No knife – no problem, says mushroom expert

Proud mushroomers are boasting of their baskets. Some cut the fungi carefully with a knife, some just rip it from the soil. Which of the actions is more fungus-friendly?

The head of the Botanics department of the Latvian National Museum of Natural History, mycologist Inita Dāniele told LSM.lv that because mushrooms breed with spores and have no roots, they don't necessarily need to be cut. Mushrooms can also be easily removed from the surface, but it must be done very carefully so as not to damage the surface of the soil.

Removal without cutting can also help to distinguish mushrooms, because often the specific characteristics of the fungus are visible directly in the stem part, and this is the best way to make sure that the fungus is not poisonous, Dāniele said. On the other hand, a cut-off fungus will have fewer adherent soil particles.

As reported earlier, this year has been unfriendly to mushroomers with very few fungi in the forests. 

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