Fungi Dowel Colonization

[TeeDee]

Anyone used something like these Dowels which have been impregnated with Fungal Spores to successfully Colonize a Log or Stump??

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I have drilled, doweled and plug a few stumps that have still not produced but hope spring eternal!

 

[Woody girl]

I bought some once but never got round to "planting"them. Left them in the fridge and forgot about them sadly.
They can take a while to spawn. Are your logs planted into soil? Have they been shocked? ( I was told to drop the log onto hard ground or hit with a hammer... how much of that little nugget was a leg pull. .I've no idea )
Wish I'd got around to doing it.
Sorry that's not much help realy.

 

[TeeDee]

I bought some once but never got round to "planting"them. Left them in the fridge and forgot about them sadly.
They can take a while to spawn. Are your logs planted into soil? Have they been shocked? ( I was told to drop the log onto hard ground or hit with a hammer... how much of that little nugget was a leg pull. .I've no idea )
Wish I'd got around to doing it.
Sorry that's not much help realy.

I've never heard the 'shocking' theory before and trying to think what the 'shock' would be trying to replicate in nature???

Don't think there are Fungi Fairies but if there are in my head they are now armed with Magical Mushroom Dust and Sledgehammers......

My Logs are either in the ground as Stumps still ( but old and wet ) or Tree's that have gone over in hard to reach area's because I want to be the only one that has a Secret Mushroom Mine .

Talking of which , what species of Mushroom did you have Woody Girl??

I'm thinking of Chicken of the Woods but I'm also tempted by Lions Mane although I've never sampled it. Not sure what to expect but I do see there are quite a few different species that now get of T'internet,

 

[slowworm]

I tried a range of fungi dowels. Shiitake and Oysters did very well and produced a good crop, the shiitake fruiting for several years before the log turned to mush. The CoTW failed to produce any fruit but I gather might need a bigger log or stump.

You shock the log once the spawn has taken hold, after a year or so. It encourages the fungi to fruit and mimics natural events such as a cold snap.

You need fresh logs or stumps to ensure your fungi are not out competed by others.

 

[Woody girl]

I've read that lions mane tastes like lobster. Fishy tasting mushrooms?????
I think I had oyster mushrooms.
I'd like to have a go another time.
I do have a log outside the back door that regularly gives me judas ears entirely naturaly.

 

[TeeDee]

I do have a log outside the back door that regularly gives me judas ears entirely naturaly.

Do you like them WoodyGirl? How do you consume them? I've tried doing all sorts with them and they are not giving me much reason to continue.

 

[Woody girl]

Do you like them WoodyGirl? How do you consume them? I've tried doing all sorts with them and they are not giving me much reason to continue.

Not realy, but I have a small jar of dried powdered ones. I have yet to be brave enough to add them to a stew!

 

[TeeDee]

Not realy, but I have a small jar of dried powdered ones. I have yet to be brave enough to add them to a stew!

Best thing I've found so far to do with them is to reconstitute with Alcohol of your choice ( or a cordial - Lime gave a Jaffa Cake Vibe ) and either eat that way or dip in chocolate and have like a turkish delight.

 

[slowworm]

Homegrown? How long ( seasons? ) have you been doing that an in what manner - colonised logs or bags of sawdust?

Get much of a crop?

Quoted from another thread but to avoid derailing replying here.

Looking at the order I bought 100 dowels of shiitake in Feb 2000 for £10.

I cut down a couple small oaks (thinnings) and immediately drilled and doweled the logs, covered the holes in beeswax and just left them outside in the dampest, shadiest area near the house.

This month we had our first harvest, strangely from the largest logs about 60cm long and the circumference of a small dinner plate.

The first two logs have produced probably 25 fungi so far, and from past experience they'll fruit for 3-4 years. I'm now seeing if the mycelium will spread to freshly felled wood.

 

[slowworm]

Time for a little update. Logs doweled in spring 2020 still producing shiitake...I