series of rooms with varying levels of heat, light and humidity.


Ten to 12 weeks after being started, a new crop of brown, elongated, crinkly-capped morels is ready for harvest.


DNP's other strains of mushrooms are less labor intensive, because they grow in the bags in which they're first planted, but like the morels, all require individual handling and carefully controlled growing conditions.

Latt, yes the mass fruiting of blacks will be right at that high to low nutrient line. If you look at that pic you can kind of see that effect. I do a tissue culture from a fresh morel picked right at the stem, cap area. I grow it out on agar with about 6 transfers away from contams. Once I have a pure mono culture I transfer to bulk grass seed spawn run. Once spawn run is done I set up my bed. Once you have a mother bed set up you just take dirt from one to new one. The high nutrient soil is the same soil results you would want ginseng to grow. The low nutrient is a line of gravel to stop the mycelium run in that soil that's where you get the most fruiting. Growing morels is what got me into growing ginseng because of that High nutrient soil (PH range and mineral PPM). If you search around the web you can find a 3lb bag of black morel spawn for about $40. Paul Stamets would be my choice for spawn if I didn't make my own. Best of luck with your morel journey.

TNhunter yes for the average person this way is not the way to go. I have gowen morels in a controlled environment with mixed results. It just comes down to the money and time spent doing the process it is just not worth it $ wise. But the average person can have great results with the outside morel patch beds. Those folks in Mich. bought a growing morel patent from the family of Owner (not sure if that's the correct name). If you read the patent you will never grow a morel following the process. Just a lot of misleading info but by the end of the day it just isn't worth the money to grow morels in a indoor controlled environment all year long IMOA.

Trahn,

Do you have any experience with mushroom slurries? Our wild morels are starting to get going right now and wanted to make sure I was doing it right before I miss out on it for the year. I've just been blending a single morel into filtered water, a pinch of salt and some unsulfured molasses. Let it sit for a day, and cut it several times with more filtered water and dump it on my mushroom bed of hardwood chips, birdseed and straw. Any tips or suggestions based on my process?

Thanks,

John B

John I have done slurries and spore wash water from fresh harvest morels. I use honey and no salt. The spore morel wash water produced better results. What strain of morels you using because that would matter where I place them for fruiting?

Hey John or trahn could u go into more detail about the slurry n bed prep I'd like to give this a try. Thxs

Hobbler which morel strain would you be working with? Blacks or Yellows?

Hobbler which morel strain would you be working with? Blacks or Yellows?