How big is your thumb? I'm no expert, but I think they might grow a little before cows, deer, rabbits, etc., find and eat them.

We just snap them off at the base, don't pull them out of ground. We harvest all, but if you leave the base, they should come back. Works for us.

I tried to post this last night, but it never made it.

I also leave the "root" of the morel in the ground. The reason I asked about size because I read that someone near me in VA found 160 last weekend and 40 of them were the size of beer cans! I was just wondering if the little ones that I found had the potential to get that big?

Of course I couldn't refind them so it doesn't matter!

The morel spread by spores from the mature mushrooms, so the best way to spread the sp[ores is to carry them in a mesh bag NOT PLASTIC.
the spore must contact bare earth so an occasional scratch at the ground is helpful.

If you do not do anything foolish like rototill the ground were the morelles are then they should come back.

can I ask where you learned this about morals. Ive read everything I san find on them and Ive never heard that if you carry them in a mesh bag the spores will drop and come back next year, Ive heard all kinds of myths about them like dumping out the water you rinse them in (tryed it dont work) or leaving the stem also doesnt work. if theres a book out there that someone knows about. please let me know

Morells are a the fruiting body of a fungus and as such produce spores when mature, by carying them in a mesh bag or pouring your rinse water you are incresing the odds that some spores will make it out and hopefully turn into a new colony, there is no garauntee that they will however, but chances are the colony you did nothing with is still there, try burning some of the grass in the area were you had them, fires are supposed to make morrels fruit more (in the following year).

We have these things all over our place. I wont eat them myself but I give them to the cute girl some times.
Leaving aside the bizzare diet thing...
They do seem to love my Pine and Fir stumps and fire is indeed their number one buddy. a couple years back I burnt a trench about a foot wide and 50 feet long across a hillside and it looked like a dang row crop when they popped up.. They did seem to grow in size for a day or two once they popped.
The spore thing is understandable. These seem to hold the spores more than the plate shaped fungi. I never got a good spore print off one ever. The mesh bag would only work if the fruit was actually letting go of the spores and that is after the point that they seem to be attractive to the fungi munchers. By the way I have never seen any evidence of them being eaten by critters here.
As far as leaving them goes I would say leave half and leave the up hill and up wind fruit to maximize spore spread. These guys are doing vital work for the ecosystem.

Rangdrol, there is a reason they use pigs for truffle hunting, critters do eat 'shrooms if you have lots then you may just not notice because the herbivors that eat shrooms can't handle to much protein in thier diets. Also, you should pic them and sell them, at atleast 15 dollars a pound retail you can make good money if you have a dense patch. Up here in Alaska there was a fire near the town of Tok one year and some guy who spent his summers up there went out the next year and made a major contribution to his bankroll picking portobellos (or some very close relative) and sending them down to the states via air mail.

Morels grow around Hardwood trees. Yes, use a mesh bag and it will distribute the spores. Also, they can grow back from the stem, but if the mushroom comes up yellow, that particular root is done. I've done it. Burning also helps because it adds nitrogen to the soil. If you have livestock, put manure around where you found them.
As far as when you pick them, they all grow different sizes, so pick them when (or before)the base of the stem starts to turn dark.

'Morels grow around Hardwood trees.'

And other types as well. Sometimes under bushes and other times under nothing at all.

'Mesh Bag'

There are millions of spores. Many biologists feel that the mesh bag theory, while honorable, is overkill. The spores will flood the air with picking and holding and the opening of any bag.

'grow back from stem'

Don't bet the farm on it.

'If the mushroom comes up yellow...'

There are several types of morels, including blacks, greys, and yellows (various species in each). Sometimes blacks can appear grey dependent on the amount of sun that hits them. A black or grey will not come up yellow. Only yellows come up yellow. The 'root' is a type of sclerotia, which is a nutritional bank of MYCELIUM which is the growing vegetative body that grows underground. Not all mushrooms have them. Sclerotia is formed under the soil and when times are good the banks are used to create a mushroom.

'manure'

The mycelium of morels may gain some nutrition from manure, but more likely this form of patch substantiation will only destroy it. They feed primarily on dead and dying wood and vegetative debris.

'burning'

Don't start fires. period. Unless you are experienced with it and have a purpose other than mushrooms (some farmers burn ditches, etc.). Have permission from your local authorities to do so. Wildfires and burn sites are associated with stronger morel flushes. It is currently unknown why this correlation exists, but it is thought that the carbon rich wood debris is stimulatory to them.

This post is not meant to be argumentative or degrading in any way to the last poster. Please don't take it that way. But the info is wrong and needed to be corrected. I have added a link with lots of info for those interested.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mushroom Expert Morel Mania!

True, some spores will disperse from a mesh bag, but it's inconsequential.

So many spores are dispersed anyway, before you pick them, that they are probably scattered on every square inch of forest anyhow.

If I ever use mesh, it's just because it's fun to see the mushrooms through the bag.

Since this was posted long ago, there is new info that can help you get started with morels. Sand or gravel is needed as the nutrient poor substrate. You need this in order to influence the fungus to form its overwintering state known as sclerotia. Sclerotia are the seeds you use to get the mushroom fruitbodies. Plant them in the fall and you will get a localized patch of morels.

I have dried morels and spores. They are several inches tall, the cap, that is! Mine showed up during a drought. I was surprised. I'd share some if anyone is interested. Mine appeared under a gum and popular tree and always come back.
Lee

Do cattle eat morels? I used to find tons of them in the woods that is now pastured. Now I find none. Are the cows eating them? You can tell by the tracks the cattle are scrounging around the trees and through the brush instead of eating the good grass in the flat.

acidhorse, this surprises me. They're popping up all over my yard, apparently in response to the cardboard/fir mulch I put down. Not an iota of sand or gravel. This is the second year. Does this mean they'll poop out without a nutrient-free substrate? Maybe I could give them their own ash pile. :-)

Does anyone know about timing for trying to establish from spores in Central Texas? I know they grow here wild south of here about 50 miles.