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Permalink Reply by Jim on May 18, 2008 at 11:46am

Hey there,
This is something I've always wanted to try. How does a beginer get started as far as supplies.....

Permalink Reply by Samantha on May 18, 2008 at 5:34pm

I would try ordering some shitake plugs from http://www.mushroomharvest.com/. The plugs come in various sized bags. A bag of 1000 plugs will inoculate about 20 4 foot long and 4 inch diameter logs. Oak is best for shitakes. Other supplies you will need are 1 lb of cheese wax which is also available from the same company. A drill with a 5/16 wood drill bit is also necessary. The plugs come with a very good instructional sheet and they will keep in your fridge for up to 6 months in case you don't get around to inoculating all 20 logs at once. Also you will need a space where you can put your logs and leave them undisturbed. The best place is in the woods where they are shaded and will stay moist. If it is particulary dry this summer it would be good to water your logs with a garden hose once in a while to keep them moist. They will produce far faster.

If you find you like to grow mushrooms and want to do more it is best to get an inoculation tool and start using sawdust spawn since it is much more cost effective. If you use plug spawn the cost is $32.00 plus shipping and another $4.50 or so for a pound of cheese wax. Sawdust spawn on the other hand cost $17.00 per bag and will inoculate the same amount of logs as 1000 plugs. The start up cost are a bit higher though because you have to purchase a $31 inoculation tool (which will last for many many years if taken care of) and you will need a pound of cheesewax and a 7/16 wood drill bit.

Shitake logs can take awhile to produce 6-12 months but are worth the wait. If you want to try a faster producing mushroom then I would try to grow Oyster mushrooms. The fruit very quickly and love to grow on Poplar which can be easier to come by than Oak at times. You can cultivate Oyster mushrooms using the same method you use to grow shitakes or you can simply take two Poplar rounds about 12-18 inches tall and sandwich a thin layer of sawdust spawn inbetween them. You have to use a large nail on one side to hold them together. This method is called the "totem method:. You can find out a lot more about the totem method online. It is really easy to do.

One thing that is important is to try to inoculate logs that have been cut no more than 3 weeks before inoculated. Logs that have laid around on the ground a long time usually already have fungi inhabiting them. The sooner you inoculate after cutting the logs the better.

Another thing to consider is if you have any trees on your property that need be gotten rid of or if a neighbor does. There are many many kinds of edible mushrooms out there and some prefer to grow on one tree over another. There is even an oyster mushroom that will grow on Pine trees.

Permalink Reply by Kim Donaldson on September 10, 2008 at 7:06pm

"The sooner you inoculate after cutting the logs the better"

Not so. Trees contain natural anti-fungicides. They degrade after 3 weeks. So, logs should be inoculated not before 3 weeks after cutting. I believe 3 weeks to 3 months is the rule of thumb. Good luck and happy gardening.

Permalink Reply by Murphy Hersey Family on November 23, 2008 at 11:11pm

I'm interested in growing mushrooms but am a newbie. Can you start logs in the winter? I thought mushrooms needed warm air to grow?

Jennifer

Permalink Reply by Samantha on November 29, 2008 at 11:26am

You can start logs in the winter. In fact many people recommend cutting and inoculating logs in the fall and winter. The mycelium will grow very slowly in the winter but will go crazy when temperatures rise. If you want to increase growth you can put the logs in the greenhouse or a garage where the temperature is higher and water them. There are also some varieties of Shitake and Oyster mushrooms that fruit at 45-60 degrees. We usually use a wide range Shitake spawn that fruits at 55-80 degrees but have had good success growing a strain of Shitake that fruits at 45-60 degrees. I have attached the brochures that we give to customers that buy logs from us. There is a lot of info in there that might be useful. Sorry I have took so long to respond to this discussion. I will try to be better about that in the future. The farm and the holiday has been keeping me busy.

Attachments:

• The Chestnut Mountain Farm Shitake Brochure.pdf, 84 KB
• Oyster Mushroom Brochure.pdf, 31 KB

Permalink Reply by Murphy Hersey Family on November 29, 2008 at 7:49pm

Thank you. I have a few more questions:
Approx. how many mushrooms can you harvest off of one of these logs?
How long do they continue to fruit?
Would they grow in a cellar with just one dim small window?

Jennifer

Permalink Reply by Samantha on November 30, 2008 at 9:23am

We get the question regarding yield a lot and it is a bit tricky to answer since a lot depends on how the grower treats the log. According to a study by Clemson University one can expect to get 35-33% of the dry weight of the log back in mushrooms. Our Shitake logs weigh around 30 lbs so we would expect to get 7.5-10 lbs back over the life of the log. The life of an average Shitake log is at least 5 years but they can last much longer in some instances. I would not advise growing Shitakes in a cellar with a dim window. There natural environment is in a shady spot underneath the canopy of a hardwood forest. Underneath any shade or yard tree would work.

Permalink Reply by Kaya on December 4, 2008 at 10:18am

Hi there,
I have two of Samantha's oak/shitake logs under my plum tree I will keep everyone posted on how they are progressing. I am considering moving one of them to a warmer location and watering to see what difference it makes. Does it need filtered light? And maybe misting it once a day? Do you think the water quality matters? Fitered, tap, de-ionized, I guess rainwater would be best but I worry about introducing mosquito larvae indoors. Maybe I could put it in the crawlspace near the furnace and hmmm... no I shouldn't be encouraging humidity there....Any suggestions?