- Use your mushroom plugs to inoculate Hardwood logs or stumps. It’s very easy to do. You just drill holes for your plugs pound them in, water and wait!
- By doing this mushroom mycelium is encouraged to grow throughout and completely Colonize the wood. Once your log has been fully colonized, A process that usually takes 6-12 months, mushrooms will begin to spring forth from the cracks or channels in the wood. Giving you mushrooms for years and years!
- It is best to inoculate your logs and stumps Any time from early spring up to about 2-3 weeks before consistently freezing temperatures set in. Basically you need to allow a few weeks for the mushroom mycelium to establish itself in its new home before it goes dormant for the winter. The Logs can be left outdoors over the Winter, under a layer of straw, Some mulch, or a burlap tarp, shade cloth or other vapor-permeable cover. A shed, barn, garage or other outbuilding will do fine.
- Mushrooms prefer to grow on hardwood. Non-aromatic hardwoods such as oak, elm, maple, Alder and similar woods are very good candidates for log cultivation. Logs should be cut a few months before you begin plugging.
- Cut your logs in lengths of 3-4 feet. Use a 5/16″ drill bit to drill 2-inch holes2 to 4 inches apart, evenly spaced. Insert 1 plug per hole and whack it in with a hammer. A 3-4 foot log can take about 50 plugs, while stumps usually hold 30-50 plugs. The more plugs you use, the faster your log will be colonized with mushroom mycelium.
- Holes can be sealed with wax to protect the mycelium from weather and insects while it’s growing.
- Your Mushroom logs will Produce Mushrooms for years to Come!
Happy harvest!