The oldest method ofmushroomcultivation has brook the trial of time and is still the first method many cultivators attempt . However , some multitude try and fail , or give up hope before their logs have had a hazard to fruit . Success with log polish depends on timing , woodwind option , spawn quality , and maintaining salutary conditions for mycelial emergence and mushroom cloud exploitation .
get down by choose and harvesting good forest . As with sawdust , most wood - bonk mushrooms prefer hardwoods without strong fungicidal properties . Cut log from resilient tree in wintertime to early outpouring when the sap has begun to flow and before the leaves unfurl ; this is when the wood has the highest level of sugar and barque is tightest . Wood cut at other times will influence but will return few mushroom cloud .
The ideal size of it for output log is 4 to 6 inch by 4 foundation , though other size can work . It ’s said that shiitake log can produce for as many years as the logarithm has column inch of diameter . Cut cleanly and void decayed wood , abundant branch check stub or damage barque . Store logs out of direct dry land contact . Inoculate logs as presently as possible or up to eight weeks after harvest before other fungi get a capitulum start on the wood .
Inoculation
Two methods predominate for log inoculation .
Plugs are more convenient , but I prefer the higher inoculation pace and cheaper material of the sawdust spawn method .
Drill holes 11⁄2 inches deep in a 4 - inch aslope grid approach pattern over the woods , approximately 4 to 6 staggered rows of 8 to 12 jam . For plug , use a5⁄15 - column inch bit , and for palm or funnel shape vaccination , use a moment with the same diameter as your tool ; mine is1⁄2 inch . large holes are not urge because spawn may flow out . If you ’re perish to do a lot of logs , look at buying an plumber’s snake snatch for an angle wedge , which bores holes right smart faster and easier than a recitation . Sanitize hands and peter with inebriant , then get the spawn into the hole , making it flush with thesurface of the bark .
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varnish the inoculation hole with hot molten beeswax or cheese wax applied with a paintbrush or turkey tacker . Sealingkeeps out contaminants and fungus - exhaust invertebrates , and keep open in moisture . Some people wax the cutting ends of the log , too , but this is optional and uses a great deal of wax . I use a humble slow cooker to melt my wax , though a threefold kettle or a dedicated pot or atomic number 50 can on a burner work as well . Logs are labeled with coinage , air and inoculation date encipher on tags that are cut from an aluminum can and tacked on with small nails .
Spawn Run
Stack logs tightly in a shady place out of direct ground contact , such as on a palette . The close quarters kick upstairs mycelial growth as well as rival growth , so after a calendar month or two , restack more openly like a log cabin ( crib stack ) , A - frame of reference , or skimpy - to to reduce competition imperativeness . Monthly watering ( or soaking for two hours or less ) is beneficial in very red-hot , dry summers . Sufficient myceliation to back up fruitings typically takes six month to two years , depending on spawning rate , coinage and strain , temperatures , Ellen Price Wood type and logarithm size . Mycelium and forest debasement may be visible at the ending . Logs may be a bit lighter than at vaccination .
Judging when logs are quick to fruit ordinarily takes experience , but there are a couple of ways to screen .
A drop in pH from 5.5 - to-6 to 3.8 - to-4 indicates facility ( put 10 gm interior forest into 100 cubic centimeter distilled water and measure pH ) . One may turn off a thin turn from the end of a log , wash it with condense water and place in a pliant bag . Mycelial ontogeny should be visible within a week if it ’s ready to fruit . If climactic precondition are contributory and log are quick , spontaneous fruitings will permit you know .
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Fruiting
When left to the atmospheric condition , myceliated log will ordinarily give one or two flushes per twelvemonth . To induce fruiting during warm months ( May to August ) , logs are soaked in H2O for 24 hours and restacked upside - down from how they were previously stack . The inundation of water expels CO2that has build up in the wood and supply the wet for mushroom formation . Shiitake logs are further stimulated by a physical electrical shock , like being slammed on the ground just be careful not to overly damage the bark . log should be provide to rest and dry out out for about seven weeks after a flush is reap but can be boost to fruit up to three time per quick season .
Growing Mushrooms on Stumps
Stump cultivation is a great laissez - faire approach . Because stumps are still connected to the tree ’s root , they wick wet up from the ground . Stumps are best inoculate when freshly cut , before a wild mushroom cloud flush in the surface area air spores galore onto the geld side .
Stumps are inoculated in the same way as log , though the cut face is also inoculated , mostly in the nutritious sapwood tight to the bark . gash or channel may also be cut into a stump with a ( concatenation ) saw and mob with sawdust spawn .
coinage particularly suit to stumps include pioppino , nameko , huitre , enoki , maitake , reishi , cauliflower mushroom , volaille of the Mrs. Henry Wood andturkey fanny . Shiitakeis not urge for stump .
If growing gilled mushroom on log or dais , be sure of your identification in event venomous lookalikes grow spontaneously . Inoculated logs can be sunken into guts in pots or into ground like posts , imitating a stump - similar precondition . New Society Publishers
The preceding clause on mushroom cultivation was excerpted fromDIY Mushroom Cultivation : develop Mushrooms at Home for Food Medicine and Soilby Willoughby Arevalo fromNew Society Publishers .
