lions mane finally grew

Hi all!
About 2 years ago I got 2 plug kits, 1 for chicken of the woods and 1 for lion's mane. I sourced some freshly cut oak tree logs, drilled, plugged and soy wax coated the logs. Tried to water regularly, but slacked off on that, (forgot). I have these logs upright, buried 1/3 into the ground in part shade. Today I went out, and finally, I have a nice small, white icicle dripping specimen of lions mane on the log I plugged with that variety. There are also turkey tails popping out all over both logs. Now to my question, is the turkey tail that must have inoculated the wood in the wild b4 it was cut down, harm, affect, or prohibit my lion's mane? Turkey tail is all over the place here in PA, but I was really looking forward to my own stash of lions mane and particularly the chicken of the woods. Thanks in advance from a newbie!

Turkey tail is one of the most common weed fungi, but it is also one of the greatest medicinal fungi in its own right.  I don't cultivate Turkey tail because it's so easy to find. I do, however, make tinctures out of it for medicine.  Turkey tail seems to get onto many cultivated mushroom logs, after it was drilled because it is so aggressive.
John S
PDX OR

Hi John,
Thanks you for your reply, do you think the turkey tail will harm my lion's mane, or can they peacefully co-exist on the same log? Thanks, Dee.

If you could cut the log in between them, I would. Turkey tail is very common and more aggressive than lion's mane. I would also keep it physically away.  It's like would you rather have dandelion or a vegetable dish from a four star French restaurant? The dandelion is taking over. Dandelion is good, but not as good as a 4 star French restaurant vegie, and it's way cheaper.
JohnS
PDX OR

Unfortunately, I cannot cut between them, the t.t. has kinda erupted down the whole log with a large specimen at ground level, and the l.m. is currently only at ground level too. I plugged evenly the whole length/circumference of the log, but I think it's only appearing (the l.m.) at ground level due to all the rain we have been getting over the last week, the soil is pretty saturated now. I guess I'll just wait it out and see if they can all get along, I don't think I'll be harvesting the l.m. this year unless it gets much larger, it's currently smaller than the size of a tennis ball. I was just happy after all these years it is finally producing!

Denise Kersting wrote:Unfortunately, I cannot cut between them, the t.t. has kinda erupted down the whole log with a large specimen at ground level, and the l.m. is currently only at ground level too. I plugged evenly the whole length/circumference of the log, but I think it's only appearing (the l.m.) at ground level due to all the rain we have been getting over the last week, the soil is pretty saturated now. I guess I'll just wait it out and see if they can all get along, I don't think I'll be harvesting the l.m. this year unless it gets much larger, it's currently smaller than the size of a tennis ball. I was just happy after all these years it is finally producing!

Denise I have seen turkey tail and lions mane co-exist in the wild on the same decaying fallen tree, typically from what iv'e seen...the lion's mane is hanging more on the underside of the fallen tree, usually on some very large logs. They have been showing face everywhere here in jersey along with the rain the past few days! They could be friends... perhaps harvest some of the epic T.T. approaching the Mane!  
    On a side note, I could be totally wrong but I have heard rumors that the C.O.T.W. is quite difficult and not so promising to get the fruiting body to go into effect, you may not see that spring up ever! But I sure hope it does - Good Luck !
 

Hi Shauns, thanks for the info! They were started just as an experiment, I didn't think I'd really have any luck with either of them, so I am thrilled to even have the small success with the lion. I am still holding out hope that the chicken will take...I've never seen it in the wild, and I'd love to try it. In and around that area I've also been trying to get morels to take up residence. Haven't had any luck with that yet, but a girl can dream.

Denise Kersting wrote:Hi Shauns, thanks for the info! They were started just as an experiment, I didn't think I'd really have any luck with either of them, so I am thrilled to even have the small success with the lion. I am still holding out hope that the chicken will take...I've never seen it in the wild, and I'd love to try it. In and around that area I've also been trying to get morels to take up residence. Haven't had any luck with that yet, but a girl can dream.

Yes that rules ! keep experimenting!   There could be a a bunch a fresh chicken and hen of the woods near by... here's two I found today in New Jersey ... they usually stand out pretty good !

You probably have the Morel mushroom mycelium making a new home, but you won't see them fruit till the spring!!! Good Luck!

Jealous of those chickens!!! Every year I keep all the morel stems and rinsing water and add, a pinch of salt and a little molasses, and toss the water around and hope. I plan on getting some books on spawn cultivation, but we aren't ready just yet. I'd like to find a source of hardwood sawdust nearby, and I'm sure my neighbor would give me ash from his fireplace, we are hoping to prepare an area by next fall to attempt a morel bed...We are in an urban setting but have a good bit of wildlife all around and small, but adequate yards. In my yard today we picked 6 purple spored puffballs, and several meadow mushrooms. We found also old boletes in the adjacent park that I'm going to blend up and send back out to the wild, they were too far gone to make a 100% accurate id, they had bright orangy tops and yellow underneath and bruised blue, so I have a good idea, but as a newb, I don't want to assume.