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jtsan
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Registered: 07/20/15
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First time growing Shiitake Mushrooms - Question about Cake Moisture Content
#21971085 - 07/20/15 02:47 PM (8 years, 6 months ago) |
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Hey all,
I am attempting to grow mushrooms for the first time and had a couple questions about growing Shiitakes. I watched the "Let's Grow Mushrooms" video on Youtube and followed it exactly. The cakes he said to prepare consisted of the following:
- 1C Water
- 2C Sawdust instead of Vermiculite (I'm using fresh White Oak)
- 1C BRF
I did a batch of "normal" cakes using Vermiculite instead of Sawdust and I noticed that the moisture content of the Sawdust cakes seems to be much higher than cakes done with Vermiculite. Because of what seemed like too much moisture, I added a little more BRF and Sawdust to cut down on the sogginess. So my questions are:
- Should I continue with inoculation? I thought too much moisture could lead to bacteria or is this ideal for Shiitakes?
- Are there better ratios/materials to use? I thought of using a tiny bit of Vermiculite to suck up some moisture.
I don't have access to the cakes for photos now but I can post some if needed later. Just imagine a more soggy/dense cake than when using Vermiculite. :P
Thanks,
jtsan
Edited by jtsan (08/20/15 10:51 AM)
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Stupendous-Yappi
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Re: First time growing Shiitake Mushrooms - Question about Cake Moisture Content [Re: jtsan]
#21975310 - 07/21/15 11:40 AM (8 years, 6 months ago) |
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Too much moisture will slow down the mycelium growth, giving time for contaminates to take over. Without pictures I can't say for certain but if it is soggy then you'll want to get the moisture content right before inoculating. Mixing in some vermiculite should work.
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jtsan
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Re: First time growing Shiitake Mushrooms - Question about Cake Moisture Content [Re: Stupendous-Yappi]
#21979216 - 07/22/15 07:25 AM (8 years, 6 months ago) |
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Thanks, I'll definitely be adding some vermiculite next time to cut down on the moisture. I went ahead and picked seven jars that looked the least moist and inoculated those this morning. At the same time I started two LC of Shiitake using the following tek: Super easy karo tek. I did this so that I'd have a backup culture (in a week?) if things don't turn out right. Do Shiitakes grow well on the normal PF tek cakes?
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Stupendous-Yappi
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Re: First time growing Shiitake Mushrooms - Question about Cake Moisture Content [Re: jtsan]
#21980018 - 07/22/15 11:38 AM (8 years, 6 months ago) |
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Quote:
Do Shiitakes grow well on the normal PF tek cakes?
On BRF cakes?, no probably not. They need a wood substrate.
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vatman
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Re: First time growing Shiitake Mushrooms - Question about Cake Moisture Content [Re: Stupendous-Yappi]
#21980030 - 07/22/15 11:43 AM (8 years, 6 months ago) |
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RR in his videos for BRF. He replaces verm with sawdust and they worked fine. You get some fruit but not a hell of a lot
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jtsan
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Re: First time growing Shiitake Mushrooms - Question about Cake Moisture Content [Re: vatman]
#22106476 - 08/18/15 11:57 AM (8 years, 5 months ago) |
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Hey! Just an update on the Shittake jars. I've attached some images I took today. Could someone let me know if this is pinning or something else? I don't want to birth them if they're just going to contaminate the fruiting chamber I prepared for them. Are the white/yellowish/brownish masses the beginning of a mushroom or some kind of contaminate? Thanks!
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mikesethnobotany
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Re: First time growing Shiitake Mushrooms - Question about Cake Moisture Content [Re: jtsan]
#22109033 - 08/18/15 10:30 PM (8 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
jtsan said: Hey! Just an update on the Shittake jars. I've attached some images I took today. Could someone let me know if this is pinning or something else? I don't want to birth them if they're just going to contaminate the fruiting chamber I prepared for them. Are the white/yellowish/brownish masses the beginning of a mushroom or some kind of contaminate? Thanks!

Looks like they're popcorning! The yellow color is probably metabolites which make it appear as if they're fruits but they're not. If you look closely at pic #3 you can see some browning which is a good thing !
Here is a good read about popcorning and browning and when to birth them:
http://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/15224332/fpart/1/vc/1
Edited by mikesethnobotany (08/18/15 10:32 PM)
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jtsan
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Re: First time growing Shiitake Mushrooms - Question about Cake Moisture Content [Re: mikesethnobotany]
#22116225 - 08/20/15 10:55 AM (8 years, 5 months ago) |
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Thanks for the info mikesethnobotany! I'm at work now and will search around the forms later for more info on pop corning. When is the best time to remove the cake from the jar? So I should let them turn dark brown first and sit for a month like in that other thread then dunk and birth? Are Shiitake cakes to be rolled after dunking?
Thanks!
Edited by jtsan (08/20/15 10:57 AM)
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mikesethnobotany
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Re: First time growing Shiitake Mushrooms - Question about Cake Moisture Content [Re: jtsan]
#22117493 - 08/20/15 04:28 PM (8 years, 5 months ago) |
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Quote:
jtsan said: Thanks for the info mikesethnobotany! I'm at work now and will search around the forms later for more info on pop corning. When is the best time to remove the cake from the jar? So I should let them turn dark brown first and sit for a month like in that other thread then dunk and birth? Are Shiitake cakes to be rolled after dunking?
Thanks!
Glad to help! You ideally want to remove the shiitake block/cake when it 100% browned, but at a minimum of 50% browned. Since your cake is smaller than what the blocks are it may take less than a month to reach full browning.
You can dunk and smack the cake a little bit to induce fruiting, but don't be too rough with it - I have had blocks split in half from a couple modest slaps. Cold shocks help but are not necessary for fruiting shiitake.
Good luck and I'm happy to answer any other questions if you have them
-Mike
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champinhom
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Re: First time growing Shiitake Mushrooms - Question about Cake Moisture Content [Re: mikesethnobotany]
#22121998 - 08/21/15 11:26 AM (8 years, 5 months ago) |
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There is a thread on this site that clearly states that classic BRF cakes are plenty good for shitaki production. The poster did not get a lot of mushrooms but the ones he got were big. I am going to look for that post right now. I'll insert a link if I can:
I could not find the thread referenced above but found another that might be helpful in this context. This guy uses brown rice flour and ground wild bird seed in his pf cakes. He adds 6 one inch sections of kabob sticks in each cake, claiming--and his results back him up--that shitaki does not need a lot of wood in its fruiting diet. Check this out if you haven't already. Pretty impressive: http://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/11897262
Edited by champinhom (08/21/15 11:28 AM)
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