Season

The idea that mushrooms grow only in autumn is one of the most widespread myths. In fact, the mushroom season (in a temperate climate) lasts all year round, not stopping even under the snow.

Still, every mushroom species has its own strict biological clock. According to David Arora's research, the mycelium, which lives permanently underground, needs specific triggers to start forming fruiting bodies (the mushrooms themselves).

The main growth triggers

1. Temperature shock (swing): Many autumn species (for example, honey fungus) need a sharp swing between warm days and cold (but not frosty) nights. It's this stress that makes the mycelium "think" winter is coming and it urgently needs to reproduce.

2. Moisture: A mushroom is 90% water. Without heavy, prolonged rain (soaking the soil 10-15 cm deep), there will be no mass fruiting even at the ideal temperature.

3. Soil warming: Spring mushrooms (morels) wait for the sun to warm the ground after the snow melts.

How the seasons unfold

- Spring: The time of the pioneers (ascomycetes) — morels and false morels, picked in April-May.

- Summer: The first wave of classic mushrooms (chanterelles, slippery jacks, summer porcini). The main downside of summer is a very high share of maggoty mushrooms because of active fungus gnats.

- Autumn: The "golden season". A mass flush of all pored and gilled mushrooms. Night frosts kill off insects, so the mushrooms stay clean.

- Winter: Extreme foraging. Velvet shanks and oyster mushrooms, which can freeze solid and then thaw during a warm spell and keep growing.

Knowing a mushroom's calendar preferences helps you not only come home with a full basket but also avoid identification mistakes (for example, confusing a poisonous spring Entoloma with an edible autumn mushroom).

Sources

1.Зерова М.Я. та ін. Визначник грибів України. 1979
2.Roger Phillips. Mushrooms (Roger Phillips)
3.David Arora. Mushrooms Demystified
4.Index Fungorum