Mushroom Log Totems

Hi, my wife and I started inoculating logs to grow shiitake mushrooms a couple years back, we started with the traditional 3-4’ log about 6” in diameter and enjoyed a bountiful harvest last year. It is common to force the logs to fruit by submerging them in water for a day and leaning in a shady spot so here’s our challenge.
This past summer we got some pretty big oak logs and made a number of shiitake totems. Very quick to make but they are so big and heavy that there really isn’t an effective way to pick them up and submerge them in water for a day to force fruit. Any techniques or methods used to get your totems to produce mushrooms on a scheduled basis?

While submerging totems in water really lets you put the water to the log without much waste, it isn't the only way to get them to fruit.

You can use a hose to really give it some water and get a similar result. I would recommend watering heavily if you are going to go that route to get a good flush.

Hi, Dennis.

Since the logs are to heavy to pick up and submerge, can you just try to water them often?  Would that help?

Unfortunately our only shady spot on our property is not near a convenient water supply. With the traditional mushroom logs we stack in the wheelbarrow and bring them up to soak in our rain barrels. I was thinking about possibly sitting a five gallon bucket in top of the totems with a drip system to keep a constant moisture level but definitely interested in how others might have tackled this issue.

I like the idea of the 5 gallon bucket drip system.

I wonder if using compost tea in the bucket would jump start things.

Fertilizer isn’t really required for mushroom growing, we inoculated the totems last summer early so they will be ready to fruit this spring. This is definitely a topic we haven’t heard being discussed, ideas always welcome.