Spawn

Spawn for logs or stumps

Spawn available as bulk sawdust spawn in bags, or as sawdust spawn plugs in sheets. Bulk sawdust spawn will require a drill bit, an inoculating tool and will need to be sealed with wax to prevent the spawn from drying out and killing the mycelium. If you use sawdust plugs you will only require a drill, as the plugs are backed with styrofoam and will seal the hole. Either of these can be used for logs or stumps. See a precis of the log inoculation process on our information page.

IMPORTANT !!!!!!!!!
You can only use FRESH LOGS, or freshly cut stumps. Old logs that have been laying in the bush for longer than six months WILL NOT work. They are either too dried out or contaminated with other fungi.
The best success is achieved with fresh winter cut logs, In other words they should be cut as the leaves are falling or later, and before the leaves come out in the spring. This will ensure the highest concentrations of vitamins and nutrients in the wood for the mycelium. Inoculation should take place in the early spring, when the temperature is above 10 C or 55 F. There is no point in inoculating at much lower temperatures as the spawn will not be very active. Ideally inoculation should be finished before temperatures rise above 18 C or 70 F as higher temperatures can lead to more contamination.
For Shiitake, if your logs are cut in late fall or winter, inoculation can take place immediately in the spring. If however they are cut just before leaf out, it is advisable to leave the logs for a month to dry out a bit and kill the cells. If a log is used immediately after cutting it is still alive and will fight off the shiitake mycelium. Other species such as oyster or Maitake are more aggressive and can be used on fresher logs. Be careful however not to dry out the logs too much. Do not leave them fully exposed to the sun for long periods of time. The ideal moisture content should be close to 40%. If you think the logs are too dry you can soak, or sprinkle them with water for a day before inoculation.
SAWDUST PLUG SPAWN IS STRICTLY MADE TO ORDER AND MUST BE PREPAID
WE PREPARE SPAWN FROM LATE MARCH TO MAY
ORDERS MUST BE PLACED AND PAYMENT RECEIVED BY MARCH 15
2010 SEASON -- AS OF APRIL 15 WE ARE NOT TAKING ORDERS
IF YOU HAVE CUT LOGS AND NEED SPAWN CALL US 416 963 5520 TO DISCUSS
At other times of the year we can custom produce spawn for minimum quantities. Minimum order 30 bags at 2.5 kg/bag ( each bag will inoculate over 25 logs) or 120 sheets of plugs (each sheet of plugs will inoculate approx. 12 logs). Custom orders may be subject to a surcharge.

Shiitake (Lentinula edodes)

Sawdust spawn

1-4 ----------- 2.5 kg. bags..................CDN$ 30.00/bag

5-9 ----------- 2.5 kg. bags .................CDN$ 25.00/bag

NEW !!!!! : SAWDUST SPAWN PLUGS

New technology -- You can now get sawdust spawn in the form of plugs backed with a styrofoam cap. Just pop each plug out of its holder in the sheet and insert it into the pre-drilled hole in the log with your fingers.

Save time and money

NO INOCULATOR

NO HOT WAX

Each sheet contains 600 plugs. Enough to do at least 12 logs at an average inoculation rate of 40-50 holes per log.

Certified Organic Spawn Plugs:

1 sheet CDN $40.00

2- 5 sheets CDN$ 35.00/sheet

6-10 sheets per species CDN$ 32.50 /sheet

11-20 sheets per species CDN$ 30.00 /sheet

21-35 sheets per species CDN$ 27.50 / sheet

36-50 sheets per species CDN$ 25.00/ sheet

51-75 sheets per species CDN$ 22.50 /sheet

over 75 sheets per species CDN$ 20.00/ sheet

Shipping extra. We ship via Expresspost in Canada and via UPS to the USA.

Contact us for quotes on larger orders

SAWDUST PLUG SPAWN IS STRICTLY MADE TO ORDER
WE PREPARE SPAWN FROM LATE MARCH TO MAY
ORDERS MUST BE PLACED AND PAYMENT RECEIVED BY MARCH 15

These plugs make it much faster and easier to inoculate your logs. You also get the benefit of the much faster spawn run available from sawdust spawn with the ease of insertion of dowel plugs.

Available for delivery - end of March to end of May.

Custom or off-season orders subject to minimum quantity & surcharge

Plug Spawn Use Instructions

For a short video on plug use click on these icons

video with sound (longer to download)

video without sound.

Grain Spawn

Grain spawn and sawdust spawn of Shiitake, Oyster, Reishi, and other species is available by custom order for people who want to make their own grow blocks.

Allow 8 weeks for delivery.

Spawn Strains

Shiitake (Lentinula edodes)

We will be producing only wide temperature strains. These strains will fruit naturally in cold as well as hot summer weather with soaking or watering.

1. WR 46 Our most productive strain in terms of total mushroom weight, however the mushrooms are not as high quality as

2. WW44 best quality mushrooms

These strain are the most suitable for both hobby and commercial cultivation in North America.

The cold weather strain that we had – CW – only fruits in cold weather i.e: below 60F. That is only in the spring and fall. The quality of the mushrooms are the highest – White Flower Donkos. However they are few in numbers and are not really suitable for North America market as they do not fetch the high price that they get in Japan.

Oyster (Pleurotus ostreatus)

1. Grey Pearl

Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum)

Maitake (Grifola frondosa)

Pioppino (Agrocybe aegerita) Suitable for Poplar, Alder

Maitake is used on hardwoods like Shiitake. Using Maitake to inoculate hardwood logs for outdoor cultivation is a fairly new technique in Ontario. There are some log management differences between Shiitake and Maitake – after the spawn run bury the logs so that they are covered by a layer of soil (not too deep). Do this in a shady area (these mushrooms grow naturally at the base of hardwood trees). Logs can be cut into sections for burial or the whole log can be buried. Fruiting may be delayed; you may have to wait several seasons.

Reishi cultivation outdoors on hardwoods is similar to the technique used for Maitake - bury the logs after the spawn run and cover them with soil. Logs can be buried whole or cut into sections.

Piopino is used on aspen/poplar. It can be used on stumps and/or logs; same technique as for Shiitake. This is a new spawn for us and using it to inoculate aspen / poplar logs for outdoor cultivation is a new technique in Ontario. You should treat this as ‘experimental’.

We do not want anyone to be disappointed so we want to point out that cultivation of Shiitake is tested and proven; we can almost guarantee success if protocols are followed with attention to details of moisture content. Cultivation of Maitake and Piopino using outdoor log methods is relatively recent in Ontario and Canada and you have to treat them as somewhat experimental. Maitake, in particular, is a wonderful mushroom and worth the trouble of trying. Piopino lends itself well to the Canadian ecosystem because we have lots of aspen and poplar. We will be doing inoculations or hardwood logs for outdoor cultivation and possibly cultivating these indoors as well. We will provide as much information about inoculation and log management as we can to support your projects.

Spawn for logs or stumps

Shiitake (Lentinula edodes)

Sawdust spawn