Bushland Mycology @fungiaustralis - Tumblr Blog

For someone who's interested in collecting mushrooms what all supplies do you recommend

Even though I spend a lot of my free time photographing and identifying mushrooms, I don’t actually spend much time collecting mushrooms. Followers, please respond with your recommendations!

fungiaustralis

For mushroom collecting, the main tools you need are a wicker basket and a small paring or pocket knife. The basket having gaps or holes in it is important, as it allows for spores to fall through as you transport the mushrooms, helping the mushroom propagate to make up for the loss of the harvested ones. The knife is important as mushrooms should be cut close to the base, never pulled out entirely, as it allows for the mycelium to remain intact underground.

If you intend on keeping the mushrooms in some kind of storage, a food dehydrator may work. Not all mushrooms remain intact through the process, but I had a friend who catalogued mushrooms by dehydrating them and then keeping them in ziplock bags to reasonable degree of success.

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Possibly Trametes hirsuta, though the lack of hair-like structures towards the base also suggests that it could be a discoloured Postia lactea.

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All that the rain promises.

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Unfortunately, the currently warm and dry autumn means that there will probably not be a big mushroom season as in the past.

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Decomposers decomposing.

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A Slippery Jack (Suillus luteus), found in a park in Fuji, Japan.

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Found in a park in Fuji, Japan.

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Something that looks an awful lot like Omphalotus nidiformis, known as the Ghost Fungus. If that’s the case, I am very disappointed that I didn’t return at night, because this species is bioluminescent.

The effect produced by it upon the traveller, when on a dark night he comes suddenly upon it glowing in the woods, is startling; for to a person unacquainted with this phenomenon the pale, livid, and deadly light emanating from it conveys to him an impression of something supernatural, and often causes no little degree of terror in weak minds or in those willing to believe in supernatural agencies.

-Mordecai Cubitt Cooke

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Hey your blog is awesome! :) How do you transplant mushrooms? I would like to try it myself but im afraid that i hurt or kill our little frinds...

Transplanting mushrooms isn’t particularly a precise art, though sadly it will result in killing a few. With the saffron caps we had collected some to eat, but had a few left over. We knew they were mature, spore producing bodies, so we diced them up and scattered them around underneath our pine tree. That part is pretty important; most mushrooms only grow in specific conditions, and often require a specific plant. To establish the mycelium properly you should do some research into what conditions the mushroom needs to grow. There also needs to be some good rain afterwards, so timing can be important. The other thing that’s probably important to mention is that if you plan to collect some mushrooms make sure that you cut the stalk towards the bottom and don’t pull the whole thing out. The underground part needs to remain underground so it can regrow.

If you’re planning to grow mushrooms you plan to eat there are a number of commercial growing kits. These are pretty different though and often require making a special setup to grow them. If you just want to see some particular mushrooms growing in your backyard every so often its mostly about whether or not the mushrooms feel like taking hold. Good luck!

(I should also quickly mention that there are many wonderful people out there who have years of experience in growing mushrooms, who may well have some other things to say about it. They’re advice is probably better than mine.)

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