This is great, thank you! I use alder, birch, and maple logs here in the Pacific Northwest, and since it's wet and dark here most of the time, I just set them outside in a place sheltered from wind and direct frosts, but where they can get rain and mist. I grow oyster and shiitake mushrooms and this totem method is the best, as far as I've seen. Drilling and filling is tedious and the holes seem to encourage woodpeckers, who dig out the spawn in search of insects.
Thank you for answering the questions in the comments! A wind storm knocked down a bunch of large trees a couple of weeks ago. In addition to a bunch of bolts, we inoculated 8 totems today. Your answers cleared up a few questions we were nervous about. Praying they'll do well under our high back deck.
Is it okay for totems in paper bags to get rained on? Should I water them while inside paper bags? If I do end up with a late frost do I need to cover totems with frost cloth if they have not started fruiting
Rain is great! Ideally your totems will get about 1 inch of water per week. And if you do get late frosts it doesn't hurt to cover with a frost cloth, but it's not necessary.
Fantastic video , great information and demonstration , looking forward to trying mushrooms again after some failures in the past , winter is almost on us here in Australia so I might have to wait a bit till then , cheers.
I have a huge walnut tree 30m high in my property that has to be pruned to half cause is dangerous if brake to damage the house and thinking of inoculate lions mane to it . Wich method do you suggest ? totem or classic ? or both will work fine ? thanks
@@FieldandForestProducts Ok, what about small diameter branches (10-20cm) should i inocculate with classic way? Or not gonna give any mushrooms at all?
@nicholasmardones9406 Eucalyptus essential oil has anti-fungal properties, I would think the wood would also be somewhat anti-fungal, so perhaps not the best choice? I'd be curious how it went if you did try it.
It's reishi season here now in NY. It looks like a medioker year due to weather. I found a few and I'm trying to take some spore prints. My question is , could I cut some hemlock logs and just add some sawdust and spores. I am going to try making some sawdust spawn also and may buy some but thought maybe natural inoculation might work just as well?
We do not. We primarily soak logs is if we are force-fruiting, but that's only for shiitake. The only other time we'd recommend soaking logs is if the logs are severely cracked at the ends prior to inoculation, but in that case we'd more often opt for finding new logs.
The researchers who were working on those findings did find that it is a specific strain of Golden Oyster that spreads. Fortunately the variety we carry was found to be different than the invasive one. We have been working with this oyster for 15+ years and have yet to find a golden oyster on our property outside of our cultivated substrates. That all being said, this is meant to be an indoor cultivation kit which would make it difficult to spread outdoors. Don't hesitate to send us any questions on the subject!
This is great, thank you! I use alder, birch, and maple logs here in the Pacific Northwest, and since it's wet and dark here most of the time, I just set them outside in a place sheltered from wind and direct frosts, but where they can get rain and mist. I grow oyster and shiitake mushrooms and this totem method is the best, as far as I've seen. Drilling and filling is tedious and the holes seem to encourage woodpeckers, who dig out the spawn in search of insects.
Excellent! Glad to hear it's been a successful method for you!
Thank you for answering the questions in the comments! A wind storm knocked down a bunch of large trees a couple of weeks ago. In addition to a bunch of bolts, we inoculated 8 totems today. Your answers cleared up a few questions we were nervous about. Praying they'll do well under our high back deck.
Certainly! They will do well under the deck, but I would make sure to give them intermittent watering if they are not receiving natural rainfall.
@@FieldandForestProducts Good reminder. I'll keep a rain gauge next to them since the gaps in the wood often become clogged.
Just ordered some Lion's Mane spawn from you. Looking forward to it!
Is it okay for totems in paper bags to get rained on? Should I water them while inside paper bags? If I do end up with a late frost do I need to cover totems with frost cloth if they have not started fruiting
Rain is great! Ideally your totems will get about 1 inch of water per week. And if you do get late frosts it doesn't hurt to cover with a frost cloth, but it's not necessary.
Fantastic video , great information and demonstration , looking forward to trying mushrooms again after some failures in the past , winter is almost on us here in Australia so I might have to wait a bit till then , cheers.
Would you recommend epoxy coated deck screws to help keep them intact?
I have a huge walnut tree 30m high in my property that has to be pruned to half cause is dangerous if brake to damage the house and thinking of inoculate lions mane to it . Wich method do you suggest ? totem or classic ? or both will work fine ? thanks
I would recommend the Totem Method for Lions mane!
@@FieldandForestProducts Ok, what about small diameter branches (10-20cm) should i inocculate with classic way? Or not gonna give any mushrooms at all?
My yellow oyster box elder totems are doing great. Should we be laying the totems on their sides in the winter, or just leave them standing? Thanks.
You can leave them standing- just make sure they're in an area that doesn't get a ton of wind throughout the winter.
When you remove the bag, can the totem be removed piece-by-piece, or do the pieces need to remain in place?
Try to keep it in one piece- the mushrooms like to emerge in-between the rounds for the first fruiting so it's nice to have them all together!
Does doing this indoors speed up the process to produce mushrooms earlier?
yes
Hello! what do you think about eucalyptus for mushroom growing? thanks!
Hi! We've heard that it works for shiitake, but we've never trialed it ourselves.
@nicholasmardones9406 Eucalyptus essential oil has anti-fungal properties, I would think the wood would also be somewhat anti-fungal, so perhaps not the best choice? I'd be curious how it went if you did try it.
It's reishi season here now in NY. It looks like a medioker year due to weather. I found a few and I'm trying to take some spore prints. My question is , could I cut some hemlock logs and just add some sawdust and spores. I am going to try making some sawdust spawn also and may buy some but thought maybe natural inoculation might work just as well?
It's certainly worth a try, but would certainly be experimental.
So, there is no need to add moisture?
Not unless you live in an extremely arid climate. You want to aim for about one inch of water a week for outdoor cultivation!
@@FieldandForestProducts Thank you. This will be my first time trying.
Do you not soak the logs at all?
We do not. We primarily soak logs is if we are force-fruiting, but that's only for shiitake. The only other time we'd recommend soaking logs is if the logs are severely cracked at the ends prior to inoculation, but in that case we'd more often opt for finding new logs.
Can pleurotus eryngii grow like that?
How well would this work for Maitake?
Only "ok". Maitake is a fairly weak competitor so the conditions in which the mycelium is growing would be better suited to an indoor incubation.
Please no more Goldens outdoors!! P. citrinopileatus has become a massively invasive species here in North America!!
The researchers who were working on those findings did find that it is a specific strain of Golden Oyster that spreads. Fortunately the variety we carry was found to be different than the invasive one. We have been working with this oyster for 15+ years and have yet to find a golden oyster on our property outside of our cultivated substrates. That all being said, this is meant to be an indoor cultivation kit which would make it difficult to spread outdoors. Don't hesitate to send us any questions on the subject!
I only have oak trees and one on my property..would whit oak work..?
I live on coastal SCarolina
@@gigigreer6453 Yes oak will work! You will want to use either shiitake or olive oysterling, but you can certainly use oak for this method.
how about pine or cherry
@@OGKingz Cherry will do well for Nameko, but as a whole I would shy away from using pine.