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- Scientists in Denmark have grown morel mushrooms inside. They got up to 10kg per square meter each year.
- Grain spawn and outdoor beds work well for growing morel mushrooms at home.
- Morels usually grow in ground that's been disturbed, under hardwood trees, or after forest fires.
- False morels can be deadly because they have gyromitrin. Knowing how to tell them apart is key for safe picking.
- Some ways of growing them can take 2–5 years to get mushrooms, depending on the weather and ground.
Morel mushrooms are a special wild food that people love for their rich, earthy taste. Chefs and foragers really like them. For a long time, people thought they were almost impossible to grow. They seemed like rare finds only in the woods. But now, with new discoveries and some older methods, you can grow morel mushrooms if you keep trying, are patient, and learn what to do.
What Morel Mushrooms Are Like
Morel mushrooms (Morchella) are wild mushrooms you can eat. They are known for their caps that look like honeycombs and their good taste. People really want them for cooking, and they are some of the priciest mushrooms you can buy. Morels come up in the spring in mild parts of the Northern Hemisphere, often when the first warm rains start.
Biologically, morels have a complex and somewhat mysterious life. It starts with tiny spores. These grow into threads called mycelium. This network spreads under the ground and feeds on dead stuff (this is called saprotrophic behavior). At some point, the mycelium makes sclerotia. These are hard, packed masses with nutrients that store energy. When conditions are right, these sclerotia send up the morels we know.
Morels like places that have been changed in some way: hardwood trees that are dying, places where there were recent fires, or soil that has been loosened. These kinds of places show change. Often, this gets rid of other plants and provides new dead material, which starts the mushrooms to grow.
Mushroom experts now think morels might also have relationships with tree roots, where both benefit. This suggests that the difference between getting food from dead stuff and from living trees might not be so clear. This complicated nature may be one reason why growing morel mushrooms consistently has been hard for growers for many years.
Can You Grow Morel Mushrooms?
Yes, you can grow morel mushrooms, but it's known to be hard. In the past, many tries to grow them to sell failed. This is because of the mushroom's complicated life and specific needs for its surroundings. Morels are much pickier than other mushrooms you can grow, like oysters or shiitake.
However, new progress has changed things. Most importantly, biologists in Denmark, Jacob and Karsten Kirk, created a special indoor system. It produces about 10 kilograms of black morels per square meter each year. Their system uses very precise control of the environment, food, and probably a special growing material.
If you are growing at home and don't have factory tools, you can still grow morels using methods such as
- Grain or sawdust spawn put into outdoor beds
- Spreading spores in natural areas
- Indoor setups that copy the changes of the seasons
Not many of these promise quick results, but keeping at it usually works out. People who want to grow morel mushrooms should think of it as something that takes time. It's partly trying things out, partly gardening, and partly learning about biology.
Making Grain Spawn for Morel Growing
One of the first things to do when growing morel mushrooms is to make grain spawn. This is what you start with to get mycelium. Grain spawn is made by cleaning cereal grain, adding morel spores or tissue from morels, and letting it grow until it's full of living mushroom mycelium.
What You Need
- Cereal grain (rye, wheat, millet)
- Pressure cooker
- Jars or bags for spawn that are sterile or have filter patches
- Morel spores or liquid culture
- Glove box or laminar flow hood (good for keeping things sterile)
Steps
-
Wet the Grain
Put your grain in clean water and let it soak for 12–24 hours. This softens the grains and spreads water evenly. Be careful not to soak for more than 24 hours because they can start to sprout. Sprouting will stop the fungus from growing. -
Partly Boil the Grain
Cook the soaked grains gently for 10–15 minutes. You want the inside of the grain to get soft but the outside to stay whole. Drain all the water and spread the grains on a towel until they don't feel wet anymore. -
Make the Grain Sterile
Put the grain in jars or filter patch bags, leaving some empty space at the top (25–30%). Sterilize them in a pressure cooker at 15 PSI for 90 minutes. This kills bacteria, mold, and other fungi that could compete with your morels. -
Add the Culture
Once the grain is cool, add morel spores or tissue culture that you got from morels. This has to be done in a clean space to keep out unwanted things. A glove box or laminar flow hood is really helpful. -
Let it Grow
Keep the jars or bags in a dark room at 65°F to 70°F. In about 2–4 weeks, mycelium will grow through the grains. When it's fully grown (all the grain is covered in white fluff), it’s ready to be used outside or in trays.
Having good grain spawn is one of the most important parts of growing morel mushrooms successfully in any setup.
Spore Slurry Method: The “Morel Milkshake”
The spore slurry method is a simple way that's like nature. It doesn't need much equipment. It's sometimes called “the morel milkshake.” This method uses old morels to spread their spores in a place where they can grow.
How It Works
Old morels have millions of spores in the ridges of their caps. When you mix them with water that doesn't have chlorine, plus some molasses or honey to feed the spores and a bit of salt to stop bacteria, you get a “slurry.” This can be poured in outdoor areas.
Instructions
- Mix 2–3 ripe morel mushrooms with 1 quart of water without chlorine.
- Add 1 tablespoon of molasses or honey, and a pinch of salt.
- Mix until it's smooth and let it sit at room temperature for 24–48 hours.
- Strain the mix through cheesecloth.
- Pour the slurry around shady hardwood areas. Under old elm, ash, or apple trees is good.
This method is often used in spring or fall to copy how spores spread naturally. But it takes a long time to see results. Most growers say it takes between 2 and 5 years to see mushrooms, if any grow at all. Still, it’s a cheap and natural way to spread morel spores over large areas.
Outdoor Mushroom Beds: Growing Morels Naturally
Outdoor beds are like the forest floor where morels grow naturally. These patches you make yourself can give good results if you build and take care of them the right way.
Picking the Right Spot
- Shade: Choose spots that are shady most of the day.
- Moisture: The ground needs to stay damp but not too wet. Avoid places that are swampy.
- Close to Trees: Hardwood tree stumps or roots (elm, ash, apple) make it more likely to work.
- Natural Change: Spots near places with some natural change (burnt areas, cut trees, or dug up ground) can help.
Making the Bed
- Dig a bed about 4–6 inches deep and take out rocks or junk.
- Fill it with things like old compost, rotting hardwood chips, and wood ash.
- Mix the spawn into the top 1–2 inches of the bed.
- Cover it with straw, dead leaves, or wood chips to help keep in moisture.
- Water lightly when it's dry, but don't make it soggy.
Morels usually grow in spring after cold winters, especially if you put the spawn in the bed in the fall. In colder places, the ground freezing and thawing helps start the sclerotia, which makes it more likely for mushrooms to grow.
Growing Morel Mushrooms Inside
Growing morels inside is the thing mushroom farmers really want to do. It's also the hardest to do technically. New discoveries have made it possible to grow them commercially indoors, but doing it at home is still hard but possible.
Steps for Growing Indoors
-
Prepare Substrate
Mix a sterile material of compost, sand, and peat moss in deep trays (4 to 6 inches). This should be like rich forest soil with good airflow. -
Add Spawn
Mix grain spawn (fully grown) evenly into the material in the tray. -
Mycelium Growth
Let the mycelium grow for 4–6 weeks in a dark place (65–70°F, 90% humidity). Make sure there is airflow but the material doesn't dry out. -
Cold Time
Put trays in a fridge or cold room (34–40°F) for 2–4 weeks to copy winter. -
Start Fruiting
Move trays to a room with light at 70–72°F with 85–95% humidity. Lightly spraying water helps copy dew and starts mushrooms to grow.
If everything goes right, small morels might show up in 10–14 days. Many growers don’t get mushrooms the first time, but they usually get better after trying a few times.
Types of Morel Mushrooms
Not all morels are the same. New DNA research has shown there are over 18 different kinds of morel mushrooms just in North America.
Main Groups
-
Esculenta Group
This includes Morchella americana, the common yellow morel. It likes forests with deciduous trees and often grows in the Midwest and Appalachian areas. -
Elata Group
This includes Morchella tomentosa and M. angusticeps, known as black morels. They often grow in ground that's been disturbed and places after fires. This is why they grow a lot after wildfires. -
Rufobrunnea Group
This includes Morchella rufobrunnea, or “landscape morel.” These tend to grow in gardens and wood chip beds. They are the only morels known to grow reliably indoors. That’s why they are used in most growing attempts.
Knowing which kind you are working with can change things like where to grow them and when.
False Morels vs. True Morels
It's dangerous to mistake mushrooms, and morels are no different. Several kinds, called “false morels,” look like true morels but have the poison gyromitrin. This turns into monomethylhydrazine (MMH), a kind of rocket fuel, which is a neurotoxin.
How to Know True Morels
- Cap has deep, regular honeycomb ridges.
- Cap is fully attached to the stem. There are no loose edges.
- When you cut it open, the stem and cap are one single empty space.
How to Know False Morels
- Cap looks bumpy, like a brain, or uneven.
- Cap might hang loose on the stem or be partly attached.
- Stem might be solid or have chambers.
- Often from the Gyromitra group, which is poisonous raw and maybe even when cooked.
Foragers and home-growers must cut mushrooms in half from top to bottom to check if they are hollow before eating source.
Picking Your Morel Mushrooms
When you finally get mushrooms, picking them the right way is important.
- Pick carefully: Only pick when the cap is fully grown but not starting to rot.
- Use sharp scissors or a knife to cut them at the bottom. Don’t pull them out.
- Clean them gently with a brush or soft cloth.
- Check for bugs inside. Morels often have small bugs in them.
- Soak them briefly in saltwater if you need to (15–30 minutes). Don’t soak them for too long or they will get mushy.
Keeping and Storing Morels
Keep your special mushrooms carefully
- Fridge: Store them in a paper bag for 3–5 days. Don’t use plastic because it holds in moisture.
- Drying: Slice them and dry them using a food dryer at 125°F. Store them in airtight jars for up to a year.
- Freezing: Cook them lightly before freezing. Raw morels don’t stay firm.
Never eat morels raw. They have mild poisons that are removed by cooking. Cooking also makes their earthy, nutty taste better.
Should You Try to Grow Morel Mushrooms?
If you like challenges and gardening projects that take a long time, then yes. Growing morel mushrooms is very satisfying. It takes time to succeed, but it lets you have one of the most loved wild foods. With methods like indoor trays or outdoor beds, growing morel mushrooms is now easier than ever for home growers who want to try.
Start small, write down what you do, and try different materials and places. In time, you might not just grow your own mushrooms. You’ll become part of a growing group that is bringing morels from the woods to farms.
Citations
- The Danish Morel Project. (2024). Year-round indoor black morel cultivation results. Retrieved from https://thedanishmorelproject.com/
- Royal Horticultural Society. (2024). Saprotrophic fungi and growing conditions. Retrieved from https://www.rhs.org.uk/biodiversity/saprotrophic-fungi
- MDPI. (2022). Genes. Vol. 13(10):1806. Distribution and Classification of Morel Mushrooms. Retrieved from https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4425/13/10/1806
- National Center for Biotechnology Information. (2023). Morel mushroom species within North America. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10801053/
- Michigan Department of Natural Resources. (2024). Morel identification and toxic lookalikes. Retrieved from https://www.michigan.gov/dnr/things-to-do/morels/morel-identification
