I could use some help with Shiitake and Lion's Mane substrates

I just got a Boom Room from North Spore. I also have one of their monotubs. I have shiitake dowel spawn I used in the fall to inoculate logs, and I just bought Lion's Mane grain spawn. I know the shiitake spawn is old, but it doesn't hurt to experiment, right? I also have lion's mane and oyster fruiting blocks, but those are straight forward. I've done those before.

I'm looking for two things:

1) What kind of substrates can I use for the lion's mane? I figure I can use the monotub or another plastic tub in the Boom Room.  I have wood fuel pellets, can I use those? I believe the pellets are hardwood. Or could I mix then with something else?

I have the same question about the shiitake. I know the dowels are for inoculating logs, and not for indoor use, and the spawn is old. But I'm curious to see if there is something I can still do with it.

2)  I'd like to try to use some of the lion's mane spawn to make more spawn. I'm not looking to make a lot. I just want to see what would be successful. It would be great to test out a few things.

I also have wine cap spawn. I'll be using that around my garden beds soon. Would I be able to grow that indoors too?

For lion's mane substrate, you can use your hardwood pellets mixed with wheat bran. The recipe from Field & Forest utilizes 5 cups hardwood pellets, 1/2 cup wheat bran, 1.5 lbs. lion's mane spawn and 5 cups boiling water in one standard filter patch bag. Keep in mind that because lion's mane fruits on the sides of trees and logs in nature, filter bags will probably work better than a tub (which is better for agaricus mushrooms). Here's a video from Nik at Field & Forest with their simple hot water method for people without pressure cookers:



If you have a pressure cooker, you can sterilize your sawdust blocks using this method from Tony at Freshcap Mushrooms:



Freshcap also has a video on inoculating the blocks.

As far as your old leftover shiitake plugs go, you could try using them to inoculate sawdust blocks using the methods above, but  shiitake plugs are best for log culture. I've never heard of anyone using dowels to start sawdust blocks. For shiitake sawdust blocks, many growers also add gypsum or calcium carbonate to the blocks.

You could make extra spawn using the lion's mane spawn you have, but you'll probably need a pressure cooker to insure your grain spawn doesn't get contamination problems. Freshcap also has videos on this as well.

I've expanded wine cap spawn by adding a bag of it to boxes or garbage bags filled with fresh moist hardwood chips/sawdust- alder chips right out of the chipper worked great for this.  I kept the bags and boxes in a 65 degree room, misting them occasionally. Then when the weather warmed up, I made outdoor beds around my veggies and berry plants using the expanded spawn. I got 50 pounds of spawn instead of five. Raspberries especially seem to really like wine cap spawn/chips as mulch. Top off your bed with unsprayed  straw as a casing layer and you should get a large harvest of wine caps. This method is much  easier than trying to get winecaps to fruit in an indoor situation, although it can be done. But winecaps apparently prefer outdoor conditions.

Good luck with all your projects!

Thank you!  Those videos are great.  I do have a pressure cooker.  I'll order the bags today, and put bran on the grocery list.  

I think I'll experiment with inoculating supplemented woodchips with the shiitake and winecap spawn in glass jars as an experiment.  I have the tape to use as an equivalent to the air patch and tops with holes in them.

I'm thrilled to hear raspberries like the winecap inoculated mulch.  I have several blackberry bushes growing wild, and plan on planting raspberries in the same area.  I may experiment with using the mulch around blueberries as well.