musha-boom Posted August 26, 2016 (edited) Hello I am very new to the forum but was hoping to get some advice from the experts. I am also new to mycology and mushroom cultivation but have been very interested in learning for the past year on how to grow my own mushies at home and going on forest forays trying to learn to id fungi. So... I participated in a workshop where we were given shiitake dowel to take home to inoculate our own logs. I have just started looking for some logs to inoculate for Spring and my shiitake dowel look like they are so ready for a new home. I was given these two logs yesterday (see pics also some oyster growing in the buckets we took home too!) but not sure if they are healthy enough or the right type of Eucalyptus for the shiitake to grow on. I've been reading Mycelium running by Paul Stamets and there is a good list of suitable tree types for woodloving mushrooms, for shiitake it states Blue Gum Euc, Grand/ Globulus Euc and some other species. I understand that they can't already be hosting other mycelium or have any rot/ mottling on the stump either... I was curious if anyone would know somewhere I could get/purchase some fresh logs in Melbourne, Australia. I was thinking saw mills or local farmers that have cut down some trees and don't need the logs? Also Not sure of the correct size drill bit I would need to use for drilling holes for dowels? Any help or advice would be much appreciated Cheers Edited August 26, 2016 by musha-boom 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jdon Posted August 26, 2016 Hi musha maybe you could try an arborist? I have had a couple of attempts now with a 9mm drill bit & the dowels slide in pretty easily. Good luck... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waterboy 2.0 Posted August 27, 2016 Chatting with some aborists is a good move, and may get you some english oak logs. Could also try the parks section of the local council. Would still have to wait for a storm or when they have a job scheduled. You'll be chasing limb wood in reality when talking to these folk. The "logs" used are too small for saw mills to use/mill, a search around for a agroforestry coop/group and having a chat may put you onto a member that may be getting ready to do a thinning operation on a plantation of e.nitens...Otway Agroforestry Network may be a good start in that direction. Logs from the first thinning are great. Hunt down a forestry contractor maybe as well for a chat, tell em the diameter and length your after they will be limbing down suitable stuff and a few beers may do the job, another longshot is a firewood cutter? Again beers may get great results Just ideas....but could be worth asking about I cant verify it, but the sap pattern and bark on the log with the larger diameter looks sus to me. I am thinking its a deciduous or fruit wood species? It looks like something thats just restarted to do the sap run to me. You dont want a diameter much smaller than that one as well or it will be prone to drying out. The dowels will keep for a while in the fridge mate Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
musha-boom Posted September 6, 2016 On 8/27/2016 at 11:10 AM, waterboy 2.0 said: Chatting with some aborists is a good move, and may get you some english oak logs. Could also try the parks section of the local council. Would still have to wait for a storm or when they have a job scheduled. You'll be chasing limb wood in reality when talking to these folk. The "logs" used are too small for saw mills to use/mill, a search around for a agroforestry coop/group and having a chat may put you onto a member that may be getting ready to do a thinning operation on a plantation of e.nitens...Otway Agroforestry Network may be a good start in that direction. Logs from the first thinning are great. Hunt down a forestry contractor maybe as well for a chat, tell em the diameter and length your after they will be limbing down suitable stuff and a few beers may do the job, another longshot is a firewood cutter? Again beers may get great results Just ideas....but could be worth asking about I cant verify it, but the sap pattern and bark on the log with the larger diameter looks sus to me. I am thinking its a deciduous or fruit wood species? It looks like something thats just restarted to do the sap run to me. You dont want a diameter much smaller than that one as well or it will be prone to drying out. The dowels will keep for a while in the fridge mate Waterboy, great ideas! Thank you for your help with the log id, I wasn't too sure what we picked up as I need to learn some tree identification too. I heard yesterday where I volunteer at a community garden that some Euc. had been cut down by some aborists so sussing out that option tomorrow. I think some bevvies and a chat might do the trick like you said. Would you be able to please give me an appropriate approx size for some limb wood? I was thinking around 150cm in length, maybe 20-30cm diameter? Unfortunately I can't keep the dowel in the fridge as my housemate has a huge phobia of fungi spores and I will get kicked out Thanks again, this is pretty much a new field for me but am very interested in growing at home. Have you had luck or tried growing shiitake on logs too? 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waterboy 2.0 Posted September 6, 2016 no probs mate, just thoughts that may help you or someone else....find the right source for your circumstance and you will be set A length 1m is about right, 1.5m on a diam 250mm+ can be pretty weighty to haul around (for euc/oak heavier), especially if you want to dunk the logs to induce fruiting (some dunk/some let nature do its thing). about200-250mm is good IMO, you can use smaller but they need heaps more water management to stop em drying out. I am finding 100mm is about as small as I can go according to my humidity/temperature range, otherwise the work needed goes up dramatically to get results. lol...yeah mycophobia about "moulds and fungi" can be hard to shake, my mrs puts up with me having some of the bottom shelf of the fridge for myco projects (and others lol)....wasnt always that way. They are not spoilage fungi/moulds though, and wont make you sick is all I can add. Coolest and dark place you can find will be next best place Some of my current logs getting colonised below - only banged plugs into some of these recently,got another stack which I reckon this will be their final fruiting and then the logs will collapse (when I dry them out and burn them). Theres a thread on here with my trials of some Tasmanian eucs that are not mentioned as suitable species (E.viminalis and amygdalina) that have some shiitake porn in them...lol... I live in the scrub so I can source my logs on-site. There are some folks about here with mad skillz mycowise. I'm no expert mate, but feel free to PM me at any stage as well. And a belated welcome to the forum musha-boom 5 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
worowa Posted September 6, 2016 Haha, I love those hospital beds, scored a couple from Huonville tip shop-$10 each. A week later in Margate tip, they tried selling them for $115 each! Great for lifting and shifting heavy loads. Dowels don't have spores, well, not until they produce mushrooms. Tell your flat mate to stop breathing if they want to avoid spores. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
waterboy 2.0 Posted September 7, 2016 $115!.... tell 'em they're dreaming...lol ..I think I paid $20 tops for one, and $10-15 for the others, I hoarded up a pile of them a while back after a hospital upgrade up this way. I dunno how many times I've said "..get that hospital bed over there". lol...I wish I had more Share this post Link to post Share on other sites