Lions mane

I’d like to grow lions mane mushroom and heard it will colonize wild black cherry,  which would be great because I have a bunch of them on my property. I’ve only seen info online about using the totem method on stumps. I was wondering if anybody knew if you can grow them in the traditional stacked log method as well?

I haven't grown them personally but I've seen them grown in the same conditions and substrates as oysters.

I have a few stumps I inoculated a few months ago. 2 are stacked like totems and 1 is by itself. I'm also doing shiitakes on regular logs. We'll see how they go.

The lion's mane seems more finicky. Are your logs not thick enough to do stumps? I also read something about using regular logs but burying the bottom 3rd or so in sand to keep it dark and moist. Maybe try that method?

Lion's mane will grow in: bagged wood chip substrate, logs, totem stacked stumps and in a single stump. They will grow in almost all hardwoods but like oak best. I have some in hickory that are doing nicely.

I tried Lion's Mane on sweetgum (because I have a lot of it) and it has not been successful.  It has been maybe 18 months and only one golf ball sized mushroom on 6 logs.  I have read it is a pretty slow colonizer so I am still holding out...
FWIW i have had success with oysters and shiitakes on sweetgum using logs, totems and sawdust.

Interested in what happens with the black cherry as I have some of that available, as well.

In the wild, I have only seen Lion's Mane on oak, so that is probably the best way to go if you can!

I have not had good luck with lion's mane on any logs myself, plus the timeframe from inoculation to harvest is long for me (I do indoor lion's mane grows that generally start to produce in 45-60 days). If I went back to using logs outdoors, I would probably go with "totem stacks" to speed it up. They are 1-2 inch rounds of log, sandwiched with mushroom spawn, tied/stapled together and kept moist. I've heard some say to store a totem stack in a plastic garbage sack, tied shut, but that seems like a recipe for contamination to me. I know cherry can be used, but I don't think it's a high volume producer due to high lignin content in the wood.

Asheville fungi has a good resource on log inoculation. They do say that it'll be 1-3 years before fruiting.
https://www.ashevillefungi.com/blogs/news/inoculating-logs-by-mushroom-species

Mushroom Tree chart - seems like nameko mushroom is a strong match for cherry wood.
https://www.fieldforest.net/pdfs/Tree%20Species%20Chart.pdf


Good luck! Log cultivation will build your muscles, for sure.