Growing outdoors on logs takes patience, as it can take anywhere from 6 months to several years before enjoying your first crop of mushrooms, depending on type of mushrooms, type of wood, diameter of log, and the length of your growing season.

Oyster mushrooms tend to produce very quickly (ours produced mushrooms the first fall after early spring planting).  By contrast, our shiitake took 1.5-2 years before the first mushrooms popped out, and we are growing on Vancouver Island BC where the winters are mild and short.  In colder areas of Canada with a shorter growing season spring to fall, the time to first crop might be further delayed.

The diameter of the log also matters, with smaller logs producing more quickly (but for not as many years) as larger logs. When we inoculated a very large alder log with shiitake, it was at least 3 years before we saw our first crop.  But one rainy fall, we got our first shiitake and they were the size of dinner plates!  No joke!

Typically, the denser the wood (like oak), the longer the wait for your first crop of mushrooms.  But once your log is ready to fruit, you will enjoy seasonal crops for ~5-7 years. Fast-growing trees like poplar will produce mushrooms quickly (as soon as 6 months) but have a shorter production life (~3 years).

If you want faster rewards, consider growing a Mist & Grow mushroom kit which will generally produce mushrooms within weeks, and a couple more crops over a period of months.

Plug spawn is very easy to use and requires tools that are found in most households. You will need a proper size drill bit to drill holes, a hammer to tap the plugs into the holes, and a paintbrush or wax dauber to apply melted wax to cover them. To easily drill holes to the proper depth each time, fit a depth stop on your 8 mm (5/16″) drill bit or purchase a special high speed 8.5 mm drill bit with built-in depth stop.

Sawdust spawn requires the purchase some special tools, but is a more economical option if you have lots of log to inoculate year after year. Drill 12 mm holes in your logs. For fastest drilling, use this 12 mm drill bit with built-in depth stop with an adapter to convert your angle grinder to a high speed drill. Fill the inoculation tool with sawdust spawn, and “punch” the pellet into the hole. Cover with melted wax using a wool dauber.

While we recommend using your mushroom plug spawn as soon as possible while they are at their prime, they can easily survive for months refrigerated in a cold dark place. (In fact fungal mycelium is amazingly resilient, and cultures are often still viable even after a year or more!)

A small amount of yellow or amber liquid may collect in the bottom of your bag over time. Not to worry, the liquid is naturally-forming metabolites, a by-product of mycelium growth. It is still perfectly good to use.

“Wide”, “warm”, or “cold” indicates the conditions under which this strain of shiitake will generally produce most prolifically. All three kinds of Shiitake can be grown across Canada! Even if your region has cold winters, you can still grow the warm strain in the summer. When choosing which variety to grow, we recommend that you consider your local climate, and your Shiitake production goals.

For instance, here on Vancouver Island, BC the summers are very dry, whereas the spring and fall tend to be rainy and humid. We decided to work with nature, and select strains that tend to fruit in the spring and fall when it is humid here, rather than fight to keep the logs watered during the summer drought. The wide temperature strain is a good all-around choice, and the cold strain helps us to extend our fruiting season as early as possible in the spring and later into the fall. 

If your goal is to have mushrooms spring, summer and fall, then a combination of wide and warm strains would be a good choice. In some parts of Canada summer heat is often accompanied by high humidity, and this would be suitable for the warm strain Shiitake, which maximizes the productivity and quality of mushrooms during the summer.

“Cold Range”  Fruiting Temperatures: ~7-20C (44-68F). This strain of Shiitake will expand your season by fruiting earlier in the spring and extending later in fall than the wide range variety. Does not respond well to forced fruiting in summer.

“Wide Range” Fruiting Temperatures: ~15-25C (59-77F).This strain can be fruited over a wide range of temperatures, though mushroom quality and yields of this variety will be diminished in high heat as compared to the warm temperature variety.

“Warm Range”  Fruiting Temperatures: ~13-27C (55-80F). During warm summer months, this variety produces mushrooms of better quality and higher yield than the wide range variety. May fruit naturally or by force in warmer spring and fall months, must be forced to fruit in summer.

Most cultivated mushrooms are grown on “hardwood” logs from deciduous trees. Preferred tree species in Canada are oak, maple, alder, birch, and beech. Typically the denser the wood, the longer the wait for your first crop of mushrooms, but thereafter you will enjoy crops for ~5-7 years. Fast-growing trees like poplar will produce mushrooms quickly (as soon as 6 months) but have a shorter production life (~3 years).

Gourmet edible and medicinal mushrooms that can be grown on hardwoods include Pearl Oyster mushrooms, Yellow Oyster mushrooms, Shiitake, Lion’s Mane, Turkey Tail and Reishi. For advanced growers wanting a challenge, try growing Maitake and Chicken of the Woods (hardwood variety).

If you have access to a log from an evergreen tree like fir, you can experiment with growing Phoenix Oyster, Bear’s Head, Hemlock Reishi and Chicken of the Woods (conifer variety).

Cedar trees have strong antifungal properties and therefore are not good for mushroom growing. Fruit trees are reportedly not very productive, but you can always experiment!

Sourcing logs is easy if you have a woodlot, but for people in urban settings it’s not as easy. Here are some ideas to help your search for logs.

Look around for trees that are being cut all over for reasons such as subdivisions, road accesses, maintaining hydro lines, and forestry. Contact your local arborist, or firewood seller. Keep your eye out for windstorms that are strong enough to bring down healthy trees. Posting free wanted ads on Kijiji, craigslist or facebook groups can also be effective.

Remember that the log must be from a freshly cut or fallen *healthy* tree, a tree that is already dead or dying would already be infected with other forest fungi and not suitable for mushroom growing. Also keep in mind which kind of mushroom will grow on the type of tree you have sourced.