How to Grow Mushrooms in Fall: Inoculation & Fruiting (2024)

FAQs

Can you inoculate mushrooms in fall? ›

Research at Cornell's Arnot Forest has shown that winter and spring inoculations are ideal; however, summer and fall inoculations also produce sizable harvests. Logs can be inoculated immediately after they are felled; there is no need to “cure” the log for a few weeks.

The best time to inoculate logs is in spring, within one to two weeks after the logs have been cut. This allows the cells in the tree to die but is not long enough for the log to dry out or for other competitor fungi to become established. Logs can be inoculated with either the drilling method or the totem method.

You want to use a spawn rate of around 5-10%, which means you'll need about 2.5-5 lbs of grain spawn for each 5 gallon bucket. A 10% spawn rate will colonize the bucket faster, and comes with a higher chance of success- but you can easily get away with less.

After inoculation, the spawn needs time to grow through the substrate. This process is called incubation. Incubation starts with leap off, which is the moment when the mycelium initially leaps off the spawn onto the new substrate. This typically occurs around four days after inoculation.

This is when the mycelium will start to take over the grain that was inoculated with spores. This period usually lasts between 3 to 6 weeks depending on strain and environmental conditions. Ideal conditions for this phase are in a dark place and temperature between 72 F – 80 F.

The ideal temperature for a spawn run depends on the type of mushroom, but it is generally between 23 and 28 Celsius (73 and 82 Fahrenheit). The temperature in our incubation sat around 31 Celsius (86 Fahrenheit). It took longer for the blocks to develop mycelium as a result.

The window of inoculating hardwood logs is anywhere from 1 week to 6 weeks after cutting. In cooler climates, some growers cut logs in the fall, stack, and cover them with a tarp to overwinter, then inoculate in the spring.

When making grain spawn, the gold standard has always been rye grain. And that makes sense. Rye is widely available, hydrates well- and is universally loved by almost any mushroom species.

In a 5-gallon bucket you can grow: • 1 tomato, pepper or zucchini, or • 3-4 lettuce, or • 1 cabbage or broccoli (with 15 radishes or 8 spinach), or • 15 carrots or beets, or • 6 bulbing onions, garlic or leeks, or • 8 mustards or turnips for greens.

Expect to grow: 2-3 harvests of mushrooms / 150g - 300g

Once the kit has run out of nutrients and water it will be "spent" and won't produce any more mushrooms.

Does mycelium grow faster in the dark? ›

Radial growth of the mycelium was faster under dark incubation rather than under light incubation.

When the mycelium has grown three to four inches, without opening the bag, carefully break up the colonized substrate and mix it into the uncolonized substrate. This will dramatically speed up the colonization process. 3. Your spawn is ready to use when the bag is completely white with mycelium.

Light: While mycelium doesn't require light to grow, a small amount can help stimulate growth. 5. Nutrition: Using a nutrient-rich substrate can also enhance growth. Remember, it's important to maintain sterile conditions to prevent contamination.

And she added, "Springtime is usually the time of year we see the most mushroom growth. Fall would be the second-greatest uptick, but we get these dry spells too."

Wine Caps are well adapted for a fall planting because of its supreme hardiness and ability to grow in cool temperatures, thus out competing other fungi common in straw in warmer temperatures.

Spring is the most well-known time of year for foraging mushrooms (hello Morels and Pheasant Back mushrooms) and yet Fall is my favorite time to mushroom hunt. With the cool days of September come Chicken of the Woods mushrooms and in the cooler months of October and even into November the Oyster mushrooms will thrive.

Mushrooms are more than abundant in California's 1.6 million acres of forests, where enthusiasts can usually forage for fungi from mid-October to mid-April.