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loggrower
Log Cultivator


Registered: 08/02/13
Posts: 273
Loc: Oregon - Coast Range
Last seen: 6 years, 5 months
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Question about Oyster Pinning
#18766676 - 08/28/13 12:00 AM (10 years, 5 months ago) |
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Do Oyster mushrooms (Blue and Pearl) just pin randomly or are they sensitive to weather conditions like rain and high humidity?
Been watching some of my outdoor oyster logs (Red Alder) fruit for a bit, and they seem to like to pin after high humidity and drizzle. Soaking the logs didn't seem to trigger anything. (Probably only works with Shiitake)
All my new stuff is going indoors... I kind of want to randomize oyster pinning to get a steady even supply of mushrooms, so should I just water my logs one set at a time, and just keep the humidity up? I should probably make sure no mycelium connects between my different logs... Or they will signal each other to pin all at the same time?!?
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Oeric McKenna
LIFE CAPS


Registered: 06/15/12
Posts: 5,318
Loc: Babylon
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Re: Question about Oyster Pinning [Re: loggrower]
#18766769 - 08/28/13 12:26 AM (10 years, 5 months ago) |
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It seems like overall moisture evaporation, full colonization, and light increase are the main things. To me, high RH never seemed to be their immediate need. They seem to push out, even if its into dry air, causing dry death, shrivelling pin cluster issues. So it seems that the myceium doesn't decide " I shouldn't fruit, the air is too dry" Seemingly, it fruits when the other conditions are met. P. ostreatus seems to fruit as soon as its able until it dies. I know certain Pleurotus species have temp drops as a key trigger also.
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loggrower
Log Cultivator


Registered: 08/02/13
Posts: 273
Loc: Oregon - Coast Range
Last seen: 6 years, 5 months
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What do you mean "overall moisture evaporation"? *Confused*
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Oeric McKenna
LIFE CAPS


Registered: 06/15/12
Posts: 5,318
Loc: Babylon
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Re: Question about Oyster Pinning [Re: loggrower]
#18766841 - 08/28/13 12:56 AM (10 years, 5 months ago) |
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When moisture evaporates from the substrate, in your case, the logs.
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loggrower
Log Cultivator


Registered: 08/02/13
Posts: 273
Loc: Oregon - Coast Range
Last seen: 6 years, 5 months
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That is interesting... It sounds like they like to pin as logs dry off in medium humidity after a rainstorm. Thanks for that info!
Natural Shiitake logs last for years, but what about the commercial Oyster strains like from Fungi Perfecti? Do Oysters chew through a log within a year once they reach full colonization and start fruiting rapidly? Anyone know?
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Oeric McKenna
LIFE CAPS


Registered: 06/15/12
Posts: 5,318
Loc: Babylon
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Re: Question about Oyster Pinning [Re: loggrower]
#18766953 - 08/28/13 01:40 AM (10 years, 5 months ago) |
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Oysters will last for years even in very cold temps. Amazingly, I've even seen pins freeze solid during spring growth, only to thaw and continue the same growth. It's wild
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loggrower
Log Cultivator


Registered: 08/02/13
Posts: 273
Loc: Oregon - Coast Range
Last seen: 6 years, 5 months
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Woah, freezing, then growing again... That is pretty crazy.
Well, I am in western Oregon so I think my Oysters will chew through my logs pretty fast. I have no idea how long say a 5" Red Alder Log plugged with pearl Oysters will last... Very little information out there on Oyster Mushroom logs!
Most of my new Oyster logs I am putting in are all 12-16" diameter logs cut into wafer stacks for a fast spawn run. Should be fruiting fully by sometime next spring/early summer. Those diameter logs wouldn't produce for like two years if they were plugged...
I'm pretty much going crazy at the moment logging giant thirty to forty year old alders and slicing the entire things up into wafers. Replanting the areas with fir.
Edited by loggrower (08/28/13 03:10 AM)
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Oeric McKenna
LIFE CAPS


Registered: 06/15/12
Posts: 5,318
Loc: Babylon
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Re: Question about Oyster Pinning [Re: loggrower]
#18768310 - 08/28/13 12:49 PM (10 years, 5 months ago) |
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That's pretty neat. The llogs I was referring to, lasting many years are actually stumps. I'm sure their being in the ground prevents drying out too much. An insanely hard, stringy wood I'd bank on is elm. Alder sounds like a win too. I love the different woods. wood addict!
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mycoloco
less and less a stranger



Registered: 06/20/13
Posts: 183
Loc: The Rogue Valley, OR
Last seen: 1 year, 26 days
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Re: Question about Oyster Pinning [Re: loggrower]
#18769126 - 08/28/13 04:19 PM (10 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
loggrower said: ... I have no idea how long say a 5" Red Alder Log plugged with pearl Oysters will last ... Most of my new Oyster logs I am putting in are all 12-16" diameter logs cut into wafer stacks for a fast spawn run. Should be fruiting fully by sometime next spring/early summer. Those diameter logs wouldn't produce for like two years if they were plugged...
Basically, a log will maintain its vitality until the bark falls off. Stacks will definitely fruit faster than logs of the same size, but they will also lose their bark much faster. I get two productive years out of stacks, and over five years with 12"-16" diameter logs.
-------------------- The universe is an illusion of the living.
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loggrower
Log Cultivator


Registered: 08/02/13
Posts: 273
Loc: Oregon - Coast Range
Last seen: 6 years, 5 months
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Re: Question about Oyster Pinning [Re: mycoloco]
#18769386 - 08/28/13 05:11 PM (10 years, 5 months ago) |
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Mycoloco, Do you keep those stacks outdoors or indoors?
Why do you think they lose their bark so fast? Something to do with the wafer stacking method, or do they just produce more Oysters faster and chew through the log?
Been theorizing on how to water the stacks... Maybe cut a small bowl shape into the top of each one and go along with a hose and fill it, in addition to them absorbing moisture from the ground. I am stacking my wafers on an inch of sawdust, and the bottoms of the wafers are inoculated. I am doing six inch thick quad stacks for fast production. Building floor is a mix of sand/stream rock with a small amount of dirt.
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mycoloco
less and less a stranger



Registered: 06/20/13
Posts: 183
Loc: The Rogue Valley, OR
Last seen: 1 year, 26 days
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Re: Question about Oyster Pinning [Re: loggrower]
#18770022 - 08/28/13 07:21 PM (10 years, 5 months ago) |
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Outdoors. I water with a milk jug on top of each stack (and pole and long stump) wetting a burlap top hat. The milk jugs have holes near the bottom and are all connected together to one water valve. I could put a timer on it to automate further, but I am wanting to be more hands on than that-- at this learning stage.

I think the stacks lose their bark more quickly because contaminants have such easy access to the cambium layer. I tried sealing the cuts between layers with rope, but the integrity of wet rope is a lot less than intact bark.
-------------------- The universe is an illusion of the living.
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loggrower
Log Cultivator


Registered: 08/02/13
Posts: 273
Loc: Oregon - Coast Range
Last seen: 6 years, 5 months
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Re: Question about Oyster Pinning [Re: mycoloco]
#18771381 - 08/29/13 12:16 AM (10 years, 5 months ago) |
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Yea, I was noticing my older outdoor mushroom logs were having big issues near their ends. Not all of them, just the contaminated stuff, and especially on top where sun had hit them a little.
I think I might be able to control these issues better indoors.
Those are some mighty big stacks!!!
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tattiritari
Finnish person


Registered: 02/23/10
Posts: 17
Last seen: 9 years, 6 months
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Re: Question about Oyster Pinning [Re: loggrower]
#18771762 - 08/29/13 03:48 AM (10 years, 5 months ago) |
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own experience has been that they will start producing mushrooms right after substrate is 100% colonized, even if it is dark and i'm not introducing pinning triggers.
My oysters starts pinning like that and i'm loving it.
-------------------- Been doing this for atleast 5 years.
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loggrower
Log Cultivator


Registered: 08/02/13
Posts: 273
Loc: Oregon - Coast Range
Last seen: 6 years, 5 months
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Re: Question about Oyster Pinning [Re: mycoloco]
#18771788 - 08/29/13 04:07 AM (10 years, 5 months ago) |
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Btw, mycoloco, this might interest you... I only have plugs at the moment and no sawdust spawn, so I'm plugging my wafers in a interesting way.
The wafers lock themselves together well enough in a couple weeks so they can't be pulled apart, and there isn't enough space for pillbugs to get in-between with a clean cut. You can see a picture of my wafers in my other thread.
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