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 phalcon005
Registered: 12/21/05
Posts: 209
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 Replacing dowel plugs with rope spawn for log inoculation... 
#6557561 - 02/12/07 09:18 AM (5 years, 3 months ago) |
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I have had an idea of using rope spawn instead of dowel plugs for growing shiitake's for a little while, but I'm curious about everyone's opinion here. For an efficiency and labor perspective I've always looked at plug spawn as being a bit of a bear. Having to drill all the holes for spawn is laborious, placing sawdust or plugs in the holes takes time and then you need to seal the hole with wax.
THe wild idea of using rope spawn came from fungi.com's where they offer it for sale. It is easy to grab a small bundle of 1/4" by 50' Sisal rope and convert that into shiitake spawn. The idea would be to cut a 1" deep grove completely around the logs every eight inches or so over it's length and wrap at least two full wraps of spawn in the grove. If two or more wraps are made I would think the outer surface of the last wrap would degrade if it wasn't waxed, but with multiple wraps the degraded rope might be a good moisture and contaminant barrier in the end. Spawning in a complete circle around the log would be beneficial as well since the spawn travels with the grain easier than against the grain.
A friend of mine was planning on setting up some logs to test this out, but things have come up where he has a market to set up a small operation for shiitake log production. I don't want to waste mine and his time with rope spawn if it is bunk. Any other thoughts?
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 RogerRabbit
Bans for Pleasure
Registered: 03/26/03
Posts: 36,974
Loc: USA Mountain Northwest
Last seen: 12 hours, 22 minutes
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Re: Replacing dowel plugs with rope spawn for log inoculation... [Re: phalcon005]
#6559104 - 02/12/07 03:59 PM (5 years, 3 months ago) |
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I tried sisal rope several years ago and couldn't get it to colonize. I think hemp rope is what you want. I know mycelium will colonize it. It seems like more work than taking a cordless and drilling the holes though.
RR
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www.mushroomvideos.com
semper in excretia sumus solim profundum variat
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phalcon005
Registered: 12/21/05
Posts: 209
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Re: Replacing dowel plugs with rope spawn for log inoculation... [Re: RogerRabbit]
#6562129 - 02/13/07 07:45 AM (5 years, 3 months ago) |
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Well shoot, thanks for the feedback on sisal rope. The idea of using rope spawn really interested my friend, when he is chainsawing the logs he could simply set the log vertically and cut the rings in one minute or so. To drill for plug spawn it sounds best to drill holes in a diamond pattern which I would think would take some time.
My friend is also in the unique setup that he has no running electricity and in the middle of nowhere, so I was hoping to get around an electric drill by simply being able to use a chain saw. I may just step up sawdust spawn for him and let him stick with the 'sawdust stuffed in a wedge' technique or stuffed between stacked one foot sections of a log.
God that saved me a bunch of heart ache RR, thanks for the quick feedback.
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RogerRabbit
Bans for Pleasure
Registered: 03/26/03
Posts: 36,974
Loc: USA Mountain Northwest
Last seen: 12 hours, 22 minutes
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Re: Replacing dowel plugs with rope spawn for log inoculation... [Re: phalcon005]
#6562448 - 02/13/07 09:58 AM (5 years, 3 months ago) |
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By the way, this is what spawned the idea of rope spawn when I first posted it few years ago. Just thought I'd gloat. You can order hemp rope online. Don't get it from a 'hemp novelty' site or you'll pay triple the price. Search for an industrial source.
RR
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www.mushroomvideos.com
semper in excretia sumus solim profundum variat
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phalcon005
Registered: 12/21/05
Posts: 209
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Re: Replacing dowel plugs with rope spawn for log inoculation... [Re: RogerRabbit]
#6562865 - 02/13/07 11:57 AM (5 years, 3 months ago) |
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Very nice. The reason I was sticking with sisal was I finally found a cheap source. My local Harbor Freight carried a spool of 50' of 1/4" rope for $1.59. Can't beat that.
Due to innate stubbornness I'm not going to give up 100% on the sisal and try to soak it in a LME broth instead of just water before PCing and inoculating. We'll see...
I must admit that I was hoping Sisal rope would inoculate for other reasons as well. I have a couple of bundles currently sitting with Panellus stipticus spawn on them. I thought having a 50 foot glow-in-the-dark rope would have lots of entertaining possibilities. :P
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RogerRabbit
Bans for Pleasure
Registered: 03/26/03
Posts: 36,974
Loc: USA Mountain Northwest
Last seen: 12 hours, 22 minutes
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Re: Replacing dowel plugs with rope spawn for log inoculation... [Re: phalcon005]
#6564102 - 02/13/07 05:57 PM (5 years, 3 months ago) |
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Is the pan stip colonizing it? I recently fired my pan stip culture up again. I'll probably try once again to fruit if for spores. Failed last time.
RR
--------------------
www.mushroomvideos.com
semper in excretia sumus solim profundum variat
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phalcon005
Registered: 12/21/05
Posts: 209
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Re: Replacing dowel plugs with rope spawn for log inoculation... [Re: RogerRabbit]
#6565963 - 02/14/07 07:39 AM (5 years, 3 months ago) |
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I checked the two bundles I inoculated over a week ago and it looks like it might colonize the Sisal. The culture I have grows painfully slow, but the fuzzy grain kernels appear to be fixing onto the rope. Now whether it will colonize down the rope might be another story.
I put two bundles of the 50' 1/4' sisal in 1 liter of water with 40grams of LME to soak for 24 hours and then I'll PC and inoculate with grain spawn tonight. Maybe that will help the colonization along.
I'll try to get some pics of the Panellus in rope tonight and post them, it is quite a sight. I haven't checked to see if it is glowing very well yet, this might get me to bite the bullet and check that as well.
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phalcon005
Registered: 12/21/05
Posts: 209
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Re: Replacing dowel plugs with rope spawn for log inoculation... [Re: phalcon005]
#6620023 - 02/28/07 09:53 AM (5 years, 2 months ago) |
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Just for the record books, colonization of Sisal isn't working out for me. I had two bundles of Sisal that I soaked in water, PCed and spawned with Panellus Stipticus grain that bloomed with Trich contamination about two weeks out. I have two more bags that I made later on with Shiitake spawn, one bag was soaked for 24 hours in LME LC before PCing to try to add some nutrients to the rope.
What occurred with the Panellus is the grains recovered from shaking and only grew about 1/4" inch out from each grain kernel into nearby rope. I didn't appear to truely colonize the rope, just bump into it like any other inert substrate in it's way. The shiitake bags I heavily spawned and appear to be doing better than the Panellus, but I am not going to keep my hopes up. The shiitake rope is a bit harder to monitor since I added enough spawn to practically surround the entire rope bundles.
I refined my research on this and it appears Stamets uses hemp rope as well, 5/16" as opposed to my 1/4" Sisal. I may get the itch to find a cheap local source of hemp rope. Does anyone happen to know of one online?
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