Mushroom Slurry for Garden

I'm just breaking ground on a new garden plot and have seen mention of using a mushroom slurry on the new beds to inoculate them. I've done a search and haven't found any detailed descriptions of people's methods for making and using the slurry. I'd love to hear how you all make yours and apply it. Thanks in advance!

Gather wild mushrooms (or too far gone to be good ones from mushroom logs), fill blender add water and whirr up till the mushrooms are pulverized, If really thick, thin with more water and pour on soil in garden.

You can use store bought mushrooms, that's just an expense but if you can't get wild ones, they will work just fine.

Redhawk

I make the slurry as Bryant described it in plus I ad some woodash to increase pH. Lots of fungi love growing on burnt wood

Hi, so glad to see this question...but some  say that if you have a question, chances are others do too...when I saw this suggestion the other day, I wondered, and then hoped it would be this easy : )  

I need to do this, thank you!  Also, can I use the wood ash from last winter's fires?  Or are you speaking of a special preparation that I have read about elsewhere?

Planting for the fall, it still seems so hot, but I need to do what I can for my garden, many eyes are judging the issue of gardens by my small plot : )  I have successfully made compost, and have a good mulch, aged bunny and clean cow pooh, saved and bought seeds...now, the energy to plant  : )  

Thanks to all who post, I read about so many good farming practices here, and practical help, I am grateful  : )

Happy Fall : ) betty

hau Beth, just about any wood ash will work well, things to keep in mind are 1) hardwood ash is what lye comes from, lye is a very basic (pH of 10 -14) item so if you have acidic soil and you want to keep it acidic, you would need to leach the ash first (run water through the ashes to remove the lye).
2) conifer ash is slightly acidic so the issue with hardwood ashes does not apply. 3) if your firewood is soft wood and hardwood, chances are it is fine to use, without any need to pre treat it.

Most fall garden seeds do fine when planted while it is still hot, they won't be at the fruiting stage for a while and the warmth gives the plant time to put on lots of leaves. Cabbages and beets are probably best if planted last. (we are getting ready to plant the fall garden at the end of August and first part of September.

Can you mix mushroom species in the slurry, and would that even be recommended?

Chad Sentman wrote:Can you mix mushroom species in the slurry, and would that even be recommended?

I do. I don't even know what kind I use. I just find them growing in the woods,  blend them up,  and dump them on. I hope it's obvious that i dont eat them when they grow.

Chad Sentman wrote:Can you mix mushroom species in the slurry, and would that even be recommended?

Slurries are not made for growing edibles usually (you can do this method for a good stand of wine caps in the proper soil though) so mixing species is going to be fine.

Keeping to a single species can be beneficial in certain instances,  such as: building a reed bed water filtration system for gray water, setting up in ground areas for things like king stroph, wine caps, miatakie, etc.

Mixing species for soil inoculation is generally going to work better for the intended purpose, we want as many species of fungi as can get along with each other in our soils and mixed slurries are the easiest way to get that happening.
In my experience, there are going to be some that dominate the layer of soil that best suits the needs of that organism and the other species will either migrate to where they can thrive or they will die off, either way you are getting better soil life, which is what our goal should be.
When we grow the soil, the plants will always benefit from the additional mineral availability caused by the thriving microbiome we have nurtured.

Redhawk

It's winter here in the pnw.  I'm going to try a slurry in hopes of spring success. I'm wondering when it's best to spread the slurry? It's supposed to be nearly 50 degrees Fahrenheit this week and I have seen some fruiting already in my yard. does anyone have info on this? thanks.

Nicho,

I am having much the same weather as you.  Around here (Southern Illinois),  temperatures should be peaking in the mid 30’s and getting below freezing at night.  For the last month we have had highs in the 50’s and lows above freezing.  I have noticed that my chip beds are really breaking down much faster than at any other time in the 9 months since they were worked into my wood chips.  

My personal thoughts are that if the mushroom slurry is free and you reasonably expect more mild weather, then go ahead.  Hopefully the little spores will start to grow a bit and infect the wood chips.  I don’t think you are going to have major decomposition by spring, but by the time optimal conditions arrive, your fungi will be partially established and get a leg up.  If the worst happens and all the spores die, you could always spread more in the spring.

But I don’t think the spores will die.  I think at worst they will simply go dormant and just sit there.  I am pretty sure this is how things work in nature—growing in fits and starts.  But to err on the side of caution, cover your bed with a layer of straw several inches thick to buffer your ground from temperature fluctuations.

I am experimenting with this myself for the first time this last year and while I have learned a lot about growing fungus In the garden, I am still a neophyte.  These are my recommendations for you, but ultimately, make your own judgement.

I wish you the best of luck and hope you keep us updated.

Eric

Thanks Eric. I have decided to wait a little longer. I am nervous about temperatures freezing or below harming the mycelium process. As far as how to make the slurry, I am going to mix spores with purified water, molasses, and salt. Here is a link for the process... http://madbioneer.blogspot.com/2011/02/spore-mass-slurry.html. This is really just an experiment for fun. I do however want to see it be successful! Maybe graduate to inoculating tree stumps. I have seen lots of cool mushrooms growing in a forest nearby and would like to see this world come to life in my yard. There are many chanterelles out here. Hopefully I did a good enough job collecting their spores. I will certainly update later in the spring. I have read that it sometimes can take 6 months or more for them to fruit. So they may come to fruition in the fall. :) Let me know how your project is going.
-nicho

I would caution you about using salt in a slurry for the purpose of growing fungi.

Salt acts as a desiccant, the exact opposite of what fungi need to thrive.

Sugars like Molasses feed anaerobic and parasitic organisms before they would feed fungi, so it really isn't necessary unless you want to grow certain bacteria and ciliates.

Redhawk

Redhawks soil threads
check these, there is a section on adding mycelium to your soil

Keeping to a single species can be beneficial in certain instances,  such as: building a reed bed water filtration system for gray water, setting up in ground areas for things like king stroph, wine caps, miatakie, etc.  

Interesting! This makes a lot of sense to me, as most reedbeds are wetlands established far from any wetland microbiome. It also brings to mind Stamet's water mycofiltration system(s). Could you elaborate on this, RedHawk? I would very much appreciate it!

I like to set up reed beds with strips of mycelium of different species starting at the inflow with oysters from there I might go to a line of wood with Jews ear or lions mane inoculant and I always do a final oyster strip that is at least 2 feet wide.
Stament has done such good work that following his methodology will always get good results, all I've been doing is following his lead and testing some tweaks just to see if it is possible to find any way to improve it for nuclear waste water leaks.

I came across the idea for mushroom slurry today on this site, and I got so excited that I immediately foraged some local mushrooms and made a slurry. Are there any guidelines for how to apply the slurry? In particular, would it be advisable to spread it in shady areas only or does that not matter for purely soil improvement purposes?

Mushroom slurries can be used anywhere you want to improve the soil and soil structure.

Redhawk

Bryant RedHawk wrote:Mushroom slurries can be used anywhere you want to improve the soil and soil structure.

Redhawk

Great! Thanks!