Discover the value of mushroom plug spawn for growing your own mushrooms
Want to try growing mushrooms on logs or stumps in your garden or backyard? Don’t want to buy any tools? Only want to test out a dozen or so logs? Just cut down a hardwood tree in your backyard and have some extra hardwood logs laying around that you’re looking to put to good use?
Buy mushroom plug spawn today and start growing some mushrooms!
What is Mushroom Spawn?
Spawn is a material that has the mycelium of the mushroom grown on it. Spawn is used to plant mushrooms into a new material like logs, woodchips, straw, cardboard or other materials. At Fungi Ally we grow our spawn in sterile lab conditions focusing on getting our customers the freshest and cleanest spawn possible. Spawn comes in plug or sawdust form. Sawdust grows faster but requires a specialized tool called a palm inoculator. Mushroom Plug spawn is a bit easier to get into the logs and only requires a hammer. If you plan on inoculating 20 or more logs per year we recommend sawdust spawn.
Log Cultivation with Mushroom Plug Spawn
Log cultivation is best done on hardwood logs like oak, sugar maple, and beech. Other logs will work but will not produce as high of yields. It is best to select logs that are between 3-8 inches for this method of cultivation.
1 inch deep holes are drilled every 6 inches and mushroom
plug spawn is tapped into the holes with a hammer. The log is rotated 2 inches and holes are again drilled every 6 inches. It is best to off set the holes so in the end the drilling makes a diamond pattern. Every hole is filled with the plug spawn and then waxed over. The wax ensures the mycelium will not dry out, and that no other fungi will get into the log.
Making Totems with Mushroom Plug Spawn
Totems are best made with large diameter logs. Typically oak, beech or sugar maple logs with a diameter greater than 8 inches can be used for this method.
Starting with a 3 foot log, cut one part about 1.5 ft long, the second 1.3 ft long, and a third section about 2 inches long. Find a suitable place for cultivation, ideally somewhere that is shaded year round by conifer trees. The north side of houses and sheds can work as well.
Plug the top and bottom of your first 1.5 ft length of your log. Drill about 20 holes in the face of the log and hammer the plug spawn into the holes. Place this directly on the ground and put the second 1.3 ft log on top, securing it with 2-3 nails. As before drill 20 holes in the top of the log and inoculate with more plug spawn on top of the log. Finally, attach the 2 inch disk with 2-3 nails onto the top of the second log. You have now made a
mycelium sandwich! The log should be reassembled to how it was before you cut it but now with mycelium in the middle. The mycelium grows up and down through the log sections and one year later begins to fruit. With the large diameter size it takes the mushroom awhile to eat through a totem so they can continue to fruit for over 10 years!
This method can also be done with stumps of hardwood trees that have just been cut. Simply drill your 1 inch deep holes every 6 inches or so into the top of the stump, tap in the
plug spawn, and cover with bees/cheese/soy wax. This is a great method to speed up the decomposition process of your stumps and produce pounds of fresh mushrooms right in your backyard!
And check out
our selection of plug spawn here.
