How to Grow Mushrooms on Logs | Complete Inoculation Walkthrough! 

Thanks! We're trying to put significant energy into developing educational materials and cool mushroom video content. I appreciate the kind words!

Thanks! It's great to have a great team with hard scientific / mycological backgrounds!

This was great, thanks, I been tryin to find out about "mushroom boxes grow your own" for a while now, and I think this has helped. Ever heard of - Heenyan Mushroom Organifiction - (Have a quick look on google cant remember the place now ) ? Ive heard some decent things about it and my partner got great success with it.

here's a few suggestions to try pick the best variety - there are many available. grow them in the right environment - some eg oyster muchrooms like cool humid areas and can be put outdoors (I discovered these and why they work on Gregs Mushroom Grower website )

Yes. Truthly mycologists on RU-vid are hard to find. *North spore are the real deal. A true mushroom cultivation company. They grow many gourmet products and sell many aswell (fresh grown by them /grow @ home boxes).* All the other RU-vid mycologists I see usually on here, are either people with a RU-vidrs production team, and is all scripted. Most mycologist vids on RU-vid, are just paid actors, or some random kid in a bedroom with his 1st illegal grow kit. For USA, I would say *NorthSpore* is one of the Holy Grails. I wish there were companies like u in UK most are extremely limited. A new farm in my city is in process of being built from the ground up (literally building it now). It's going to the the city's 1st urban mushroom farm. I'm hoping to get a job there maybe. To help them progress and for my mycology learning to progress at the same time. With luck.

What type of tree are you cutting for logs?

Thank you so much for your support! Reach out anytime.

​@NorthSpore How long can you keep harvesting off of the logs in ideal conditions?

I hope you were able to start your mushroom patch! If not, hope you're planning one for this year!

How it's going now you still have it??

Good luck sir

How did it go

Any updates on this?

Reach out with questions anytime!

Thanks! Epidemic Sound is great for sourcing music for videos

Ikr

i love that intro song

Music videos have the best music

Thanks for your support!

How do you like them?

Once fully colonized, they should be put in the fridge. If you bought them, they're already colonized and should be kept refrigerated.

Fresh cut! Oak is best for shiitake, but you can sue many other things. Check this out: northspore.com/pages/grow-mushrooms-on-logs-videos

Wow, I'm so glad mushrooms have helped you! They've certainly been good to us. I'm excited to try a new recipe this week with some dried morels! No need to use boiling water on your logs. Just make sure the logs are as healthy and fresh as possible.

Thanks for your support! Reach out with any questions you have along the way!

@@NorthSpore let me know if you want to do any classes on my land. 😁

Glad you enjoyed it!

You should give mushroom cultivation a shot, it's easier than you'd think!

Greetings! Thanks for watching the video and reviewing the tools and spawn. I wish morels were more common in Maine.. though we've encountered them a few times here!

We're working on a COW project now, so stay tuned for that!

Reach out with questions anytime.

Check this out: northspore.com/pages/log-mushroom-cultivation-faq

For all logs, we recommend inoculating in late winter / early spring or summer - fall but this depends on the climate where you live. If you're in place with warmer temps, you can inoculate year-round. Don't forget to sterilize your log segments beforehand when doing chicken of the woods!

Is there any tips on when to inoculate chicken of the woods in Illinois?

Is there any tips on when to inoculate chicken of the woods in Illinois?

If it's been a couple weeks without rainfall give the logs a soak overnight. You don't want constant moisture or irrigation on your logs as it will weaken the bark over time. What you want is for the moisture content inside of the log to stay relatively constant. If the ends of your log start to crack or if your logs feel like they've lost a lot of weight, those are good indicators that your log should get some soak time!

good luck with your project!

We used food grade paraffin wax (aka Cheese Wax). Bees wax also works. If the wax is too brittle you can add a little mineral oil to soften it up.

@@NorthSpore Thanks for sharing the details 😊

Sorry for not getting to this sooner! You have a very long growing season, so act accordingly. This means that you can cut and inoculate in the winter. Also, just make sure things are very well shaded and protected.

We haven't written a book... yet! Thanks for watching the video and good luck with any mushroom projects you have in your future!

Actually yes! For several species like maitake and chicken of the woods, we recommend sterilizing or pasteurizing logs first. You'd need special bags and a pressure cooker or steamer. That's pretty involved. If your wood is fresh and you're working with easier species, sanitizing shouldn't be an issue!

A clear food-grade paraffin wax ideal for sealing holes in inoculated logs. We sourced the tools for our different types of spawn!

Plenty of people grow mushrooms on logs in Florida, the natural humidity (I imagine) will help keep the logs health. You still want to focus on having plenty of shade. You want freshly cut hardwood, not standing trees. The logs only need to be soaked if there is prolonged drought or they have gone over a year and a half without producing any mushrooms.

It's sort of a hybrid drill/anglegrinder at that point..

Thank you! The inoculating tool is just a hollow tube with a plunger mechanism.

Yes, is does: northspore.com/pages/grow-mushrooms-on-logs-videos

It would be a good idea as it also helps to keep critters and contaminant fungi out of your inoculation points!

Thanks for your support! Fun, rewarding work happening here!

Elm is great for oyster mushrooms but not recommended for Shiitake. You can always start logs inside and bring them out after the last freeze or simply manage some insulating layers on them stacked close to the ground.

You know something I've asked and couldn't find out. I've suggested that future videos include the music in the descriptions. Sorry!

@@NorthSpore Hey! Thanks for your reply! Oh well.... Thanks for including in going forward! Just got my mushrooms in the mail. So excited to grow them this year! Thank you for all you do.

@@NorthSpore I'm sorry I didn't think of this before! I asked Google to ID the song: Andreas Boldt "Gentle Impulsions".

You could! It might not have as high a success rate as fresh spawn, but what a great way to get the most from a block!

You can leave your log to rest for up to 1 month though it isn't necessary. There are different schools of thought on this. Some log growers swear by aging their logs for 1 or 2 weeks before inoculation. We've always cut and inoculated the same day with great results!

thanks for watching the video!

You're kind of talking apples and oranges since one way is outside and the other inside. Logs are better imo because they last for years, require less plastic and one bag of sawdust can do something like 30 logs.

Happy to help! You could inoculate logs in the fall/winter if you don't experience freezing temperatures but you'll want it to be warm enough for the logs to colonize at first, and then they can be overwintered next year. Stacking them helps maintain moisture and then you could stand them up against your fence for fruiting. Pine and coniferous trees in general aren't conducive to most species but we have a great FAQ (northspore.com/pages/spawn-faq-1) that matches species with tree and difficulty. Fruiting can take up to a year or more, but it really depends on log size, environment and species as they all vary.

Hmm, you may want to seal those areas with wax as the bark naturally acts as insulation to keep moisture in,

@@NorthSpore ok thank you!

They can take up to a year to colonize. We suggest stacking them close but off the ground to reduce pest interference. You may have to water them if it is especially dry. We have a great FAQ here: northspore.com/pages/spawn-faq-1

Sorry we missed this. Inoculate asap, no need to soak!

You can use lots of things, but we use this: northspore.com/collections/log-inoculation-tools/products/log-sealing-wax

@@NorthSpore Okay, thanks!

Wishing you the best of luck with your logs! It all sounds good on our end, that your plugs were healthy and strong. Reach out with questions anytime!

Most mushrooms do work with this method, but shiitake is vastly superior.

Logs can take up to a year or more to start flushing so that aspect of the process was not available to film at this time! We have a lot of great log photos on our Instagram , however!

We recommend talking to a local tree service. They often have logs or know of where to source them

Generally speaking, fruit wood isn't good and neither are conifers.

Sorry for the delay. You can probably inoculate now!

Hey there! It really depends on the size. 100 plugs is good for approximately 1-2 logs so 50-100 holes per log.

Hi there! We do only recommend growing on fresh cut healthy logs! I would suggest cutting some new ones if you are planning to inoculate this season!

That should work it just hasn't been widely used! Stack them off the ground like firewood during colonization.

@@NorthSpore Thanks

Sorry we missed this! The answer was yes.

There are different schools of thought on this subject. It certainly won't hurt to hold off a week or two, but we've had success using freshly cut wood too!

I've never heard of this being an issue.

Logs should be inoculated within a week or two of cutting. This allows the cells in the tree to die but is not long enough for the log to dry out or for other competitor fungi to become established. A month would be about the longest reasonable stretch of time between cutting and inoculating.

The rule of thumb for shiitake logs is 2lb per log per year, though I've had years with significantly more than that, and years that were a bit light. A successful flush will have large shiitakes over the majority of the log.

North Spore Thank you! 🌷

Nope! This is unnecessary. You should inoculate as soon as possible.

Yes, the worst offenders are slugs and bugs. Using fence, gravel, row covers, traps ad chickens can help.

Reishi is considered one of the mushrooms of immortality! We recommend taking products made from the fruiting body rather than mycelium in either tincture or capsule form. We will be offering capsules in the future! Please take a look at our blog post about fruiting bodies vs mycelium here: northspore.com/blogs/the-black-trumpet/mushroom-extracts-the-mycelium-vs-fruiting-body-dispute

Nope, the fungus lives in the log and can produce for multiple years, perhaps 4-8.

This is definitely debated, but it my experience inoculating asap is just fine. It almost always end up being a couple weeks before I can inoculate my logs anyway. There's info out there that shows it might be advantageous for certain tree species to rest a little before use though. Either way, this probably isn't the reason your logs failed.

@@NorthSpore yeah I'm not sure why these didn't fruit. I inoculated the logs with a few different species of plugs. I only had access to sugar maple that time, and it's the first time that I have ever had no success inoculating logs.

They work!

Keeping is well hydrated is key and all that's needed for some species. Shiitake responds super well to the soak.

We tend to recommend inoculating logs as soon as possible. Cornell University conducted research regarding the timing by which logs are felled and inoculated. The results seem to indicate that inoculating sooner results in higher production overall.

Nope, shiitake is the best though. Check out our log cultivation faq:

@@NorthSpore thanks for the response

Hope you have fun!

We are using shiitake sawdust spawn:northspore.com/products/shiitake-sawdust-spawn Here is a link to the tools: northspore.com/collections/tools

check out this reference! northspore.com/pages/spawn-faq-1

North Spore thank you so Much 😁. But, I still need to learn what these trees look like....sorry, I really need repetition, the dam things change their looks four times a year in Canada 😀

Yes, you can be sure that up here in Maine when it's -15f, the logs are frozen solid along with al water and mycelium. The shiitakes can still survive!

@@NorthSporethanks for the response. I cannot inoculate them when it is below zero, right? Even though I have a greenhouse for them.

Lion's Mane mushrooms are the only species I'm aware of that do well on Black Walnut!

Yes, you want to seal the plugs but you don't have to reseal them. Studies have shown that beeswax, paraffin and vegetable-based waxes are biodegradable.

No. Mushroom spores are ubiquitous anyways, nothing you do growing mushrooms should negatively effect your lawn or garden.

Hi there! We only recommend using fresh cut and healthy wood for inoculation. Coniferous trees are also not recommended for most mushroom species to be grown in!

Cottonwood is good for oysters and chestnut! I'm not entirely sure about walnut, but I'd give oyster and shiitake a go.

It's going to depend on the species, your market and other factors. Very tough to say much else.

Sawdust spawn is recommended for log inoculations. Fall is a great time to start but you might want to store them in a heated structure or under insulating tarps or blankets if your first frost is coming up.

at least i saw some seller/re-seller/producer that warned against using his products on pine

From internet: Shiitake mushrooms are traditionally grown outdoors on seasoned hardwood logs - preferably oak, although maple, birch, poplar, aspen, beech, and other species have also been used successfully. fir is actually softwood. It burns quicker and faster. Good stove starter, and hardwood for longer-lasting fire.

Pine and coniferous trees are not conducive for most edible mushroom species. Shiitake, however, does grow on birch!

Shiitake must be inoculated in fresh wood!

@@NorthSpore Hi, thank you. End What about oyster mushrooms?

We actually don't currently have a Turkey Tail kit. See what we do have here: northspore.com/pages/all-grow-kits

I believe black walnut has antifungal properties so it is not recommended for mushroom cultivation. Reach out to your local arborist!

I think it would be ok as long as you monitor them for signs of drying out. You don't necessarily need to spray them unless there is a dry spell! Most temperate climates do not require watering logs as intermittent rains and atmospheric humidity do the trick.

The kiln would dry the wood out way too much I think. You need to be able to retain moisture.

The drill bit we offer bottoms out so you don't have to measure, but you would want to drill deep enough so that the top of the plug is just level with the surface and then seal it with wax.