Outdoor Cultivation
The information in this page will describe methods we have used to cultivate morels in this study.
This calander is the timeline all participants in the study had followed. It is based on weather and soil conditions found in the North-Central midwest region.
Prepare Cultivation Beds and Get Spawn: Mid-September - Early October
Plant Morel Spawn: Mid-October - Early November
Place Nutrient Packs: 2 weeks after planting, Early November - Mid-November
Management/ Overwintering: November- May
Harvest: Late March - Mid-May
Morel Cultivation Bed Design
3 ' WIDE x 15 'LONG x 3"TALL
Morel cultivation beds are set up as the following:
15 feet long
3-4 feet wide
3 inches tall
Soil should be tilled and fluffy, as well as moist.
Our methods for cultivation beds are based on Liu et al. 2017
Materials and Equipment
Row Plastic
Shade Cloth (if morel cultivation beds are in a sunny area)
Row Hoops
Drip Tape
A way to secure the row plastic
Sewing Tracing Wheel
Morel Spawn
Nutrient Packs
Rodent traps or other pest management strategies
hydrated lime
Shovel
Gardening hoe
Sterile Gloves
Planting Morel Spawn
Down the center of the morel cultivation bed, you will hoe a trench about 3-4 inches deep.
Crumble the morel spawn into no less than golf-ball sized pieces and place into this trench. No clump should be more than an inch apart.
cover the morel spawn back up as soon as possible to avoid as much contamination as possible.
Drip tape is a common addition and helpful for spring initiation of the morels. This is an ideal time to lay it down. along your morel bed. Try and get towards the center. Two days after planting, you should try and water your morels to about 50-60% soil saturation if there is not the threat of frost.
Add row hoops, a way to keep row plastic off the morel beds, every three feet. A 15 foot long row will require at least 5. More is always better!
Cover the row with row plastic. Secure and ensure the sides will not be blown open. If in a windier area, it may be needed to bury one side of the row plastic under dirt.
NUTRIENT PACK PLACEMENT
Score or cut created nutrient packs on one side with a sanitized utensil.
Quickly place nutrient packs on the morel cultivation bed on conidia or mycelial mats if possible, and about 3 feet apart. A morel bed of 15 feet would have 5 nutrient packs.
Morel cultivation beds with young morels, The row plastic has holes in it trying to regulate temperature and humidity.
MANAGEMENT
OVERWINTERING:
Make sure the row-plastic is fully covering the row, and is secure and won't blow open during the winter.
If you are using shade cloth, you should make sure it is down as sun in the winter will be good for it.
Make sure row hoops stay up and keep the row plastic off the soil.
SPRING MANAGEMENT:
Check row hoops are secure as morels could start growing and need room
Replace shade cloth when it starts getting above 40 degrees and the days are getting longer. Under that row plastic, it can get much warmer remember!
Puncture some holes into the row plastic to allow some air exchange, about 1 inch long slits every 3 feet or so.
When freeze threat is gone, and soil is ~45-60 °F, you should saturate your soil again to about 50-60%. This should initiate morel pinning!
Other Management issues discussed in Common Cultivation Problems
HARVEST
Start watching for morel diseases and other problems that may arise as described in the page: Common Cultivation Problems
When no longer growing any larger, harvest by cutting close very close to the base
Citations
Liu, Q., Ma, H., Zhang, Y., & Dong, C. (2017). Artificial cultivation of true morels: Current State, issues and perspectives. Critical Reviews in Biotechnology, 38(2), 259–271. https://doi.org/10.1080/07388551.2017.1333082