Wood Flour for Mushroom Cultivation - Eden Products (2024)

FAQs

Which powder is used for mushroom cultivation? ›

Gypsum is a natural additive used as a raw material in fertilizer, horticultural dressings, pesticides and mushroom compost. It is also a proven solution in soil conditioning and helps to improve the crop yield. It is a source of calcium and Sulphur for plant nutrition.

There are a few key requirements to consider when sourcing logs for your mushroom project. These are getting the right wood type, and cutting good quality logs of the right size. The best kind of wood to use is deciduous hardwoods. Commonly used species include oak, beech, willow, birch, elm, and poplar.

A pressure cooker or autoclave set at 15 psi for 90 minutes is typically sufficient. Cooling: After sterilization, allow the substrate to cool to room temperature in a clean area to prevent contamination.

LOG Prep: Soak your logs for 12-24 hours BEFORE plugging with spawn, but allow the bark to dry out before you plug them. This means starting the soak two days before you are going to plug them. Note: if the logs are less than a ten days old, soaking is not necessary.

Gypsum is a mineral that helps speed up the mushroom growing process in small amounts. A teaspoon of gypsum is added to the supplemented sawdust mix, which also includes hardwood sawdust pellets, wheat bran and water.

It also helps to keep other fungi out, limiting competition in your log. Wax should be applied to any areas where the bark is damaged or missing. This includes the holes you have drilled for plugs, as well as the cut ends of the log. Simply melt the wax, and use a brush to “paint” a thin layer onto the exposed area.

They can be leaned against a tree or simply placed on the ground, but in order to reduce chances of contamination, we recommend placing a brick or similar under the log for the first few months. Step 2, Water: Thoroughly water your log once a week during periods of no rainfall.

Types of mushroom to grow on wood chip

For outdoor purposes, go for Wine cap mushrooms which are easy to grow in piles of wood chip while Shiitake mushrooms grow best on logs. Mushrooms are different, so their growth speed will depend on their growing requirements.

You don't always need to sterilise or pasteurize the mushroom substrate. This simply minimises the risk of contamination-related growth issues or sickness. Some mushrooms cannot be cultivated on sterile media and must instead be grown outdoors or in nutrient-rich environments that do not allow for sterilisation.

How do you prepare sawdust for spawn? ›

Grow Room:

The grow room is cleaned twice a week. We don't focus on sterility, but instead on contamination management. Trying to kill off every source of contamination is impossible, so it's better to form a routine to knock down the contamination and allow the to mushrooms flourish.

The best time to inoculate logs is in spring, within one to two weeks after the logs have been cut. This allows the cells in the tree to die but is not long enough for the log to dry out or for other competitor fungi to become established. Logs can be inoculated with either the drilling method or the totem method.

Oaks and hard maples are the preferred wood-types for most mushroom species because they're very dense and offer plenty of nutrition for a longer, sustained fruiting period. Poplars and other soft hardwoods will colonize faster and produce mushrooms sooner but generally don't yield as much or produce for as many years.

Be careful not to damage the bark. It is needed both to maintain moisture and to protect your log from being colonized by competitive wild fungus. Logs should be cut to 3′ to 4′ in length. After cutting, let the logs sit in a cool, dark, damp place for 2 to 4 weeks before you inoculate.

Usually potassium permanganate and formalin are mixed at 1:2 ratio for fumigating culture rooms or mushroom sheds. After mixing the rooms should be closed tightly to avoid escape of fumes from the room and open after 24 hr.

Evaluating Quality and Safety — Pay close attention to where the mushrooms come from, how they are processed, and how pure they are. For better results, choose supplements that use the mushroom's fruiting body part, and ensure they have trusted certifications like USDA Organic or Non-GMO.

Functional mushrooms are fungi that, according to supplement companies and wellness influencers, provide health benefits beyond nutrition. Many people think of functional mushrooms as part of traditional Chinese medicine, but they have been used by many indigenous cultures all over the world for more than 2,000 years.

Compost provides nutrients needed for mushrooms to grow. Two types of material are generally used for mushroom compost, the most used and least expensive being wheat straw-bedded horse manure.