Mushroom Cultivation

This accounts for most mushrooms eaten, especially in western countries. However, many of the most desirable types of mushroom are not grown commercially, because it has so far been impossible to reproduce in a nursery the specialized conditions which they require. Many cannot feed simply on rotting vegetation but have a complex parasitic or symbiotic relationship with living trees. All one can do is plant trees of the right species, scatter some spores of the mushroom or other fungus, and hope. This is done with truffles, but with only limited success.