Cultivation Difficulty: Difficult
Type: Edible
Substrate: Grass seed, hardwood sawdust
Colonization/Fruiting Temperatures: 70-75F/40-60F
Sclerotia Formation Temperature: 60-65F
Supplied As: Culture in slant or petri dish*
Currently there is no reliable method of fruiting morels under laboratory conditions. We only offer this species for experimental purposes and make no guarantees beyond the viability of the culture and its ability to form sclerotia. Outdoor cultivation is recommended for the highest chance of success.
The formation of sclerotia is widely accepted as the preliminary stage to the formation of morel mushrooms. A morel sclerotium is a hard mass of compressed mycelium that forms underground during the late spring and summer. It is thought to be a dormant structure in the morel lifecycle that allows it to over-winter. The sclerotium can then quickly spring to life with the warm spring rains.
The morel strain provided here was isolated from a wild Oregon, USA specimen and successfully fruited in a disturbed garden habitat in March 2004.
The Morchella elata group includes M. angusticeps and M. conica, which are difficult to distinguish from each other and may not exist as truly separate species.
Current successful cultivation method:
Using a presealable MycoBag(TM) with self-healing injection port, place a cup or so of soaked and well drained grass seed on the bottom near the injection site and a thick layer of moist hardwood sawdust on top. Seal with an impulse sealer and sterilized at 15psi for 2-3 hours. After cooling, inject the liquid culture syringe into the grass seed and let it colonize at 60-65F for at least 3 weeks. Do not mix the grass seed with the sawdust. The morel mycelium will feed on the grass seed and use that energy to grow sclerotia in the nutrient poor sawdust. There should be plenty of the small orange sclerotia visible before planting outside. In November-January, dig a small depression in a shady garden area and sprinkle it heavily with garden lime. Dump out the sawdust layer into the depression and cover it with garden soil mixed with a few handfuls of lime and ignore it. With luck, morels will appear in the spring. Alternative methods recommend mixing wood ash with the sclerotia as black morels are often associated with burn sites. This was not attempted with this strain.
The above method can be attempted with jars but the grass seed should be placed on top of the sawdust instead of the bottom.
We would be interested in any reports of success with this culture.
For additional information and references on morel patch growing, see Mycelium Running : How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World by Paul Stamets.
In addition to the liquire culture we also have Black Morel Mushrooms available in Dried Retail Packs, as well as dried for Bulk Purchase.
*Note: Culture supplied as living mycelium in a test tube slant or grown on sterile media in a petri dish. Culture can be stored under refrigeration for several months. Slants are best suited for long distance travel, international shipments, or long term culture storage. To ensure freshness of culture, slant and plate requests are made to order, please allow 2-4 weeks for processing and shipment. Please choose between Slant or Petri Dish below.
