Growing on logs

[DuG]

So today I had a good find. The local council boys have chpped down several poplar trees. And to make make it even better they chopped up some logs from 10cm to 20cm wide and 1.5m or so long. I helped myself to a boot full of logs

So would most wood loving fungus find these logs tasty? i'm in the initial stages of growing elm oyster spawn, (thanks Rev), So hopefully i'll get some of this onto the logs.

i'm also wondering how do make inoculated dowels/rope? is it just a matter of mixing the rope or dowels in with some grian spawn and waiting?

[Rev]

other way around

either sterilise the dowels. in which case u might as well soak in honey/suagr/molasses water first

or just soak by boiling them or pouring boiling hot water over and soaking o/night

with the rope the same thing applies

mycelium just goes nuts over hessian and sisal rope

even with no pasteurisation

have a play. its not difficult

of course u dont need dowels. u could just innoc with sawdust spawn

to make that just expand ur grainspawn to 5x its volume in sterilised sawdust - if using euc then add at least 5% bran supplement as its a gutless wood for most exotics

i drool over your poplars :drool:

Poplar is an excellent wood. i cannot think of a single woodloving species you would want to grow native or exotic that would not find this wood eminently digestible

and i might add poplars can be hosts to the italian white truffle

an even higher value commodity in the kitchen and the wallet than than the more common black truffle

Edited August 7, 2006 by Rev

[watertrade]

either sterilise the dowels. in which case u might as well soak in honey/suagr/molasses water first

or just soak by boiling them or pouring boiling hot water over and soaking o/night

how much honey/molasses would you add to teh soak? about 2%w/w at a guess? approx a teaspoon in 500lm?

[Rev]

not an exact science

most dowels in oz are made from eucalyptus

the idea is to introduce some sugars in water to the interstitial space to assist colonisation

2% sounds like a good start

you tell me

ive never measured. just put in a good dollop to the simmering solution

[DuG]

Excellent tasty poplar wood.

I went back to the spot today and got talking to one of the guys there and he said take as much wood as you like, less work for us. so i'll have food for my mushies and when it dries wood for the fire.

I'm going to trial both dowels and sisal rope plugs in the logs. I'm going to borow a mates eletric planer and make some chips for spawn bags.

and Rev thats the first time i've herd anyone say that black truffels are common!

[Rev]

relatively

black truffles are found in france and italy - that i know of and prob also in spain?

now also australia and NZ and i would think the USA, china, south africa, chile and argentina would also be trying as they also have suitable terrain

white truffles however are restricted to northern italy such as near alba

are larger more pungent and command a higher price

they have not to my knowledge been cultivated yet whereas black truffle cultivation is spring up all over the world. there are producing farms in NSW, tassie and WA - i dont know about SA or vic but i cant see why not

blacks need an oak, chestnut or hazel host and 1m loam soils over limestone bedrock, gentle slope and a temperate to mediterranean climate

Edited August 9, 2006 by Rev

[spiders]

there is a site from the US that sells innoculated host oaks for $78 US per plant. Not at all that unreasonable.

[DuG]

perigord truffles is a farm in tasmania that grows black truffle inoculated trees.

It would be nice to grow them. They harvested 50kg of truffles this year.