Experiment with oyster mushrooms—anyone else try this?

Hi all,

Yesterday I helped my neighbor clear up some tree stumps from recently felled trees.  Among them was a beautiful, pristine 2’-2.5’ diameter oak log (I think it is Red Oak, though I could be mistaken).  Most of the wood here is Oak or Hickory, and I don’t think it is hickory.  The stump is about 18”-24” tall.  It’s a nice, solid unblemished piece of wood.

I am thinking about adding in oyster mushrooms, specifically a variety called PoHu mushrooms which is a good producers across a range of temperature and environmental settings.  I was thinking about using plug spawn.  I can get 200 plugs for around $20.

At the moment the stump is sitting in full sunlight.  I could drape a covering, but I could also move to the woods.

So any thoughts?  I can drill plenty of holes for plugs.  I don’t think I need to or even could sterilize.  Is there any way to add water?  I would think the spawn would just use water already in the wood—it is fresh and recently live.

Any thoughts are welcome.

Eric

We recently inoculated a bunch of logs with oyster spawn. Waiting to see if we get any fruiting bodies!

I take it these stumps are no longer rooted in the ground? Live trees - especially oaks - have potent antifungal compounds. We were advised to wait a month from felling for these to start breaking down. After that we used sawdust spawn, and a special inoculation tool. You are aiming to add spawn about every 6" which is a LOT of holes to drill and spawn on stumps that size. You definitely want to be working with appropriate tools, not trying to bodge it. Once inoculated the spawn needs to be sealed with a special wax to keep the moisture in. Then leave it for ages.

We followed instructions and left ours in the garage (cool, damp) for 6 months, then partially buried them in soft damp soil. I think the initial period is to allow the desired spawn to run through the wood and get established without having to fight wild strains. Burying it gives the fungi access to more moisture and nutrients to allow fruiting.

I think this process would definitely work on your big logs, with minimal modification. In fact, one set of instructions covered using the technique on butts that are still rooted in the ground. Basically leave the trunk a bit long when felling (eg 3ft) and then drill and inoculate it where it stands. It should get established and fruit for years right there in the woods.

Michael,

Thanks for the quick response!  You are correct, these are cut stumps with no rooting into the ground.  In fact, we moved the stump from his place to mine.  The stump is very clean—nice, tight, dense wood with no signs of internal rot whatsoever.  I would say it about as pristine as a log gets.

I don’t have room in my garage, so I was thinking about the woods for shade and maybe covering with a tarp.  I assume it will take some time to infect the whole stump.  

I agree that 200 holes is a lot, and maybe I can get that much if I drill around the stump as well as on top.  Truthfully, I did not think that oysters needed sealing owing to their aggressive nature, but maybe I am wrong.  I do grow Wine Caps in wood chips and there is just no way to sterilize that much wood or keep it sterile.  I was under the impression that oysters were even more aggressive.  Thoughts?

At any rate, thanks for the information.

Eric

Hi Eric:

Just a heads-up - I was browsing the Field & Forest website yesterday and noticed that they advise against using Oak for Oysters (as noted in the footnote of their suitability chart). However, Olive Oysterling is noted as being superior ...maybe give them a call and ask.

https://www.fieldforest.net/category/growing-outdoors#logs

Maybe go with shitake? You might be able to make a totem out of that log with sawdust spawn. Will save you a lot of time drilling all those holes. Only draw back with sawdust spawn is critters like to eat it, as I believe they use bran in the growing medium.

-Pete

re the "totem" idea. One way I have seen to do this is to cut the log into rounds of around 6". Stack them on top of each other, sprinkling a generous layer of sawdust spawn between each layer.

re the wax seal - it's not to protect against invasion by other species, although it does do that to some extent. It is to prevent the spawn drying out rapidly due to contact with air.

Ok, I just contacted Field and Forest and they told me that oak was not a good choice for oysters. They recommended Turkey Tail and I might try this just to experiment.

It’s too bad as I was hoping for a really good culinary mushroom and I hear that oysters are among the best.  This winter I might try indoor cultivation instead.

Thanks for the input.

Eric

I bought some wide range and cool varieties of shiitake from Field and Forest.  I get winter mushrooms which means NO BUGS!.  I need to keep it in shade over summer and keep them from drying out.   It is nice to harvest something after each freeze and then warm spell.

I tried plug spawn once.  Spent ages drilling and inserting and melting the wax and painting it on.  The next weekend when I went up the allotment, the birds had pecked all the wax away and pulled the plugs back out!

Eric,
If they are oak, I’d go with Shiitake.
Also, if you want to try cultivating oysters, I strongly recommend the bucket method, preferably with barley straw if you can get it.

I tried plug spawn once.  Then broke down and bought a drill bit, angle grinder adapter and a thumb controlled spawn inserter, so I use sawdust spawn now.  Much faster! And animals or birds can’t pull it all out, like they can a plug.

Hester Winterbourne wrote:I tried plug spawn once.  Spent ages drilling and inserting and melting the wax and painting it on.  The next weekend when I went up the allotment, the birds had pecked all the wax away and pulled the plugs back out!

Try the totem method.  Field and Forest has a pamphlet.  Use a grinder or other tool to create a depression and put colonized sawdust in the depression.  Before that soak the logs for a day and after innoculation wrap in a plastic garbage bag with a little airway and let it sit for a month or two.  
Found out that big logs take much longer. I had 14 inch logs and was about to toss them after the end of the second year when I started to get fruit.