Morel mushrooms are a high-value culinary fungus often found in woods. Morels are a favorite among chefs who crave them for their delicacy and meaty flavor. There is a massive demand for this mushroom, making it a valuable product. Let us see how you can meet this demand by growing morel mushrooms at home.
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Learn how to grow mushrooms at home with our recommended Best Mushroom Starter Kits.
What Are Morel Mushrooms
Morel mushrooms are distinct-looking mushrooms with a sponge-like texture and cone-shaped cap. They grow between two and four inches tall. Their caps stand upright, and their colors range from cream to almost black.
Morel’s stems are hollow and white to cream-colored. They require little preparation before cooking and are best when grilled.
There are over 70 varieties, but the most common is the black morel, the common more, and the late morel. Morels are found around and in wooded areas.
Morels are extremely difficult to farm. However, there is the question as to whether farmed morels have the same quality, flavor, and taste as wild morels.
Wild morels are seasonal, fragile, and perishable. They are also challenging to find because they often camouflage with fallen leaves and decaying wood.
How To Grow Morel Mushrooms At Home
Growing morel mushrooms is complex and may take years. You may have to wait for three to five years from the time you plant the spores to the time a good colony of mushrooms appears. This process makes morel mushrooms highly prized.
Mushroom spores are tiny microscopic organisms from which mushrooms grow. Spores are similar to seeds in plants.
However, once mycelium is formed, it can take only six days from the time a shoot appears to a fully grown morel ready for harvest. Mycelium is the vegetative stage of fungi. Mycelium acts as roots for mushrooms.
Growing morel mushrooms indoors is difficult. You will have to replicate their outdoors favorable growing conditions. Morels’ growing habit is unpredictable, making it more challenging to farm.
Morel mushroom growing requires critical conditions, including carefully prepared soil. Ensure that the soil has a lot of decaying wood matter in it, the proper amount of humidity, and a source of morel spores.
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Best Morel Mushroom Growing Kit
Morel Mushroom Spore Growing Kit
Growing morel mushrooms with the morel growing kit is straightforward. The kit allows you to grow morels at home with no experience. A step-by-step mushroom growing instruction makes it incredibly easy and fast to grow morel mushrooms.
With the morel mushroom growing kit, you don’t have to wait for the long period of morel mushroom growing. The kit allows you to start growing morel mushrooms immediately.
Growing morel mushrooms at home is very challenging. You will have to wait for a few years before mycelium forms and the mushrooms sprout. Preparing your soil is complex. You also have to ensure that the conditions are similar to those found in the wild.
However, if you get everything right, morel mushrooms will fetch a reasonable price. You can also get yourself a morel mushroom spore growing kit that will allow you to start growing immediately.
Growing Morel Mushrooms From Spores
A well-known formula for growing morel spores is boiling a gallon of water, adding a quarter teaspoon of salt, and a tablespoon of molasses. The salt prevents bacteria from growing, while the molasses provide the much-needed energy for the morels to grow.
Add whole shredded morel mushrooms after the water cools to room temperature. Let the mixture sit for two days and sieve it through a cheesecloth. The liquid will contain microscopic morel spores.
Plant the spores by sprinkling the water over the soil. Make sure you prepare your soil well. Cover the soil with about a quarter-inch of compost.
You might not get mushrooms or only get a few in the first year. However, don’t be discouraged. Establishing a colony of morel mushrooms takes a few years in most cases.
Caring For Your Morel Mushrooms
Growing mushrooms at home requires a lot of care. You have to ensure that you get all conditions right for you to have a good harvest.
Light
Wild morel mushrooms grow in light that the forest canopy has filtered. They grow under and around trees.
Mushrooms don’t make chlorophyll. Hence they don’t need sunlight. The only role the sunlight plays is warming the soil rather than helping morels grow.
Soil
Wild morel mushrooms thrive in loamy soil that decaying trees and leaves create. The decaying trees release the nutrients that morels need to grow.
Growing morel mushrooms requires that you prepare soil that meets these conditions. You can mix plenty of decaying wood into the soil to nourish the morels.
Water
Morel mushroom growing requires regular moisture. Water your morels with rainwater rather than chlorinated water.
Temperature And Humidity
Growing morel mushrooms is best in cool and moist conditions. Ideal temperatures range between 60 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit during the day and cooler temperatures of 40 degrees Fahrenheit in the evenings.
Fertilizer
Good loamy soil with decaying wood matter is all morel mushrooms need to grow.
Propagating Morel Mushrooms
A single morel mushroom contains millions of microscopic spores. The spores travel by air. To get the spores, soak a fresh morel in distilled water overnight. Spread the mixture in a prepared area with decaying wood or dead ash.
It takes between three and five years for the mycelium to form. Mushrooms are the last stage of growth and will only take a few days once mycelium is formed.
Harvesting Morel Mushrooms
Harvest your morels by pinching or cutting them off the ground. Please don’t wait for them to grow to a specific size. Old morels are the same as young ones. You can store the morels between moist paper towels for up to one week in a refrigerator.
FAQs – Growing Morel Mushrooms
Growing morel mushrooms is not for the faint of heart. Quiet possibly the most difficult mushrooms to grow at home, you need to replicate their natural growing conditions as closely as possible. These are not the mushrooms you want to try growing if you’re new to home gardening.
Generally speaking, the spores from morel mushrooms will fully form into edible mushrooms between 10-15. Having the right growing environment and with proper watering and feeding should produce a solid harvest of morel mushrooms.
Yes. Morel mushrooms require exacting growing conditions. More than any other type of mushroom, morels need conditions as close to their natural environment as possible.