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Knockoff64
04-30-2015, 04:17 PM
Just started! All blacks, mostly small, about 150 so far. I'll get a pic up later.

Todays rain will get the rest of the blacks and half-frees going over the weekend for sure!

MSUICEMAN
04-30-2015, 08:17 PM
bet this weekend will be great. probably not going to get after them, my wife is due with our second child any day now, so I can't really make any plans to head upstate. Was thinking about giving some more local public land a whirl around oakland county, but I don't want to mess up anyone's turkey hunting (or get shot, some yahoos 'round here, just look at deer season last year at bald mountain).

Knockoff64
04-30-2015, 09:31 PM
33831

I just talked to a friend, road trip Saturday. Lapeer area. I think we're still a week away from whites being up in any numbers.

zcolt45
05-01-2015, 12:51 AM
None so far.
We have been missing the rain in our area and the wife is watering the outside plants.
The Deer and Turkeys have been drinking from the bird bath the last two weeks.

cmr19xx
05-01-2015, 06:31 AM
I'll be up in the thumb this weekend and will be checking a few of the usual spots. Knockoff - nice haul. You "hunting grounds" are definitely more productive then mine.

StoneyBones
05-01-2015, 06:32 AM
where is the best place to find these? I have a good bit of land and want to go hunting, but not really sure where to look.

jeffy
05-01-2015, 06:59 AM
dead elms, pines,apple trees.high ground is best. i like to dry them and grind them fine, then use in salt shaker for flavor.

MSUICEMAN
05-02-2015, 08:09 AM
fallen elms are typically best. birch areas can be good. I've had mixed luck all other areas. and, as always with fungi, it doesn't always have to make sense where they grow.

langenc
05-02-2015, 09:33 PM
Need some rain. Those in pic on #3 look dry.

Knockoff64
05-03-2015, 06:26 PM
Need some rain. Those in pic on #3 look dry.

Fuzzy pic, (kinda washed out by the white background) pretty fresh actually! Good rain here thursday. 75 more blacks today. Better pic Later!

Knockoff64
05-03-2015, 09:46 PM
The 56 that made it home. I gave away a few on the way.
33892

No half-frees or whites yet. I think I may have a few more blacks to pick in one spot by wednesday, half-frees should be up by then too. Probably start to see grays by the weekend.

Dziadek
05-04-2015, 12:32 AM
At the risk of sounding like an idiot, can these things be cultivated? I get that half the fun might be going to look for them, but I have some land up north, is there a way to "plant" them or "promote" them?

jeffy
05-04-2015, 05:58 AM
At the risk of sounding like an idiot, can these things be cultivated? I get that half the fun might be going to look for them, but I have some land up north, is there a way to "plant" them or "promote" them?
i have some in the yard that i moved there and place scraps there too.they come out every year and i use them as a barometer

balrog006
05-04-2015, 11:33 AM
At the risk of sounding like an idiot, can these things be cultivated? I get that half the fun might be going to look for them, but I have some land up north, is there a way to "plant" them or "promote" them?

A commercially successful way? It's been tried for years with little to no success, akin to truffles. Those that are farmed are noticeably lesser quality and flavor than the wild ones so I have read.

Roundballer
05-04-2015, 11:46 AM
At the risk of sounding like an idiot, can these things be cultivated? I get that half the fun might be going to look for them, but I have some land up north, is there a way to "plant" them or "promote" them?
You could probably cultivate them. You would have to do some research on soil, temp, moisture, and light to get anything worth it.
I have a couple of friends that hunt then on a regular basis. They swear that the best thing you can do is to gather them into mesh bags. The mesh will allow the spores to drop out and continuously "seed" the area.
They use draw-string mesh "washable delicates" bags:
http://st.houzz.com/simgs/dd91f29a0fc3d62f_4-0939/contemporary-laundry-products.jpg


i have some in the yard that i moved there and place scraps there too.they come out every year and i use them as a barometer
It is only the spores that are still on the pieces that will reproduce. Nothing will sprout from the plant tissue itself, this is a fungus.

Knockoff64
05-04-2015, 02:20 PM
At the risk of sounding like an idiot, can these things be cultivated? I get that half the fun might be going to look for them, but I have some land up north, is there a way to "plant" them or "promote" them?

Sort of. Read on.


i have some in the yard that i moved there and place scraps there too.they come out every year and i use them as a barometer

You have some plants or trees that the spores were able to colonize and suitable soil of course.


A commercially successful way? It's been tried for years with little to no success, akin to truffles. Those that are farmed are noticeably lesser quality and flavor than the wild ones so I have read.

The reason Morels and most of the choice edibles are difficult to cultivate is because they live symbiotically with a host plant, drawing their sugars in a friendly exchange of services. The fruit of the organism (mushroom) is the result of the urge to reproduce. Sparse and predictable annual fruiting can be expected under normal conditions in the wild. Maintaining a healthy colony and reproducing these conditions in an artificial environment is problematic.

Mass fruitings are the result of the colonies loss of a host plant. Raising a colony on a finite source of sugar or feeding a colony and then cutting off the sugar can produce mass one time fruitings. The problem is the amount of sugar needed to establish a healthy fruit capable colony is substantial. So far, none of these methods have proven profitable or practical.

Burn morels are a good example of mass fruiting of a marginal colony. Large numbers of lower quality fruit.


I have a couple of friends that hunt then on a regular basis. They swear that the best thing you can do is to gather them into mesh bags. The mesh will allow the spores to drop out and continuously "seed" the area.
They use draw-string mesh "washable delicates" bags:
http://st.houzz.com/simgs/dd91f29a0fc3d62f_4-0939/contemporary-laundry-products.jpg


It is only the spores that are still on the pieces that will reproduce. Nothing will sprout from the plant tissue itself, this is a fungus.

This is largely an old wives tale. Spores are only slightly heavier than an oxygen molecule, they do not "fall" to the ground as you are walking out of the woods. In order for the spores to escape the morel mushroom, they must be mature and the trap door on the outer end of the ascii (tubes that contain spores, open to the center of the morel) must be open. Under normal conditions, cool/moist air inside the hollow mushroom is warmed by increasing outside air temps, creating a convection current and forcing spores out the open ascii.

After the mushroom is picked, even mature spores may or may not be forced out of the ascii just by moving them around. If so, any moving air would suffice. Rinsing is a more effective way of extracting spores from cut Morels.

Yes, scraps that contain spores can start a new colony.

Ruger
05-04-2015, 02:39 PM
I'm an old man that's set in his ways, I carry an onion bag, just like the one that my mentor carried when he was teaching me how to spot those Morels. He was in his 80's and I in my 30's, I still pick the same places that he found and graciously passed down to me! Wives tale or not I'm sticking with what I've done for the last 35 years since his death. He believed that "seeding" with the open mesh onion bag was a sure thing and so far he's been right IMHO! I used to have a picture of him and I standing on a old rotting elm that had 150+ blonds. He called it the lost Dutchmen. I love Morels and every trip into the woods reminds me of them. A friend says he's been finding them down in Hines on the high ground. Pick'em while ya can!

jeffy
05-04-2015, 05:10 PM
It is only the spores that are still on the pieces that will reproduce. Nothing will sprout from the plant tissue itself, this is a fungus.[/QUOTE]
the ones i moved here, when the heads blew out they grew about ten yards down wind of original area the next year. and i have proven<to myself> that the mesh bag does work.along the same trails i have walked for years,started growing them where they never were along the path i take in strait lines.

Ruger
05-04-2015, 07:22 PM
It is only the spores that are still on the pieces that will reproduce. Nothing will sprout from the plant tissue itself, this is a fungus.


Amen to that Jeffy! The same path I've used for 30 + years has always had a few growing just inches/feet from the path. Some years I've hiked back to my spots and come out skunked and relied on the path out to provide a few the table.

Roundballer
05-04-2015, 07:58 PM
It is only the spores that are still on the pieces that will reproduce. Nothing will sprout from the plant tissue itself, this is a fungus.
the ones i moved here, when the heads blew out they grew about ten yards down wind of original area the next year. and i have proven<to myself> that the mesh bag does work.along the same trails i have walked for years,started growing them where they never were along the path i take in strait lines.
FIFY

jeffy
05-05-2015, 04:58 AM
FIFYthanks, dont know how i messed that up.

jeffy
05-05-2015, 05:53 AM
Amen to that Jeffy! The same path I've used for 30 + years has always had a few growing just inches/feet from the path. Some years I've hiked back to my spots and come out skunked and relied on the path out to provide a few the table.
ha thats fuuny almost my same exact experience,i like the guy that uses those meijer bags. last year in a new/.old spot,was walking a trail and started finding them along it fresh cut about every ten feet just laying there.ran into a guy about an hour later and he had a hole torn in his bag.got arnd 35/40 freebies.

Hawgrider
05-05-2015, 07:41 AM
I heard /read that it take 5 years for the spores to take hold and produce a shroom.

Roundballer
05-05-2015, 08:54 AM
I heard /read that it take 5 years for the spores to take hold and produce a shroom.

I had to go read up on it. The answer is: Yes, No, Maybe, Depends:

botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/morel.html (http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/morel.html)

Ruger
05-05-2015, 12:54 PM
I heard /read that it take 5 years for the spores to take hold and produce a shroom.

Some say yes some say no. One of my favorite places was logged out and we found grays the next year right in the tracks that the skidders left. So either they disturbed the active growing organism and placed them right in the track or they blew in there and settled and then produced the next spring. Those skidder tracks were 4" wide and a good 20 inches deep.

Hawgrider
05-05-2015, 03:38 PM
Some say yes some say no. One of my favorite places was logged out and we found grays the next year right in the tracks that the skidders left. So either they disturbed the active growing organism and placed them right in the track or they blew in there and settled and then produced the next spring. Those skidder tracks were 4" wide and a good 20 inches deep.Yes seems to be conflicting info. I found some whites a few years ago and shook the living daylight out of them in my flower beds but I'm still waiting. Either conditions are not right or I've got another 2 years to wait.:smile:

Knockoff64
05-11-2015, 09:18 PM
Big yellows are up! Unfortunately someone beat me to at least 25 nice yellows in one spot, still managed a few.

34036

A few more blacks from the weekend, just before they became mothers day dinner.

34037

langenc
05-12-2015, 08:36 AM
Good moisture here now--need a little heat-less than 50 this am.

Probably need some wood in the area where the mushrooms are expected to grow-chips/sawdust/something wood.