Mushrooms have exploded in popularity in recent years.
From medicinal to magic, mushrooms are chock-full of nutrients and benefits, and are an easy addition to your diet and lifestyle.
If you’re a newbie mushroom enthusiast, it may be a little difficult to get started. You probably have a lot of questions running through your head–where do I get started?
What are the best forums and resources for mushrooms? Can everything be found online?
Luckily, we’ve created the definitive guide for you. In this article, we cover the top mushroom forums and online groups so you can learn as much as you can.
Did we forget a forum you love? Let us know!
Understanding the type of forums
Mushrooms have been around for millenia, but the internet is merely a miniscule tick on Earth’s timeline. Mushroom forums sprouted online in the internet’s infancy, and while some have evolved with the times, others were not as lucky.
The introduction of social media has allowed the community to grow without having to look far and wide for help.
Mushrooming is a community. The recent shift in highlighting the benefits of vegan, vegetarian, and plant-based diets has added to the trending interest in mushrooming. With the wide net of the internet, the community can help you learn, grow, and connect virtually and even in person.
While online forums have been around much longer than social media groups and Reddit threads (subreddits), there are pros and cons to all. A huge benefit to the online forums is their breadth of knowledge, but some may be dated so it’s important to check the dates and cross-reference newer research. Since they are older they are not readily available offline unless you view them in a browser through your phone.
Social media groups and subreddits have the benefit of being at your fingertips. With hundreds of thousands of members each, there will likely be an answer somewhere for all of your questions. However, it’s important to note that although these groups have moderators, the world of social media is so fast-paced that not all spam or misinformation can be caught right away.
1. Online forums
Online forums were the original ‘shrooming community connection. Message boards were all the rage, a like-minded place where strangers could connect and bond about a mutual topic and learn. These forums are a great place to find in-depth information while making friends along the way.
2. Social media groups
It’s safe to say that social media changed the world: individuals that you’d otherwise never have the chance to interact with are now only seconds away on your phone. Facebook is the leader in mushroom growing groups, with a nearly endless stream of groups for mushroom growers and enthusiasts. There’s more than likely a growing community in your state or city, which is a great way to meet new friends!
3. Reddit
Whether you consider it to be a social media platform or not (where else can you peruse forums anonymously?), Reddit is a hotbed of unique subreddits with little-known information. Reddit is famously unfiltered, offering insight on topics without bias–unlike social media influencers with their #sponsored ads.
The top mushroom forums and groups
Diving into a new hobby is exciting and overwhelming. With an overabundance of information available, it’s hard to know what to trust and what is credible. While there are hundreds of sites dedicated to mushroom education, blogs, and purchasing mushrooms, there aren’t many forums or groups available in comparison. We’ve done the work for you, curating the best resources and who it’s ideal for.
1. Shroomery
Shroomery is the OG of the mushroom forum world. It was founded in the late 1990s, and its format hasn’t changed much since. Its nostalgic feel will take you right back to that time period while providing a vast amount of information.
Shroomery specializes in magic mushrooms, with a plethora of knowledge including general information, mushroom cultivation, trip reports, a message board, and a tight-knit community. Don’t let the old-school forum template fool you, Shroomery’s library of documents is still being updated daily.
This forum is ideal for: growers and magic mushroom enthusiasts
2. Morels
Morels.com was founded by a group of enthusiasts who love morels mushrooms and morel mushroom hunting. It’s unclear when the website was founded, but it was accumulated over 265,000 posts all related to morels mushrooms. Like Shroomery, it uses an older forum template. Navigating the site may be a little tricky, but it provides a lot of great information.
This forum is ideal for: growers, particularly those interested in morels mushrooms
3. Wild Mushroom Hunting
Wild Mushroom Hunting has several forums and message boards dedicated to the mushroom community. From general mushroom discussions and identifying mushrooms to cooking and sharing recipes, growers and new enthusiasts alike can bond over their love of mushrooms.
This forum is ideal for: growers, foragers, and aspiring chefs
4. Mushroom Observer
If you’re a visual learner, Mushroom Observer is a great choice for you. It’s goals are to record mushroom observations, identify mushrooms that are unfamiliar, and to expand the community “around the scientific explorations of mushrooms.” Users upload photos of the mushrooms and others can comment to assist them in identifying it. The site makes it clear for newer cultivators to not be intimidated by the scientific angle of their site. They welcome all, and encourage knowledge.
This forum is ideal for: cultivators
4. Mycotopia
Mycotopia is another old-school forum with a look reminiscent of early 2000’s computer games. It was founded in 2001, and has a vast library at your fingertips.
From general discussions in The Lounge to learning how to grow edible, medicinal, and other fungi in Here We Grow, Mycotopia is a great resource that is still updating its information.
This forum is ideal for: growers, foragers, magic mushroom enthusiasts
5. Mycotek
A little younger compared to its virtual cousins, Mycotek was founded in 2011 as a community for mycology. There are several topics you can peruse or post in, such as mushroom cultivation, gardening and horticulture, health and wellness, and even the medical cannabis forums if you’re also a cannabis connoisseur.
This forum is ideal for: growers, foragers, hardcore mushroom enthusiasts
6. Reddit: r/shrooms
This subreddit is the go-to option for anyone using the platform. With over 450,000 members, it has grown substantially since its conception in 2009. The large community is for discussing hunting and growing fungi, primarily psilocybin or psychedelic mushrooms.
This forum is ideal for: growers, cultivators, magic mushroom connoisseurs
7. Reddit: r/mycology
If you are more interested in mushrooms in general and not psychedelic mushrooms, then this subreddit is a great resource. Mycology is the branch of biology that studies fungi. This subreddit is for the enthusiast who wants to learn about foraging, cultivation, hunting, research, and wants to engage with the community by asking questions.
With 416,000 members, there’s bound to be an answer to your question that may have already been asked.
This forum is ideal for: foragers, cultivators, growers, researchers
8. Reddit: r/psilocybinmushrooms
A smaller subreddit, r/psilocybinmushrooms still provides a wealth of knowledge from its users. Psilocybin mushrooms–also known as psychedelic mushrooms–contain the psychedelic drugs psilocin and psilocybin.
At 84,700 members, this community can point you in the right direction whether you’re looking to cultivate, discuss, psychedelic research, medicinal research, and more.
This forum is ideal for: magic mushroom enthusiasts, cultivators, growers, foragers
9. Reddit: r/mushroomgrowers
If the other subreddits overwhelm you or if you’re mostly interested in growing mushrooms, this is a great place for you. It’s a community of professional and amateur growers collaborating on mushroom cultivation in a supportive manner.
At 231,000 members, there are thousands of posts to peruse for whatever question you may have.
This forum is ideal for: foragers, cultivators, growers
10. Facebook: Mushroom Growing
Facebook is another great resource for anyone in the mushroom community that wants something more accessible. The app can be downloaded on your smartphone in a snap so you don’t have to log onto your computer to check for updates.
The Mushroom Growing group is one of the largest available with over 221,000 members. It’s primarily for growers of edible gourmet and medicinal mushrooms and not psychedelic mushrooms due to their legality.
There is also a great amount of information in the files shared by the group to get you started.
This forum is ideal for: foragers, cultivators, growers
11. Facebook: The Shroomery
The Shroomery group is an unofficial group by members and fans active on the Shroomery forums. It’s not an official offshoot from the site but it still offers a lot resources from members for those who want to identify and cultivate mushrooms.
This forum is ideal for: foragers, cultivators, growers
12. Facebook: Mushroom Growing for Beginners & Experts
A great resource for newbies and seasoned growers alike, this group is perfect for anyone who’s looking to grow edible gourmet mushrooms. If you love to fire it up in the kitchen, there are plenty of members available with the best recipes to try with your newly grown shrooms.
This forum is ideal for: foragers, cultivators, growers, chefs
13. Facebook: Foraging for Wild Plants & Mushrooms
This group is all about freedom: the freedom to forage for your own food in the wild for free, and with higher nutrients than even organic produce. With just under 50,000 members, there is a lot to learn from that surpasses mushrooms.
This forum is ideal for: foragers, cultivators, growers
14. Facebook: Fungi of the World
This 100,000+ member group is for fungus enthusiasts around the world. By encouraging discussion of your latest finds and why that particular fungi is attractive to you, this group is great for everyone, including those who like to cook.
This forum is ideal for: foragers, cultivators, growers
15. Facebook: Mushroom Identification
Another large group boasting over 267,000 members, this group is strictly for mushroom identification. This may be best for a more seasoned cultivator, but is still a great resource for seeing what different fungi species look like around the world in different seasons.
This forum is ideal for: foragers, cultivators
Diving into the world of mushrooms isn’t as difficult as you might think. There are SO many resources available online that you can readily access and sink your teeth into.
Whether you strictly want to grow and eat gourmet mushrooms or learn more about psychedelics, there are several options for you to choose from.
Your mushroom support system is strong, and it will only continue to grow.
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