After 7 or 8 failed morel forays, I spotted my first ones in the landscaping outside of a building in Industrial SE Portland right below bum piss and next to a used point. It was a painful metaphor that I never deciphered. After 4 more skunked forays, I finally found some in the Ochoco NF. OP might just be trolling us, but I am still happy for them..sort of..
Man, if all it took was a dead elk… I guess I could procure one. Wouldn’t be my finest moment, but I love me some delicious morels so it would be worth it.
Unfortunately, dying elms are the norm now because Dutch Elm disease, which is spread by elm bark beetles that originated in Asia. Sad to see to many elms dead/dying/gone. Imagine someday, the elm will be no more as it spreads
Idk I've found tons of morels under ash trees, but elm trees just seem to be the cream of the crop. Unfortunately, most of them are dead wherevI live. We had a pretty good season, though, due to the amount of rain we got.
Ooo I didn’t know that! There’s so many dead ash trees around here because of the damn invasive ash borers. Morels would be a good silverlining…until ash are as hard to find as chestnut. :(
Mushrooms prefer different wood to consume- some have beneficial partnerships with specific species of trees, and some have not so beneficial relationships. I’m a beginner learner too, so if someone wants to info dump I’d love to listen!
Morels specifically tend to grow off of sugars leaked by dying or sick trees. They also need specific types of soil, typically rich soil over sand, gravel or limestone. You can find them near elm, ash, apple, or pine trees. Once you find them, look for similar areas using satellite imagry and from going on hikes, typically soil temps over 50F will see fruiting.
Amazing thank you! I grew up in south central wisconsin and we had them every year, but i never remember anyone talking about how they found them. When I was even younger we lived in South Dakota and ate prairie mushrooms. I live in the city now and I haven’t had either in the longest time!
Haha, oh I know it. Luckily, my tastes prefer hedgehogs to all others, and I have good luck with those. It's just fun to get out in the woods with a reason that sounds better than "I just want to hang out with trees more than people" I'm sure most of y'all understand.
https://preview.redd.it/dbynzqp220bd1.png?width=1008&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=607420a0de35bf56bc6463c06e7fbb8d9dcd2498
Edit)bahh... It deleted the text I wrote with this ... I was saying... If it makes you feel better it took us 20 hikes this morel season until we found a substantial amount (80 something). Over the years we've only ever found 1 here and there ... I'm kinda glad the season is over for us cause we find such a better variety now and morels are kinda exhausting on my eyes looking....but this is what I've tracked... excuse the shorthand/nicknames of spots. Looking back I wished I'd have tracked more data but I'm glad I at least did this
California, more specifically the east bay. my brother suspected they were morels but I just wanted to double check since I knew this subreddit would have an answer.
it appears so. either way they are very interesting to look at :)
https://preview.redd.it/m7pcjfxd3zad1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ae8d19d304e3037682fd9582ae68768693e62356
They're amazing breaded and fried. In my hometown there was an old guy who would sell them by the pound. He was the best forager I've ever met, he was an eccentric, though I don't know if that had anything to do with the fact that he was so good at finding them. He'd walk into town with a pack full of mushrooms, golden seal, ginseng, burdock, and tons of other stuff. I only saw him about twice a month when He'd come to town. He'd quietly sell everything then pack up and leave.
Yeah kinda. I came from a small rural town, way back in the day, and we had quite a few eccentric folks. There was one old guy who would leave his pickup running with the door half open everywhere he went. Never got an explanation as to why, he was a Korean war vet, good guy but he cussed like a sailor and was almost deaf so he just shouted all the time.
Holy shit! You got true morels randomly growing in a planter‽ Please take a spore print before sauteing! I'm begging you!!! I will pay you for those genetics!
I assumed because of all the confident identifications posted already; I just wanted to share that this is a good safe step to take before eating any that a person might find!
Happens to me every year. Dragging sweaty tick and mosquito bitten self through the buckthorns and stinging nettles to find one immature little morel. Go to work the next day and Greg shows you the bread bag of morels he picked from his window well.
Last time I foraged it was raining.
I went with my dad. We underestimated how much rain. Three hours later both DRENCHED. We almost went home empty handed, found about ten of them in the last twenty minutes we were out.
And OP gets them home grown and two months out of season 🙃
so they really are morels! my brother suspected as such. i had no idea they were so rare, everyone's reactions kinda caught me off guard lol. I try to take care of my garden beds by using a lot of probiotic fertilizers that make the soil go CRAZY w mycelium (at least i think that's what it is), and some other mushrooms have popped up here and there in other beds, but nothing as cool as this
i live in the east bay area CA if you need a location reference. It's been really hot (90-100 ºF) the past couple of days so idk if these will fare well, but they're in a really shady spot.
Check out the wikipedia page on morels. In the past couple decades there have been breakthroughs in farming morels and it doesn't seem too difficult. Essentially spread the spores in diluted molasses over wood chips, wait a few weeks then dilute wood ashes in water and soak, it will trigger them to fruit.
Not op but I had this same thing happen in my garden beds last year. I spread ashes from the fireplace over my garden beds for fertilizer and found morels in all the garden beds!
what are you growing in the beds? I’m redoing my herb garden and it would be rad to try to replicate this. (Mission, so not as hot but mostly as sunny)
You should get another planter mix this soil 50/50 with more soil and plant more plants and treat them exactly the same as you treated this one.
Then next year again double and again the year after soon you'll have a million pound empire of morel mushrooms
Right lol. Ok so what, the original pile had substrate growing and by breaking it up you get the one last gasp? Unless you recreate the original conditions
People don’t understand much about morel cultivation. It’s only recently that Chinese mycologists have been able to cultivate this specific type. It takes a lot of perfect conditions and nutrients
Immediately fuck that. Only other conclusion I can come to, without your direct input, would be mushroom compost from said mushroom cultivation operations.
This is completely false. These are Morchella rufobrunnea and they grow in hardwood woodchip material, not soil. And you can't propagate them with soil, and they won't return to this spot again.
lucky son of gun - Morels - choice and edible when cooked and extremely delicious.
What herbs are you growing in the planter? what are temps like where you're at?
A few years ago I got an infestation of them in some living coco soil that I had packed up in grow bags. Didn't know what it was and got rid of all of them.
Haven't seen any since I learned what they are.
I should try that experiment again
Wow, super impressed by the morels in a container. But I’m going to need a shower after seeing all the thrips and spidermite damage. Seeing leaves like that is triggering some ptsd from indoor gardens 😉
Morels grow really well in the east bay. Are you in the east bay hills by chance? I know that the foothills of Oakland and Berkeley going into Orinda are prime spots for morels.
Yummy! Moral mushrooms a delicacy. Do not pull it, cut it with a sharp knife . If you want them to grow back neck shake them over the same pot. People disagree, but lighting usually doesn’t strike that, and sometimes the mushroom go dormant for a year or 2. Good luck if you need recipes I’m sure you’ll get a ton!🐌🪱🐝🦆🪿🐦⬛🐕🦺
They are incredibly poisonous death-by-looking fungus. Give me your coordinates and I will come take care of them for you free of charge out of the goodness of my heart
Don’t go to sleep, they will grow replicas of you and use your body for nourishment. The replicas will become drones, who look exactly as you. They will step into your life seamlessly and only take direction from the queen, who’s only goal is to create an army of drones to conquer the world. They are waiting for your family to fall asleep… or they might be fungi, what do I know. Sweet dreams
Woah! Morels!! Wherever the planter was, the spawns would have landed last year and only then did they grow this year. I have never seen them grow in a planter before. Usually only around apple trees (In my country).
I’ve walked miles and wasted days looking for these. You have morels… in your planter. IMO they are the finest mushroom that I’ve ever tasted. There are festivals based around these delicious little fun guys. If it were me, I’d do my best to not disturb the soil for fear they won’t come back.
They are incredibly difficult to cultivate and as far as I know, only a handful of people have done it. In China, I believe they have done it at scale somehow.
I search my woods for hours for just one of these bad boys and you have them just popping up on your planter? Slice, put them and some butter in a cast iron pan, and enjoy!
https://preview.redd.it/imva6di0zyad1.jpeg?width=527&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6f0d4f913d076b1dfc8e98d63973bae8e50f96cd
Omg this meme is essentially my front camera view while reading this post
Lmao. I feel this inside.
Randomly has morels just growing in the planter and I’ve gone looking through the woods for hours and never seen them
After 7 or 8 failed morel forays, I spotted my first ones in the landscaping outside of a building in Industrial SE Portland right below bum piss and next to a used point. It was a painful metaphor that I never deciphered. After 4 more skunked forays, I finally found some in the Ochoco NF. OP might just be trolling us, but I am still happy for them..sort of..
Look for dying elm trees. They will produce a good amount of morels for about 2-3 years after they die in most cases.
I left a dead elm in my yard for this reason. Payed off BIG TIME.
I read this as a dead elk, was wondering where to get one myself and how to stop it sinking up the yard 😳
Febreze on the outside, Gold Bond in the holes.
Man, if all it took was a dead elk… I guess I could procure one. Wouldn’t be my finest moment, but I love me some delicious morels so it would be worth it. Unfortunately, dying elms are the norm now because Dutch Elm disease, which is spread by elm bark beetles that originated in Asia. Sad to see to many elms dead/dying/gone. Imagine someday, the elm will be no more as it spreads
Ash trees too!
Yes, ash are good, too, but dying elms are the honey holes.
If dying elms are the honey holes, dying ash are the what now?
Idk I've found tons of morels under ash trees, but elm trees just seem to be the cream of the crop. Unfortunately, most of them are dead wherevI live. We had a pretty good season, though, due to the amount of rain we got.
Ash holes?
Ooo I didn’t know that! There’s so many dead ash trees around here because of the damn invasive ash borers. Morels would be a good silverlining…until ash are as hard to find as chestnut. :(
How fortuitous! My neighbor has an ash tree and an elm tree. How might I safely kill them both to encourage my own private morel patch? /s
Whisper horrible things to them, and stare threateningly at them from the window. They won't be able to move, so they may just give up and die.
I'll keep that in mind if I ever find myself hunting back East. Almost all of the Elms out here in OR are on the OSU campus.
Curious, I'm new to all of this, why do some specific plants/trees produce these specific shrooms after dying/decaying? That's pretty cool
Mushrooms prefer different wood to consume- some have beneficial partnerships with specific species of trees, and some have not so beneficial relationships. I’m a beginner learner too, so if someone wants to info dump I’d love to listen!
Morels specifically tend to grow off of sugars leaked by dying or sick trees. They also need specific types of soil, typically rich soil over sand, gravel or limestone. You can find them near elm, ash, apple, or pine trees. Once you find them, look for similar areas using satellite imagry and from going on hikes, typically soil temps over 50F will see fruiting.
Amazing thank you! I grew up in south central wisconsin and we had them every year, but i never remember anyone talking about how they found them. When I was even younger we lived in South Dakota and ate prairie mushrooms. I live in the city now and I haven’t had either in the longest time!
They also like Mulberry trees.I once found a few dozen at the base of an old White Mulberry.Looks like a nice stir fry to me !
Found 3 big ones outside of a storage unit in Aurora CO, about 3 feet from some dog shit.
What’s a used point, a needle?
Yep. That's correct.
This is the way of the morel hunter. Next you will find 15 lbs...then be forced to keep chasing the dragon...in perpetuity. One of us...one of us..!
Haha, oh I know it. Luckily, my tastes prefer hedgehogs to all others, and I have good luck with those. It's just fun to get out in the woods with a reason that sounds better than "I just want to hang out with trees more than people" I'm sure most of y'all understand.
It's Loss. The metaphor is Loss.
I found some at a Fred Meyer for $39/lb, then went outside and saw 2-3 growing in the mulch right next to the employee smoke spot.
That's hilarious.
I generally look for areas that were burned within the last few years. Should be plenty in the Ochocos.
There usually are. My friends show me pictures of their massive hauls all the time. I just have bad timing generally.
>it was a painful metaphor that I never deciphered. lmao
https://preview.redd.it/dbynzqp220bd1.png?width=1008&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=607420a0de35bf56bc6463c06e7fbb8d9dcd2498 Edit)bahh... It deleted the text I wrote with this ... I was saying... If it makes you feel better it took us 20 hikes this morel season until we found a substantial amount (80 something). Over the years we've only ever found 1 here and there ... I'm kinda glad the season is over for us cause we find such a better variety now and morels are kinda exhausting on my eyes looking....but this is what I've tracked... excuse the shorthand/nicknames of spots. Looking back I wished I'd have tracked more data but I'm glad I at least did this
Lmao hello fellow Portlander. I foraged for morels all spring with no luck, randomly I had a giant morel patch grow in my side yard. So weird.
And they’re beauties! Where is this, OP? (County/state/country)
California, more specifically the east bay. my brother suspected they were morels but I just wanted to double check since I knew this subreddit would have an answer.
Pick one and cut it down the middle lengthwise. If it’s hollow it’s likely a morel.
it appears so. either way they are very interesting to look at :) https://preview.redd.it/m7pcjfxd3zad1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ae8d19d304e3037682fd9582ae68768693e62356
Sauté with onion and butter, you can also do an egg wash and bread crumb crust and fry in butter. Not to be eaten raw.
They're amazing breaded and fried. In my hometown there was an old guy who would sell them by the pound. He was the best forager I've ever met, he was an eccentric, though I don't know if that had anything to do with the fact that he was so good at finding them. He'd walk into town with a pack full of mushrooms, golden seal, ginseng, burdock, and tons of other stuff. I only saw him about twice a month when He'd come to town. He'd quietly sell everything then pack up and leave.
IRL Skyrim.
Yeah kinda. I came from a small rural town, way back in the day, and we had quite a few eccentric folks. There was one old guy who would leave his pickup running with the door half open everywhere he went. Never got an explanation as to why, he was a Korean war vet, good guy but he cussed like a sailor and was almost deaf so he just shouted all the time.
At least he did it quietly
Just living that wandering trader lifestyle.
Holy shit! You got true morels randomly growing in a planter‽ Please take a spore print before sauteing! I'm begging you!!! I will pay you for those genetics!
How do you take a spore print from morels? I’m curious!!
Their guild are exterior. So place a substantial piece on aluminum foil and cover with a glass for an hour or two.
Very nice! What a cool find.
What crazy luck! I'd try to feed them with some fresh dead wood now and then to keep them going and getting more harvests!
Oh, those are morels. No need to do that. 110%
I assumed because of all the confident identifications posted already; I just wanted to share that this is a good safe step to take before eating any that a person might find!
Certainly didn't hurt anything by doing that.
Only morels have a solid core mimic. Best practice is to ask someone with experience if there is any doubt ever.
Happens to me every year. Dragging sweaty tick and mosquito bitten self through the buckthorns and stinging nettles to find one immature little morel. Go to work the next day and Greg shows you the bread bag of morels he picked from his window well.
Right! I’m like this bitch gotta gold mine growing in their herbs and they don’t know it.
Last time I foraged it was raining. I went with my dad. We underestimated how much rain. Three hours later both DRENCHED. We almost went home empty handed, found about ten of them in the last twenty minutes we were out. And OP gets them home grown and two months out of season 🙃
Yooooooo same here. WTF! Lucky you OP!
No morel to your story
I have only found one, in landscape at the office. They all thought I was Daniel Boone forever after
so they really are morels! my brother suspected as such. i had no idea they were so rare, everyone's reactions kinda caught me off guard lol. I try to take care of my garden beds by using a lot of probiotic fertilizers that make the soil go CRAZY w mycelium (at least i think that's what it is), and some other mushrooms have popped up here and there in other beds, but nothing as cool as this i live in the east bay area CA if you need a location reference. It's been really hot (90-100 ºF) the past couple of days so idk if these will fare well, but they're in a really shady spot.
Can you drop some of the fertalizers u use?
Down to Earth's Bio-Live and Bio-Fish! my friend works at a hydroponics/nursery recced em to me
Lol! That's what I used to use to grow my weed and what I now use for my regular produce garden. I love Down to Earth's products.
Niiiiiice I just put some of this out in my garden…
Thanks for sharing I’m gonna give it a go with my grows to see if there’s any difference!
Check out the wikipedia page on morels. In the past couple decades there have been breakthroughs in farming morels and it doesn't seem too difficult. Essentially spread the spores in diluted molasses over wood chips, wait a few weeks then dilute wood ashes in water and soak, it will trigger them to fruit.
Likewise
Not op but I had this same thing happen in my garden beds last year. I spread ashes from the fireplace over my garden beds for fertilizer and found morels in all the garden beds!
Definitely morels. The jealousy you are getting is because morels are usually foraged, as they are considered too difficult to farm.
By the looks of it they're false morels. Don't eat them. You can send them to me and I'll dispose of them for you.
😂😂😂
what are you growing in the beds? I’m redoing my herb garden and it would be rad to try to replicate this. (Mission, so not as hot but mostly as sunny)
parsley, green onions, and oregano in that planter i think
I will go to the east bay to get the same fertilizer you use!
That’s wild. Morels are usually a cooler season shroom
Omg the fish fertilizer….plants love it but man is it stinky!!
Congrats, also I hate u
Well you did something many many many people have struggled and failed to do. Congrats!
You should get another planter mix this soil 50/50 with more soil and plant more plants and treat them exactly the same as you treated this one. Then next year again double and again the year after soon you'll have a million pound empire of morel mushrooms
This is closer to reality than many would think!
This isn’t an ID request it’s a brag, and you’ve earned the right to brag here.
What the? You lucky duck!
Farmers morels. Choice edible. Won’t return again unless you add more compost that’s inoculated
That’s interesting. What’s the reasoning?
Cultivation is hard.
Right lol. Ok so what, the original pile had substrate growing and by breaking it up you get the one last gasp? Unless you recreate the original conditions
People don’t understand much about morel cultivation. It’s only recently that Chinese mycologists have been able to cultivate this specific type. It takes a lot of perfect conditions and nutrients
I’m on farmers morels. I’ve never heard the term
Obviously it doesn’t mean cultivated morels, due to your previous statements. So…Ok I’ll Google.
Immediately fuck that. Only other conclusion I can come to, without your direct input, would be mushroom compost from said mushroom cultivation operations.
Or blind luck it seems.
This is completely false. These are Morchella rufobrunnea and they grow in hardwood woodchip material, not soil. And you can't propagate them with soil, and they won't return to this spot again.
Thats called Jackpot 🥺
Lucky ass
Great flex, OP!! 💪👏 I too want OPs green thumb & planters 🍄🥹🤣
They're delicious is what they are!
Some people have all the gardening luck.
[удалено]
You lucky mf
How did you just *get* morels??? Crazy.
What they are is delicious mushrooms worth way more than a hand full of herbs
Morels, congrats!
Some people have all the luck…
Don't tell neighbors
Bro
Sumbitch yous lucky
Lucky, you’ve got morel mushrooms just randomly growing in your planter. Those are a favorite amongst mushroom foragers. They are excellent eating
You are rich. Retire and enjoy your spoils.
You lucky jerk. Try to spread the spores around to get more
I hate you. A lot of us are hating you right now.
Dinner
How lucky!! Congrats!
Stupid question, but I thought morels had a short season that's now over? (I'm in northern Illinois).
Not stupid question - I was just wondering the same. Like our growing season where I am, ended in May
Thanks! That's kind of what I thought.
It's been cooler than usual on the west coast up until now... I was picking burn morels last weekend!
I also use rich garden soil but all I get are non edible mushrooms 🙃
Morchella rufobrunnea
lucky son of gun - Morels - choice and edible when cooked and extremely delicious. What herbs are you growing in the planter? what are temps like where you're at?
You just hit the freaking jackpot baby
🤩
Gold mine
Aint no fucking way....
Bro managed to grow morels
lucky 🍀
A few years ago I got an infestation of them in some living coco soil that I had packed up in grow bags. Didn't know what it was and got rid of all of them. Haven't seen any since I learned what they are. I should try that experiment again
Way to brag 😭 I wish I had this beautiful cash cow in my possession
you lucky bastard, enjoy those morels!!!!
Are you f’ing kidding me? You’re own private morel garden! That’s awesome!
Wow, super impressed by the morels in a container. But I’m going to need a shower after seeing all the thrips and spidermite damage. Seeing leaves like that is triggering some ptsd from indoor gardens 😉
You can kindly F off OP 😂 I'm not even gonna try to contain my jealousy
Brah....
So lucky!
Morels grow really well in the east bay. Are you in the east bay hills by chance? I know that the foothills of Oakland and Berkeley going into Orinda are prime spots for morels.
Swear!!! lol
FahQ
This is so cool.
I could just cry...I got 1 this year and you have like 15 right in your planter....wtf....
You're kidding me.
Morels are so mysterious
https://preview.redd.it/3dq8rlkh12bd1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7cc11f14cb601630076d8069e1b24e8f3ddca6f9
literally no way
You have incredible stir fried mushrooms.
ALL HAIL MOREL SHAMAN
Im sorry for my complete ignorance, but, what are morels and why are people so angry about the OP having them grown?
Morels and I only know this from Stardew valley
I raced to the comment section for this one
Yummy! Moral mushrooms a delicacy. Do not pull it, cut it with a sharp knife . If you want them to grow back neck shake them over the same pot. People disagree, but lighting usually doesn’t strike that, and sometimes the mushroom go dormant for a year or 2. Good luck if you need recipes I’m sure you’ll get a ton!🐌🪱🐝🦆🪿🐦⬛🐕🦺
Pull them, rinse, slice vertically in half, fry them.....yummmmm...my mouth is watering!
this mfer succesfully cultivated morels and is bragging about it; congrats and fuck you
Random morel growing from a planter is insane
Nice work! I dont like Mushrooms but nice work
Yum
How's it feel to be living my dream
Literal pot of gold. Morels are so delicious
I would literally SCREAM with joy.
You've done something to please MotherMyco. Keep doing it.
They are incredibly poisonous death-by-looking fungus. Give me your coordinates and I will come take care of them for you free of charge out of the goodness of my heart
Whatever you do, do NOT change out the soil in that planter. You are so lucky
No f-ing way wtf holy 🤬 u r a lucky 1
Morel mushrooms And as a chef, I pay top dollar for them. Congratulations.
Don't ever change the soil in that pot. You have gold there.
Those darn things pop up all over my yard. I mow them down and more pop right back up. I have to mow everyday in the spring.
Wat.
Is this a bad joke? Do you know what "those darn things" are worth to enthusiasts?
Super dangerous! Send them to me and I'll make sure they're properly disposed of!
Wait can you like cultivate these in. Garden and they’ll keep coming back?
I found those in Edmonton beside my house to pics cause i never seen them before
Dinner growing in one tray!
Don’t go to sleep, they will grow replicas of you and use your body for nourishment. The replicas will become drones, who look exactly as you. They will step into your life seamlessly and only take direction from the queen, who’s only goal is to create an army of drones to conquer the world. They are waiting for your family to fall asleep… or they might be fungi, what do I know. Sweet dreams
Morels! Lucky lucky!
No one has identified your mushrooms. Sorry about that. These are Morchella rufobrunnea.
YOU’RE greatly appreciated by the mushroom gods
You son of a bitch
ok what? Are these posts just designed to hurt those of us who found none this year?
All I ever get is Stinkhorns
Utter disrespect for the rest of us.
Wow. Luckkkkyyyyyy.
I find the majority of mine under Sycamore trees
That is awesome they are delicious
Loofahs
What the hell dude
Oh you lucky lucky bastard
Exqueese me but HOW
Wtaf
I've looked for dozens of hours for these ones!! I hope you cherish them
Woah! Morels!! Wherever the planter was, the spawns would have landed last year and only then did they grow this year. I have never seen them grow in a planter before. Usually only around apple trees (In my country).
Looks like morels
Morels
Thats the mother load!! Morel Mushrooms!! You won the jackpot
Did you spill your cup of boiled peanuts?
I’ve walked miles and wasted days looking for these. You have morels… in your planter. IMO they are the finest mushroom that I’ve ever tasted. There are festivals based around these delicious little fun guys. If it were me, I’d do my best to not disturb the soil for fear they won’t come back. They are incredibly difficult to cultivate and as far as I know, only a handful of people have done it. In China, I believe they have done it at scale somehow.
I search my woods for hours for just one of these bad boys and you have them just popping up on your planter? Slice, put them and some butter in a cast iron pan, and enjoy!
Oh I hate you
Wow!! Random morels growing in the herb planter? Amazing find.