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Rahz
Alive Again


Registered: 11/10/05
Posts: 9,230
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Advice on wood chips needed
#5512177 - 04/13/06 12:24 PM (17 years, 9 months ago) |
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I'm gearing up to grow reishi, and am confused on several aspects of the wood I'll be using as a substrate.
I have several options: A mulch place nearby sells several grades of hardwood mulch. They are all from the furniture industry, so they're likely to be aged quite a bit. Can the wood be too aged, or is mulch a good source of substrate?
I could buy or rent a chipper. If I do this, what kind of ageing do I need to consider? I've read that whole logs need to have been cut for a month or so before innoculating. If fresh hardwood was chipped, would that cut the ageing down a good bit? Or should I age the logs and then chip them?
Also, the hardwood mulch at the mulch supply isn't gauranteed to be any specific type. I've heard oak recommended, but will any hardwood do, or are certaint hardwoods not suitable for mushroom production?
Lots of questions for a single post, I know... I'm totally in the dark here, any help would be appreciated.
Rahz
-------------------- rahz comfort pleasure power love truth awareness peace "You’re not looking close enough if you can only see yourself in people who look like you." —Ayishat Akanbi
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Hypercube
80 SRM



Registered: 12/18/05
Posts: 814
Last seen: 11 years, 22 days
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Re: Advice on wood chips needed [Re: Rahz]
#5514057 - 04/13/06 10:21 PM (17 years, 9 months ago) |
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Most hardwoods do support Reishi (GGMM), I'm guessing you'll do okay with the mulch if A) it's cheaper than your other alternatives and B) you supplement it with sawdust/bran/oatmeal/other. Might even (and probably will) do okay as is.
Don't really know about the ageing/chipping thing. It seems common sense that once chipped, antifungal compounds will break down a *lot* faster than in a giant log.
My $0.02
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johnuk
Strangerlove
Registered: 06/13/05
Posts: 226
Last seen: 13 years, 8 months
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Re: Advice on wood chips needed [Re: Hypercube]
#5514804 - 04/14/06 05:01 AM (17 years, 9 months ago) |
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Hypercube, what's the flower in the middle of your piccies? I know the other two are morning glory / poppies.
If your hardwood is coming from the furniture industry you should definitly check whether or not it's been treated with any kind of perservative. But there are lots of stages that could have happened at, e.g. chopping / sawing to planks, forming into furnitue, finishing of furniture etc. You could end up with a lot of wood shavings that will take years before they'll support any growth on them. Personally, I'd prefer to get them from a tree chopping (forestry) service since then you know for sure that they're untreated. You'll have to see what vibe you get from the furniture place, whether they sound like they know for sure or if they're just guessing at what they've done to it themselves. Maybe try a small amount before you buy bags of it?
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Anno
Experimenter



Registered: 06/17/99
Posts: 24,166
Loc: my room
Last seen: 20 days, 14 hours
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Re: Advice on wood chips needed [Re: johnuk]
#5514889 - 04/14/06 06:37 AM (17 years, 9 months ago) |
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>what's the flower in the middle of your piccies?
Passiflora http://images.google.com/images?q=passiflora
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shroomsynergy
Fungi Freak


Registered: 01/17/06
Posts: 861
Loc: Andromeda
Last seen: 4 years, 4 months
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Re: Advice on wood chips needed [Re: Anno]
#5516300 - 04/14/06 02:55 PM (17 years, 9 months ago) |
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its a passion flower. i love the little fruits that they produce!! yum yum!!
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Edited by ShrOOmSynEgry (04/14/06 02:55 PM)
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Rahz
Alive Again


Registered: 11/10/05
Posts: 9,230
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Re: Advice on wood chips needed [Re: shroomsynergy]
#5518386 - 04/15/06 09:30 AM (17 years, 9 months ago) |
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I've found a chipper!
Next question would be: Do I need to strip the bark before chipping?
The chipper I'll be using only chips small branches, it would be a PITA to strip the bark off a bunch of 2" sticks.
Rahz
-------------------- rahz comfort pleasure power love truth awareness peace "You’re not looking close enough if you can only see yourself in people who look like you." —Ayishat Akanbi
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mattymonkey
Feel Like aStranger...


Registered: 11/07/04
Posts: 973
Last seen: 11 years, 23 days
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Re: Advice on wood chips needed [Re: Rahz]
#5518527 - 04/15/06 10:34 AM (17 years, 9 months ago) |
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nice find on the chipper.... how much are you planning on growing? small scale or large? you can sometimes get chips from the electric company, when they do their road maintenence...
since you already have a chipper... id connect with some landscaping people in your area, and see if they have a surplus of smaller branches they need to get rid of..
are you in a rural area? forested? what climate region are you?
-------------------- "listening for the secret.. searching for the sound.."
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Rahz
Alive Again


Registered: 11/10/05
Posts: 9,230
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Re: Advice on wood chips needed [Re: mattymonkey]
#5518875 - 04/15/06 12:10 PM (17 years, 9 months ago) |
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>>>>how much are you planning on growing? small scale or large?
I'm planning on starting out with 3 mono-tub type setups. I will be using automated FAE instead of polyfil. I'm doing 3 so I can try various substrate combinations before I settle on something. I have shelf space for 9-12 tubs, total surface area of around 100 square feet. The eventual purpose of this is to grow conks for profit. As for hardwood, in the last week, everybody's been topping and cutting back their trees, I'll be able to collect as much wood as I like.
I'm also working on fruiting reishi invitro using rye grain and coffee. These won't conk, but I've seen reports of 20 grams dry per jar, and they can be harvested a month after inoculation. I'm not sure what kind of market there will be for deformed reishi, but I'll be using these for my own consumption, and friends, at least in the beginning. If all goes well, I can harvest 8-9 ounces per month from 12 dozen jars.
I live in NC... in the Piedmont. Most of the hardwood forests have been replaced with pine, though I'm sure I could find a suitable site if I looked hard enough. It gets quite dry during the summer, and temps get up into the 90's. Here lately we haven't had much spring or fall, Temps go from 50-60s to high 80's in around a month, same for Fall in reverse.
Rahz
-------------------- rahz comfort pleasure power love truth awareness peace "You’re not looking close enough if you can only see yourself in people who look like you." —Ayishat Akanbi
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mattymonkey
Feel Like aStranger...


Registered: 11/07/04
Posts: 973
Last seen: 11 years, 23 days
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Re: Advice on wood chips needed [Re: Rahz]
#5518925 - 04/15/06 12:27 PM (17 years, 9 months ago) |
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the wood from the spring before the leaves comes out is the best.. it can be aged a bit if its kept dry and under cover..
good luck in your grow, id be interested in seeing how the monotubs work out
-------------------- "listening for the secret.. searching for the sound.."
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