Step-By-Step Instructions on Growing Wine Caps

I thought I would give some basic instructions on how to grow Wine Caps.  I grow Wine Caps in wood chips (straw works too).  In the past I have suggested piling the wood chips 12” deep, but this may be too deep.  This will work if there are a number of fertile holes filled with ample amounts of topsoil, compost or decomposed manure.  Otherwise use 4”-6” of wood chips so they have a good soil interface.

From there dig holes for tomatoes or other vegetables.  I use tomatoes because the grow fast, provide just the right amount of shade and still give wonderful tomatoes.  But any number of crops could be used—peppers, squash, eggplant, etc.  after the holes are dug, fill with soil, manure or other garden bedding.  Mark where the holes are with a stake to find them later.

Next dig still more holes and add in Wine Cap spawn.  Connect each Wine Cap hole with little trenches filled with Wine Caps to connect all the spawn together.  Be sure to sow some Wine Csps close to and/or in between the tomatoes to get a good soil interface.

Plant the tomatoes.

Now cover everything with the left over chips from the holes and soak with water.  After soaking, ideally add about 2-4 inches of straw and soak again.

Now comes the hard part—WAIT!!  Wine Caps take 6-12 months to pop up mushrooms.  But in the meantime, the tomatoes grow quickly and provide shade to help regulate moisture.  Maybe check the chips periodically.  They should be damp but not soaked.  Hopefully you will see little white threads of hyphae growing.  At any rate, mushrooms are a great way to learn patience.   ALSO, these instructions are just a guide and there are NUMEROUS variants out there so please don't think this is the One-And-Only way to grow mushrooms.  There are numerous variations on this practice, but this has been the method that has worked for me.

Step-by-Step directions

1)  Find a place to lay down chips.  Clear all existing vegetation or lay down some cardboard

2)  Lay down a layer of chips about 4-6 inches deep.  NOTE:  This is down from the 12" that I used to recommend.  I have found that too many chips can kinda smother the Wine Cap fungus.  Alternatively, if you want a 12" deep layer, make certain there are plenty of fertile holes filled with ample topsoil/compost/composted manure.

3)  Dig out the fertile holes for tomatoes (or whatever veggie you want to give shade.  Tomatoes have worked great for me).  Save the excavated chips for later.

4)  Fill in the fertile holes with topsoil/compost/composted manure.  Don't get skimpy at this point.

5)  Mark the holes with a stake or something else so you can find the holes later on.

6)  Excavate lots of smaller holes about 4" deep and wide for the Wine Cap spawn.  Especially get these holes in between and near the fertile holes.  Again, save the chips.

7)  Dig shallow trenches 2-3 inches deep that connect the Wine Cap spawn holes.

8)  Add the spawn to the holes and trenches.  Add the spawn in both crumbles and some chunks to the holes.  The chunks act like a little reservoir of mycelium that really gets started quickly.  The crumbles will help to spread the mycelium.  The trenches will help the holes grow towards each other and get established quickly.  ALSO:  consider adding the spawn to the holes in two layers, meaning add in the spawn to the bottom, cover with some chips and then add another layer of spawn then more chips.  This will help the spawn really get started.

9)  After all the holes and trenches have been covered with spawn, either add any left over spawn to the little spawn network or spread the remainder on the top.

10)  Take the set-aside chips from the fertile holes and evenly cover the rest of the chip-bed

11)  Soak the chips.

12)  Add a layer of straw 2-4 inches thick.  This will help to keep sun and heat off the wood chips and keep moisture in.  

13)  Soak again.  The goal should be to have damp but not soaking wood chips.  You will have to decide for yourself if the chips have had enough water but I find that soaking the straw layer down helps attach it to the chips.

14)  Plant your tomatoes or other veggies.

15)  MOST IMPORTANT STEP!!  Hurry up and wait!  This is a great exercise in learning patience.

Optional Steps:

a)  Adding some easy carbohydrates can get the spawn up-and-running faster.  Consider Blackstrap Molasses (or other molasses if you can't find blackstrap.

b)  Adding in a little compost (even if just layered on top) can add in beneficial microbes the Wine Caps like to grow along side.

c)  Some have laid a piece of cardboard on the top to keep moisture in.  In some cases the spawn colonizes VERY fast, as in just days to weeks.  I have not had that luck and it may be that when I added my layer I laid down too thick a layer or perhaps needed some air holes.  Fungi actually need oxygen so it is not impossible that I stifled my fungal growth.  Maybe just add a patch of cardboard hear and there.

d)  Maybe consider a straw bale.  I am experimenting with just plopping down a straw bale in the middle of the garden and inoculating with Wine Cap spawn.  Wine Caps grown on straw produce mushrooms very quickly.  But maybe consider adding in a little bit of topsoil to help give it a bit of a soil interface.

So there you have it, my updated set of instructions on how to grow Wine Caps.  I will continue to update and refine this list as I gain more experience.

Also, if you need more, try this list of Wine Cap related links HERE:
https://permies.com/t/174807/Wine-Cap-Growing-Central-great

Or try the longest-running thread on this list HERE:
https://permies.com/t/82798/composting/composting-wood-chips-chicken-litter

Do you buy spawn or do you have a way to spread it from existing fungi?

Mike, you asked a great question.

When one starts one of these projects buying in new spawn is almost always necessary unless a free dose of spawn from someone else’s patch is already available.  And even when I am starting a new patch, I have used new spawn.  I get mine from Fieldforest.net and they have been great to work with.

The reason I start out with new spawn, even when I have an existing bed, is that I don’t want to disturb my existing bed too much by digging a bunch of holes and taking out my hard-won mushroom compost.  

However, if you don’t mind the work, you can certainly start a new bed from the spawn of an old bed.  I can think of two ways to do so.  The first would be to poke around in the existing bed and find patches with the healthiest looking spawn—looks like a thick, thick cobweb of white strands weaving in and out and in between existing woodchips.  Simply take this patch and use it like fresh spawn—it IS fresh spawn.

The other way might be even better but the timing is important.  As actual Wine Cap mushrooms push up, gently pick a few up by their base and gently “plant” in a new bed of chips.  I have never tried this approach but I have been told that it establishes very quickly in new wood chips.

On a personal anecdote, I have some comfrey plants growing right next to my mushroom garden beds.  Every year I add a new layer of wood chips.  Last year I added just a bit of spawn from a place in my garden and then covered with a 2-3 inch layer of wood chips.  I did not expect much but to my surprise in a few weeks I actually had Wine Caps pushing up.  And in fact they escaped the wood chip layer and grew a few inches into the surrounding grass.  

I assume there was some woody debris there or maybe old grass clippings but whatever the case, I got several mushrooms quickly from a thin layer.  If I were to guess I would say that this little patch of Wine Caps grew so well because the layer of wood was thin and had great soil contact.  Also, the comfrey leaves gave great shade to protect from the heat of the sun and helped maintain moisture.  I am going to try more of the thin layer approach this year to see what I can get.

I hope this helps,

Eric

Thanks for the excellent instructions! My water reclamation system is still being set up, will chlorinated, municipal water hurt the growing mycelium? Also, I’m planning to start my bed in the fall in central Alabama, any difference in instructions?

Lexie,

Doubtless, rain water would be best, but I used municipal tap water with chlorine myself and the mushrooms grew abundantly!

As far as modifying instructions, my only thought is that you are on the right track by starting in fall in your more southern climate.  With a little luck, you should see Wine Caps by spring.  Please do keep us updated.

Eric

One more question please. Our bed is built and watered well. It will get diffuse light all winter and will be in deep shade as soon as the trees start greening up in the spring, should we cover with a tarp or cardboard through the winter to protect it from any light and from being contaminated with the huge number of native mushrooms?

Lexi,

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you.  I have been away for a while, but that is only a half-excuse.  

But to answer your question, I would not cover your chip bed over winter.  If you want to try laying a piece of cardboard here and there, that's one possible idea, but I have found that beds that get completely covered with cardboard don't do well.  Now some people have just laid a piece of cardboard on the surface, covering say, no more than 10% of the total surface area, and sometimes under that piece of cardboard the fungal strands grow really quickly.  But I have been experimenting lately with covering my entire bed in cardboard and I have not had good results.  If I had to guess, I would say that the fungi need more oxygen than I am allowing by covering them, but again, that is only a guess.  Also, Wine Caps don't need total darkness--they actually prefer a little bit of sunlight and I would think that if you can get just a little dappled sunlight in the winter, then that should do well.  Is there any chance you can suspend a tarp well above the bed so as to allow some light and air?  This is just an idea.  Otherwise, I would not try covering with a tarp.

If you have any other questions, I will try to be more attentive this time!


Best of luck,

Eric

This is one of those things that have been on my "really need to look into this" topics, and here you have answered/posted most of what I was wondering about.   It sounds like my yard/gardens are set up perfectly to get in gear and explore this more.  Can you seed the spore in the fall?  Is there any problem with doing so in an environment that already naturally puts up many different types of "wild" mushroom bodies?   I'm off to look that up, and see what I can find for small online spawn sellers...  

Heather,

I think Fall would be a great time to spread mushroom spawn.  As for sellers, I get all of mine from Field & Forest. Com.

I usually try to use as fresh chips as possible, but really that’s not possible unless you boil them which I don’t.  Wine Caps are so aggressive that they sort of “self sterilize” as they go, aggressively outcompeting other mushroom species.

Eric

Eric, thanks for the reply, we all have a life and it just keeps on getting in the way of my more sedentary pursuits so…no worries! We built the bed in an old, chain link chicken yard that has an old (think sort of rotten wood and accumulated leaves and limbs) roof with a gate so we can keep those pesky chickens from digging up the mushrooms before we get to them. Is there a certain temperature in the spring that triggers the mycelium to begin fruiting?

Lexie,

I have my best luck in the relatively cool, muggy, cloudy Spring days.  For me that was May if I am remembering correctly.

Lexie,

For me in Louisiana, Jan-May was best for the wine caps. By the end of May the heat was kicking in consistently and our overcast, wet of winter was long gone. The wine caps loved the wet winters here. Hope this helps.

Suzette, we had the same results. It was very successful and we will definitely be doing it again.

In the northeast, I would highly recommend Northspore for all of your mushroom needs.  Their website has lots of good information and videos, and they publish a weekly newsletter on Sundays that has great information from recipes to the latest scientific studies.  Check it out!  By the way, after harvesting huge bowlfuls of mushrooms, I was getting desperate as to how to preserve them.  I'd freeze-dried huge amounts but that takes a while.  Finally, I tried freezing them after sauteeing them down--wine caps exude lots of water and take longer than many to cook down if doing a lot.  Anyway, it was totally successful!  After thawing, I cooked them with some parsley, wine, and parm.  Delicious!

Thank you for this chat.  I planted wine cap spore from North Spore late in April and have only seen 1 mushroom pop up!  We're in NE Indiana and the 2, 1 x 6 ft strips are between 2 tall raised beds.  There's a trellis between the beds that had cukes and beans on them, creating a partially shaded area.

I've kept the strips fairly moist.  The base was fresh hardwood chips with a small amount of compost then some straw.  I added less than an inch of undyed bark mulch in the heat of summer.  Do we just need more time?

Hi, I also use NorthSpore for my first try at wine caps. I had 2 small raised beds with good soil . I added some compost and then the spawn, covered with chopped straw and watered well. I did not have many other plants in each bed, so tried to keep them moist. I only got a handful of wine caps a couple of weeks ago. I plan to add small wood chips and compost this fall. I hope to have more later this fall and next year. I am also trying some shitake logs- they take more time. So yes growing mushrooms teach patience.

What time of the year should you start?  Is it too late, zone 7a?  Utility company just delivered a couple of loads of wood chips, would it be better to inoculate now or wait until spring?

Nick, now would be fine.  You may not get any mushrooms this fall, but surely in the spring you will get a flush.  When I got my first kit, I kept it in the fridge, as directed, until November.  We had had a mild autumn and I was nervous about planting the spawn--I don't know why! Anyway, I was getting tired of how much room it was taking in the fridge and I wanted it to get going before we did have real cold.  I wouldn't advise waiting that long, but the mushrooms did "take" and the following spring I had so many mushrooms.  I did use cardboard, straw and wood chips.  At that point, I really figured it was too late and that cold would kill the spawn, so what did I have to lose, but no.  

You wouldn't want other mushrooms to get a hold in the wood chips.  I do have lots of mushrooms around here and I think I have some poisonous ones.  Be very careful when harvesting the mushrooms and checking all specifics about the mushroom you think you're harvesting.  For winecaps, I look for the broad stem, the violet-brown under the cap, the corona or ringlet signifying the king  in King Stropharia, the gills vs. pores, etc.

Julia, you probably just need more time.  I have a friend who loves to tour my gardens and look at all of the changes each time she is here.  We were walking out back where my first mushroom bed was planted and I didn't even see them that first spring.  She cried out, "Oh my gosh, look at the size of those mushrooms!"  Even after she said that, I took me a little bit of time to see them and we were only a few feet from the bed.  Once I saw them, I was shocked, both by how big and how many but also by how well camouflaged they were.  I use that area to also dump my leaves, which provides them with "food" but the coloring of both together really blended in.  

When you planted them, how moist the ground is, the climate, and the food sources available would all factor in to their production.  The mycelium really needs to be established before it throws up the fruiting bodies / mushrooms.  Mine flush out twice each year: spring and fall.  There are random ones that pop up between these two windows, but the big flushes are the ones that make me drop everything and harvest because they really only last for a few days and you have to be vigilant.

j flynn, I don't think that soil really matters too much.  Mushrooms aren't like plants.  Instead, they feed by breaking down dead plant matter; that's why straw, wood chips and leaves are all good options.  I think your idea of adding wood chips should make a big difference.  Mushrooms allow for the decay or breaking down of dead plant matter.  That is their role.  They don't feed on soil per se, however they certainly root through it.  Have you ever seen that white stringy stuff in a pile of damp leaves?  That's the mycelium of a fungus getting busy and breaking those leaves down to soil.  If you were to compare it to a plant like a pepper plant, the mycelium would be the stems and leaves and roots.  When the pepper plant is old enough, it will develop the fruit or peppers.  With mushrooms, the fruit are the mushrooms and the plant is the mycelium which take a little while to start producing their fruiting bodies.

I love that this thread got revived, I only wished that I had gotten to it earlier.  I just wanted to echo what others have only said.  This time of year is about perfect for zone 7 to start a Wine Cap mushroom project.  And also to echo what has already been said, Wine Caps, being a fungus and not a plant technically feed on wood/straw/etc. and not the soil.  That said, Wine Caps do like to have some contact with the soil as they derive benefit from interaction with soil dwelling bacteria and other microbia.

Good Luck!

Eric

I have a large pile of mostly green leaves with twigs and small branches raked up after Hurricane Helene.  I am wondering if this pile could be used to grow some wine caps or another mushroom.  I am not as excited about growing them for food as using them to break down the pile and to add beneficial mycelium to the surrounding soil.  Has anyone had experience growing mushrooms on fresh piles of leaves, twigs and small branches?  I can flatten the pile to give more surface area but don't really want to rebuild it with layers.  Maybe inoculate the edges of the pile with spawn in sawdust?  I can wait for wood chips but not sure when we will get the chipper fired up.  There will still be a lot of leaves in the mix.

Greta,

I am so sorry it took me so long to respond to this question of yours.  The short answer is a great big YES!  Wine Caps could be an excellent way to dispose of unwanted piles of woody debris.  Technically, the Wine Caps will grow right on branches and logs as long as they are touching the ground as Wine Caps like a soil interface (they get along well with soil microbia).  But sometimes a brush pile is not ideal.  Crushing the pile might help.  Chipping the pile on the spot definitely creates the soil interface, but be careful about making the pile over about 6 inches or so.  You might be able to get away with a part of the pile maybe getting up towards 18 inches tall so long as the majority is only about 6 inches or less--basically, get the the fungus really growing well in the shallow part before it infects the tall part.  You might also think about chipping some of the branches and then laying other whole branches in the chips and see what happens.

At any rate, I wish you good luck on this project!

Eric

I just want to add that growing wine caps is like feast or famine.  I have a giant stainless steel bowl that I use to make bread in, It's so big that it doesn't fit in my sink to wash it.  Anyway, when wine caps are fruiting, I fill this bowl multiple times a day.  Mind you, the flushing only goes on for a few days and only twice a year: May and again in fall. I have to deal with them almost instantly because they don't store well.  What I've discovered is that if I sauté them with a little salt and garlic--you don't need any oil or butter, they release an amazing amount of water and therefore the overall mass is reduced considerably.  I cook them down until most if not all of that has evaporated away.  

Be warned that this can take an hour or more, depending on how many you have, but then, I have some choices.  I usually take a portion of those and keep them in the fridge; they do store for a few days once cooked.  Love to have the side vegetable all done when dinner time rolls around! I also freeze-dry and powder some for soups and the like, but the biggest discovery is that at this point (cooked), they freeze beautifully.  I have some thawing in the fridge as I type this...Maybe I'll make a quiche for lunch!

great thread!
We have an abundance of fresh chips at the moment...is it too late in the year to inoculate? ...next window might be late winter into spring for zone 7ish?

Hi Judith!!

If you wanted to go out, spread chips and inoculate, I don't see any reason why you would cause any harm.  Don't expect a ton of growth over the winter, but in spring you will have the spawn already in the chips just waiting for the right conditions.  And who knows--maybe you would get a little warm spell over the winter and the spawn would start (barely) to grow into and start digesting the wood.  Don't expect the whole bed to be finished by spring--my first attempt took a year--but I think that just having the spawn in the chips waiting for the right conditions (instead of waiting for you to come out and put the spawn in the chips) and maybe even having just a bit of growth already makes for a great start for the spring.

I say go for it!  I really see no harm.


Eric

Judith, I am in complete agreement with Eric- go for it while the chips are still fresh. However,  I might add that you might also want to put some fresh chips and a bit of your spawn in a big plastic bag, then put the bag in a closet or place where the temperature will stay around 70 F, spraying it with water occasionally to keep it moist. (You could also add some hardwood sawdust to the mix too, since Wine Caps seem to like a mix of 50/50 hardwood chips/sawdust, although they can do well with just chips.) That way, you'll another Wine Cap project going in case the outdoor project doesn't do well. I always try to inoculate two different substrates or kinds of logs when I buy mushroom spawn and see which project does best. The bag can be used to inoculate another chip bed in the spring once the weather warms up.

Good luck and please keep us posted!

M.K. Has a good point.

If things go completely bust over winter, having a little supply left over is a great idea.

Alternatively, you could acquire an extra bag or two of spawn to hold back just for this purpose.  And if things do go well, then maybe you could start another project.


Eric

thanks mk and eric!

still considering,...seeing as a 5# bag of sawdust spawn is $28 and will inoculate only 25 sq ft Í think we are leaning towards waiting until spring or even next fall when our risk is less?

Looking for the best location now though.

I wonder if I stored some of these fresh chips in under a roof if they would be better for starting wine caps rather than naturally weathered for the next several months?

I think maybe, once again, I'm trying to add a new project to an already long list of 'undone' 🫤

Judith,

You live in an area that has relatively mild winters if I remember correctly?

Maybe....MAAAAAYYBEEE try this option:

Open the package and extract 1 lb.  Or just 1/2 lb.

Inoculate a spot of your garden & wood chips with that little bit of spawn.  Save the rest for spring.  Maybe just maybe you could get a little spot of Wine Cap spawn started.  Then when you decided to sow the rest, that little bit of starter section would jump-start the rest as the little hyphae reached them.


Just a thought


Eric

Judith,

If you consider the 1/2 pound approach, maybe you could optimize by doing something like the following:


Find a spot that is only about 6" deep.

Scrape away the chips and make a little hole that goes all the way to the ground.  Make this hole about coffee can sized--maybe a bit larger in diameter.

Get enough straw to fill the hole and keep it in a bucket or other solid container

Thoroughly moisten the straw

Place the 1/2 pound of spawn in the bucket.

Mix the spawn and straw thoroughly

Now go out to the garden and fill the hole with the straw-spawn mix

Cover the straw with a thin layer of wood chips



The idea is that the straw will get inoculated very quickly and the spawn will start their journey immediately.  My experience is that straw is like fungal gasoline--it spreads very fast.  This was the spawn would get a jump on the season.  In spring, this straw-spawn would be active before you even got the rest of the spawn into the bed.


I have a few other thoughts that I might be able to add to this.  If you are open to it, I will continue to update.


Eric

Oh yeah, just remembered.....

If I am remembering correctly, a little bit of sugar helps the spawn get out of the gate.  What I have heard is that getting a little bit of molasses, maybe mixed into the bucket during inoculation, would give the spawn something to get started.  Maybe think of it as their morning coffee.

And rice...I seem to remember that rice is something that could be potentially useful.  Again, this would be to get the spawn started.  More specifically, the sugars and rice are really helpful to get some bacteria going, and the fungi work extra hard with bacteria as a partner.

So my thoughts would look like this:

Get a cup of rice.  Boil it like you were cooking.  As it cools, add in just a little bit of molasses.  This doesn't have to be a huge amount--maybe a tablespoon?

Mix up the molasses rice until thoroughly mixed.  

Add in some more water so that the mixture almost flows like a liquid again.

Use this liquid to wet down the straw.

Place the moistened straw in the hole in the garden wood chips.

Cover with a thin layer of wood chips.


If there is just too much liquid, don't throw away!  Dump it somewhere in with the wood chips, but not in the same place where the straw was just placed

Feel free to adjust the rice/molasses/water to meet the volume of straw that you have to wet down.  The straw should not be soaked, but moist.


Good Luck!!

Eric

Eric, any ideas you think of are helpful whether we manage to do this this fall or wait until spring....and certainly helpful for others following this thread.

We were spreading some chips this afternoon and will continue over the weekend.
By then we should have a location picked out.

I haven't ordered anything yet.

The pile of chips is getting nice and warm inside...not hot yet but it was green wood so I expect it will get hotter before we finish spreading.
Years ago we were leaving for a six week train trip when a chip pile just delivered was really putting out some heat so we knocked it down into a flatter low pile.  I always wondered if that was necessary?
Will it get hot enough to combust?

Judith,

I seriously doubt that the chip pile would combust.  I do know just how hot one of those piles an get, but spontaneous ignition requires some pretty specific conditions.  For example, I highly doubt that there is any way that the pile would ever combust so long as the material is still moist.  Now if there is some wind, bright & sunny days and no rain, maybe the outer part could dry out.  But then the inner part would still have to be moist for the decomposition to take place at the rip-roaring pace that would push temperatures over 400 degrees.

But if you get some chips that are really going that fast, it might present an opportunity.  A pile that hot is teaming with bacteria--just the little friends that Stropharia likes to partner with.  If there were some way that you could leave *SOME* chips in a true hot pile while the rest were distributed into your beds, you could go ahead and sow Stropharia now and then work in the bacterially decomposed chips a bit later so that the Stropharia could use the bacteria as a sort of jump-start.

Or, if there was some way to use the heat of the pile to keep a bed warn--maybe 50 degrees--then the Stropharia could happily start decomposition right now and not have to worry about cold temps slowing things down.  At the moment, I am not certain how to do this, but it may be worth some thought.

But my number one goal--if available--would be to get microbiology up and running right now.  It doesn't have to be going at top speed.  And in fact, it really only has to idle.  But just creeping along, the microbes will be well established long before you get started in Spring.  This is essentially consistent with the idea of starting the Stropharia right now.  Let's just hypothetically say that you do sow now and the Stropharia only get 2% established before winter shuts things down.  2% does not sound like much, but that is still 2% ahead of the game when temps warm back up in Spring.  That spawn will get started slowly--mostly going on warm and moist days--but will still be in a growth mode when you finally pick that day in Spring when you decide to get out into the garden again and start working.  When you do, you will meet Stropharia well established, already in progress--that's progress that would not have been made if you just waited till Spring.  Once the warmer days get here, the Stropharia will get fully up to speed and one day you will notice mushrooms--huge ones--pushing themselves up through the chips.  

At least this is how I see things and I certainly don't want to tell you what to do.  Of course, you can make your own decisions, but its really hard for me to see any downside to starting early.


Good luck Judith in whichever way you choose to go,


Eric