After tasting morel mushrooms foraged from the wild—or forking over big money to buy morels at your local farm market—you just might be wondering if you can grow morel mushrooms at home. The answer is yes! With patience, of course. Including the white Morchella rufobrunnea, the yellow Morchella americana, and the black Morchella angusticeps, there are many species of morels. In this article, I’ll share information about this unique mushroom and fill you in on how to grow morel mushrooms in your yard or garden.

Of course, to succeed with mushroom cultivation in general—and when learning how to grow morel mushrooms, in particular—it helps to understand the mushroom’s life cycle.

Meet the morel

Chefs prize morels for their meaty taste and texture. They can add complex flavor to pasta sauces, vegetarian dishes, and more. These rare mushrooms are also rich in nutrients like iron and vitamin D. Unlike many other mushrooms, morel mushrooms don’t have gills or pores. Instead, the morel’s large, fleshy head is made up of a series of cups which themselves contain tightly packed tubes. Upon the mushroom’s maturity, these interior tubes spew out myriad tiny morel spores. Some of these spores eventually germinate to form a complex underground network of connected fibers. This is the morel mycelium. The morel mycelium, in turn, forms individual masses of stored energy called “sclerotia,” and, under the right conditions, these produce the above-ground fruiting bodies which you recognize as morel mushrooms.

Why grow morel mushrooms at home

Finding morels in the wild feels a bit like discovering a crisp $20 bill in a forgotten coat pocket. But mushroom hunting takes time, expertise, and access to forested land—not something everyone has. When you successfully “seed” morel spawn on your own property to produce cultivated morels, you can enjoy morel harvests close to home with little worry of accidentally cooking up false morels or inadvertently trespassing on someone else’s patch.

The best location to grow morels

The best location to grow the morel mushroom is one which replicates its natural habitat as closely as possible. Most morels naturally occur in the dappled shade of forest understory or forest edges. Some black morel species typically are found near aspen, ash, cherry, or apple trees, and some yellow morels gravitate to cottonwood, tulip, oak, maple, and elm trees. They also may prefer sandy soil in moist, low-lying areas. (The morel in the above photo was growing beneath the tulip tree in my backyard, about 15 feet from my backdoor.)

That said, however, still other morel types do pop up in more citified locations, including areas of disturbed soil, beds of hardwood mulch, and by old fire pits. Old fire pits? Yep! Environmental stressors like forest fires or cycles of heavy rains followed by very cool temperatures trigger the morel’s sclerotia to form mushrooms.

Where to plant morels

A moist, shady spot amongst living trees and dead or decaying wood is ideal. But knowing exactly where to plant your morels largely depends on the species type.

Some morel spawns are available for purchase. If you go this route, think about the features of your own landscape and microclimate as you select commercially prepared mushroom spawn.

Substrate choices

If you want to know how to grow morel mushrooms successfully, you’d better become acquainted with their preferred substrates. (A substrate is a base for the mycelium to colonize.)

Remember, wild morels grow in and around hardwood forests and in areas of disturbed soil. You can try to replicate these conditions by combining hardwood chips or hardwood sawdust, wood ashes, and sand, and using it as a growing substrate. Some growers also recommend including a 10-to-1 ratio of peat moss and gypsum.

How to grow morel mushrooms

As you consider why, where, and how to grow morel mushrooms for yourself, keep in mind that you have several options. You can use a professionally prepared morel mushroom growing kit or morel sawdust spawn. (If you choose these, follow included package instructions on how to grow morel mushrooms exactly.)

Alternatively, you can make your own spore slurry, provided you have some locally foraged morels to use. Here are two “recipes” to try for making a morel spore slurry

Spore slurry recipe 1: In a small bucket, pour in about one gallon of water, a pinch of salt, and a tablespoon of molasses. Mix well. Add a few whole morels and stir again. To help prevent contamination, cover and leave in a cool, shady spot. Slurry should be ready to apply to your prepared beds in about 24 hours.

Spore slurry recipe 2: If you happen to have a whole morel, including a little bit of soil from near its stem, try the Tradd Cotter method instead:

1.) Boil two cups of water, let it cool completely, and pour into a clean jar.
2.) Dunk just the morel’s head into the water and swirl for about 30 seconds. (Put its stem soil in a safe place for later use.)
3.) Secure the jar’s lid. Store at room temperature for 20 hours.
4.) Now refrigerate for at least three weeks. The liquid should begin to darken and thicken.
5.) Add stem soil to this mixture, refrigerate for another few weeks, and then move it to the freezer. Store the slurry here until you’re ready to thaw and use.

(Want to geek out on all things mushroom? Check out Cotter’s book Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation.)

How long does it take to grow morels?

Even if you’ve incorporated morel spawn into a suitable outdoor environment, you’re going to need patience. It can take two years or longer for morel mycelium and sclerotia to become established. Then, you need certain environmental conditions—like increased moisture levels followed by a prolonged cold snap—to trigger fruiting.

Harvesting

So, you have some idea about how to grow morel mushrooms, but what about harvesting them? Carefully sweep wood chips or other debris away from the morel’s stem. Then use a sharp foraging knife to separate the mushroom base and the delicate sclerotia from which it grew. Finally, brush off any dirt clinging to the cut edge of the mushroom.

Can you grow morel mushrooms indoors?

Cultivating mushrooms like oysters and red wine caps indoors is surprisingly easy. Still, if you’re wondering how to grow morel mushrooms indoors with the expectation that it will work just as reliably, you might be disappointed.

Indoor operations require more advanced skills and equipment. For instance, some growers first painstakingly develop morel mycelia on agar (in petri dishes) and then perform their morel inoculation by injecting liquid cultures into sterilized grain spawn bags. And, after all that, there’s no guarantee that the elusive morels will materialize.

The morel of the story. . .

While there is something downright magical about stumbling upon them in the wild, now you know how to grow morel mushrooms on your own terms. Some morels grow in hardwood forests. Others thrive in more open, disturbed areas. You can purchase morel spawn or create your own slurry from locally sourced morels, but matching various morel species with their preferred growing conditions is essential for success.

Ambient temperature, humidity, and other environmental factors also work together to stimulate the morel mushroom’s sclerotia to fruit. Get everything just right and eventually you could be rewarded with your own private morel patch.

To learn to grow other species of mushrooms, please visit the following articles:

• Growing wine cap mushrooms
• Growing oyster mushrooms at home
• How to grow mushrooms in a bag