Growing Mushrooms on a log

Growing mushrooms on logs is a relatively simple and easy way to cultivate a variety of species.

You will need

An outdoor space to store your log
Drill: electric or hand (if you want a workout!)
8mm wood bit
Hammer
Myceliated dowels

Optional depending on species

Beeswax
Paintbrush or dauber
Saucepan
Burner

Selecting wood

Your log needs to be:

Relatively recently felled or fallen (no more than 3 months, preferably fresher).
Disease-free
Fungi-free (check the cut ends to see if the mycelium of any competitor fungi is present - this will look like different coloured mouldy smudges or streaks)
The right wood species for the type of mushroom you want to cultivate

Once felled, leave your log to sit for 2 weeks. During this time the woods’ anti fungal compounds will dissipate.

The size of your log will determine

how many dowels you will need
How easy the log is to handle
how long it will take for the introduced mycelium to colonise the long
how long it will continue to fruit for

Inoculating your log

Brush off any lichen or moss on the bark of your log
Soak your log in water overnight before using it (mushrooms grow best in moist environments!)
Drill holes 35mm deep with an 8mm drill bit. Space them in offset rows creating a diamond pattern, with a 10 cm gap between each hole.
Hammer dowels into holes until they are flush with the wood surface (only one species per log!)

Caring for your log

Store your logs in a damp shady place. Try to minimise contact with soil as this will encourage competitor fungi. A good option is to lean your log against a wall in a north facing spot. If you have numerous logs stack them in a hash tag pattern on top of a pallet or some slabs - cover them in shade cloth if you can't find natural shade.
When the weather is dry, water your log regularly to stop it drying out.
Depending on the size and species of log you use it could take 6-18 months for the mycelium to consume the log. When you see that about half of the exposed end of the log is covered in mycelium - it's probably ready to fruit.
You can 'shock' your log to encourage fruiting. First either dunk your logs in cold water overnight, or if you can't do that give them a good soaking with hose or bucket. Two weeks later come and knock them with a hammer or mallet.

Harvesting your mushrooms

There is a minor risk that other fungi could fruit on your log. The likelihood of this happening is low, but the consequences are very significant. Do not assume that whatever grows out your log is edible, please identify what you eat - never munch on a hunch! Use a reputable book or website to familiarise yourself with what your chosen species looks like and its identifying features.

Species specific instructions

Shiitake (Lentinula Edodes)

Selecting your log for shiitake

Shiitake grows on most hardwoods but is happiest on beech, oak, chestnut and alder. Avoid sycamore, yew or any conifers.

Shiitake is happiest growing on large logs, of 10-25 cm in diameter. The bigger the log, the longer it will take to fruit but it will produce for more years. The use of stumps or rounds is not recommended for shiitake.

Caring for your shiitake log

Shiitake can fruit up to four times a year.

Maintain your logs in the conditions described above and it should fruit for 2-5 years depending on size and species.

How to identify shiitake

Size: Medium-sized separate individual mushrooms often close together.
Cap: Brown with small areas of white fur around edge. White flesh inside.
Stem: Curved and tough, red-brown in colour.
Gills: Reddish-brown, tightly packed and slightly serrated.
Spore-print: White

Potentially dangerous look-alikes: Funeral Bell (Galerina marginata) are smaller with a narrower fibrous stem adorned with a ring and an orange and waxy cap. Safest to distinguish is their rusty brown spores vs. Shiitake's white spores.

Oyster (Pleurotus Ostreatus)

Selecting your log for oysters

Oysters grow on most hardwoods and can thrive on 'softer' hardwoods such as hazel, willow, poplar and birch. Avoid sycamore, yew or any conifers.

Oysters can grow on all sizes of logs, smaller limbs, stumps and rounds. Minimum limb size is 8cm in diameter. The bigger the log, the longer it will take to fruit but it will produce for more years.

Caring for your oyster log

Oysters usually fruit after prolonged rainfall. You can mimic this and encourage fruiting by giving your logs a generous soaking.

Oyster logs usually fruit twice a year in spring and summer.

How to identify oysters

Size: Medium with caps reaching 8-10 cm across, grow in clusters or 'bouquets'
Cap: Very large and smooth, sometimes wavey and growing in overlapping tiers.
Colour: Varying shades of silver, grey and brown.
Stem: Very short, sometimes no distinctive stem can be seen, white in colour.
Gills: Crowded, deep and running all the way to base.
Spore-print: White - Lilac

Potentially dangerous look-alikes: Angel Wings (Pleurocybella porrigens) are potentially lethal that have a similar form to Oysters, they are however ghostly white, have much thinner flesh than Oysters and generally grow on conifers. They produce white spores.

Turkey Tail (trametes versicolor)

Selecting your log for turkey tail

Turkey tail will grow on almost any wood. Just avoid yew as it is poisonous.

Turkey tail can grow on all sizes of logs, smaller limbs, stumps and rounds. Minimum limb size is 8cm in diameter. The bigger the log, the longer it will take to fruit but it will produce for more years.

Caring for your turkey tail log

Turkey Tail thrive on relatively wet wood and are resilient to competitor fungi so you can lie them on soil or partially bury them to retain moisture. Cover your logs with shade cloth if you can't find natural shade.

Turkey tails usually fruit in summer - they are a relatively slow growing bracket - try and harvest them when the leading edge of the bracket is still white.

How to identify turkey tail

Size: Small, growing in overlapping irregular fan shaped brackets
Pores: White with a gold shimmer and very small <0.2 mm
Colour: Concentric rings of earthy tones with a white edge. The top of the bracket often has a velvety texture.
Flesh: White and leathery, about 3-5 mm thick
Spore-print: White

Potential look-alikes: There are a number of bracket mushrooms of a similar size, shape and colour. The 'false turkey tail' (Stereum ostrea) looks very similar but is more orange, has thinner flesh and a smooth underside with no visible pores. Smokey brackets (Bjerkandera adusta) look similar but have grey pores.

Velvet Shank (Flammulina Velutipes)

Selecting your log for velvet shank

Velvet Shanks grow on most hardwoods and can thrive on 'softer' hardwoods such as hazel, willow, poplar and birch. They are one of few mushrooms that can also thrive on Sycamore.

Velvet Shanks can grow on all sizes of logs, smaller limbs, stumps and rounds but do comparatively well on smaller limbs. The bigger the log, the longer it will take to fruit but it will produce for more years.

Caring for your velvet shank log

Velvet Shanks will usually fruit twice a year in autumn and winter when temperatures drop well below 10C.

How to identify Velvet Shanks

Size: small up to 5 cm wide, growing in tightly huddled clusters.
Cap: Orangey yellow to caramel brown with a slimy texture
Stem: Yellow when young, darkening to black. Has a velvety texture and is quite tough when mature - hence the name.
Gills: White then yellow, of different lengths and not crowded
Spore-print: off-white

Dangerous look-alikes: Funeral Bells (Galerina marginata) are a lethal lookalike but they have a skirt on their stem. Sulphur Tufts (Hypholoma fasciculare) are also similar but much more yellow with greenish gills.

Lion’s Mane (Hericium erinaceus)

Selecting your log for Lion’s Mane

Lion's Mane will grow on most hardwoods, preferring oak and beech. Avoid sycamore, yew or any conifers.

Lion's Mane is happiest growing on logs. The bigger the log, the longer it will take to fruit but it will produce for more years. The use of stumps or rounds is not recommended.

Caring for your Lion’s Mane log

Lion's Mane will fruit in the summer and into autumn.

How to identify Lion’s Mane

Size: Individual mushrooms can be large, sometimes weighing over 1 lb.
Cap: Fruitbody is roundish in shape, with spines which cascade down. The spines or “teeth” start out small, but elongate with age, up to 5cm long and pointed.
Stem: They are attached to the tree by a thick but short stipe. They lack any gills, pores etc. instead the spores are released from the tips of the spines.
Colour: Off white to yellow, then darkening with age.
Spores: White

Potential look-alikes: There are no dangerous Lion's Mane lookalikes.

Look-alikes: Tiered Tooth Fungus (Hericium Cirrhatum) and the Coral Toothed Fungus (Hericium Coralloides)

NOTE: Lion's Mane is a protected species and should not be collected if found in the wild

Nameko (Pholiota microspora)

Recycle your christmas tree by growing delicious edible mushrooms

Follow these simple steps to grow beautiful and delicious Nameko mushrooms from your Christmas tree! Nameko aka 'Pholiota microspora' are one of the few edible mushroom species you can easily grow on conifers.

They're not common in Western cuisine but they should be - they are delicious and are the most commonly cultivated mushroom in Japan by volume. Inoculate your Christmas trees and you'll be feasting on Nameko next autumn!

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

A Christmas Tree
Garden Shears
Saw
Power Drill
8mm wood drill bit
Plug spawn

Inoculating your tree

Keep dowels in the fridge for up to three months until you're ready to use them.
Remove limbs from your Christmas tree using shears.
Saw the tree into two or three logs
Drill rows of evenly spaced holes into the logs. Make sure to drill deep enough to fit the whole 35 mm plug. Offset the rows to create an evenly spaced diamond pattern.
Hammer your dowels into the holes, try to get them flush with the wood!
Make a bed of compost, woodchip or a mix of both. Lay your logs side by side and nestle them in until they are half submerged, creating a log 'raft'.

Growing, Harvesting and eating Nameko

Over the coming year, the mycelium you introduced into your log will spread and decompose the wood. During this time you need only make sure the log doesn't dry out! Give it a good drink if there's persistent dry weather.

By the autumn, the mature fungus will be ready to fruit. You should get 'flushes' in late autumn and early winter for a couple of years or more, depending on the size of the logs.

There is a minor risk that other fungi could fruit on your log which could be poisonous. Familiarise yourself with what Nameko looks like: never munch on a hunch. Be particularly careful to distinguish from Galerina Marginata aka Funeral Bell (as poisonous as the name suggests!) It is less slimy, and has a silvery fibrous stem with a ring on it.

If you harvest young, still slimey mushrooms, they are best in ramens and miso soups. More mature specimens with open caps are great for sauteeing.