Mushrooms on pine chips

I got some free pine chips from a tree company but now am reading they aren’t good for mushrooms. I wanted mushroom to help break them down quicker. Are there any types that can grow on pine? It’s a mix there is also some spruce which probably isn’t any better and then some cotton wood.

I have read that oyster mushrooms will grow near pine and spruce.

Were you planning on doing an inoculation? Or just hoping mushrooms show up?

If you aren't looking for edible mushrooms, I have had pretty good luck just walking around my property and picking up any old mushrooms I see growing, grinding them up with water in a blender and dumping them in my wood chips.

Anne Miller wrote:I have read that oyster mushrooms will grow near pine and spruce.

Were you planning on doing an inoculation? Or just hoping mushrooms show up?

Just looking for some help with decomposition

In New Zealand hardwood is not easy to find, and so mushrooms are often grown on sawdust pellets from pine sawdust.
https://www.mycologic.nz/growing-on-blocks

"Overseas books normally recommend hardwoods, however in New Zealand, pine fuel pellets are the most readily available and cheapest form of compressed sawdust, which many growers have success on."


I read somewhere else, but can't find now, that the heat process that forms the pellets deactivates the resins in the pine.  I have experimented with pellets a bit and got mycellium growing in jars of woodpellet sawdust.

So without being an expert, I think you could easily pressure cook a few jars/bags of wood chip and grow a variety of mushrooms for dinner.  If you have more woodchip than can be easily heated, then this will be more difficult.

There are oyster mushrooms that grow on pine, but they seem to be rare:
https://permies.com/t/36692/fungi-grown-pine
http://amateurmycology.com/?p=1164

Oooooo, this is a challenge for me.  I typically think of hardwoods when I think about mushroom decomposition.

However, you might try Turkey Tail mushrooms.  They have been known to grow on pine tree remnants.



And if you try the Oyster Mushroom route, give strong consideration to the Italian Oyster.  This might be your best bet!




Eric