Hericium spawn run

Hello all,

I wanted to share what I observed last night while peeking in on how the spawn run is going on my hericium totems that I currently have in black plastic in the forest. I inoculated and built the totems about a month and a half ago. Spawn run looks to be going well. In this one spot it looks like a small fruiting.... Or is this a normal part of the spawn run? Any one seen this so early? I am new to mushroom production, so every observation is a new one for me.

Thanks
Brian

That is fruiting. Congratulations! Is it in shade?
John S
PDX OR

Hi John,

Thanks! The totems are in the shade and covered with garbage bags to keep the moisture in during the spawn run. I am not thinking that maybe I should remove the bags to let the logs breathe better now though. I have attached a couple pictures from the setup. At the time, the leaves were not on the trees, so I had covered all of the logs with a thick light colored cloth sheet to prevent the sun from overheating the black plastic. I was so very surprised to see this small fruiting that I had missed. I had read that it can take years for these to fruit if they even ever do. By no means is this a spectacular fruiting, but it tells me that something is going right.

Thanks for the comment.

I grow shiitakes on logs on pallets. I cover the logs with a top pallet, and then a tarp. There is air circulation, so I think that's important. I know a guy who grows them in a greenhouse and they do great, but I can't afford one. My set up mimics the warmer and more humid climate they are from, compared to my city's climate. It provides shade but retains more humidity and moisture while keeping air circulation.
John S
PDX OR

I like the sounds of that setup for the drill and fill logs. I inoculated 70 shiitake logs this spring and have them laying in the forest under full shade(while leaves are on) propped up on small diameter scrap new wood. I like the idea of pallets on top to throw a tarp over top when needed. Do you then remove the tarp when you see forecast for rain?

Yes, I try to look for strong rain. If it's just a bit of drizzle it's not worth it.

Also, a few times during our very dry summers, I take out a 5 gallon bucket of non-chemical water and dunk the logs for 15 seconds. That seems to help quite a bit too.
John S
PDX OR