Can You Grow Chanterelle Mushrooms At Home? 5 Easy Steps!
Chanterelle mushrooms are the mushroom species from the families of Cantharellus, Craterellus, Gomphus, and Polyozellus. They all have similar tastes and forms, appearing like a funnel and looking like an oyster.
The origination of name “Chanterelle” is from the Greek word “Kantharos” – meaning cup, referring to the shape of the mushrooms. They taste a bit peppery with a fruity and pleasant smell like an apricot. They are generally found in yellow, orange, and white colors. They are very popular worldwide and make food look colorful while enhancing flavor.
Mushrooms are quite expensive at the stores. However, they are tremendously nutritious and extremely delicious. They enhance the taste of any meal from soup to vegetables, rice, and chicken.
You can grow mushrooms in your backyard! Chanterelles are pretty easy to grow, and hence they are the ideal choice for mushroom growers, to begin with. You can cultivate them in not only outdoor settings, but also indoors. They are mycorrhizal, which means they develop a symbiotic bond with a variety of trees.
The very first step to growing chanterelle mushrooms would be to buy the spawn or get it cultured from a reliable source. Prepare the substrate, which can be straw, sawdust, or wood chips.
Ensure to moisten the substrate before the culture or spawn is added. If you use a log, cut it to length and drill holes one inch apart.
Once the substrate is prepared, inoculate the substrate with the culture or spawn by placing the culture or spawn on the substrate’s top and getting it covered with a plastic layer. Ensure that the plastic is perforated for air circulation. You need to make sure that the substrate is kept moist throughout the period of incubation, which may be between 2 weeks and to 2 months. After the inoculation of the substrate, it can be placed in any area with high humidity and indirect sunlight.
Where Do Chanterelle Mushrooms Like to Grow?
If there are hardwood forests close to the water sources of your area, you would locate chanterelle mushrooms already growing there. They prefer damp and shady areas having adequate leaf litter plus decaying wood for their decomposition. You can find chanterelles growing close to streams.
How Do You Grow Chanterelle Mushrooms from Spores?
You can grow Chanterelles Mushrooms from spores as well in just 5 steps. You have to ensure the conditions are ideal to get a fruitful crop.
1st Step:
Find a tree that has the ideal conditions for growing Chanterelle mushrooms due to the symbiotic relationships. The suitable trees for growing Chanterelle mushrooms are spruce, birch, pine, and beech. The soil needs to drain properly, and the level of nitrogen is low. Avoid trees that have mycorrhizae fungi.
2nd Step:
Examine the soil. Check for the pH value to be between 4 to 5.5. If your desired area has soil with a lower pH balance, you can raise it by adding some lime to it. If the soil has a higher pH balance, you can lower it by adding sodium chloride. One way of understanding if the soil has the right level of pH value is to find other Chanterelle mushrooms growing in that area.
3rd Step:
Scrape the soil. Chanterelle cannot stay alive in compacted soil. You cannot walk on that soil until the Chanterelle mushrooms grow on it.
4th Step:
Take a Chanterelle mushroom and break it into pieces. Spread those pieces all over the soil that you have raked up. Chanterelle mushrooms produce a small number of tiny spores that cannot be stored in containers.
It is better to spread those pieces on the soil directly as they contain spores on as well as within them. Do not wash it, as it can wash off the spores. You may opt of using more mushrooms as it increases your odds.
5th Step:
Just leave the pieces of the mushrooms undisturbed. The Chanterelle mushroom grows on its own when the environmental conditions are ideal and go on to re-grow every year.
Can You Grow Chanterelles on Logs?
Chanterelles cannot be cultivated like other mushrooms, not commercially or entirely at least. The ones grown at home require to decompose. These mushrooms are grown on logs. They break down the wood while feeding on them for survival, providing the mushrooms going forward.
However, Chanterelle mushrooms are mycorrhizal as mentioned above. It means that chanterelles need to have a symbiotic association with a tree nearby. Although you may try to spread the spores in suitable areas, only the tree and the fungi can make it happen.
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If you can manage to come across the cluster of chanterelle mushrooms while you forage, it is very rare! To grow Chanterelles indoors, hand-cut logs are considered to be the most ideal environment. You can find ready kits that have logs with holes that are filled with spores. Absolutely ready to use!
You need to cover the logs with some cheese wax in order to prevent insects from harming the growing mushrooms. Keep in mind, that mushrooms are the favorite item of insects. You just need to keep the area moist and in just a few weeks, you will be able to harvest the inexpensive gourmet delicacies in our own home!
Simple, isn’t it? Chanterelle mushrooms can blossom in huge quantities. Be prepared and bring extra containers during harvesting. You do not need to worry about damaging the chanterelles while harvesting. You cannot reduce their fruiting ability by picking them up.
The process of picking each mushroom is similar to picking apples off the trees, having a negligible effect on the organism. Nonetheless, it is best to allow the forest floor uninterrupted.
How Long Does It Take to Grow Chanterelles?
It takes about three to five days for the Chanterelle mushroom patches to grow. Chanterelle mushrooms grow comparatively slower than other mushrooms. It grows around 2 to 5 cm per month and continues to grow for around 44 days. An unceasing gradually maturing spore is produced over one to two months. However, they tend to grow fast during hot summers and would stay longer on the woodland floors persistently.
The slow (compared to other mushroom standards) process in the growth of the Chanterelle mushrooms and in the release of the spores mean that taking immature buttons for harvesting Chanterelles is indeed a bad idea!
It would not impact the production of the mushrooms in that area for future production, but the patch will less likely be able to reach as well as colonize new nearby areas. It is best to pick tiny buttons for a good harvest. The minimum size of the cap diameter is around 2 centimeters generally. Do not forget that the worst way of handling the mushrooms is by interrupting the mycelium.
It is indeed unfortunate that commercial Chanterelle mushrooms are available for a premium price. It is because the button Chanterelle mushrooms are more preferred and sought by chefs as the Chanterelles make sauces colorful besides being firm in texture.
Chanterelles often do not grow larger than 2 centimeters. It is better to select Chanterelles of different sizes to use for different purposes. You can find Chanterelles in around a thousand sizes, literally!
Once you harvest the chanterelle mushrooms, either from the wilds or at your home, the very 1st step you need to follow is to clean them properly in your kitchen. Clean all the gills, the outer area as well as the insides of the stems properly.
You might need to pull the mushrooms apart in order to clean the stem properly as dirt and sand might stock up inside the mushrooms’ stems. If you do not clean it properly, your meal might be sandy and gritty. Take your time and ensure thorough cleaning and save your dinner from being ruined!
Chanterelle mushrooms are best if you can use them in cooking fresh right after harvesting and cleaning. You can store Chanterelle mushrooms in your refrigerator for around 10 days sealed properly in plastic bags.
Do not worry if you have a huge harvest. You can definitely consume the mushrooms after 10 days as well. They will still taste amazing if you dry them up before cooking them in a food dehydrator or in an oven on a baking tray over low temperature. You can reconstitute the dried chanterelles by soaking them in water for a few minutes.
You can freeze the chanterelles as well. Just sauté the mushrooms in butter before freezing them. If you freeze them raw, it will impact the texture and taste, and your food might not taste as pleasant as it is supposed to.
Keep in mind, that freezing the Chanterelles for a longer period of time will make the mushrooms bitter in taste. Do not store them for long and use them soon! Happy Dining!
