If you’re inoculating logs with your shiitake spawn for growing outdoors, you’ll want to do so in spring after the last danger of frost has passed. Use a power drill to drill holes in your log that are slightly larger than the spawn you plan on inserting into the log.
Most mushrooms go dormant for the cold winter months then begin growing again the following spring. Below is some general information on when to plant your mushrooms and expect your harvests: Important: Not all trees make good mushroom logs. Please read “Selecting Logs for Mushroom Growing” first!
When do shiitake mushrooms grow?
If planted in the spring, the season may be long enough to provide the first Shiitake in the fall following inoculation. It is not uncommon, however, that Shiitake logs take until the following year to produce their first mushrooms.
Another thing we asked ourselves was: can I grow shiitake mushrooms at home?
Shiitake mushrooms have a full, smoky flavor and a dense texture that holds up well for cooking. They’re easily found in stores, but you can likely grow them much more inexpensively at home. Growing Shiitakes at home is rewarding. It might take a bit of time to get started, but once you’re going they can produce sporadic flushes.
How to grow shiitake mushrooms?
Growing shiitake mushrooms starts with inoculating hardwood logs. The first step is drilling holes to inoculate the logs with shiitake mushroom spawn. For plug spawn, use a 5/16-inch drill bit to drill 1 inch deep holes. A stop collar attached to the drill bit makes drilling the correct depth easy as you work around your logs.
However, shiitake mushroom growing for the home gardener or hobbyist isn’t very difficult and can be very rewarding. Shiitakes are wood-decay fungus, meaning they grow on logs. Growing shiitake mushrooms takes place either on logs or in bags of nutrient enriched sawdust or other organic material, called bag culture.
Even if you’re going to be growing your shiitake outside on a wood chip bed, starting off growing your shiitake on sawdust in bags will produce a larger amount of stronger mycelium to add to your bed. This provides a better chance of survival and hopefully producing more mushrooms.
The favorite answer was About 25 years ago, demand for shiitakes made it a viable and profitable enterprise for commercial cultivation in this country. The cost of a pound of shiitakes is generally much more than common button mushrooms, which may make you wonder about shitake mushrooms growing.
What temperature will kill shiitake mushrooms?
The substrate temperature must be below 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius) or it may kill your shiitake spawn before it’s able to grow. Inoculate Your Grow Bags The process of introducing mushroom spawn to a substrate is called inoculation.
One question we ran across in our research was “What is the best substrate for shiitake mushrooms?”.
Regardless of what wood-based substrate you choose, pick one made from deciduous hardwoods. Shiitakes do best on oak, but maple, beech, and ironwood will all work as well. If you’re using logs to grow your shiitake mushrooms, then the fresher they are, the better.
Another frequent inquiry is “What to do with spent shiitake mushroom substrate?”.
But other than that, the spent shiitake mushroom substrate is garden gold!! Large amounts of substrate should be ‘weathered’ for a few months in the open in mounds to let the salts leach out of it before being applied to fruit and vegetable crops.
How long do shiitake mushrooms last on logs?
Plus they’re delicious! Shiitake mushrooms produce 3 to 5 flushes of fresh mushrooms on average when grown on sawdust or grain. If you grow them on logs, they can provide you with fresh mushrooms every 5 weeks for 4 to 6 years!
Another frequently asked inquiry is “What size log do I need to inoculate shiitake mushrooms?”.
One article claimed that logs for inoculating with shiitake should ideally be about 3 to 6 inches (7.6- 15.2 cm) in diameter and about 3 to 4 feet ( 91-122 cm) long. If you are growing using sawdust or pellets, you’ll want to either buy or make some form of containers or growing bags to hold your substrate as well.