Do you see shiitaki in this log?

The logs I innoculated last spring are showing some fungal growth, but at least two species.
Is one of these the beginnings of shiitakis? I both underwatered and overwatered(if possible) last summer.
Thanks!

i don't think so I had a similar fungus grow on one of my shiitake logs as well, someone said it was something else..but that the shiitake might still be OK?? don't know

Thank you, I will try to be more patient!

Brenda Groth wrote:i don't think so I had a similar fungus grow on one of my shiitake logs as well, someone said it was something else..but that the shiitake might still be OK?? don't know

my logs showed more of an amoebic patter on the cuts. that said, the growth on the edges may well represent movement from spawn. mycelial growth seems varied and looks different on different cuts. if the shiitake take, competing fungi will not be able to get a foothold. it may take a long while to get them to fruit, it's a patient species.

I agree with Brenda, it might be OK. You can tell the innoculant took from the white so just give it time.

Our logs don't always show white until the weather stays in the fifties and sixties at least but they are outdoors year round and this winter has been colder than usual. We only have wide range strains. My kindle screen is black and white so I am no help with your photo though.

If you don't mind experimenting a little, you could strip some of the bark at your inoculation point to compare the growths. I've never grown shiitake, but that growth at the top right is very typical for other white-mycelium types I've seen like Oysters.

This looks like normal growth. I doubt they were overwatered. If they actually were, they would be dead. Mushrooms can only "hold their breath" for 24 hours. If you left them underwater for that long, they died -- but I doubt that happened. This does not look dead!

Stewart Lundy wrote:This looks like normal growth. I doubt they were overwatered. If they actually were, they would be dead. Mushrooms can only "hold their breath" for 24 hours. If you left them underwater for that long, they died -- but I doubt that happened. This does not look dead!

I don't know about other mushrooms, but we soak our plugged shiitake logs 2 and sometimes 3 days to get a flush all at once. I agree, it would be hard to overwater. During our long dry summers I water once a week or so, as I would the garden and sometimes worry they are too dry but it is never a problem with them fruiting.