Comments on: Outdoor Mushroom Growing

By: Chris Matthew

Chris Matthew — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 17:38:48 +0000

Hey Kenny. Great website! I’m a newbie to growing mushrooms. Do you have any other resources, specifically blogs, that are about mushroom growing? Thanks!

By: There’s More than One Way to Grow Mushrooms » Veggie Gardening Tips

There’s More than One Way to Grow Mushrooms » Veggie Gardening Tips — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 03:18:42 +0000

[...] posted a video about mushroom log inoculation, and wrote several articles on the subject including; Outdoor Mushroom Growing and Growing Mushrooms [...]

By: Kenny Point

Kenny Point — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 01:43:02 +0000

Hi Bob, Birch trees aren’t usually highly recommended but I’ve found that they will work. My first mushrooms were shiitakes inoculated on birch logs and they did great and produced for a lot longer than I expected them to. I’m not familiar with the “hardhack” that you mentioned, but other good choices are popular, locust, and elm.

By: Bob Stannard

Bob Stannard — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 19:59:58 +0000

Hey Kenny, what other logs besides oak work well? I have a lot of birch trees around me. Will they work well? I also have hardhack. I inoculated hardhack a couple of years ago, but the results have been disappointing. I cut them in late winter and inoculated them with spores, sawdust and covered with parafin wax (per instructions). Got a few but not that many. Your thoughts?

By: Kenny Point

Kenny Point — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 04:40:42 +0000

CJ, spring is the best time to begin the process of growing mushrooms but they can be started as late as four weeks prior to winter setting in, so you do still have time to inoculate your oak logs. I am not familiar with using spore prints or syringes to grow mushrooms but using plugs or sawdust pawn would take thirty to sixty minutes to inoculate an average six foot section of hardwood log.

A few species of mushrooms take longer to start fruiting but the average time is 9 – 12 months from inoculation to fruiting. I think the shiitake and oyster strains are pretty easy to start with. As long as the spawn has had a chance to acclimate before consistently cold weather set in the spores should tolerate the cold winters. Good luck growing your mushrooms and don’t forget that the logs need to be cut three to four weeks before you actually inoculate them with your mushroom spawn.

By: CJ

CJ — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 19:54:14 +0000

I am interested in growing my own mushrooms but it sounds like its a bit late to start in August. I live in Canada. Would it be to late If I were to cut a few oaks down now? And which would be Better? Spore prints or syringes? And how long would it take from start to finish? And would different strains of mushroom take longer then others? I plan on using golden teachers but will choose a different strain If there are easier ones. And should I be worried about contamination? Will the spores survive on the logs through canadas cold winters? Thanks.

By: Kenny Point

Kenny Point — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 00:55:14 +0000

Hi Kwenani, thanks for sharing your techniques for growing mushrooms outdoors in Namibia. It’s always interesting to different methods that gardeners are using to cultivate mushrooms and I would love to see the photos, you can send them to me at the email address listed in the contact section in the right sidebar or footer on this site. Thanks!

By: Kwenani Linus

Kwenani Linus — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 08:05:02 +0000

I am currently growing mushrooms in Caprivi Region, Katima Mulilo in Namibia in different ways. The first method that I tried was to grow mushrooms by covering with soil and it really gave good results.

The second method was to grow mushrooms by using rice straws that soaked to ferment for two days, later dig a trench of about 1mx2m. After that, I put the first layer of grass and then placed the inoculated substrates on top of the grass.The inoculated substrates are then covered with the second layer of grass and water the inside, then covered the top with a clear plastic sheet using small pvc pipes to avoid the plastic from touching the production. After 3 to 4 days, the pinheads will start shooting out for fruiting and after a day or two, your fruitbody is ready for harvesting.

I will send pictures showing all the steps. This is one of the simplest ways of growing mushrooms for home consumption.