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Morel Time!!!!

ilovehardwater
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Silkworm Apprentice

Silkworm

Posted
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I've always had my best luck in younger poplar stands. Preferably someplace that was logged out in the past 3-10 years. Look for low, wet ground. If you find a puddle scan it good, there is always one. I live about 30 miles North of bemidji.

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JIvers Mentor

JIvers

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It's been dry for the last few days around Iowa City, and I think that has slowed the start of morel season down here.

As I write this, there is an inch or so of rain five minutes away, and highs in the mid to upper eighties (!) forecast for Saturday and Sunday in Johnson County, Iowa.

I have not checked anything since Saturday, but if I don't find grays in my very early spot tomorrow, I bet I will be finding them by this weekend.

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JIvers Mentor

JIvers

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I'm on the board. cool

I picked these two little grays this morning in Johnson County, Iowa, near HyVee in Coralville. (But not in the store. laugh ) Before today, the earliest I had ever found morels in this location was April 24, so we are indeed almost four full weeks ahead of normal.

full-3973-19115-firsticmorels2012.jpg

I found these two, which were very fresh, not five minutes in to one of my early season spots. Another half hour or so of looking produced nothing.

My very early season hot spot around a very large (and very much alive) old maple tree on the edge of a treeline had nothing. That patch gets some sun, and with the warm dry conditions it may have been too dry there.

We got close to an inch of rain early this morning, so I expect to find a lot of grays this weekend. If we get rain at regular intervals over the next week, this looks to be a really good (and REALLY early) morel season in southeast Iowa.

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JIvers Mentor

JIvers

Posted
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I found some more small grays today in one of my early season spots:

full-3973-19159-april12012finds.jpg

The morels in this spot are following the usual pattern, except that they are four weeks early. They are starting on the tops of west-facing timber, and will work their way downhill over the next week or so. The forecast looks very good for morel-making after the rain we had last night.

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JIvers Mentor

JIvers

Posted
Posted

eye, better get those analized for pollutants especially considering where you found em! a place that i consider as the cesspool of america!

Being from Minnesota, I like picking on Iowa too...but why should I have my morels "analized"?

For that matter, I'm not sure what "analized" means, but it certainly doesn't sound appetizing. laugh

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Connan Collaborator

Connan

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Haha. gross. please dont analize your mushrooms; or anything eles for that matter... Analize-"an action of shoving things in their hole that dont go their." Maybe you were looking for the word Analyze? Anyway Coarlville,IA is far from the cesspool of America. Lol... Great finds EYE!! I cant wait to find me some smile I was just in Coarlville last week actually, I should have looked for some morels.

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leech~~ Grand Master

leech~~

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I've never been able to find morels in my oak woods surrounded by marshes. Am I missing them or do they not tolerate oaks?

Thanks,

Paul

On one of the Morel web sites they stated that Oak woods in one of the least places to find Morels growning. confused
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NoWiser Mentor

NoWiser

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I've never been able to find morels in my oak woods surrounded by marshes. Am I missing them or do they not tolerate oaks?

Thanks,

Paul

In my experience some woods just are not good for morels. If you have never found them their in the past, I would probably not spend a ton of time there in the future, unless you notice a couple of dying elms. I'm not saying you won't find them, and it is probably worth a walk, but I would probably concentrate most of your efforts in other places. I have one woods that is absolutely full of dying elms. It should be money for morels, but I've yet to find a single one in there, and I take a quick walk through it every year. It is a quarter mile from an excellent mushroom woods.

Now, on another note, you should definitely be looking for hens there this fall!! Maybe even some other summer mushrooms, especially if there are a few white oaks mixed in.

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JIvers Mentor

JIvers

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I've never had any luck in timber that was mostly oak, either.

Dead and dying elms are the well-known favorite of morels, but they do grow around cherry, maple, ash, and cottonwood as well.

One of my most consistent early seasons spots here, as I mentioned above, is around a very large, and very much alive, maple tree.

Cherry seems to be especially good, in my experience. I've found plenty of morels in areas with no visible elms that had good populations of these trees.

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JIvers Mentor

JIvers

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This morning I found more fresh empty beer cans than I did fresh morels. laugh I am hunting very popular public land by Iowa City and Cedar Rapids, but if the morels were popping I would find more of them. Temps have cooled down to normal for this time of year, and we haven't had any rain for a few days. I think that we are just in a holding spell, and once we get some rain things will get moving again.

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ATW Rookie

ATW

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Thanks for the responses about morels and oak forests! I'll still look more carefully at the peak season on my property for them to be sure.

Probably isn't worth planting spores for a morel spore patch either then. Anyone have any experience with these?

Paul

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leech~~ Grand Master

leech~~

Posted
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Thanks for the responses about morels and oak forests! I'll still look more carefully at the peak season on my property for them to be sure.

Probably isn't worth planting spores for a morel spore patch either then. Anyone have any experience with these?

Paul

I have read that Morels are next to impossible to try and regrow. I have dumped my shroom cleaning water after picking out in my back yard for a few years and did find one growing but can't really say it was for my efforts? frown
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harvey lee Grand Master

harvey lee

Posted
Posted

Went by one of my best locations for morels this am and was going to stop but it was so muddy, I decided not too. They will be there if there are any in a couple days.

I agree Dark, it could be tough finding those 2 inch or less greys with the taller underbrush soon to come.

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