MYCO'S GUIDE TO CREATING OUTDOOR PATCH'S FOR WOODLOVERS

[myco]

(PLEASE NOTE THE SPECIES USED WAS STROPHARIA PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS WITH ANY KIND OF ILLEGAL MUSHROOMS PICTURES ARE FOR ILLISTRATIVE PURPOSES ONLY)

This is my guide to growing woodloving mushrooms outdoors

i hope this will be of help to anyone new to the subject and also serve as inspiration for others wanting to try
and create thier own outdoor patches in a lovely garden setting
this has proved very successful for me in the past and i wanted to share with you all the way i make this happen.

this will serve as a complete guide to growing your own woodloving mushrooms outdoors
i hope you all find this informative and as i said earlier inspiring...... enjoy

throughout this guide i will be showing you some different techniques i have used in the past

so this is how it all starts

you can begin with either

1: freshly picked specimens
or
2: pieces of wood that you know for sure already contain mycelium
of the mushrooms you intend on growing

so we will begin with number 1: freshly picked specimens







for this method i like to take my fresh specimens and rather than using just the stem but i cut the mushroom into 3 pieces
so that i end up with the stem but, the stem and the cap

get yourself some cardboard and tear the outer layers away so that you are left with just the corigated middle part
you can soak this in some boiling water to try and get rid of some of the excess glue however this is not at all necessary

place your mushroom pieces inbetween your wet cardboard i like to start small
with some small plastic containers
allow the mycelium to take over the cardboard as you see in the picture below
(the black parts you see are just old rotting pieces of mushroom this has no effect on mycelium growth and has never caused any kind of mould growth for me i have done this numerous times without a problem)

the mycelium pictured below is from an unidentified species i discovered last season




after this i then take the step to a larger tub (pictured below)
firstly i will add more larger pieces of cardboard into the tub and spread my smaller cardboard pieces throughout
the layers
once these larger cardboard layers are colonised i then get wood chips
and basically make a lasagne
by pulling the large sheets of cardboard out and placing woodchips between the cardboard layers
and again leave this to colonise




once this is colonised i make my outdoor beds
i do this by simply placing as many layers of cardboard on the ground as possible
(this also acts to stop the weeds growing in your garden)
take your colonised chips and cardboard and spread it out over the cardboard you placed on the ground
your new garden bed is on its way
i now take some fresh woodchips and layer them over the top about 1-2 inches is good
it should look something like this




now if we go back to the start
this time we will begin with option number 2: pieces of wood that you know for sure already contain mycelium of the mushrooms you intend on growing

pictured below is wood containing mycelium




in this case you can simply take your colonised wood and place chunks of it around in your outdoor woodchip patch
just like this



then ofcourse simply bury it in your woodchip bed and allow the mycelium to spread throughout the bed


now this next method is something i devised using the idea of the spawn plug tek
this method has worked extremely well for me

get yourself some logs drill some holes throughout the logs and place either colonised cardboard, woodchips or even stem buts inside the holes i like to then plug the holes up with some pieces of fresh uncolonised cardboard
this should last long enough to allow the mycelium to take over the log from the inside out
you can see in the picture below where i have drilled holes in this particular log




then take your colonised log and simply bury it in your woodchip beds
i like to just bury it halfway like this




i then take this log and move it around my garden every year or so
within a few months the mycelium from the log will spread like crazy into your woodchip bed
this log has been in this particular spot for around 7-8 months
as you can see from the pictures below the mycelium has spread outwards from the log quite dramatically










so thats basically it a very simple way to create not just outdoor beds for woodlovers
but to make a beautiful garden that grows your favorite woodloving mushrooms























thankyou all for reading
i hope you found this informative and inspiring

(AGAIN PLEASE NOTE THE SPECIES USED WAS STROPHARIA PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS WITH ANY KIND OF ILLEGAL MUSHROOMS PICTURES ARE FOR ILLISTRATIVE PURPOSES ONLY)

Edited May 11, 2013 by myco

[Dolos]

Well done...very informative. A big plus for you....How moist would you need to keep the wood chips? Would the species you grow be restricted to the climate you are in? Sorry but when it comes to shrooms I'm a real noob.... .. I've been meaning to try something similar myself but fear of failure and a lazy disposition. (only with legal edibles of course)

Do you sell bags of woodchips

Edit to save arse

Edited December 18, 2011 by Dolos

[ballzac]

Very informative, and very interesting, but...

What's the legality of this? If you were just preparing a garden bed with mulch and mushrooms grew, I think it would be fine, but surely this would be viewed as cultivation? Perhaps it would have been better to use stropharia aurantiaca or something for illustrative purposes.

[Shamanistic]

Great tek myco. I am thinking of starting an edibles outdoor patch next year and will use this for sure.

[myco]

in reply to ballzac
i have added the following disclaimer to the begining and end of the original post

(PLEASE NOTE THE SPECIES USED WAS STROPHARIA PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT THIS WITH ANY KIND OF ILLEGAL MUSHROOMS PICTURES ARE FOR ILLISTRATIVE PURPOSES ONLY

also in reply to dolos
ofcourse for outdoor growing you must be in the right climate for watever it is your trying to grow
and no i do not sell woodchips

Edited May 11, 2013 by myco

[Distracted]

Cheers for the tek, it's always great being able to look at the pictures besides the information, it just seeps in better

I'd never really heard of the wood plug tek as i've always seen it marketed for shiitake but that seems like a fucking awesome idea, would it work for subs though? I've seen sub mycelium growing from small branches and bits of wood but never from a big log before.

[myco]

yes it will work for with any woodlovers

Edited May 11, 2013 by myco

[Distracted]

Awesome, good work spreading around the love :D

I got another question though..

I can't see any grass growing around your sub patch, the greenery in the fruiting pictures look like fresh pine needles. So... are you fruiting without grass growing in the pine chips?

edit: and congrats on what I think is the first successful use of tags on this forum.

Edited December 19, 2011 by Distracted

[myco]

yes they do fruit without grass growing around them

there was a nearby pine tree and i often threw pine needles around over the patch

if you throw enough down it helps keep moisture in and helps keep the acidity up aswell

as you can see by the first picture of the fruits there is no need for either grass or the pine needles though

the tag thing is cool i think its a good thing to have

Edited December 19, 2011 by myco

[shruman]

Nice work myco.

What woods would you use for Gyms?, anything other than paperbark?

What woods have you used for the subs?

Do you have any more to share about the the unID'd active species?, Psilo?

"i do this by simply placing as many layers of cardboard on the ground as possible

(this also acts to stop the weeds growing in your garden)"

Weeds/plants growing through the patch usualy provide a better microclimate trapping humidity & keeping temperatrues more constant, the plants also channel water so you get lots of pinning & subsequent fruits around the plants, your plants do better with fungi & vice versa. But I can understand not wanting 'weeds' in your garden.

"i now take some fresh woodchips and layer them over the top as thick as i possibly can the thicker the better

it should look something like this"

If you lay the chips to thick it takes a long time to colonize & will fruit poorly or not at all your 1st season. About 4 inches max seems good.

"get yourself some logs drill some holes throughout the logs and place either colonised cardboard or woodchips inside

the holes i like to then plug the holes up with some pieces of fresh uncolonised cardboard

this should last long enough to allow the mycelium to take over the log from the inside out

you can see in the picture below where i have drilled holes in this particular log"

Love it!, you can leave logs on top or buried in a patch to colonize & do the same thing, just knock a bit of bark off with a hatchet or handsaw to let the myc in. I have seen logs about 5m away from a patch that have been colonized... crazy how far it sniffs out new wood.

Have you tried hessian instead of cardboard?, works a treat, is more durable, breathable & flexible than cardboard which can have advantages.

[myco]

Nice work myco.

thanks

What woods would you use for Gyms?, anything other than paperbark?

banksia is also good for gyms

What woods have you used for the subs?

I haven't done any subs but I would say

pine and any kind of eucalypt should be fine

Do you have any more to share about the the unID'd active species?, Psilo?

http://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/14524880

excuse the panalous wording in the thread name

(i dont know how the hell to change the thread name either)

they are clearly not any kind of pan alot of the first older specimens we were finding resembled some kind of panalous

then we begun to find a whole lot more and they are definately an active psilocybe of some kind

i will be sending specimens out for microscopy next season just never quite got around to it last season

its a long thread but if you go through it theres alot of good pics in there

"i do this by simply placing as many layers of cardboard on the ground as possible

(this also acts to stop the weeds growing in your garden)"

Weeds/plants growing through the patch usualy provide a better microclimate trapping humidity & keeping temperatrues more constant, the plants also channel water so you get lots of pinning & subsequent fruits around the plants, your plants do better with fungi & vice versa. But I can understand not wanting 'weeds' in your garden.

we get alot of kikuya grass (i think thats how its spelt haha)

the shit goes nuts and is not something you want in your garden instead i plant loads of ferns

of all kinds and various other plants to help keep that microclimate happening as you can see in the first picture before the pics of the fruits

"i now take some fresh woodchips and layer them over the top as thick as i possibly can the thicker the better

it should look something like this"

If you lay the chips to thick it takes a long time to colonize & will fruit poorly or not at all your 1st season. About 4 inches max seems good.

edited

"get yourself some logs drill some holes throughout the logs and place either colonised cardboard or woodchips inside

the holes i like to then plug the holes up with some pieces of fresh uncolonised cardboard

this should last long enough to allow the mycelium to take over the log from the inside out

you can see in the picture below where i have drilled holes in this particular log"

Love it!, you can leave logs on top or buried in a patch to colonize & do the same thing, just knock a bit of bark off with a hatchet or handsaw to let the myc in. I have seen logs about 5m away from a patch that have been colonized... crazy how far it sniffs out new wood.

yeh its definately a great way to do it

very quick and very very effective once you get the mycelium established it go's nuts you cant stop it

Have you tried hessian instead of cardboard?, works a treat, is more durable, breathable & flexible than cardboard which can have advantages.

unfortunately i've never had hessian to try it with would imagine it would be a great thing to try

i've always just used old cardboard boxes free and easy to get

Edited May 11, 2013 by myco

[Jonstn]

Did you use any sawdust on your patch? I've heard it works wonders for myc growth as the myc just mungs through the sawdust like no tomorrow

Good read mate! Looking into growing some nice juicy edibles so going to have to remember this.

[myco]

i did use sawdust in a few spots

the myc takes over the saw dust quickly but the sawdust is so thin and small

the myc just eats up pretty quickly

once you get that real rizho myc goin through the woodchips

i find it grows just as quickly as with sawdust and has a lot more to feed off

theres just no stopping it once it starts

Edited December 20, 2011 by myco

[holymountain]

this is fantastic! great job myco you've created a clear and easy to follow start to finish guide. no more excuses, everyone should have one of these in their garden now!

[Foo]

Nice teck.

I have colinized a patch of woodchips outside just by placing a few store bought enoki mushrooms in it. Doubt it will last the summer though.

[mysubtleascention]

transfer -

in ease

.. inspiration

 

just image !

 

 

 

 

.

Edited August 12, 2016 by mysubtleascention

[Rock.0]

Hey everyone,

Sorry for digging up an old thread.

I've only colonised a few pieces of cardboard (last season in Melb) and buried them in the garden under some woodchips in ~late August. I've seen a bit of colonised woodchip in that patch, so that's a good sign. I'm just wondering what sort of timeline were talking for each step here? And is there an ideal time of year/season for each step?

Also when colonising a piece of cardboard, is it best to keep it in a sealed container or open? And indoors or outdoors?

Thanks!

[wassonova]

question for myco: when you eventually prepare the garden bed for your cardboard and woodchip lasagne, i notice you say to lay down cardboard in the bed, then put pieces of your lasagne down, then cover it with woodchips.  Is this mostly about keeping out grass from underneath? why not have a layer of woodchips in contact with the soil and then put down the pieces of "lasagne" on this ground layer and then cover with more woodchips? what is the thinking about putting down a layer of cardboard and then the pieces of "lasagne"?

[wassonova]

On 04/02/2016 at 11:03 AM, Rock1084 said:

Hey everyone,

Sorry for digging up an old thread.

I've only colonised a few pieces of cardboard (last season in Melb) and buried them in the garden under some woodchips in ~late August. I've seen a bit of colonised woodchip in that patch, so that's a good sign. I'm just wondering what sort of timeline were talking for each step here? And is there an ideal time of year/season for each step?

Also when colonising a piece of cardboard, is it best to keep it in a sealed container or open? And indoors or outdoors?

Thanks!

Rock1084,  i do the colonising of cardboard  inside the house, to remind me to check them every few days to see that the cardboard is moist.  i do this duing the winter season when the myc is available.  this season i have layers of wet cardboard sitting in an open glass dish. the layers of wet cardboard are between a folded piece of cardboard on the outside that dries out before the inner layers do.   i periodically pour some collected rainwater on the inner and outer cardboard to keep it all moist. my outer cardboard has some spots of mould or something on it now so i'm gonna get rid of it and start making the "lasagne" that myco mentioned in OP and will do that inside a plastic container.  i hope to transfer the lasgne to prepared beds in early spring / september, or by october (ive read on the forums that people reckon myc grows well in spring) then i guess it's a matter of keeping it moist throughout the year and see how you go by the following winter.