Innoculation tool for sawdust spawn

You can inoculate anytime through the growing season until about 30 days before first frost. If inoculating in the summer be sure to water as needed. Step by step inoculation process for outdoor beds:. These can be picked up from local municipalities, tree companies, arborists, firewood processors, or lumber mills.

Pine, hemlock, and other softwoods will not grow wine caps. The wood chips should be less than 1 month old unless you receive them in the winter. In the shade of perennials, under conifers, or where water travels during heavy rainfall are great places to locate your bed. One bag of spawn can inoculate anywhere from 5x5 feet to 10x10 feet. You only need a small amount of spawn like putting sprinkles on ice cream.

Add another layer of spawn and then another layer of inches of woodchips. You can place cardboard or straw on top of the bed to conserve moisture.

You should be able to dig into the chips and see thick white ropey mycelium. Mushrooms typically fruit towards the edges of the wood chips in late May and again in September. Log Selection - The first step to mushroom cultivation on logs is cutting and selecting logs to grow on. Logs are best cut between November and March. In trials logs that were cut in October and allowed to sit until April for inoculation had much faster spawn run than logs cut later in the winter.

In some cases logs were fruiting in the same year as inoculation. It is okay to cut at any time of year but yields and colonization time are affected. A Cornell study showed yields were highest from logs cut and inoculated in winter and spring respectively and from logs cut in the fall and inoculated the fall of the following year.

Cornell did not look at cutting in the late fall and inoculating in the spring. The bark of the logs should be as intact as possible; avoid logs with large strips of bark removed. Dense hardwoods like oak, sugar maple, and beech are great species to use.

Logs with a diameter of inches that are about 4 feet long are ideal. Logs will be moved several times during the cycle of growing shiitake so sizes that are reasonable to move are important. Smaller logs colonize and fruit faster than larger logs. The last factor to think about during log selection is the ratio of sapwood to heartwood. Logs with a higher ratio of sapwood will offer more food for the mushrooms to digest and offer a larger yield. Source Spawn- Sourcing strain and spawn is a key factor in abundant fruiting.

Using LE46 on logs is recommended. A 5-pound bag of mushroom sawdust spawn can inoculate about 25 logs. Mushroom sawdust spawn tends to grow out faster than the dowels but requires a specialized tool called a palm inoculator.

Drill Holes- For mushroom sawdust spawn, use a 12 mm drill bit. If you are just inoculating two or three logs a regular corded drill will work fine. The angle grinder runs at about 10, rpm while a drill runs around 3, rpm. This makes the angle grinder MUCH easier and faster - similar to the difference between using a screwdriver and a drill! To drill the holes, start about 1 inch away from the end of the log.

Drill again 6 inches down the log. Continue to space holes every 6 inches down the length of the log. Start the next row of holes 2 inches away from the previous row, spinning the log around. The holes should be offset, so now you are drilling 2 inches below the original line and in the middle of the previous holes.

Drill holes all the way around the circumference of the log so you end up with a diamond pattern. Inoculate- This is the point where you add spawn to the log. Break the mushroom sawdust spawn up with your fists or open palm before opening.

Work the spawn into little pieces that can easily fill the palm inoculator, be sure to fill the holes completely with spawn. This usually means stabbing the spawn 2 or 3 times and then inoculating each hole one at a time.

When the spawn is slightly sunken below the surface it makes a nice area for the wax to pool and seal. This sunken seal will stay protected and last longer than wax that is protruding outside the layer of bark.

Wax- Melt wax and seal the holes with the hot wax. Please do not ship live items back to Sharondale Mushroom Farm. If you suspect that your live item is damaged or defective, contact us immediately. If an order is delayed, lost, or returned due to an error by customer i. If the order is not returned to Sharondale Mushroom Farm, customer will be charged for replacement merchandise as well. If customer chooses to cancel the order instead, we will refund merchandise cost, once shipment has been returned to us by carrier.

Shipping costs will not be refunded and a restocking fee will apply. Sharondale Mushroom Farm does not ship fresh mushrooms. If customer mistakenly places an order for fresh mushrooms to be shipped, Sharondale Mushroom Farm will refund the order, minus a restocking fee. If customer chooses to cancel an order prior to shipment, the order will be cancelled in full, but will be responsible for a restocking fee. Close search. We are closing the farm for pick ups from Dec 23 - January Our next pick up will be January Happy Holidays!

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