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Chanterelles...pull or cut?

22K views 35 replies 30 participants last post by  Sirfishalots 
#1 ·
Which are you supposed to do when harvesting?
 
#5 ·
I pull and then cut :D. I don't realy think it matters, but I do like to pull them and then I cut off the dirty end and poke it back under the duff. I only cut them so as to keep the dirt out of my bucket/bag, but figure poking the trimmed end back in the soil couldn't hurt.
 
#8 ·
This was studied by the Oregon Mycological Society at there chanterelle study site. Cutting above the future growth node is benifical to the chanterelle for that season.The growth node I am refering to is the little knobby cresent shaped object at the base of the chanterell. that growth node should develope into a chanterelle before seasons end. IF pulled that node may come up too. And that may affect that seasons growth in that rfew inches of surface area.
The conclusion was picking or cutting it will not affect the chanterelle organism(subterrain mother plant) or following season results.
I like to think of it as picking an apple wont kill the tree.
 
#9 ·
Cut, and let more grow!

Orion
 
#11 ·
Cut for sure. Ive gone back to the same area a month later and had shrooms growing from where I had cut a month before. They grow in bunches sometimes, and they wont all grow at the same time so if you uproot the whole bunch your not allowing the little ones to grow.

This is from observation not any wives tales.
 
#12 ·
Cut for sure. Ive gone back to the same area a month later and had shrooms growing from where I had cut a month before. They grow in bunches sometimes, and they wont all grow at the same time so if you uproot the whole bunch your not allowing the little ones to grow.

This is from observation not any wives tales.
They usually grow in groups and if u cut one, you should be able to go back in about 4 weeks and cut more again.
 
#19 ·
I prefer to cut. Cutting vs pulling can really be important for some mushrooms, but according to a 20 yr study in progress on Mt Hood, it doesn't really matter for chanterelles (google it). They had three treatments in this study: 1) carefully cut each stalk; 2) rip the shrooms out with abandon to care; and, 3) no harvest what so ever. After 20 years, the least productive area is the area left untouched. The most abundant region was the carefully cut site, but it was only slightly better than the ripped up site.

Keep in mind that the myclelium is somewhat akin to the roots of the mushroom. I usually carefully cover up the area I've cut or pulled from to help retain moisture for the mycelial mat, which seems to help keep the mushrooms flushing through the growing season.
 
#24 ·
I think elevation might play a part on being able to grow them. I am at a little over 500ft and am starting to "plant" the seeds this year. I don't hold much hope but you never know. The plant life is correct behind my house.

They are going to clear cut one of my spots next spring so I am trying to get permission to dig up a few plants roots and all that have shrooms growing right next to them . I will then plant those.

Brian was talking about truffles, there is a guy in Oregon City who inoculates his tree farm and has had some success with that.

If you join one of the local mycological organizations they have a dig every year at his tree farm. The name escapes me right now but a simple google search should put you on the guys name who has the tree farm.

Cascade mycological society is a good group to join. I joined when I wanted to learn about finding truffles.
 
#25 ·
Up here the chanterelles grow from just above sea level to 5000'. They grow in my yard, about 500', on the Olympic peninsula from just above tidewater. I have picked them just outside of Mt. Rainier national park. I have always thought that you find them around fir trees (lots of times in 2nd and 3rd growth). i have also found them growing in patches of Oregon grape and devils club, and always around hornet's nests!
 
#26 · (Edited)
I try to cut, but sometimes they are buried all funny and have to get pulled. If they are mushy I tear them into bits and scatter up and down hill from where it was growing. Seems to be working for my spot anyway.

About ten years ago I started picking this one area and could get maybe 100 chanterelles a year out of 40-50 acres. I've picked every year since then. Last sunday when I went in there, I cut over 200 and left about 500 buttons (nickle size or smaller). Hopefully in two weeks I can get another good harvest.

This spot seems to have more sunlight in there than 10 years ago, and a little less brush. I would think that would mean fewer mushrooms, but there are more. Lots of big old cedar stumps and spruce. Between 150 and 250 ft elevation. WSW facing slope.

I've got lots of traps and mines all over that hill so be veeeerrrry careful. No, really, if you beat me to em' I must not have been trying hard enough.

I also try to go in early and clean small sticks and leaves off of the babies. It makes for a cleaner looking shroom. It makes me feel like a high dollar chef working with perfect mushrooms and fresh blacktail tenderloins.

Now that I've got it all figured out, I'll probably get less than a dozen off that hill next year. Who knows???
 
#28 ·
There is mixed theory on this. A prominent British mycologist asserts that cutting and leaving the stem of a Chanterelle in place allows a port for molds and pathogens to attack the Chanterelle mycelium and that the entire mushroom should be plucked and then trimmed. Individual mushrooms are the fruit of the mycelium, like apples or berries. The mycelium is a huge network of hyphae that is throughout the soil. Many commercial and sport pickers favor cutting. I'm not sure if it makes much difference, but I pluck and then trim. It's easy enough to do and if the British expert is right, then I've done a good thing. (grin)
 
#31 ·
Makes sense to me and jibes with my understanding of biology, fungus, hyphae and what I learned at WWU back in the day. They flourish and reproduce where the conditions are best. A cut would seem to open up the "arteries" of the communal population more to infection than a pluck. C.W.
 
#32 · (Edited)
A long term study on Mt Hood suggests it doesn't make a huge difference whether you cut or pluck chanterelles.

http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/gtr576.pdf

I personally cut chanterelles, boletes, morels and most mushrooms, except matsutake which I carefully wriggle and ease out of the ground including the whole 'stalk.' I try to disturb the mycellium as little as possible and replace the divet or scars I leave behind with moss or forest duff to help keep mushrooms from drying out.

As I recall, the take home message from the Hood research, specific to chanterelles, was that the most productive sites year after year were the ones picked, whether carefully or with reckless abandon. The area untouched produced least well.

But, I will re-iterate lest I unleash a bunch of heathens into the woods, this study was specific to chanterelles. Regardless, I tend to tip-toe on my hunting grounds and try to minimize my disturbance.

I think there might be a better reference specific to the Hood study, but the link I posted touches on it (and then some).
 
#33 ·
It's an old thread, I know, but what I've been doing for a decade is pulling and cutting, and separating the clean chanterelles from the base. I spread the base portions in our woods, and now we get a reliable harvest about a month later than the wild shrooms have succumbed to frost and freezing. I haven't seen any impact on the source locations. I go back several times every year and always find more than I need.
 
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