Inoculating fungi on stumps using wheat colonized with mycelium

Hello, in the book "Mycelium Running" it explains that to colonize stumps, plug spawn is used, which is inserted into the edges of the stumps. There's a store where I can get wheat colonized with mycelium. I was wondering if instead of using plug spawn, I could use small pieces of wheat in the stump holes and it would work the same? Or is it necessary to use plug spawn?

Thanks in advance

I believe you would have success with this if you had well inoculated spawn.

If I were to do it, I would drill the holes and then make sure to pack the hole well with spawn. Maybe get a similar diameter stick/rod to avoid gaps and ensure good contact with the wood.

I found the bigger the stump, the longer it takes for mushrooms to appear. The bigger stumps, at least for me, produce longer than the smaller ones as well.

In my experience, using plug spawn on outdoor projects would be a much better choice than grain spawn. The reason is that all kinds of animals LOVE to eat grain spawn, especially rodents. Earthworms, insects and other bugs such as pillbugs like to eat grain spawn, too. Plug spawn also resists disease better. What species are you trying to grow?

At any rate, I would probably shop around a bit more for plug spawn- well worth the effort. Good luck!

Yeah a plug would be ideal, but if you don't have access to it you could use wheat spawn. Cover it up well. You'll have best luck with an oyster species

Grain spawn is great because the grain is a good source of protein which the spawn will need, especially to get kick-started.  The downside is that mice, rats, rodents, etc. tend to eat the spawn, especially if you are kind enough to pack a little hole with it and leave it near ground level for them.  

Honestly, its a trade-off between sawdust spawn or grain spawn.  I have never used grain spawn before and had good luck anyways.


BTW, what species are you using?  



Eric

Ronaldo,

Just a thought.......


How big/tall is the stump?  What species (if you know)?  This matters because the type of mushroom that will be best suited will depend on a number of factors.

If the stump is relatively low, maybe a Winecap is the best.  Winecaps do best when they have some type of contact with the soil.  Also, if the stump is already partially rotted, Winecaps work well with bacteria that inhabit decaying wood.  Winecaps are typically found growing on logs that have fallen on the ground so that the fungi can get contact with both the wood and the soil.


If the stump is relatively tall and is fresh/not rotted, then perhaps an oyster is your best option.  Oysters do grow really fast--even faster than a Winecap, but they really don't like competition from things coming up from the ground.  In a pure wood environment, Oyster mushrooms are in heaven and will grow aggressively.  They should break that wood down in no time.

Thoughts?



Eric