Resources for Mushroom Growers
Cultivation of Mycorrhizal Mushrooms
(Chanterelle, Matsutake etc.)
Mycorrhizal species exist in a symbiotic relationship with plants - usually trees. Without the host plant, there is no mycorrhizal mushroom. Thus, cultivation depends upon the development of a plantation of trees that the mushrooms like. Typically the seedling tree roots are inoculated with mushroom mycelia then planted. With proper management, the mushrooms appear a few years later. Efforts are underway to make mycorrhizal mushroom cultivation a economically viable venture.
- Researchers in New Zealand offer an overview of the situation with Mycorrhizal Mushrooms. (PDF - 506K)
- Reports from researchers in the U.S. and Sweden indicate that certain species of chanterelle can be made to fruit when their associated tree is only a seedling. See:
- In some areas, wild matsutake are helped along by people who attempt to favorably modify their forest environment. Not much around the web about that, but there are a couple of patents related to cultivating matsutake: