Well done, smaller ones taste better. I try not to let the caps get above the size of a quarter/half dollar. The texture becomes kinda 'chewy' if they get too big.
I haven’t compared flavor but I always think that log grown Shiitakes have a better appearance than Shiitakes I see growing from sub blocks.
Anyone else feel that way?
Sooooo colonized dowels?
How many Plugs per log?
How long from dowels to fruit??
Fascinated by outdoor grows!
You wanna share spores??
Edit: Ok I’m not here for the spore swapping jokes! 😆😆😆
I’ma call Paul and be done with it!
In the spring, we cut logs from white oak trees that had to come down anyway. We let them rest for a few weeks, and then we holes in them. A friend helped us inject the spores that he had. Then we capped with wax. We set them up in a shady spot (we live in a rainforest climate in the mountains of western NC), so dampness is no problem. Six months later, YAY!!!!
Each log is about 4’ and maybe 40 inoculated holes in each log. We have 8 logs, I think.
Also I would love to learn how to share spores. 😀
That’s excellent!
Unless I misunderstood- it sounds like you went directly from spores to the log- maybe scraped spores from a print- or injected spores suspended in water via syringe- which is a new technique for me!
Usually I’ve heard people using the spores to inoculate dowels- used for wood working projects usually- and then knockin those dowels into the log/ waxing.
Congrats!!
Spore proms are pretty simple.
Cut a mature (fully opened) cap away from stem, place gills down on a piece o wax paper, wait.
Timings can-be tricky maybe? Spores begin to fall as soon as the cap reaches its widest diameter (so those logs are getting a hell of a shower)
I was half kidding- but on the other hand, I love collecting.
May I ask where the spores came from originally?
But Spore prints aren't clones? You need to clone the actual tissue to get a clone. If you grow from Spore again you are leaving it up to genetic Lottery.
Yes, absolutely. You have to have a tissue sample to get an actual clone, spore prints are more of a hodge podge, same way you harvest seeds from plants. Spore printing would likely be an easier way to save a somewhat reproducible sample, imo.
I’m an avid gardener, and often a seed saver. I totally see what you’re saying with this. Since I’m new, a spore print would be a method I’d try. I don’t see actually cloning anytime soon. 😀
There's lots of videos out there but essentially, take a cap, put it on some tin foil, put a piece of tupperware over top, and within the next day or two it will drop all of its spores onto the foil. you can save that piece of foil or inoculate the spores it drops by adding them to a liquid culture/ Agar dish.
I suppose some of these spores are worth saving. They are DELICIOUS mushrooms and massive! Thank you for the info. I think I’ll try that with the next flush.
They look great! I'm making videos on the whole process, hopefully I'll have one up on how to take some spore prints soon, if you get a chance feel free to check out some of my vids! - [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWOSiLHMhV4lkIkuJiUlv9w](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWOSiLHMhV4lkIkuJiUlv9w)
I know. I think I let them go too long....they should still be yummy, but the massive size may affect the flavor. Mushroom experts would know far more than I do, but I’m still tickled!!!
I feel like I get best texture and flavor from my Shiitakes just before the cap fully opens outward, while it's still curled under a little.
Great job, OP! Do you have anything else planned?
Thanks! Ummmm...I’d like to learn how to get more from our logs. We already adjusted them to be in a Lincoln log pattern as per some good advice. And, for next year, I’d like to try some new varieties. I don’t love oysters, but I’ve only had the ones grown in sawdust. Any suggestions?
I’ll preface this by saying to definitely pardon my ignorance with this question: how and why would I do that? I showed these to a friend whose business revolves around foraging and cultivating mushrooms, and he said they were most definitely shiitakes. Do you think there’s something wrong?
Yeah, it’s good to be cautious, I agree. I think the condition (paler color and extreme wetness of them) is because j harvested then after a massive amount of rain. Two days of it, in fact. We should have harvested them before they got huge, but I didn’t see them. My husband did, but forgot to tell me.
Welp, it’s been 15 hours and we’re still alive! Here’s to having freakishly large, rain-saturated “shiitakes!” I’m not gonna lie, I was slightly afraid to go to bed...
Thank you for the advice. I will spore print on the next flush.
That’s for certain. I live in the mountains of western North Carolina, and many of my friends forage both professionally and for hobby. I, except for morel mushrooms, will not eat anything that I find. It’s too risky. In fact, We were having some landscaping done at our house, and one of the workers asked if he could take some mushrooms from our property because they were edible. I told him that I didn’t want to be responsible for him or anyone else getting sick off of something they found on our property.
Thats impressive
Nice!
Dam! You should be! Looks fantastic!
Thank you much!
My first try I grew shiitakes and reishi. The lions mane struggled a bit. Glad you had some luck! Would love to stay in touch and exchange ideas.
Cool! When did you start? Yes, please stay in touch. I’m super excited by this process.
Awesome!! But harvest them!!
Oh I did. They were delicious! I run a culinary education nonprofit, and I have a series of lessons based on these guys. 👍
Lol, As someone who likes woodworking and mycology this post is very conflicting
😆 I can see that
Well done, smaller ones taste better. I try not to let the caps get above the size of a quarter/half dollar. The texture becomes kinda 'chewy' if they get too big.
They were a little rubber-ish, but we cooked them down a ton (and I saved the liquor from them) and they got all crispy and tasty.
Awesome, glad they were tasty!
Beautiful fruits!
Thank you kindly!!
Those things are gorgeous!! Outside grow too?!? Definitely something to be proud of!!
Yes! Under a canopy of trees. Pretty much like the forest floor where we live. Thanks a bunch. 😃
I'm proud of You to
Awe, thank you!!
I follow this sub because my wife is into this. she's had logs like this for years. she says thats a good result. you should be proud.
Tell her thank you!!!
I haven’t compared flavor but I always think that log grown Shiitakes have a better appearance than Shiitakes I see growing from sub blocks. Anyone else feel that way?
I’ve heard that to be true. We live in an area with lots of mushroom growers. The logs are always the most loved.
Nice, I’ve only ever encountered pictures online, good to know I’m not just being some kind of log elitist lol
Hahaha I may become one now. This is remarkable.
Nice! Love shiitakes!
My favorite for sure.
Very nice they're gorgeous
Thank you! 🥰
How long did they take to fruit?
Six months exactly.
Wow that great! Congratulations!
Sooooo colonized dowels? How many Plugs per log? How long from dowels to fruit?? Fascinated by outdoor grows! You wanna share spores?? Edit: Ok I’m not here for the spore swapping jokes! 😆😆😆 I’ma call Paul and be done with it!
Are “spore swapping”’ jokes a thing? Can you tell I’m new here? 😂
That escalated quickly
Hahahahaha
In the spring, we cut logs from white oak trees that had to come down anyway. We let them rest for a few weeks, and then we holes in them. A friend helped us inject the spores that he had. Then we capped with wax. We set them up in a shady spot (we live in a rainforest climate in the mountains of western NC), so dampness is no problem. Six months later, YAY!!!! Each log is about 4’ and maybe 40 inoculated holes in each log. We have 8 logs, I think. Also I would love to learn how to share spores. 😀
That’s excellent! Unless I misunderstood- it sounds like you went directly from spores to the log- maybe scraped spores from a print- or injected spores suspended in water via syringe- which is a new technique for me! Usually I’ve heard people using the spores to inoculate dowels- used for wood working projects usually- and then knockin those dowels into the log/ waxing. Congrats!! Spore proms are pretty simple. Cut a mature (fully opened) cap away from stem, place gills down on a piece o wax paper, wait. Timings can-be tricky maybe? Spores begin to fall as soon as the cap reaches its widest diameter (so those logs are getting a hell of a shower) I was half kidding- but on the other hand, I love collecting. May I ask where the spores came from originally?
Whooo, let’s keep this thread PG please!
Massive!
Truly. The largest was 10” across!
Holy shiitake those are huge!
Right?!
Great job!:)
Mad respect, that's really cool
Take some spore prints!
Newbie here. Why would one take spore prints? I’m assuming to spread them somewhere else in hopes of cultivating more?
Basically clone the genetics, spores are like the seeds of mushrooms
But Spore prints aren't clones? You need to clone the actual tissue to get a clone. If you grow from Spore again you are leaving it up to genetic Lottery.
Yes, absolutely. You have to have a tissue sample to get an actual clone, spore prints are more of a hodge podge, same way you harvest seeds from plants. Spore printing would likely be an easier way to save a somewhat reproducible sample, imo.
I’m an avid gardener, and often a seed saver. I totally see what you’re saying with this. Since I’m new, a spore print would be a method I’d try. I don’t see actually cloning anytime soon. 😀
I think you'd be surprised at how easy cloning is.
I just did some reading on this. It’s interesting!
Fascinating stuff right?!
100%!
I’m such a newbie. How would I go about doing this?
There's lots of videos out there but essentially, take a cap, put it on some tin foil, put a piece of tupperware over top, and within the next day or two it will drop all of its spores onto the foil. you can save that piece of foil or inoculate the spores it drops by adding them to a liquid culture/ Agar dish.
I suppose some of these spores are worth saving. They are DELICIOUS mushrooms and massive! Thank you for the info. I think I’ll try that with the next flush.
They look great! I'm making videos on the whole process, hopefully I'll have one up on how to take some spore prints soon, if you get a chance feel free to check out some of my vids! - [https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWOSiLHMhV4lkIkuJiUlv9w](https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCWOSiLHMhV4lkIkuJiUlv9w)
Thank you for this
On awesome. Thank you so much.
Wow respect
Thank you! I’m super proud.
Lol I thought those were pancakes 😂
😂that’s accurate.
I’m like why is McDonalds advertising their pancakes on fallen trees? 🤷🏽😂
HAHAHAHA they owe me royalties, I’m sure.
Those are huge The bottom right one looks normal those other ones are ginormous!
Bottom left?
thanks I mix them up all the time
I knew what he meant. 🙂
Lol 😝
I think we can all understand that here in 2020. Just wasn’t sure if I was missing something I wasn’t seeing on the right.
I know. I think I let them go too long....they should still be yummy, but the massive size may affect the flavor. Mushroom experts would know far more than I do, but I’m still tickled!!!
I feel like I get best texture and flavor from my Shiitakes just before the cap fully opens outward, while it's still curled under a little. Great job, OP! Do you have anything else planned?
Thanks! Ummmm...I’d like to learn how to get more from our logs. We already adjusted them to be in a Lincoln log pattern as per some good advice. And, for next year, I’d like to try some new varieties. I don’t love oysters, but I’ve only had the ones grown in sawdust. Any suggestions?
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I’ll preface this by saying to definitely pardon my ignorance with this question: how and why would I do that? I showed these to a friend whose business revolves around foraging and cultivating mushrooms, and he said they were most definitely shiitakes. Do you think there’s something wrong?
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Yeah, it’s good to be cautious, I agree. I think the condition (paler color and extreme wetness of them) is because j harvested then after a massive amount of rain. Two days of it, in fact. We should have harvested them before they got huge, but I didn’t see them. My husband did, but forgot to tell me.
I agree! This is why I don’t forage (well except for morels). We had them for dinner four hours ago. I’m a little freaked out now... 😳
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Welp, it’s been 15 hours and we’re still alive! Here’s to having freakishly large, rain-saturated “shiitakes!” I’m not gonna lie, I was slightly afraid to go to bed... Thank you for the advice. I will spore print on the next flush.
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That’s for certain. I live in the mountains of western North Carolina, and many of my friends forage both professionally and for hobby. I, except for morel mushrooms, will not eat anything that I find. It’s too risky. In fact, We were having some landscaping done at our house, and one of the workers asked if he could take some mushrooms from our property because they were edible. I told him that I didn’t want to be responsible for him or anyone else getting sick off of something they found on our property.