How to pick mushrooms - cut or twist? How to pick mushrooms correctly and with pleasure: useful tips What is better to cut or twist mushrooms

For many years, disputes have not subsided among mushroom pickers - cut or twist. The answer to this question cannot be unambiguous.

Cut or twist?

It is necessary to cut the mushroom to the very root - so that the leg does not remain in the ground, otherwise it will begin to rot

It is extremely important to minimize the harm caused to the mycelium: it directly depends on whether there will be a mushroom harvest next year. However, there is no single correct answer to the question of what is the best thing to do: it all depends on what kind of mushroom it is, and on a number of other factors.

Mushrooms are twisted in the following cases:

• If the mushroom is tubular, that is, if it has a thick leg (boletus, boletus, boletus). We simply grab the mushroom and slowly turn it around its axis. We sprinkle the place where he grew up with earth for the speedy restoration of the damaged mycelium.
• If the fungus grows alone.

Mushrooms are cut in the following situations:

• If the mushroom is lamellar (camelin, wave, breast, etc.). The leg of such a mushroom is unusually fragile, and if you start to twist the mushroom, it will crumble.
• If there is a suspicion that the mushroom is wormy: by cutting, you can understand if this is so.
• If the mushrooms grow in a group, and not singly.

If the mushroom is hiding in the moss, then twisting will be difficult, and it is better to cut it off.

There is no single answer to the question of how best to pick mushrooms: you need to start from specific situation. The only thing you should definitely not do is to pull the mushroom out of the ground: it is likely that next year the mycelium will no longer be in the same place.

Autumn is in full swing. It makes you want to drop everything, dress warmly, take a basket or a bucket and go to the forest for mushroom hunting. Is it possible to find an occupation more exciting than walking among the trees, inhaling Fresh air, enjoy the smell of fallen leaves and look for boletus, late russula and honey mushrooms among them? Autumn is the time for mushroom pickers. However, do not forget that in the summer you can enjoy this exciting activity. Already in July, you can start looking for forest gifts, and August will delight you with mushroom abundance. Chanterelles, russula, milk mushrooms are waiting for those who want to take them into their basket. This article is about how to cut mushrooms, and whether or not to do it at all. You can decide for yourself. Also in the article you will find tips on how to behave in the forest.

Actual question

Most people take with them to the forest not only buckets, but also knives. But there are also those who ask quite a pertinent question whether it is necessary to cut the mushrooms with a knife or you can just twist them. There are different opinions on this matter. Which method to use is up to you - we will consider the advantages and disadvantages of both methods. It will also not be superfluous to learn how to properly cut mushrooms.

The first advantage of cutting is that part of the leg remains in the ground, which means that the mycelium will be safe and sound. That is why experienced lovers of "quiet hunting" from year to year come to the same places. They are sure that they will find a family of loved ones there and will come in handy if the legs are wormy or they need to be cleaned of earth and dirt.

You will also have to use it if it is tightly pressed to the ground, which means that there is no way to unscrew it.

How to properly cut mushrooms?

Many novice collectors are interested in how to properly cut mushrooms. The answer is simple: at the very base near the ground. But if the leg is wormy, then it is better to cut it off in a place where there are no traces of worms. If the pests have not exuded a hat, you can only take it into the basket. How to cut mushrooms? Of course, carefully so as not to harm the mycelium with a knife. Under no circumstances should you just pull them out.

Cut or twist?

Let's return to the reasoning about whether to cut or twist the mushrooms, and consider the advantages of the last action.

1. It is necessary to unscrew if you want to pick up the whole mushroom. However, as mentioned above, this action can injure the mycelium. So it's up to you how to proceed.
2. Adherents of the twisting theory also add in their favor the argument that when cut, the remains of the fungus that remain in the ground can become a favorable breeding ground for worms and insects, which does not benefit nature.
3. Mushrooms that have a full stem are best unscrewed. These include, for example, boletus.

Let's talk about foxes

Chanterelles can be found in the forest in August. In relation to them, no one even asks whether it is necessary to cut the mushrooms with a knife. The answer is clear, it's not worth it. As a rule, they don’t even need to be twisted - the chanterelles are taken out immediately with the mycelium. And only then, at home in the kitchen, they should be cleaned of soil, sand and dirt. These mushrooms are summer favorites.

Some rules

Very often in a forest clearing you can see a sad picture: worm mushrooms lying on the grass, it is crumpled, the mycelium dries. It is immediately obvious that there were not even novice amateurs here, but simply uncultured people who are not at all interested in how to properly cut mushrooms. They can't even leave their lawn in order. But there are rules of conduct in the forest, which simply must be observed. Regardless of what your decision is - to cut or twist the mushrooms, it is imperative to sprinkle the mycelium with earth and moss. And lightly, quite a bit, press on it with the sole of the boot. Easy, isn't it? By doing this simple action, you will not harm the mycelium, and next year you can find a rich mushroom "harvest" in this place.

Now you can safely go into the forest and not be afraid to do something wrong. Tell these simple rules those who are just starting to get involved in this exciting business - "silent hunting". Have a nice and productive trip! Let your buckets be filled to the top with beautiful and selected mushrooms! Master this art and avoid inedible specimens!

We all heard that an experienced forester always takes a knife with him into the forest (and also a rope and a gag, but that's a completely different story;) because mushrooms should never be pulled out of the ground, but only carefully cut off at the base of the legs .
For those who are already tormented by this question long years, those who suffer from sleepless nights, again and again returning to this riddle with their thoughts, I will say right away that this is a myth.

There is no need to cut the mushrooms, they can be pulled out of the ground without being tormented by remorse - this will not cause any harm to the fungus. Anyway, you can read no further.

Caution ahead of a boring scientific explanation!

Well, okay, rebel, have your way, you've made your choice. So, let's first try to figure out where this myth's legs grow from.

ORIGIN OF THE MYTH.

Try to immediately remember everything you know about mushrooms. Most likely you will remember that most of mushrooms known to you grow from the ground, that they do not move, that they have an underground and above-ground part. Those who studied biology well at school will probably recall other features: they reproduce by spores, they have cell walls, and like lower plants they don't have tissue. Whom does this description remind us of in the first place? That's right - this is very similar to the description of plants and it is not surprising that long time mushrooms were considered as such.

And what will happen if you approach, say, a blooming dandelion and pull it out of the ground? Of course, the dandelion will die, since you pulled out not only its shoot, but at the same time most likely pulled it out either with a part or with a whole root. However, there are quite a large number of plants, for example, lily of the valley, with highly developed underground organs in which they store a large amount nutrients- if only the shoot is cut off from such a plant, without damaging the underground part, then the plant will not die, and using its underground reserves forms a new shoot. Simply put, a new plant will grow in place of the cut plant. It is not difficult to guess that, not knowing how mushrooms actually work and mistakenly considering them a variety of plants, people transferred these ideas to them, deciding that by pulling out a mushroom, they damage its "root" (which it actually does not have) and having come to the erroneous conclusion that a new one will no longer grow in place of such a "pulled out" mushroom.

HOW THINGS REALLY ARE.
However, despite their superficial resemblance, mushrooms are not plants at all. They have a different biochemical composition, a different physiology, a different structure, and most importantly, unlike plants, they are not able to photosynthesize (in short, for those who have forgotten what PHOTOSYNTHESIS is, this is a way to obtain the necessary nutrients when a plant takes from environment carbon dioxide and water and using solar energy, produces proteins, fats and carbohydrates necessary for its life activity). Why did the dandelion, torn out by us as an example, die? Uprooting it, we deprived it of the ability to absorb water normally, the process of photosynthesis stopped and the dandelion died. For the same reason, it died when it was cut - by removing its aerial part, we deprived the root of the products of photosynthesis formed in the leaves and stem, and since he himself did not really store anything in the underground part, having lost nutrients, he was unable to form a new one. escaped and died again.

So how does a mushroom actually work? Like a plant, a fungus really consists of an above-ground and an underground part, but unlike a plant, the above-ground part of the fungus, called the fruiting body, is needed for only one purpose - to spread spores, i.e. approximately for the same for what we need to say an apple to an apple tree. The "real" mushroom is located underground and is called mycelium or, scientifically, MYCELIUM. It is the mycelium that represents the true body of the fungus, on the surface of which it absorbs water and those very decaying organic substances from the soil.
But what does it change, you say? Do you still need to cut the mushroom, and not pull it out? After all, pulling it out can damage the mycelium, right?

Not really. The fact is that mushroom myceliums are usually huge and occupy huge areas. For example, the most big mycelium in the world covers an area of ​​8,800,000 square meters http://www.nat-geo.ru/fact/41372-gigant-iz-oregona. Therefore, even if we imagine that some enterprising mushroom picker combs a certain forest up and down, tearing everything out of the ground fruit bodies, along the way, capturing several square centimeters of mycelium with them, even in this case, the hypothetical damage that will be inflicted on the mycelium will be negligible in comparison with its scale, and the mycelium will grow to its previous size faster than you read this post to the end. But if the mushroom is cut off, then a piece of the damaged leg will remain in the ground, in which putrefactive bacteria will start up that can penetrate into the mycelium and also damage some (also not very large, however, since mushrooms are great masters in the fight against bacteria) part of the mycelium.
As you can see, no matter how you twist it, the procedure for cutting a mushroom is completely pointless and potentially even more harmful, so the next time you go for mushrooms, feel free to tear them with your hands and don’t worry =)

P.S. There are a few biological inaccuracies in the text. The author knows about them and asks him not to throw poop at him for them especially =) I tried to make the text accessible to a wide range of people who do not have special knowledge in biology, so I had to simplify in places.

Autumn is a favorite time for fans of "quiet" hunting, because you can enjoy your favorite pastime - picking mushrooms. You walk through the forest, admire the beauty of Mother Nature and look - either under a bush, or under a tree, or even around a stump you will walk: is there a handsome boletus hiding there or is it a bug? Thick-legged, with elastic caps - they will be a welcome find and an excellent addition to the winter diet, because there is no doubt about the benefits of mushrooms.

However, even experienced mushroom pickers (let alone beginners) are interested in the question of how to pick mushrooms correctly: cut or pull out. From time immemorial, it was believed that it was better to cut it off, supposedly this way the mycelium remains intact, and a new “prey” grows out of it for lovers of such a calm, but exciting pastime. However, in last years people's opinions on how to pick mushrooms correctly: cut or pull out, are divided. Today we will consider this problem and find out whether it is necessary to use a knife on the "gribalka".

Experts believe that for picking mushrooms, the method that damages the mycelium less is better suited. The fact is that the body of the fungus itself is a huge number of threads resembling a cobweb. This network extends over vast distances, its radius can reach several hectares. Old segments of the mycelium die over time, new ones appear in their place, hence the phenomenon of mushroom places. However, in order for the mycelium to grow and give a good harvest, favorable conditions are necessary: ​​appropriate air temperature, humidity and availability of nutrients in the soil.

In principle, the mycelium is not afraid of mechanical damage: the dangling areas quickly overgrow, and a new one soon appears in place of the cut mushroom. But if you managed to get into a clearing of several beauties, collect them as carefully as possible, otherwise you will damage a large section of the grid, and it will be much more difficult for it to recover.

Mushrooms should not be cleaned where they were picked, because the waste that has fallen on the soil will begin to rot and can become a breeding ground for bacteria that will lead to the death of the mycelium.

Having found a mushroom in the forest, determine its type - tubular or lamellar. It is better to unscrew the tubular species, the twisted part of their legs will remain in the ground and prevent the mycelium from rotting. The easiest way is to “twist” porcini mushrooms, boletus, boletus and boletus.

Lamellar mushrooms such as russula are almost impossible to unscrew. Their legs inside are empty, fragile, they crumble from light touch. It is better to cut such "prey" with a knife.

Many types of mushrooms grow on trees, they are called "tongues" in the common people. The legs of the "tongues" are tasteless, but the hats taste very much like meat. You need to collect them only with a knife, otherwise it is unrealistic to tear the fungus off the bark without damaging it.

So you know how to pick mushrooms correctly: cut or pull out. But in the end, let me give you one piece of advice: going to " quiet hunting”, remember that you are going to visit the Forest. Behave decently: do not make noise, do no harm, treat the forest dwellers with respect, and Mother Nature will give you a generous harvest of mushrooms and berries in gratitude!

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