How to Get Spawn From Morel Mushrooms

Morel mushrooms are a prized culinary delight. However, they have a brief window of seasonal availability and are expensive to buy in stores. One way for lovers of these delectable fungi to satisfy a craving is growing them at home. Whether growing morels outside in a prepared bed or using a mushroom-growing kit, the gardener will need mushroom "spawn." Spawn is simply a substance that has been inoculated with mycelium. The mycelium is the vegetative portion of the mushroom. And mushroom spawn is the vehicle by which mycelium is transferred to a suitable growing medium.

Preparing the Spawn

• 1
  Wood fuel pellets break down into sawdust, an excellent spawn medium. pellets image by Rupert Roth from Fotolia.com

  Place the wood and paper pellets, together with the limestone and nitrogen supplement, into a jar.

• 2
  Hydrogen peroxide kills detrimental organisms in spawn media. brown bottle image by Jim Mills from Fotolia.com

  Add the hydrogen peroxide to the hot water and mix lightly. Pour this mixture into the jar and gently mix the ingredients together.

• 3

  Wait a few minutes for the wood pellets to begin to absorb water and break down.

• 4

  Cover the jar. Shake it briskly to thoroughly mix the contents. Do not use the same lid that will cover your finished spawn; use an extra lid. Tamp bottom of the jar on a firm surface to shake down any bits of the mixture that cling to the upper parts of the jar. Cover the tamping area with a towel or other padding to protect the jar against breakage.

• 5

  Put the cardboard disk into the lid that will be your final jar cover. Moisten the disk slightly. Place the lid on the jar and tighten it loosely.

• 6

  Put about an inch of hot water in the pot. If using a rack, place the rack in the pot and place the jar or jars on the rack. Put the lid on the pot and bring the water to a boil. Allow the pot to boil for 10 minutes.

• 7

  Remove the jar or jars from the pot. Allow to cool to room temperature.

• 8

  Pour a bit of hydrogen peroxide onto the cardboard disk. Rotate the lid to distribute the liquid evenly. Pour off any excess.

Inoculating the Spawn

• 1

  Sterilize a scalpel using an alcohol lamp. Use the scalpel to cut small chunks of the mycelium.

• 2

  Tilt the jar so that the spawn medium slants to the side a bit, but the bottom of the jar is not exposed. Drop in the chunks of agar/mycelium. Place the jar upright so the mycelium is covered. Do not shake the jar.

• 3

  Seal the jar. Let it sit until you see mycelium growth of about 1/2 inch.

• 4

  Shake the spawn jar, which will cause mycelium growth to accelerate throughout the medium in a few days. The spawn is now ready for inoculating a suitable substrate.