Keeping moisture on mushroom logs

Here in the PNW, we have exceedingly dry and hot summers.  Not good for mycelium.  I have read for years that people took out a hose and watered their mushroom log stacks.  I can see how that's convenient, but the water probably contains both chlorine and chloramine, both which are anti-fungal chemicals. Seems to miss the point. It also seems to waste water.  The water doesn't stay very efficiently on the logs. Almost all of it rolls off right away.  Then I read that some put water in a 5 gallon bucket, add compost or a bit of dirt to neutralize the chlorine and chloramine, then pour it on the logs.  I think that's better for the logs, but still wasting water.  

For years, I decided to use a 5 gallon bucket with compost/dirt, but I would dunk each log in the water once a month.  It was better for the logs and avoided the wasting water problem.  However, it was a ton of work and also a long time between dunkings.  Then I thought of a new solution.  I would use a normal spray bottle to water them.  Easier on the back and also efficient with water.  Problem? It takes forever and doesn't send out enough water.  So I went down to the sporting goods store and bought one of those kid toy squirt bottles that they blast each other with.  Better, but still takes a long time and emits limited water.

Luckily I was able to consult with a cute girl I happen to be married to.  She said, "Why don't you use the sprayer that you use for compost tea? They are pretty big. You can get them at a big box store for $20 or so, and I already owned one.  I made sure the water had been composted/dirted? so it was slightly brown.  I filtered it so it wouldn't clog the sprayer.  It covered the logs quickly and with very little effort.  I had to uncover the tarps on the logs to do it, because during these mid summer months, even on the North side of the house, the logs get some sun. Sun is not good for mycelium.  I did it in the morning so they could dry off before being recovered in the late afternoon NW sunshine.

This way works way better for me, and I'm going to keep doing this until one of you clever people comes up with a new, innovative way that works better than this.

John S
PDX OR

Rainwater collection seems like the obvious answer there, no chlorine issues and free. Even a basic barrel under a downspout fills up fast in PNW winters. The run-off problem is trickier though, burying the logs slightly or surrounding them with wood chip to slow drainage might help retain moisture a bit longer.

I like these ideas in general.  Specifically, there are problems.

90% of the rain falls in between November and May.  When do you need the most water? In between May and November, so you'd use it all up in the first month, if it would last that long.  I have a small property, so I don't have a good place to store water, and buying the equipment would be very expensive.  

My logs are shiitake. If you bury them or put wood chips around them, you will have weed fungi logs, not shiitake logs.  

These are very good ideas, and they will probably help someone reading this, but I don't think they'll help me very much.  Thanks though.
John S
PDX OR

As I was reading your post, John, my brain was saying, "What about one of those pump sprayers that most people put ucky gick in, but we permies know they're good for spraying good gick."

Then, of course, I got to the bit where your lovely wife helped you see the light!  Very glad it's working.

The only suggestion I might have would be to use either a soaker hose or a drip irrigation system, but they both need water pressure and once you've mixed it with dirt to digest the chloramines, you'd need to put it in a very high up bucket to get enough pressure.

Few things in life are free. I don't see any option but to have to mess with the tarp, unless you feel it's worth while to build a "tent" to hold the tarp up, and spray  underneath it. You have to decide it the time and effort to do so, would be worth it, and decide if the larger air space would be an asset or a liability.

Could  you just leave them in buckets?
I would expect the water to wick up the log in that circumstance.
Maybe put some sand or sawdust in the bottom to stop the skeeters.

Interesting idea.  You have to put shiitake on pallets because they will be infected by weed fungi. Sawdust would infect them, as would water, probably. They are from a summer rain climate, which I clearly don't live in.

John S
PDX OR

Sounds like the logs would be happy in tent with automatic misters, like what is used to grow cuttings, or on a flood and drain system, like from hydroponics.

Probably not worth the extra everything those would take to set up.

I agree on both counts.
John S
PDX OR

I've been growing Shiitake and Oyster mushrooms on logs for many years in Oregon. My strategy in the summer is to stack the logs tightly in an extremely  shady area underneath standard sized fruit trees in my food forest, cover them with clear plastic sheeting and then cover that with a brown or blue plastic tarp. When it rains , I uncover the logs. (I don't like plastic, but it works well for me.)  Maybe canvas tarps would work as well. Field & Forest Products also sell a "fruiting blanket" that might work for you:

https://fieldforest.net/shop/supplies/fruiting-blankets/

I also soak the logs to force them into fruiting. I use 5 gallon buckets or 25 gallon totes or 50 gallon pickle barrels. When I'm done soaking one side of the logs, I soak the other side.

I also use a mister sometimes, which might not work so well for you because of the chlorine.  Since my logs are stacked right under the fruit trees, the fruit trees get extra water from the run off as well. I also sometimes have beds of Wine Caps or Landscape Morels underneath the stacked logs for even more benefit.

Hope this info helps!

Hi John,

Leaving a 5 gallon bucket outside in the sun for about 2 days should get rid of any chlorine—chlorine doesn’t stick around very long.

Cloramine is a different story.  I honestly don’t know what it takes to get rid of chloramine, but that’s because I never looked into it.

If it helps, tap water doesn’t have tons of either.  It’s not like a public swimming pool.  I have always wetted my mushrooms down with tap water and I don’t think I have seen any problems.

All that said, maybe just leaving the 5-gallon bucket outside for a couple days might do some good.  And if there is chloramine, remember that while chloramine is not good for mushrooms, having no moisture at all is much worse.

Could you use some newspaper to cover your logs?

Eric

Newspaper is an interesting idea.  It might, over time, attract spores from weed fungi, which is a real problem with shiitake. It is amazing to see how many spores flow through the air that we can't see.   I agree that leaving water out for a few hours lets chlorine drift off.  I do that.  Elaine Ingham told me that if you put a bit of compost in tap water, enough to see that it has visibly turned brown, it will neutralize the chloramine.

John S
PDX OR

I see nothing wrong with adding compost.  But do it after letting the water sit.  The reason: compost will shade the water—especially the lower part—and the chlorine might not get fully irradiated by the sun.  But after 2 days, go for it!

And regarding the logs—frustrating trying to isolate the logs from everything that might try to compete.  But then these did exist in the wild far earlier than any human tried to make the process work for himself.  So it can deal with some pressure.

Alternatively, maybe you could lay some wet newspaper on top of the logs and then make little tents of plastic to improve humidity underneath.  But maybe make the little tents peak in the walkway.  Two reasons:

1). Any condensation will trickle down and drip on the logs and not the ground.

2). If you can poke some holes in the valley (little holes—just enough for a drop of water.), any dew or rain (if you ever get any) will once again drop on the logs.

Just a couple of thoughts,


Eric

Not a serious suggestion for this situation, but what if one added water internally?
Drill out a big 1 inch hole, fill it with water, plug it with a rubber stopper.
If you want add gravity fed irrigation lines directly to the interior of each log.
Or invert a wine bottle of water into the hole in the log.
Just silly ideas, but it does make me wonder if a hollowed out piece of wood could work as an olla.

On the tap water situation, I believe ascorbic acid, vitamin c , will neutralize chloramine.

Eric Hanson wrote:I see nothing wrong with adding compost.  But do it after letting the water sit.  The reason: compost will shade the water—especially the lower part—and the chlorine might not get fully irradiated by the sun.  But after 2 days, go for it!

And regarding the logs—frustrating trying to isolate the logs from everything that might try to compete.  But then these did exist in the wild far earlier than any human tried to make the process work for himself.  So it can deal with some pressure.

Great point on the waiting.  I will take note of that.

Your second point would be helpful if I were trying to increase the evolutionary power of the shiitake species.  However, my goal is to increase the yield of my shiitake mushrooms.  Making preferable habitat for other fungi won't help that.  Same with wet paper.  

Well, the spraying seems to have made a difference. Before, I had zero mushrooms this year. Afterwards, this showed up:
It's just a few logs for my personal use, but it made a big difference!

John S
PDX OR