What mushrooms to pick in September in Ukraine

If August only opens the door to the autumn season, September flings it wide open. Cool nights, morning fog and warm rains add up to perfect weather for mycelium, and the forest gives its biggest harvest of the year. This is the month everyone waits for most.

Let's look at which mushrooms are in full swing in September, who has taken the stage, and where to look for your September haul.

Why September is the golden season

In September, everything mushrooms have waited for all summer comes together: the soil is still warm, while cool nights and fog add plenty of moisture. After a warm September rain the forest is covered in mushrooms within two or three days, and flushes follow one another almost without a break.

The main difference from August is abundance. What was just starting at the end of summer now goes full force: honey fungus comes up in clusters, and boletes give a second, most abundant flush. Use the mushroom radar: it will tell you when moisture and warmth line up well for your region.

Honey fungus comes up en masse

September is the main month for honey fungus. Clusters of several dozen cover stumps, fallen trunks and the bases of living birches, oaks and alders. One lucky find fills a basket right away.

We explain in detail when the honey fungus season starts and how not to misjudge the start. The month's main warning: tell true honey fungus from false honey fungus: they grow side by side, and mixing them up is dangerous.

A second flush of porcini and bay boletes

Pored mushrooms peak in September.

• Porcini. Here comes the second flush of porcini — the most abundant and cleanest of the season, because there are fewer insects by now.
• Bay bolete. In autumn it becomes especially plentiful in conifer and mixed forests. Don't be alarmed that the bay bolete turns blue when cut — that's normal.
• Brown birch bolete and red-capped scaber stalk. Birch boletes and aspen boletes stay close to birches and aspens all through September.

Milk caps and saffron milk caps — salting time

September is the month of mushrooms for winter preserves.

• Milk caps come up in clusters in birch woods; we have a separate article on where and when to pick milk caps.
• Saffron milk caps appear in pine and spruce plantations — we also explain when to look for saffron milk caps.

Both are the classic pair of mushrooms for salting.

Where and when to look for mushrooms in September

• Follow the rain. The best time is two or three days after a warm rain, while the first flush is fresh.
• Visit different forests. Honey fungus on stumps, boletes under oaks and pines, milk caps under birches, saffron milk caps under conifers. A varied route = a full basket.
• Don't delay. September flushes are abundant, but so are foragers; the first flush is always the cleanest.
• Plan your preserves. The harvest is generous — the perfect time to stock up for winter.

And keep an eye on the weather: after a warm rain followed by a cool night, the forest comes alive within days — to catch that moment, check the mushroom radar.

Sources

• “Key to the Fungi of Ukraine” (Kyiv, Naukova Dumka publishing house).
• Boletus edulis in GBIF, the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.
• Armillaria mellea in MycoBank, the international fungal nomenclature database.
• Mushroom hunting on Wikipedia.