Tips for Growing Your Own Shiitake Mushrooms
Who doesn’t love the delicious and good for your body Shiitake mushrooms? If you love the store-bought Shitake mushroom, why not grow your own Shiitake mushroom for better flavor. Shiitake mushroom growing at home requires a cool, dark, damp place. Just remember to warn your housemates and family, so there are no surprises when they open the door to the closet, cabinet or go down to the basement.
The Gift That Keeps On Giving
Shiitake mushrooms produce 3 to 5 flushes of fresh mushrooms on average when grown on sawdust or grain. If you grow them on logs, they can provide you with fresh mushrooms every five weeks for 4 to 6 years!
Shiitakes (Lentinus edodes) are highly prized in Japan, where about half the world’s supply of shiitake mushrooms is produced. Up until fairly recently, any shiitake found in the United States was imported either fresh or dried from Japan. About 25 years ago, demand for shiitakes made it a viable and profitable enterprise for commercial cultivation in this country. The cost of a pound of shiitakes is generally much more than common button mushrooms, which may make you wonder about shitake mushrooms growing.
Learn How To Grow Shiitake Mushrooms
Many gardeners wonder if it is possible to grow mushrooms at home.
You can purchase mushroom growing kits, but it’s also possible to set up your own area for growing mushrooms. Let’s learn a little about how to grow mushrooms.
One of the most popular choices when growing mushrooms at home is shiitake mushroom (Lentinula edodes)
Have You Tried Growing Oyster Mushrooms and ready to try something more Challenging?
Shiitake mushrooms are a bit more difficult to grow since their mycelium is not as aggressive, and requires a longer incubation time. But the extra work can be well worth it.
Shiitakes are wood-decay fungus, meaning they grow on logs. Growing shiitake mushrooms takes place either on logs or in bags of nutrient enriched sawdust or other organic material, called bag culture. Bag culture is a complex process requiring specific conditions of controlled temperature, light and moisture. The inexperienced mushroom grower would be advised to start with growing shiitakes on logs.
Shiitakes comes from the Japanese, meaning “mushroom of the shii” or oak tree where the mushroom is likely to be found growing wild. So, ideally you will want to use oak, although maple, birch, poplar, aspen, beech and several other species are suitable. Avoid live or green wood, deadfall wood, or logs with lichen or other fungi. Use either freshly cut trees or limbs that are between 3-6 inches across, cut into 40-inch lengths.
If you are cutting your own, do so in the fall when the sugar content is at its peak and most advantageous to promoting fungal growth. Allow the logs to season for a period of about three weeks. Be sure to lean them against each other. If they are left on the ground, other fungi or contaminants can infiltrate the logs, rendering them unsuitable for shiitake growing.
- Buy spore or spawn of Shiitake mushroom from a reputable dealer (many can be found online). For the purposes of mushroom growing at home, think of spores as seeds and spawn as seedlings. Spawn is easier to handle and grow mushrooms at home. There are cold weather, warm weather, and wide range strains. Wide range is best for beginners and what is most used for year-round commercial cultivation.
Many sellers don’t even list what strain of shiitake spawn they’re selling. But if you do have a choice of different strains, WR46 is a good beginner-friendly strain to pick.
Shiitake spawn comes in several different forms depending on how you’re planning on growing your shiitake mushrooms.
Different mushrooms have different growing mediums. Shiitake mushrooms are normally grown on hardwoods or hardwood sawdust,This can be purchased from a number of online suppliers and will be either in the form of dowels or sawdust. Sawdust or sawdust pellets are likely easier for you to source than fresh logs, especially if you live in a city.
Regardless of what wood-based substrate you choose, pick one made from deciduous hardwoods. Shiitakes do best on oak, but maple, beech, and ironwood will all work as well.
If using sawdust spawn, you will need a special inoculation tool that you can get from the supplier as well.
Once the logs have seasoned for three weeks, it’s time to inoculate them.
Drill holes every 6-8 inches (15-20 cm.) all around the log and two inches (5 cm.) from either end. Usually for sawdust spawn a 12 mm drill bit is used, and for plug spawn a 12 mm drill bit is used. Your spawn supplier can confirm the drill bit size you should use if you’re not sure.
Be sure you’re wearing protective ear and eye gear.
Drill holes about one inch deep every six inches down the entire length of the log. Once you’ve completed one row, rotate your log and drill another row a few inches over.
You’ll want to alternate your holes in a checkerboard or polka dot type pattern to leave room between each plug.
Keep drilling rows of holes into your log until you cover the entire circumference of the log.
If you’re using spawn dowels, it’s as easy as inserting them into the holes you’ve drilled and hammering them until they’re flush with the log. It will take about 50 plugs to fill a 3 foot log.
Plug the holes with either the dowels or sawdust spawn. If you’re inoculating logs with your shiitake spawn for growing outdoors, you’ll want to do so in spring after the last danger of frost has passed
Melt some beeswax in an old pot.
Paint the wax over the holes. This will protect the spawn from other contaminants.
Stack the logs against a fence, tepee style, or lay them on a bed of straw in a damp, shaded area. You can use a wooden pallet or bricks to raise them up. This can help prevent competing fungi from getting on to the logs as well.
You should cover your logs with a shade cloth or some other type of breathable fabric to keep them out of the sun while letting moisture come through. Don’t cover your logs with a plastic tarp, as this will encourage mold.
Thereafter, growing shiitakes requires very little additional shiitake mushroom care.
If you lack rainfall, water the logs heavily or submerge them in water. If you live in a moist climate, you’ll want to water your shiitake logs for about 10 minutes once per week if it hasn’t rained during the week. If you’ve had a strong rain, you don’t need to water them.
If you live in a dry climate, you should water your logs twice per week for 10 or more minutes each time.
If you’re using a bed of wood chips, follow the same watering and shade instructions during incubation.
Mushrooms should appear sometime between 6-12 months after inoculation, usually after a day of rain in the spring, summer or fall. While it takes some time accompanied by patience to grow your own shiitake, in the end, the logs will continue to produce for up to 8 years!
- Store your bags at room temperature in a dark place. You don’t need to do any watering or upkeep while your bags are growing new mycelium.
- Once your shiitake mycelium has completely colonized your substrate, you can open the bags. Simply place your block of spawn in a humid area with lots of fresh air flow.
- Despite taking several months to colonize your substrate, your shiitake grows fast at this stage and will have produced the first flush of mushrooms within about a week.
- Mist your spawn block several times per day to keep it moist and healthy. Shiitake mushrooms seem to grow faster with more water, so don’t be afraid to water them every few hours.
- Each spawn block will produce between 3 to 5 flushes of mushrooms before the mycelium becomes too weak to produce any more mushrooms, at which point your blocks will probably start to become contaminated with mold.
Growing More Shiitake Mushrooms!
- It’s best to harvest your shiitake mushrooms with a knife by cutting them at the base of their stem. Twisting can damage the mycelium and potentially have a negative impact on future flushes.
- Incubating shiitake logs is a long process, but your patience will be rewarded with 4 to 6 years of fresh mushrooms before your logs need to be replaced!
- You can force a new flush of mushrooms by soaking logs in water for 24 hours every 5 or 6 weeks. Make sure to keep watering your logs at least 2 or 3 times per week to maintain the correct moisture level in the wood as well, except once temperatures get below freezing.
- If your shiitake mushrooms are growing on sawdust grain or straw, it will take 2 to 3 months for your bags to be completely colonized with white myceliym. But unlike wih other mushrooms, the white mycelium does not signal that your shiitake are ready to fruit.
- You need to allow them to brown for about two weeks longer. All of the white mycelium in your bag will start to turn a brownish color. Once your mycelium is mostly brown, you’re ready to start fruiting.
Fruiting Shiitake Mushrooms Logs
Sometimes, shiitake logs will fruit on their own when they’re ready. But in most cases, you need to “initiate” them, or shock them into producing fruit.
Under ideal conditions, shiitake logs are ready to fruit after 6 months. But it’s best to wait 9 to 12 months before initiating them to make sure your mycelium colony is nice and strong.
- To initiate your shiitake logs, you need to submerge them in cold water for 24 hours.
Once your logs have soaked for 24 hours, bring them back to your shady area and stand them in a vertical (upright) position.
This way all of your spawn holes will have free space around them so your mushrooms won’t get dirty or fruit into the ground when they start forming.
- Between 2 days and 2 weeks, you’ll start to see primordia starting to grow, which are little pins that will eventually form into fully grown mushrooms.
Keep your logs moist during this stage by watering them once or twice per day for at least 5 minutes each time.
Boosting Vitamin D Content In Your Fresh Shiitake
Vitamin D is an essential vitamin for the human immune system and metabolism. Your shiitake mushrooms’ vitamin D content can be drastically boosted by laying them gill side up in a sunny location for 24 to 48 hours after you harvest them.
This will boost the vitamin D2 levels in your mushrooms from about 100 International Units (IU) per 100 grams to 46,000 IU per 100 grams!
Now that you know how to grow mushrooms at home, you can try this fun and worthwhile project! Enjoy the yummy home grown SHIITAKE!
