shiitake grow log. bag style

[zodd]

Hay all! This is sort of going to be a place for me to post my results using an TiT as an FC but since my first shiitake spawn has just come through I might as well make the shiitakes the main event.

I started off buy devouring all but the biggest mushroom in the pack. They made a rather nice fancy beans on toast. The recipe for any one who is interested…

Dice the mushrooms and sear them to lock in moisture and flavour
Once seared add tablespoon of mustard seeds knob of butter and a tablespoon of thyme and a drizzle of honey. Mix and cook for a minute to melt butter and release aromas.
Now add the beans to the pan and cook for at least 5 minutes on low.
Then tern off the heat and allow to cool slightly then serve with whatever you like. Goes well with a micro waved bake potato.

Bacon would go well with this too. Hmm !!


Any way back to the mycology. Cough ehm!! I started by inoculating several agar tubs with inner stem tissue.

I then used thee agar tubs to inoculate three whole rice tubs (half pint) of which one has now finished colonising and is ready to be spawned. in future i plan on utilisin grain to grain, but for now three tubs of spawn is more than enough

I’ve chosen coir and chopped egg box cardboard as my subb for my shiitakes, which was pasteurised and spawned to today. I’m estimating that the spawn run should last about 18 to 24 days ass I’m pretty certain that this is a warm weather shiitake that I’ve got. So ill be posting my results with the TiT fc then, and hopefully (touch wood) ill have some shiitake blocks ready to be cold shocked then. fingers crossed…

[rocketman]

Can you take some pics please? I would love to see some with your write up!

[zodd]

can do rocket man. im sure i can whipp something up for tomorrow.

[zodd]

its day 8 now and the block is finally starting to get some get up and go about itself. my money is on it looking birth worthy in 7 days.

the one to the right is a straw cardboard block i made the following day.

[junior1]

I just tried some shiitake couple weeks ago sauteed, Man they are good.

[zodd]

day 13 and were definitely getting there. the block is almost entirely covered with faint growth which is getting stronger by the day. i may have been a bit of with my 7 day estimate though. once full colonization is done im going to leave it in its bag until it browns over. then after an ice dunk its off to the TiT FC.



im still unsure on the co2 requirements of this species. can any one tell me if it's closer to a cube or an oyster in the air exchange department?

[Deus Irae]

Nice!

I've always had good results putting the blocks out while still white. The first flush seems to happen faster for me that way. Different strains seem to like different approaches, so I'll be interested in seeing how your tek works out.

[zigan79]

very nice!
whats the best sub for shiitake ?

[TastyBeverage]

Shiitakes are wood lovers, so any kind of hardwood, sawdust from hardwoods, paper or cardboard would work. Stay away from resinated woods like pine.

[zodd]

also zigan79. my straw cardboard log aint doing half as good as the coir/card above. not sure why. think it might have something to do with the points of contact available as the mycelium jumps from sub to sub, if that makes sense. cant think of a better way to explain it.


hay tasty can you shedd some light on this one for me

Originally Posted by zodd

im still unsure on the co2 requirements of this species. can any one tell me if it's closer to a cube or an oyster in the air exchange department?

[Myc]

Straw has a great deal of cellulose - desirable to secondary decomposers like oyster, cubensis, agaricus, etc.

Wood is high in lignin and is desirable to primary decomposers (i.e. woodlovers) like, reishi, shiitake, oyster (again), and certain Psilocybes

[zodd]

nice info thanks. so would it be safe to say that coco fibers have a nice amount of both lignin and cellulose? since both cubs oysters and wood lovers like the stuff.


if i dont get the straw chunk to grow then i might throw it on a pile of unsterile hydrated wood chips and see if i can get some fruits next year

[Deus Irae]

I normally use a blend of Peroxidated HWS enriched with calcium carbonate and used tea. I also boil the sawdust (after soaking for twelve hours) before the peroxide bath to kill of any molds that are already growing. using unsterilized sawdust would probably end in contamination.

[zodd]

well so far so good on the pasteurization. got my fingers crossed just in case.

[Myc]

Pasteurized woodchips are just fine if you have a good 4:1 wood:spawn ratio.

Shiitake are fun to work with. I've seen grainspawn which (by normal cultivating standards) was hopelessly contaminated by bacteria, grow to overcome the contaminant and make viable spawn. I actually got fruits from the blocks I spawned!
Even trichoderma has a tough time penetrating the armor they produce.
After flushing, I allow the block to dry for about a week or more,
Then wash off any surface contaminants.
Dunk and fruit again.

[OG Royal Grower]

good stuff! what kind of wood are they growing on?

[zodd]

Originally Posted by OG Royal Grower

good stuff! what kind of wood are they growing on?

no wood, just coco coir fibers, and egg crate cardboard cut as fine as i could get it. it was a lot of work cutting the card up. i might try doing it hyph's way next time. still got the flap of skin from the blister i poped.

[zigan79]

Originally Posted by zodd

no wood, just coco coir fibers, and egg crate cardboard.

50%-50% ??
thanx..

[zodd]

finally got some updates for ya my first block contracted trichaderma so i had to throw it. which was cool because i had a lot of spawn coming through. ive just birthed the first block of four blocks. i think i may dunk it tomorrow just so that i get a good first flush

[zodd]

[P4ulada]

Wow, nice pics...it´s absolutelly an inspiration