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Ganoderma lucidum (Reishi)

13 (36.1%)

Grifola frondosa (Maitake)

4 (11.1%)

Pleurotus ostreatus (Blue Oyster)

4 (11.1%)

Laetiporus sulphureus (Chicken of the Woods)

4 (11.1%)

Lentinula edodes (Shiitake)

11 (30.6%)

Total Members Voted: 36

[Saros]

I'm planning on doing some mushroom cultures giveaways soon and I have several varieties going strong right now (gearing up to inoculate a bunch of logs this spring). I'm curious to know which of these interest our fellow seedians most?

I grew a decent amount of Reishi and Oyster last year and they were fairly easy. This will be my first year with Shiitake, Maitake, and Chicken of the Woods so I can't speak to how easy/difficult they are to cultivate.

6 Likes Mandrake, Caium, isaak, Greentoe, Turk0lok0 and 1 more people like this.

[isaak]

Great idea Saros! I was recently gifted reishi culture and shiitake spawn so I voted for maitake. The reishi and oyster you grew last year...did you fruit on logs or blocks? I'm planning on taking the supplemented sawdust route for the reishi and shiitake since I have neither the time nor space for logs currently.

[Saros]

Last year I grew them in 2 and 5 gallon buckets with a bunch holes drilled in the bottom and sides for drainage and fresh air.. they then fruited out of the holes as well. It worked really well for both Oyster and Reishi.

I used a variety of substrates.. straw, cardboard, sawdust, hardwood mulch. Straw contaminated the most for me, the hardwood mulch was very contamination resistant (but slower to colonize and fruit).

This year I'm going to do some in buckets again, but I'm also going to get some logs going. I just ordered a bunch of spiral cut dowels for creating my plugs:)

1 Like prasada likes this.

[isaak]

Thanks for sharing the bucket method - that sounds like a great low-tech method to pursue, especially since I can hang them from a tree in the back garden (shade, away from ground-bound insects etc.). Did you do anything to control the CO2 levels for the reishi? As I understand it, the growth-form is finger-like under high CO2 levels and conks-out (love that expression) as CO2 levels drop.

Did you try mixed substrates? From what you mentioned about the colonization rate vs. contams it seems like a mix of straw and hardwood mulch might be effective? I think Stamets' supplemented sawdust method is like that, ie. sawdust and chips.

Please keep us updated on your progress with the plugs! A tutorial/pictorial of your bucket method might also be a great addition to STS if you're up for it.

[Saros]

I'm sure I played around with mixing substrates, but I can't recall which combinations I tried:) Pretty sure I did straw and cardboard and that worked pretty well. I also did sawdust and hardwood mulch and that worked, but I had some contamination problems. Probably due to poor pasteurization than anything else. That combo should be excellent from what I've read.

Straw and wood could be good if you can keep it from contaminating before the wood colonizes... One way to find out!

I didn't have a problem with CO2 buildup because they fruit out of the holes and form little shelves like they would on a log. So they're just floating in open air and have all the O2 they can eat:) One mistake I made with some early buckets was that I didn't drill holes in the bottom and there was some stagnant water in the bottom which I think led to the early demise of those buckets.

I like the bucket method because you can hang them like you suggested or stack them up and created a mushroom tower. A lot easier to manage than plastic bags IMO. I'll see what I can do about a pictorial guide next time I start some buckets:) It's not my idea. I got it from another edible grower on another myco-forum.

[greengingers]

I am super keen to grow my own cullinary mushies! I am trying to get frm a friend of mine a pink oyster strain! I have never tried growing fungus, but aparantly that specific strain is super easy to grow, so I'm keen for the experience!

Got a few questions like: to get a better yield is it better to do an indoor grow? And would I get several flushes either way? Like is the outdoor growing less beneficial?

[Saros]

I haven't tried pink oysters... Sounds great though! I've grown blue, pearl, and phoenix oysters. Didn't have much luck with the phoenix oysters for some reason..

I don't know whether indoor or outdoor is better for yield.. but it is easier to control the temperature and humidity indoors... so you should be able to create the ideal conditions for a high yield indoors. Outdoors you're more at the mercy of mother nature, but you can mist or water when things are dry..

It seems like indoors has it's own set of unique challenges.  Contamination and pests like fungus gnats seem to be more of a problem.. I guess just because it's a delicious food source just sitting there in an environment where food is scarce otherwise.. Outdoors, things just seem to take their course naturally. Bugs have other things to eat and other things eat the bugs.. There are checks and balances out there and things just take their course.  My issues with contamination indoors may just have been unique to me because I was growing them in my dirty basement when I was doing it indoors. I grow them outdoors now during the spring, summer & early fall. I just take a break from it during the winter or focus on expanding my cultures for next spring.

You should be careful of spores if growing indoors. try to harvest before they start dropping spores. Oysters drop a LOT of spores... in the right light, you can actually see them flowing out of the gills like a fine mist. Eventually it can cause respiratory problems if exposed to enough of it for long enough. Some people are more sensitive than others.

[greengingers]

Thanx saros! I think actually I am going to go for an outdoor grow as, like u say, less to worry abt as nature takes course(the reigns). I have heard also that slugs love fungus and iv been told about copper surrounding the area in which I would place the innoculated fully ready 2 grow mycelium?

Am keen on growing fungus! When I have much more experience I'd then go try an indoor grow, as like u said aswell, the contam issues..

Iv read only about growing(paul staments is an author that got me interested) and a friend of mine has another book I'm trying to get that has specifically pink oyster culture.

As for time of year? Does that matter outdoor? Does fungus grow in winter? Or does it become dormant and send out more amounts of fruitbody as the earth thaws out? Not that I am in an extreme cold climate.
 
Peace

[Saros]

For the most part, they just go dormant during the winter. But that depends on the type of mushroom of course. If it's more of a tropical mushroom, then there's a good chance the cold will kill it.  So it's worth researching the growth parameters of each variety you intend to grow then and figuring out a plan for your environment.

[isaak]

Hey Saros. Just wanted to check-in and see if you're still planning on doing a culture giveaway? I hope all is thriving in your mycolife

[Saros]

Thanks for bumping this thread. I've been swamped lately but I definitely still want to do this when things settle down for me. It's looking like that will start happening for me in the next couple of months and I can devote the time this project deserves:)

My Oyster and Reishi cultures have been doing very well. Shiitake seems healthy too but it's in desperate need of expansion. Maitake contaminated on me so that's out of the running (for now)

[AlphaFoxNipple]

Please add me to the list, I would really appreciate one of those cultures.

[Saros]

Will do! I just started expanding these cultures last week specifically for this giveaway. So it'll be a few weeks yet. Hopefully all goes well. I should also be getting a black morel culture very soon:)

1 Like isaak likes this.

[Bluesgods]

Can you add me to the list interested in Ganoderma lucidum (Reishi)

Thank you

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[23]

I'm interested in the reishi as well 

1 Like happyconcacti likes this.