Growing Our Own Shiitake Mushrooms

As I mentioned here, I've been working on setting up our own Shiitake mushroom growing system.  In mid-November we cut down an oak tree and let the logs age a few weeks, so the wood wouldn't reject the mushroom spawn.

I got the Shiitake mushroom plugs in the mail late last week, so Saturday we started drilling holes and hammering in the plugs!  

The Shiitake mushroom plug kit

Hammering the plugs into our oak logs

I ordered our plugs from Field & Forest Products.  I was amazed that there were different strains of each type of mushroom!  I guess I had always assumed that a Shiitake mushroom was a Shiitake mushroom.  Boy, was I wrong!  I ordered one of the kits that includes a pre-selected range of types.  This way, I figured we were covered no matter what the weather does.

Here are the 3 Shiitake mushroom types that were included in our kit:

WR46: "WR46™ is a popular commercial strain that offers the fastest spawn run, heavy first flushes and quick log recovery after fruiting. A great strain for first time growers and the best choice for high altitudes."


Snow Cap: "Produces beautiful, uniform, thick fleshed caps tufted with white lacey ornamentation. A long natural outdoor season makes it a favorite for those who like to visit their logs regularly. Heaviest fruiting occurs early spring and late fall. Possibly the best winter strain in the South."


Night Velvet: "This Warm Weather strain behaves more more like a Wide Range strain: fast spawn run and good response to force fruiting. Produces well in both northern and southern states, growing big, plump mushrooms that are like picking apples."


After hammering in the plugs, I stacked the 10 logs in 3 layers.  You can see the tags on the ends we used to label the Shiitake mushroom strain in each log.