Grow morels

[shonman]

Does anyone have any experience or suggestions regarding growing morels,Indoors or out?

They cost $25/ half ounce dried in the supermarket here ( USA)

http://www.thefarm.org/mushroom/morel.html

[Bigred]

Have you got any experience with growing mushrooms

[Slybacon]

Yum!

Edited November 21, 2013 by Slybacon

[Leaves]

Grow them, they are worth a lot here.

Edited November 22, 2013 by Leaves

[Sallubrious]

My investigations into this several years ago lead me to believe that Morels are almost impossible to cultivate outside their their natural habitat.

Many people have grown heaps of nice healthy mycelium but it is notoriously difficult to get them to produce fruit. I've seen speculation that to produce fruit they need a symbiosis with other microbes, but as far as I know nobody has cracked it and developed a reliable method to cultivate them.

I haven't looked into it for years so they may well have been some advances, but I imagine it will be a lot like truffles and much of the information closely guarded to protect the potential profits.

Edited November 22, 2013 by Sally

[seachangeau]

You could of course read up on whatever it is Paul Stamets does in his garden.

Annecdotally I have a reliable source who says her neighbour and friend in Northwestern Tasmania had a load of woodchips delivered for her garden from Hobart which is south. She got a crop of morels!!!

They like a very certain soil type and disturbance - especially fire which i kow releases many growth volatiles including ethylene. I wonder if anyone has ever tried watering them with smoke water?

http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/4138/

[Zen Peddler]

Workman - who in the past I regarded as one of the true pioneers of cultivation - successfully fruited black morels on a specific substrate.

[shonman]

Big Red...

Yes, I have cultivated several varieties on mushrooms......shiitake among them.

I have used a couple techniques.

One would be a 'sterile' tech,

And another would be what I call 'filth tech'

It is believed that morels are grown in some kind of symbiosis.

One source, planted maybe cottonwood trees, infused with mycelium, then chopped the trees, and supposedly got morels.

And then there is this....

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

Edited November 22, 2013 by shonman

[Bigred]

Just having a look through some info it is possible that it can be done . Maybe you can give nature a helping hand and

inoculate some spawn and put it in a outdoor patch . But will keep looking into it

edit crappy link

My question would be where would you get a good isolated strain . From what I read there is a lot of

failure involved

Edited November 22, 2013 by Bigred

[Bigred]

What about if you could get your hands on the Schlerotia or grow in jars till it forms them

and then spawn out on trays and case .

[shonman]

Paul Stamets sells mycelium, and outdoor kits...probably a good start on at least getting a culture

Here one, there are other varieties, too.....

http://www.fungi.com/product-detail/product/black-morel-grain-master-bag.html