Mycelium Inoculation Flood Response: northern NSW, Aus.

Hello & thank you for this forum. First time poster.

I live in the rainforest hinterland near Byron Bay, NSW Australia. Our property was extremely impacted by floods earlier this year. Our once idyllic environment filled with ferns & ancient growth, is now strewn with piles of dead trees & decomposing matter.

Locals say I need to endure the process of invasive weeds such as lantana, devils weed, purple top, farmers friends & more establishing in regions that previously held moss, ferns & 200 yr old trees. I have a different idea. Mass mycelium inoculation.

I'm seeking information on spore that will devour piles of tree trunks & plant matter - fig, palm, fern & more. I'm currently looking into "Wine cap" - king stropharia, that is known to effectively break down wood chips. Thing is, I want to encourage the decomposition of piles that are sometimes meters high, & am not sure if my imagination is going to meet well with reality.

Does anyone here have experience with a large scale project like this? Know of a spore expert in Aus that I can get advice/purchase from?

optimistically,
Lara Rose

If you do introduce anything, will it turn into a cane toad situation? Just wondering.

Lara, welcome to Permies!

My sympathies. That's a particularly nasty problem.

I can't imagine how an infusion of fungal spores would magically hopscotch over the normal succession of plants. There's just too much volume.

In my area, I would be chopping out all of the woody debris that I could, making firewood and biochar. But at that volume? I don't know.

Can you post some photos? It's hard to visualize what you're facing.

Hi John, thnx for the welcome.

John C Daley wrote:If you do introduce anything, will it turn into a cane toad situation? Just wondering.

A valid point. I'm hoping (perhaps naively) that further research will provide an environmentally sound solution. Perhaps in the end I will have to stay with manual labour & extreme patience.

Douglas Alpenstock wrote:Lara, welcome to Permies!

My sympathies. That's a particularly nasty problem.

I can't imagine how an infusion of fungal spores would magically hopscotch over the normal succession of plants. There's just too much volume.

In my area, I would be chopping out all of the woody debris that I could, making firewood and biochar. But at that volume? I don't know.

Can you post some photos? It's hard to visualize what you're facing.

Ah! It was you that welcomed me .. Thnx Douglas.

When I pull away from taking it personally the experience becomes quite profound. It's a challenge for sure ... however also incredibly humbling & beautiful.

I did get some guys to chainsaw many protruding trees, & we have created a burn pile that will take days of tending to once lit. I also plan many smaller burns, however much of the plant matter is mixed with river sand, so it's not drying out or taking heat easily. Maybe next year.

I tried to include photos in my original post, however the file type wasn't correct. I gave up computer life a few years ago, to tend to the land, so I'm a bit rusty. Will take me a moment to work out how to make them compatible for upload. Thnx for the encouragement.

I love your idea of introducing fungi into your land as a restoration method.

Something to consider as the debris is removed is that leaving small brush piles will benefit the wildlife.  these brush piles will become home to all sorts of wildlife including birds, bees, etc.

Many of those weeds you mentioned I would love having them grow on my property. Before removing consider their value.  Do pollinators love them or are they medicinal?

Best wishes for restoring your land with all that fungi.

Welcome Lara to Permies and the Australasian Forum.
Sorry that your first posts cannot be for a much better reason.  My sympathies are with you and those around who, no doubt are also struggling.

A single strike solution will probably not work in your habitat/ climate.  And yes, as has been mentioned, you will see weed infestations and be careful of the cane toad solution.
You probably have heard the old joke: How do you eat an elephant?  A: one bite at a time.......

You have wood, rotting vegetation displaced animals including snakes and other reptiles that are looking for a new warm hide to over winter, just to start.

Have a look at this discussion: https://permies.com/t/63618/Check-Swale-Project Part of it includes a wood collection.

Think about working on small areas working from the house out.  consider wood swales that will naturally attract fungi, a micro biome and larger predators to eat mice etc.  This will in some way start to define your land.  You can also buy innoculant such as oyster mushrooms and shiitake.  These are the guys I use: https://aussiemushroomsupplies.com.au/ They are very helpful.  I would ask them what is the best way to get the spore.
Once the land gets a bit dryer you could consider getting a chipper or a tracked log mover in but they cost and if your area is like ours at the moment, it will get bogged.

See what you can resurrect in and around the house, plant wise.  When the weeds arrive, chop and drop before they go to seed.  Be mindful that the weeds in the main are the forest trying to reestablish itself so also look out for seedlings of shrubs and trees you don't want to get established and add to the chop and drop and those you want to keep, mark to keep them from being walked on.

Good luck for the job ahead.

Hi Lara,
I was super excited to read your post and can't wait to read the advice that comes through from people.

I live in QLD and have a small property in the west. Its typically a scrub-land area and any clearing does spark an immediate regrowth of unwanted trees. So a couple of years ago I had a forestry mulcher come in and selectively clear about 2 hectares; leaving behind strong ironbark trees for shade and habitat, but also a great mulch to improve soil.
A year later I had the same idea as you. Use King Straphoria mushrooms to help break down material quickly. Knowing that bacteria love small decomposing cells, my idea was to use this process as a test for the whole farm. It would be quick and healthy!

Forward to today (December 26th 2022) and I can confidently say that the material is breaking down and there is a clear change of soil colour to about 3 inches (75mm) in depth.
However, forestry mulching has not entirely mitigated the regrowth of unwanted species. I suspect that the mulch has to be a fairly even layer at substantial depth to block out enough light to kill out seeds.

Look forward to hearing about your Dvenyoure in this space.

Best of luck,
Nigel