fungi on pine logs (pinus pinaster)

Dear permies,

I have to fell several pines about 10cm diameter. I am wondering if there is any fungi i could grow on the logs? I have read some sources that indicate yes (Martin Crawford) but online can't really find success stories. Thanks!

Fernando

Yes, there are mushrooms that will grow on pine logs. Oysters will grow on nearly anything. If you want to find something more specialized and maybe more economically viable have a look at online catalogs selling grain spawn and plugs. Most don't use pine because hardwoods are denser and thus produce more mushroom per volume.

Thanks for the input, Dominik.

Has anyone tried this?

Everything that I have read warns about using pine for growing mushrooms.  Pine is especially fungi resistant due to chemicals in them.  This covers most everything in the pinacaea family they say which includes spruce, fir, larch and hemlock.

I do find that the Idaho grand fir (white fir) does grow some mushrooms though.  Bear tooth (close relative to lions mane) grows on white fir here in the Pacific Northwest as well a number of polypores and here on my farm a veiled polypore grows almost exclusively on the white fir.  I am told that oysters will grow reasonably well on the white fir as well.

I have been warned away from even mixing small amounts of pine shavings into my sawdust mixes for mushrooms. While I haven't tried to grow any mushrooms on pine myself I can say that I have yet to ever see any mushroom ever growing on a pine tree.

I can say for certain that yellow/golden oyster mushrooms will grow on white fir though as I had a great batch grow in a planter box I made from some white fir I milled up for an avocado plant in the living room years ago. In fact it was that experience that got me interested in growing mushrooms.  

If you have any success growing on pine let us know, my forests are primarily pine, spruce, red fir and tamarack which are "supposedly" all bad for growing mushrooms on.  

I ended up giving away the wood. I needed to do it on short notice and didn't buy the spawn on time. Maybe next time (there are more pines). It really is worth the experiment even if it is on just one pine, which comes at marginal cost. I will update the thread in that case. Thanks

Bears Head (Hericium abietis) grows primarily on fir, but is supposed to also be able to grow on other conifers like pine.