Whoever says «it's a mushroom year» usually means porcini mushrooms. But in the same forest, on the same day, the porcini mushroom can be two weeks late and the chanterelle already finished. Mushrooms do not respond to the weather in the same way, and for this reason the app does not have just one score: it has one for each species.
Sixteen mushrooms, three ways to wait
Each mushroom looks at its conditions. In practice they boil down to three behaviors, and recognizing them changes the way you read the weather.
Who waits for a rain event
This is the case with porcini mushrooms: abundant rain is needed, and then mild weather. The good window falls two or three weeks later, not one: those who go out the weekend immediately following the storm almost always arrive early.
Who expects sustained humidity
Chanterelles and trumpets don't look at a single downpour: they look at whether the forest has been damp for weeks. A drizzly and cool summer, which does not decide anything for the porcini mushrooms, for them it is the good season.
Who waits for the warm ground
In spring, morels leave when the earth reaches a certain temperature. Here the rain matters much less than the calendar and the exposure of the slope.
And the times are not copied from a manual: they are measured on real findings, cross-referenced with the weather of those days.
Covered all year round
Following multiple species, the app covers the entire calendar, from spring morels to the honey mushrooms of the first cold: porcini, chanterelles (chanterelles, chanterelles), ovoli, morels, honey mushrooms, dogwoods, pinaroli, drumsticks, mumps, trumpets, grifole and others.
It is also the simplest way to avoid returning empty-handed in the months when the porcini is not around: in many woods, in those weeks, there is something else that no one collects.
The season is not the same for everyone
A printed calendar says «porcini from August to October» and it applies to no one. The season moves with the share — the good band drops by about six hundred meters per month, as we talk about in go up in altitude — and with the latitude: the calendar of those looking in Trentino is not that of those looking in Sicily.
This is why the score is always of one kind in a specific place, and not of one species in one region.
Four mushrooms remain unscored, on purpose
Four species that grow on wood do not have a score, and this is not an oversight. It was measured on real observations: for them the weather predicts nothing useful, because they depend on the wood they stand on much more than on last week's rain.
Giving them a number however would have been easy and would have made a fuller screen. But a number that is worth less than a tossed coin is worse than no number at all: in the data sheet for those species you find the season and the information, not a fake forecast.
How many species can you track
In the free plan you follow three at a time, and you change them whenever you want: same forest, same day, three different answers. With Premium you follow them all sixteen Together.
If you have to choose three, the criterion that works best is not "my favorites" but different periods: one in spring, one in mid-summer-autumn, one late. So the app has something to tell you every month, instead of six weeks a year.
Before collecting a new species
Following a mushroom in the app does not mean knowing how to recognize it. Species that resemble the good ones exist for almost everyone, and some are dangerous: before eating anything, have it checked by a mycologist or the mycological inspectorate of your local health authority. The app tabs they are a help, not the last word.
Frequently asked questions
How many species can I track for free?
Three at a time, changeable whenever you want. With Premium you follow all sixteen together.
Does the app only cover porcini mushrooms?
No: it follows sixteen mushrooms, from spring to winter, each with its own pattern. The porcini mushroom expects rain two or three weeks in advance, the chanterelle wants humid weeks, the morel wants the soil to warm up.
Why do some mushrooms not have a score?
There are four species that grow on wood: for them the weather, measured on real observations, does not predict anything reliable. Better no number than a number made in the air.
Can I change the species once the season has started?
Yes, whenever you want. Changing the selection does not affect the diary: the findings already saved all remain where they are.
Is the calendar the same throughout Italy?
No, and that's the limit of any printed calendar. The season shifts with altitude and latitude: the forecast always refers to a specific place, not to a region.
