# mushroom collection **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 7, 2004, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mushroom-collection/258702 "2004-08-07T00:06:36Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![InvidiousCourgette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@InvidiousCourgette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InvidiousCourgette)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2004, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mushroom-collection/258702/1 "2004-08-07T00:06:36Z")
One of my hobbies is collecting mushrooms. Which makes me wonder why some of my favourites are not available in the shops. Why are the very best mushrooms like chantarelles, morels and various boleti not cultivated for consumers? Is it not possible to grow these in a non wild environment? ---
**Author:** ![bummerboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bummerboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bummerboy)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2004, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mushroom-collection/258702/2 "2004-08-07T01:02:33Z")
Maybe some of the kinds you don’t see in stores are used as drugs? I don’t know ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2004, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mushroom-collection/258702/3 "2004-08-07T01:08:04Z")
AFAIK, No efficient way to cultivate these species has been found yet. However, here, you can buy them at markets. But they’ve been collected, not cultivated. They’re also sold in preserves, though I never bought them. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2004, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mushroom-collection/258702/4 "2004-08-07T01:09:09Z")
> [@bummerboy](#): > > Maybe some of the kinds you don’t see in stores are used as drugs? I don’t know None of the species the OP mentionned can be used as drug. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2004, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mushroom-collection/258702/5 "2004-08-07T01:39:00Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > AFAIK, No efficient way to cultivate these species has been found yet. There are several patents describing how to cultivate morels: [4,594,809](http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/search-bool.html&r=10&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=ptxt&s1=morels&OS=morels&RS=morels)(1986),[4,757,640](http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/search-bool.html&r=8&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=ptxt&s1=morels&OS=morels&RS=morels)(1988),[4,866,878](http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=/netahtml/search-bool.html&r=7&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=ptxt&s1=morels&OS=morels&RS=morels)(1989). According to [this site](http://www.naturealmanac.com/archive/morels/growing_morels.html) the patented procedures are of limited utility: > [@](#): > > Commercial production of Morels using a patented process began about ten years ago and while they’re available occasionally in supermarket produce sections they’re very expensive. Worse, the method used to produce these mushrooms as revealed in the patent only works, apparently, for the patent holder. No one else has been able to duplicate morel production using the technique that was patented. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2004, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mushroom-collection/258702/6 "2004-08-07T17:49:04Z")
Chanterelles and members of the genus Boletus are, like many mushrooms, mycorrhizal. It is probably impossible to grow them without their host plants ( various trees mostly ) and even then it is very difficult to predict what kind of crop they will produce from year to year, which makes them unattractive investments. It is the saprophytic mushrooms that are more potentially cultivatable. Morels are weird in that they may actually be facultatively mycorrhizal/saprophytic. Whatever the issue, it has been difficult to come up with a winning cultivation scheme as **squink** noted. - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![InvidiousCourgette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@InvidiousCourgette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InvidiousCourgette)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2004, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mushroom-collection/258702/7 "2004-08-07T21:12:48Z")
On a slight tangent, here is a picture of a [morel](http://f2.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/zimazama1001/detail?.dir=/451f&.dnm=8533.jpg) I picked earlier this year. It was about 6" tall! It grew, along with several others, in my rose garden. I had bought and layed down some wood chips around the roses and I guess the morel spore germinated or whatever the word is. I am hoping for a repeat nest year! ---
**Author:** ![InvidiousCourgette](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e47c2d/32.png) [@InvidiousCourgette](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InvidiousCourgette)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2004, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mushroom-collection/258702/8 "2004-08-07T21:25:04Z")
Thanks for the [link](http://www.naturealmanac.com/archive/morels/growing_morels.html) Squink! I am tempted to have a go if I can find some more info.