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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Jan 16, 2016 11:49:22 GMT -5
For me, the easiest way to grow mushrooms is on logs. Inoculate them. Put them in a shady spot where the irrigation system can hit them. Forget about them other than checking for mushrooms after rains and in the fall.
I have stopped using cardboard because I don't know where it's been. As much as possible I avoid eating things that were manufactured by The Corporation.
These days I am doing pretty much all of my mushroom cultivation in non-sterile conditions.
I inoculated straw bales in a couple of different ways with oyster mushrooms. They didn't thrive. It seems to me like straw should be shredded before use as a mushroom growing media.
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Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Jan 17, 2016 0:30:47 GMT -5
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Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Jan 17, 2016 14:36:54 GMT -5
I could have sworn at some point you said you were growing some wild oyster mushrooms collected from the wild in addition to ones from the store. If so, have you seen a difference between the local (adapted?) Strain vs bought from the store strains? I also found this interesting video about how Turkey Tail mushrooms can help re-invigorate the immune system in immune compromised individuals like those with cancer. www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXHDoROh2hA...also paul mentions on other places that the same effect mushrooms have in humans for helping to eliminate viruses and boosting the immune system may also be at play in wild honey bee populations, and that because of artificial honey bee boxes and the lack of natural fungal communities that these bees may be more susceptible to factors causing colony collapse disorder. www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAw_Zzge49c |
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Jan 17, 2016 20:54:41 GMT -5
There were differences in color between the wild mushroom and the cultivated ones. They all fruited at about the same time and under the same conditions. I made hybrids between the wild and cultivated mushrooms, but lost the logs last summer so didn't get to see how they turned out. I'm keeping an eye out for more wild oyster mushrooms. I'm collecting spores from cultivated varieties whenever I get the chance. Turkey tails are the wild mushroom that I see most commonly around here... Mostly I see fallen logs that just lay around for years on end with no signs of mushrooms growing on them. Wild Mushroom:  Cultivated Mushrooms:  |
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Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Jan 17, 2016 22:01:49 GMT -5
cool. I also would have liked to see how the hybrids would have turned out. Perhaps in the future the opportunity will present itself.
Turkey Tail mushrooms are ones i'd like to go looking for early this spring when the snow melts. I've heard a good time to look is right after snow melts in the early spring. There are lots of cottonwoods or poplar types around here that i'd like to go looking for them. I just ordered some mushroom books specific to Colorado and/or the Rocky Mountains. Here's hoping at least one of them comes in handy.
I was going to ask you if you've tried making your own spawn plugs. But looking back through this thread it looks like you have experimented both with stuffing chunks into holes and sealing them later and the "liquid turkey baster method". Have you noticed any difference in the effectiveness of any of the methods? Do they all work equally the same?
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Jan 18, 2016 0:25:19 GMT -5
Making my own spawn plugs involves sterile growing conditions, and/or buying dowels from The Corporation. I'm not much into either one of those activities any more. I tried making spawn plugs out of wild harvested twigs, but sterilization of the twigs was problematic.
Mushrooms pretty much do what they want, when they want, regardless of what I want. I collaborate with a lady that grows glorious mushrooms. She has mastered sterile conditions and maintaining the environment at just the right temperatures and humidity. She uses optimal media preparation techniques like chopping the straw.
The difference in our methods boils down to: she puts a lot of work into the mushrooms, and is richly rewarded for her efforts. I put minimal work into mine, and am rewarded sporadically. I'd get better results if I stored my logs in some sort of a chamber with higher humidity, perhaps by using an automatic humidifier or mister.
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Post by eastex on Jan 20, 2016 19:56:33 GMT -5
, so, you have had success growing on logs without sterilizing them? I have some fruit tree logs I've recently acquired and was really wanting to grow some shrooms in this newly cleared bed on the north side of my house that receives ZERO direct sunlight. But everything I've read stresses all this super strict sterilization so I've been discouraged. I know the logs aren't chemical laden, but in this area fungi are plentiful, so I also couldn't swear some mystery mushrooms wouldn't pop up along with the inoculated ones... Thoughts? |
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Jan 20, 2016 21:36:26 GMT -5
If you adhere to the current mainstream creation mythos, then mushrooms have been out-competing micro-organisms for 400 million years. I believe that the current infatuation with growing mushrooms under sterile conditions is an aberration and a marketing ploy. Mushrooms haven't forgotten how to grow in dirty conditions. Sure, mushroom weeds appear on my logs. Some of them are edible. I only eat those that I recognize. The chance of weedy mushrooms is diminished if the logs are planted soon after cutting. These mushrooms were grown in non sterile conditions. No weedy mushrooms appeared in two years.  |
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Post by steev on Jan 20, 2016 21:41:02 GMT -5
Mushrooms grow out in real life naturally; if one wants the rigor of totally-controlled conditions, one can have largely predictable results, otherwise not, as joseph posts; so long as you are confident of what you inoculated, something distinct from questionable others found in your area, no problem.
Oh, BTW, if you're really growing "shrooms", as opposed to "mushrooms", please let me know; I'll PM my address.
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Post by philagardener on Jan 21, 2016 6:34:06 GMT -5
In my yard, Turkey Tails are giving my Shiitakes some stiff competition. Fungal hyphae can defend themselves and fight it out at microscopic levels; part of the idea of mass innoculation of logs is to give the species you want a head start over wild competitors.
If you ever have admired the patterns in spalted wood, the dark lines are places where different fungi came into contact and secreted defensive compounds as the wood started to rot.
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Post by eastex on Jan 21, 2016 18:41:34 GMT -5
Okay, so here's my crazy thought: make a square tower of logs for shiitake and oysters. But my crazy thought is to fill the tower with a mix of aged manure and straw n grow my crimini/portabello in there. Like a giant mushroom growing tower. XD. It might just turn into one big hot mess, but it might be awesome too.
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Post by philagardener on Jan 21, 2016 19:00:58 GMT -5
Interested to hear how this turns out! Set it up somewhere you are able to keep it damp if you have a dry spell.
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Post by eastex on Jan 21, 2016 20:15:09 GMT -5
It will be in this one bed on the side of my house that never gets sun. I am really excited to play mad scientist with my mushrooms!
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Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Oct 19, 2016 23:56:14 GMT -5
Okay, i will try to update you guys on my progress into this new foray. Today i received my spawn plugs for pearl oyster and blue oyster mushrooms. Today i drilled some holes in both the borer infested choke cherry tree (maybe it should be hauled away to prevent further infections spreading to the peach tree). And an old hunk of rotting lumber or whatever that are nailed together (not sure it's original purpose). In the garage i threw together some cut cardboard boxes in an unused drink cooler (it has a nice drainage spout on the bottom probably originally intended for lemonade) and thew in the old aerator circle that i bought a few years ago for my failed 5-gallon bucket hydroponic experiment and hooked up the fishtank pump that i had bought with it. I drilled some holes in the cardboard and put some plugs in there too. I tied the cardboard sheets together loosely with some twine. In the logs / tree i used a squirt bottle to squirt some water in the holes as i was plugging them. I opted not to use any wax this time to seal them off. not sure if the wax is intended more to keep in moisture or to prevent competition and sterilization, but i figure the mycelium on the plugs will already give it an advantage over any other spores, plus oyster mushrooms are supposed to be very fast growers and thereby the best to out-compete others. I haven't received the fog/mister from china yet, but i plan to try and use that in future mushroom experimentation for humidity. The aerator at the bottom with the water is meant to help circulate oxygen to the spawn and mycelium plugs above waterline. I've watched some videos on youtube and googled a bit and i think this mushroom growing stuff can be improved upon. I think if humidity and adequate oxygen are given to the mycelium then they should grow faster. Maybe even more available nutrients. But more nutrients may encourage more competition with other fungi, so that has to be considered. So we will see how this turns out. Either it will work or it will be a complete flop. But i'm excited. The blue oyster mushrooms are supposed to be able to take cooler temperatures than the pearl oysters, so i think they will have an advantage in the garage the winter. Do any of these edibles grow on conifer sawdust? My favorite local sawmill has basically an unlimited supply of sawdust, but its mostly white pine and eastern hemlock. This is not an all inclusive list but i found this nice table that is quite helpful.  |
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Post by keen101 (Biolumo / Andrew B.) on Oct 22, 2016 23:11:53 GMT -5
This thread is one of my favorites, i just keep coming back to it. Especially now that i'm excited to be actively experimenting with inoculating and trying to grow with the oyster mushroom plugs that i bought online. I received those $3 chinese fog ultrasonic fog mister things, but they are smaller and weaker than i had hoped. I think i will need to upgrade them. Never-the-less i am trying to use them and experiment with what i have as the experience i can translate to better equipment in the future. I built myself a mini humidity chamber in the garage using an unused cooler, my old 5-gallon-bucket-lid-pot-thing from my failed hydroponic/compost tea experiment a few years back, the old fishtank pump and aeration tube that was from the same failed hydroponic/compost tea experiment, and one of those tiny fog machine thingies. In the cooler i placed some cutup cardboard pieces tied together with twine and drilled some holes and places some mycelium spawn plugs in them. With the aeration pump and the mister i think i can see some of the mycelium starting to grow on the cardboard, but it's too early to tell.    Joseph Lofthouse , i noticed your earlier experiments cited spent coffee beans as a good substrate you are now using, and i think that would make a good one, but i alas don't currently have access to any to try at the moment. But it would be very clever to find a small local coffee shop and make a deal to get lots of used coffee beans for free to then turn into mushrooms. Joseph Lofthouse , I also noticed that you mentioned the cardboard was not a good medium for you as you suspected they needed some sort of nutrient. I'm curious as to why you think so? I've looked a little online and I've seen a few other success with oyster mushrooms and cardboard going well. I however don't think cardboard would work for button mushrooms as i always see them in dirt or manure of some sort. Going back to my old jello and dextrin experiments i found that dextrin was highly attractant to growing Penicillium mold. I made my dextrin from corn starch by placing in an oven for awhile. I think dextrin is some sort of plant-based sugar that fungi can use, so i think i will continue to experiment with it as a mushroom nutrient and see if i get good results. I might even dissolve it in water or hydrogen peroxide as a spray. I've read hydrogen peroxide in other mushrooms grower techniques is recommended (not so much as a disinfectant, although i like that idea) as an oxygen suppliment since mushrooms need oxygen and often are in too high of Carbon Dioxide containers. I'm excited to see the mycelium grow. The only experience i have with mycelium was back in 2010 when i accidentally inoculated a homemade jello-based "agar" dish with some old dried yellow mushrooms i had saved as a curiosity. The same day i remembered i had the mushrooms and so i tried crushing them up and putting them in a pot of dirt. I guess i was not careful and transferred some of those spored to the jello agar (with bullion cube nutrients). I'm glad i did though because it was a fun mistake and much more interesting than the mold in the other containers. Leucocoprinus birnbaumii  Here is an approximate recreation of that old experiment with what i have today. Using a pyrex petri dish, some tryptic soy agar, a little dextrin, and two different oyster mushroom mycelium spawn plugs to inoculate. We will see what happens if anything.  |
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