Thoughts on Raising Mushrooms

[Amiga]

Greetings,

I have enjoyed using a few indoor mushroom kits, and am looking to expand on that. Seems I ought to be able to establish some mushroom growing structures outdoors in the woods. I have seen photo's of inoculated wood, stacked something like a log house.

Ideas? Thoughts? Experiences?

 

[Denim Deb]

I've thought of the same thing, but have no experience doing so. Hopefully someone out there does.

 

[sumi]

I haven't tried this myself yet, though it's on my to-do list. I have done some research into it and got the following info for growing ****take mushrooms:

Type of wood/tree:
Oaks are best, but hornbeam, ironwood, hard maple and sweet gum also work well. The lighter hardwoods give faster results but don’t last as long as the denser hardwoods like the oaks. Don'tt use softwoods like fir, pine, or cedar because they contain fungicidal resins.

Logs:
For best mushroom yields, cut the trees after the leaves turned brown, when the sap and sugar migrate down to the branches and trunk. Cut logs 3" to 6" in diameter, 40" long. Try not to damage the bark. Then loosely stack the logs in a semi-shady spot (under a tree for example) with some space between them. If you don't have a shady spot, cover them in 80% shade cloth. Inoculate the logs within 3 weeks or less after cutting them to size. Logs should be stacked spaced about a log-width apart and off the ground to reduce direct contact with dirt. Bricks, concrete blocks or a 3″ layer of gravel work well, and helps keep bugs away.

Inoculating:
For plug spawn, use a 5/16” bit and drill to 1” depth. For sawdust spawn, use a 7/16” bit, and drill to 1/2” depth below the bark. Start about 2” from the end of the log and drill holes in a grid pattern, about 6” apart along its length, and 2 1/2” around its perimeter.
Inoculate each log immediately after drilling the holes. If you are using plug spawn, tap a plug into each hole with a hammer until the plug is flush with the bottom of the bark. For sawdust spawn, dip the end of the inoculating tool into the open bag of spawn to pick up some spawn, place the end of the inoculation tool over a hole and push the handle down with your thumb, squeezing the sawdust spawn down into the hole. Knock off any excess spawn with your finger.Check that all the holes in a log are inoculated, then dab a thin coat of melted, hot cheese wax over each inoculated hole, using a bristle brush or a wax dauber. Make sure the wax is not too hot. This wax will protect the spawn against insects and prevent drying out.

Soaking:
During the nine-month incubation period you need to keep the logs damp. You can either soak your logs by sprinkling them for 2-3 hours once or twice a week, or by immersing them in water for 8-12 hours every two weeks (or more often depending on the weather). You can use a clean trash can for 8 hours, then flip the logs end-over-end and soak them for another 8 hours. Aim to maintain a 45-60% internal log moisture content. It’s better to do infrequent deep soakings, but frequent light ones may be needed when it’s hot and dry. It is important that the bark is allowed to dry between soakings in order to discourage weed fungi.

Fruiting:
The incubation period needs to include least one warm season. The mycelium produces mushrooms in response to stress, for example a rapid increase in moisture and a sudden drop in temperature. The first harvest will occur naturally after cool Fall or Spring rains. Once fruiting has begun, keeping optimal temperatures and high air humidity will produce higher yields and uniform quality. Fruiting is close when white splotches of mycelium appear at the ends of the logs. You can choose to let the logs fruit naturally while keeping them from drying out with an occasional deep soaking during hot, dry weather. This “natural” fruiting method yields lots of mushrooms in the Spring and Fall, but few or none in the Summer and Winter.

 

[Amiga]

The wetting process looks . . . cumbersome. But then again, having high quality nutrition for only four hours a week doesn't sound like such a bad tradeoff.

 

[Hinotori]

Check out Fungi Perfecti here http://www.fungi.com/ They carry books as well as all your mushroom needs.

I'm really thinking about ordering some spawn.

 

[Amiga]

I have bought indoor mushroom kits from them in the past and was very happy with the results. They also sell spawn you can sprinkle on the mulch in your vegetable garden, so you can get a harvest of both veg and mushrooms, and the mycelium of the mushrooms helps the vegetables grow stronger.

 

[Hinotori]

They are within an hour drive of me so I've thought about going down there. They've been at the Mother Earth News Fairs here as well

 

[Denim Deb]

Amiga, I'll have to look into that! I have mushrooms coming up in my garden, but have no idea what they are, so I'm not about to try and eat them.