Morel Mushrooms - General Discussion Forum - General Discussion Forum

Morchella growth………..Do morels grow?

A simple concept yet complex topic morel hunters have debated for years and will continue to debate for years to come. I’ve spent countless hours in the woods chasing the ever so elusive morel mushroom. I’ve hunted with late Larry Lonik, attended countless festivals throughout the midwest and read any article I can find on morel mushrooms stretching back over the past 25+ years. I’ve entertained various authors from the Wisconsin State Journal, Milwaukee Journal, Hearld Independent, Platteville Journal, and Telegraph Hearld over the years on morel mushrooms. Does this make me a biological or scientific expert on the fungus? No, not by any means. I’m not going to get into the phenotypic variation and start tossing around “thirty-five dollar” scientific family names. The truth of the matter is the scientific community, while making some progress in understanding the morel mushroom over the past two decades, have yet to unlock all the secrets this little fungus has to offer. Why do you think morel mushrooms are not grown commercially and sold off grocery shelves? What I will tell you is a couple of hunting experiences I’ve had that support two theories on morel growth.
Years ago a good child hood friend and I monitored a patch of morels peppering the ground under a series of nice fresh red dead elm on a fence line. The first sighting found these morels less than inch in height. We paid homage every morning and evening for 15 days straight. We used the old wooden school rulers to monitor growth. Most of the morels grew from less than an inch to nearly 6″. A couple of the morels only grew an 1 1/2″ to 2″. The biggest of the batch topped 9 3/4″ of an inch ~ all over a 15 day span. When the bugs & mold started to deteriorate the morels we harvested them. Several environmental variables were noted. Frequency of rain, amount of rain, air temperature (high/low) as well as even soil temperature. What started off as little dark and tight-ridged caps blossomed into pale gray and open ridged morels that INCREASED in height & girth over a 12 day span. Over the last three days of our little experiment there was NO distinguishable growth.
In conclusion IF environmental conditions are favorable and the geneotype of the strain of morechella is right – there is a very good chance the morels will GROW in both height & girth but are limited overall. At the time this was a good experiment for us to conduct as we were in the early years of forming a business selling morel mushrooms by the pound nation wide. Big ones weigh up much faster than little ones. From then on we made it a common hunting practice to leave smaller morels behind, harvesting only the larger ones. We return to these areas in 4 to 8 days. Most of the 1″ to 2″ morels we left are in the 4″ to 6″ range. Some don’t grow at all! And of course some where gone to the bag of another hunter and others had the caps nibbled off from deer & mice. I later learned by Tom Nauman and Larry Lonik that leaving the morels to grow was not only the right thing to do to gain some weight but it also gave the morels an opportunity to spore (reproduce).

The last story I will share occurred during a very dry spring session a couple years ago. Our local stomping grounds received a quarter inch of rain on April 25th that season. It did not rain again, such as a drop, until May 15th that season. The morels, which started popping as a result of the rain on April 25th in select soils that warm quicker from winter’s wrath, were noticeable stunted by May 3rd. What should have been the peak season time frame was very dry. We would hunt from sun up to sun down, walking miles upon miles only to yield 5 or 6 pounds of mushrooms. This went on for nearly 2 weeks day after day. South siders simply wilted under the sun. East & west siders in open areas were toasted. Only fresh morels we would find were confined. With frustration set in, we decided to hunt one of our best spots that had produced bumper numbers in years past. My hunting partner and I both knew results weren’t going to be good but lingering memories of hands & knees picking sessions in yester years provided a sliver of hope going in.

Disappointment was an understatement leaving the woods that day. We had less than 5 pounds total in a spot that had historically produced 50+ pounds of morchella in a 3 week harvesting season. There was plenty of fresh dead elm in that area. The ground was just cracked and dry to the bone….NO RAIN.
As mother nature would have it – it started raining that very night. A soft rain that lasted 9 hours straight. We both knew that was a season saving rain fall. The next morning – still raining – we decided to hit up our favorite spot again. I walked the same route as I did the day before and years before that. I picked morel mushrooms that were 4″ to 7″ tall that were NOT THERE 15 hours prior! These morels were indifferent. They were definitely morels but they were heavy. Water logged. I distinctively recall ripping the stem from the ground and having water literally drip from the end of the stem. They had a rich yellow (almost orange tint) cap. In total we picked just under 30 pounds of morels that day.

We go from a 5 to 6 pound individual daily average to a 15 pound individual daily average the day after it rained and maintained that 15 pound individual daily average for 4 more days. I picked 4 to 7 inch morels in literally my footsteps from the day before. Hhhmmmmmm…….I wonder what affect a timely rain has on morel growth……I wonder if morels “grow overnight”……You don’t have to ask me twice. The answer is YES select genotypes will grow very rapidly and YES other genotypes will grow over a 2 week span and YES some genotypes max out as little gray morels the size of a thumb nail.

With that being said….as many of you on here are aware, the morels are up this spring. Average size is still less than three inches in height. I won’t be harvesting any morels for at least another 3 to 5 days. Give them a chance to grow and spore. If we get any significant amount of rain this weekend, the forest floors will explode next week! By next weekend I’ll have had my fill and begin long term storage preparations.