I have a question maybe you could answer...I use to get giant puffballs growing in one spot on my property..One year, one got a large as a small kitchen table....
One year I put out a salt lick for the deer and of course during the winter snows and spring rains I am sure a lot of the salt went into the ground. Now I have no puffballs growing....is it possible that the salt lick killed the puffballs rooting system...
I haven’t had any for 5 years now....and only had put out one salt lick.....
just wondering if that could have been the reason they disappeared...every once in a while I will get a handful or morels in spring, but never in the same place twice...thanks..
What makes mushrooms grow in one place and not another is not even entirely understood by mycologists and I am not one. My reference library is pretty large, too, so I’ve done some reading on the subject. However, I would guess that the salt did cause the soil to stop being a welcome place for the puffballs.
I’ve noticed that chanterelles and boletes do tend to appear in the same place year to year - shaggy manes also. I think it may have more to do with the nutrients in the soil as apposed to any root system. The mushrooms that aren’t picked leave their spores in the same area where they grow and then grow from the spores taking root the next year or whatever year they appear again. Weather conditions also have an effect on it for sure.
There are some great references on mushrooms on the internet. Many are on university sites. But here is one that is really detailed:
Wish I knew the answer to your question but I am just guessing. Maybe you can find a lead on the above site or by Scroogling it - something like “growing conditions mushrooms” might be a good start.
Hope your puffballs come back. They are to die for when picked all white on the interior, sliced and then browned in a skillet in butter. Yummee!