How to Build and Plant a Wine Cap Stropharia Mushroom Bed: An Easy Method for Large and Small Areas
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- Опубликовано: 14 май 2020
- In this video co-owner Mary Ellen will walk you through building and planting a Wine Cap Stropharia mushroom bed. There are several different ways to build and plant a bed; this method is the best method for covering large areas, but is also an effective and easy way to plant smaller areas. Watch to see how easy planting can lead to abundant yields!
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This is the first year I’ve grown wine caps from field and forest. By the end of September I started getting mushrooms. It’s now the beginning of October and I’ve picked about 5 pounds and they’re still coming. All this in a 4 x 4 area on the side of my house. I just picked 2 pounds today. I have a 20 x 20 vegetable garden and I have to say these mushrooms are the easiest things I’ve ever grown. Great mushroom soup also. I will be doing another bed next year........Nov. update......they Finally stopped. A little over 10 pounds total.
Hi, I have a question... when did you plant the spawns? I'm thinking of doing this this season in Central New York. I'm wondering if I should wait until the danger of frost is over or the spawns don't really care.
Evie, I did my planting by middle of July and got first harvest middle September. Just go.
Wonderful!!
Will they come back next year?
@@anasaziroseyes
That Puppy is too dang cute!
Got my spawn from field and forest last spring. Built a wine cap bed. 5 X 7 feet. Thought I’d get a few dozen mushrooms. I got almost 200! Their spawn is great. I’ve had great luck with their tabletop farms. Just cut 5 40” logs. After 2 weeks curing, those maple logs are getting inoculated with 250 dowels of shittake spawn. Can’t wait till next spring! By the way folks, growing wine caps is easier than vegetable gardening.
I bought Wine Cap spawn from F&F last summer and built a 8x8 bed in my yard under some redbuds. In the Fall I had a few come up but were rather scant. Three days ago, this Spring, so many have come up that I can hardly keep up with them. I plan to build a few more beds this year. I highly recommend Field and Forest!
Thanks for comment John! So glad to hear that you're getting a nice harvest!
Love it! I’m going to try that 3 layer method. Looks great thank you for making this.❤️
What a good little helper!
Excellent video. Can't wait to try this next spring. Thanks so much for sharing.
I'm going to try this. Thanks for a straight forward video.
Stinging nettles are delicious and ridiculously healthy. Make friends with them. You'll never regret it
Well we definitely do not have a shortage here so we'll make friends!
In addition to being delicious and nutritious, they also make excellent greens to add to compost (before they go to seed).
@@Echo_Isles I heard they're great for using in weed compost tea.
I’m very grateful for this well made video and to all that helped make it possible ✌️🙏
I have just received my shipment from field and forest and I can’t wait to get going. Great video and your puppy is super cute!
Thanks for the growing tips
Thank you so much for this . I enjoyed watching and learning. Awesome cute Doggie too.
Man, Mary is absolutely gorgeous.
Amazing video! Can't wait to try these out
Thank you- we agree!
Waiting on my wine caps from F&F right now. I am so excited🍄
I dream of growing mushrooms in the garden, I have been reading advice for months, it sounds too complicated. I'm glad I found you, your interpretation is accurate and understandable, great! Thanks! I am in!
If you get into it it really isn't that complicated. Before you know it you'll be growing in monotubs
Winecaps are likely your best bet for garden friendly mushrooms. Shiitake are okay as well, just need inoculated logs, and oysters can do well in either situation. Whatever you choose to do, have fun!
Thanks for the video I am gonna try this this spring
Such peaceful music.
Bet the pupper is huge by now!
Great video. We just ordered some spawn
You’re going to have some super happy nettles! Nettle winecap lasagna sounds great.
Stinging Nettle is great eat and make tea. Very healthy
I am going to do it too🤔
We had so many winecaps last summer. Everytime we got rain, we were guaranteed a flush 2 days later and for about a week. My only complaint is that the winecaps don't have more flavor like shitakes. Thanks for your video.
We're with you there! Nothing quite beats the flavor of shiitake.
Waiting for Fall here in Odessa NY and waiting for my wine caps
When the temperature drops, the Wine Caps like to come out to play! When fall temperatures begin to fluctuate, it's a great time to look for them
The part about soaking the straw 24-72 hours before putting it in the bed should come up front if it's crucial to success. I soaked the straw for about an hour, then put everything together and covered the completed bed with a tarp for a couple of days to hopefully let the straw soak in water.
Thanks for the info! If you make the mushroom bed in early September, when would the first batch arrive? In a dry climate (we have a seasonal drought) how often should the bed be irrigated?
Thanks for watching! First batch should pop up in the spring when things warm up after the last freeze (depends on location of course). If they don't get around 1" of rain per week, you may want to hose the bed down if possible
This is just so inspiring that I'm going to start my own wine cap and oyster ( grey and pearl) bed outdoor this year. Can I safely start the beds in zone 8b where in my area, autumn and winter range between 28 Fahrenheit to 50 Fahrenheit? Will these then flush in Spring or early Summer?
Yes! Now would be a good time to plant in your area for a spring fruiting.
Thanks for the info! I’m getting ready to build a couple small patches around my house (Northern California). Question: Can I use rice straw or does it have to be wheat straw? Thanks.
Rice straw works!
ive made my patch but i split it up around the garden. Its been a few months now and although I see mycelium, i have not encountered any mushrooms. Hoping they pop up next spring at this point :)
Certainly next spring! If the bed was made with woodchips it's not unusual for the beds to take 9-12 months before getting some mushrooms out of it.
These are now proven to sequester more carbon than any other method! So awesome. thanks see "Edible fungi crops through mycoforestry, potential for carbon negative food production and mitigation of food and forestry conflicts"
Who is that beautiful little r&w borer collie
Hello. Thanks again for another awesome video tutorial!
I'm wondering when is the best time to add new wood chips to a bed. My beds were created (with straw and woodchips) in summer 2022 and fruited for the first time in fall 2022. I'm in western Massachusetts.
For example, would it make sense to let them fruit in the spring and then add some new chips and hope that they fruit again in the fall?
Adding chips in spring after a harvest would be best! I would recommend raking up the bed before adding additional material. That way the mycelium will be exposed and be able to move directly into the new chips!
@@FieldandForestProducts Thank you for sharing your expertise! I'm looking forward to spring.
Thank you for the video, can those woodchips be composted, or they must be fresh?
You can use aged chips, but composted chips are a little too devoid of nutrients.
Do you need to sterilize the straw/woodchips? Im going to try the hydrated lime soak for my indoor bags, but wasn’t sure if this was necessary for an outdoor bed
Awesome video! Thank you! Could you tell me what color the mushroom pins are? I'm trying to figure out if some white pins growing in a wine cap bed are possibly wine caps or not.
Usually the pins are a deep red unless the bed is planted in full sun, in which case the mushrooms will often be lighter.
@@FieldandForestProducts Thanks!!! The pins I'm seeing are in almost full shade and are pure white, so must be something else.
I don't think you know how much brown sugar I put on oatmeal...
I love lour video! What season is the best to start a winecap bed? Can I do it in winter? Thanks a lot!
It depends where you are! Typically you want to start your bed when the temperatures are steadily around 50*F
I’m attempting to start in zone 7b now in end of Dec. going to mulch it well and hope for the best 💜
year 2 with my bed, added some more material and turned the top into it so it could colonize
got so many mushrooms last year I would miss flushes just assuming they were done. I found a little nook with probably 50 rock hard winecaps.
The bugs eat my oysters but don't mess with these, I wonder why.
Can you describe and compare the flavor of each one of these? I'm trying to decide which one I want to try growing. Thank you!
Hello, I’d love to try this! I’m in Colorado, can I start it now in late August and get a yield before winter starts? Thanks in advance!!!
If started late august you wouldn't get your first crop until the following spring unless you have an unusually warm fall.
Do you recommend any particular type of tree for the wood chip or will any old mix of species work?
Just about any species will work! Softer hardwoods seem to be best, but check out this Mushroom Minute to see a variety of different species: ruclips.net/video/n7k0RlVA2iY/видео.html
Thank you for sharing how-to grow mushroom. Is partial shade necessary or will full sun do well?
Full sun will work, however, the caps of the mushrooms will not be that nice burgundy color, but rather more of a light tan. You will also have to monitor the bed more diligently for moisture as beds in the sun dry out quicker, but it is doable!
@@FieldandForestProducts What can i use if i dont have woodchips to grow mushrooms the 3 layer way
@@leroyreay3517 You can just use straw, but you will have to be more diligent about water management as the bed will dry out quicker.
THANK YOU
Hi I started making new wine cap beds yesterday, I only have access to woodchips. So I did a layer of chips then spawn then chips again, is it important to do more layers on top? Like more spawn and chips or are 3 layer sufficient? Thank you for all of your knowledge!
The layering you did is sufficient! You can add more layers, but the more layers you have the longer it will take to get mushrooms.
Will older woodchips with older straw work or do they need to be freshly cut and a newer bail of straw?
Aged woodchips will certainly work as long as they are not decomposed beyond recognition, but it's best to have new straw. Old straw more often than not has competing fungi established.
I have some weeds on the North East side of my house, and I thought this would be a wonderful place for a bed. Is there any harm or concern in planting next to or too close to the building?
No concern especially with the north east side, which is probably rather shady. If the area gets a lot of sun you will need to be a little more diligent with moisture maintenance, but other than that there are no issues. :)
Do you think pine bark mulch or nuggets would substitute for the wood chips?
I can't say i've tried it, but pine chips in general don't make great mushroom substrate, so I can't imagine bark would do particularly well either.
Can you also grow "wine puppy" this way :)
I’m in Southern California. If I create the wine cap bed in spring with lots of wood chips will it make it through August and September here? It gets hot and dry.
Yes BUT if you use this method I would recommend using a thinner layer of straw (2-3 inches) and then heavily mulching in with woodchips. You could also use a strictly woodchip bed and that would easier to monitor for moisture.
I’m in the northeast it’s now October can I start a bed now for those to come in the spring .? Frost usually doesn’t come till like end Nov.
You can start now, but you likely won't see mushrooms until late June. If you start the bed in, say, May, you'll likely see mushrooms in August.
i want to do this as a project with my father this spring, is this only to harvest in the fall?
The first year it will only be a fall harvest, but typically wine cap will fruit in the spring and fall, or after a heavy rain or temperature drop.
I'm In Western Nebraska in a weird cold/arid/high desert sandy climate. Would wine caps be a good idea in between my container garden areas in the wood chips?.. I've considered trying oyster and maitake logs standing by my fence, but finding hardwoods here is a pain.. Thought maybe his would be a good alternative..
Wine cap in container gardens is tough as it's hard to keep the bed moist enough for the mycelium. If you're looking to grow mushrooms in containers I would try Almond Agaricus in pots!
i want to do this, do you need to water the bed at all? Gets over 100 here in California during the summer, would be doing on the side of the house.
You would need to water the bed. We've had people grow them successfully in Sacramento, so it's possible, but you do need to be diligent about moisture management.
I just bought a bag of wine cap spawn from you and cannot wait to plant them.
Do I have to use straw to build the bed? I have and will use wood chips, but can I also use shredded cedar mulch/ bark to replace straw?
Just go ahead and go strict wood chips! Shredded mulch runs the possibility of being too dense which could potentially suffocate the wine cap.
@@FieldandForestProducts wow, good to know. Thanks a bunch!!
How about cedar woodchips? I'd like to plant some mushrooms under a row of cedar trees we're pruning up.
@@annasluka6708 I have read that cedar is fungicidal, so avoid using that
Thanks for the info. I have a few questions.
1 Are winecaps the only ones that can be grown in woodchips?
2 What's the best way to break down 30 cubic yards of woodchips left in a pile?
3 Is late August to early September too late to make a winecap bed in zone 6b central Kentucky?
1. You can grow oyster mushrooms in wood chips, but they're much more temperamental about the wood chip type, unlike Wine Cap which will grow on just about everything.
2. I would spread the pile out to 6-12 inches in depth. When left in a pile there's just too much heat creation and that will kill off the mycelium.
3. Not at all too late! We're in zone 4b and we've planted wine cap through September, so you would be safe planting through October.
@@FieldandForestProducts Thank you. Luckily I can see where the different types of wood are separated in the pile. I could also try some oyster and just test the different areas. Is it OK to do oyster now?
@@uniteamerica9446 Yes! I would do it now just to make sure the bed gets established before it's too cool
I have a dedicated wine cap bed in wood chip. Curious at to why I don't see information about primarily using leaves. I mulch my shade and flower gardens with leaves so have a sizable area to use.
Leaves tend to cake down throughout the season, suffocating the spawn. If you mix the leaves so it's primarily a straw mulch it will be fine, but you need something to prevent that thick matting.
@@FieldandForestProducts Thanks
Would you have any concerns about making a Wine Cap bed in winter? (I am in an area where it can freeze until may)
I would wait until after the last frost. One or two frosts won't kill off the mycelium, but it's better to not have the bed freeze. We're in Northern Wisconsin so we usually don't plant beds until late May.
I'm going to be applying a layer of fresh woodchips on top of existing/older woodchips this fall (September/October). Ideally, I'd want to apply the spawn before putting the woodchips on top but don't they need to be applied in spring. Will they survive winter?
Great question Barbara! As long as you have about a month-long runway of daytime highs over 40 degrees, that's sufficient time for the Wine Cap to get established to a point where they'll survive the winter. Once winter arrives, it doesn't hurt to cover the bed with a blanket or other covering when temperatures get down to single digits and below.
@@FieldandForestProducts Thank you very much for the quick reply.
Hello. Thanks for your awesome video! My bed this fall had over 100 winecap mushrooms! They are gorgeous and delicious.
I'm definitely going to do wine cap beds next year.
Amazing! Well done!
I build my garden beds of horse manure mixed with their wood shaving bedding. Can I use this for mushrooms or do I need to use pure wood chips?
I would stick to just wood chips. Manure is too dense for Wine Cap and might suffocate it. However, if you have well-composted manure you can grow Almond Agaricus!
Can I start this project when it’s a bit warm in January in Pennsylvania or should I wait a few months? Or should I wait until late March when the risk of freezing is nearly gone?
I would wait. You want at least 4 weeks of temperatures in the 40s for the mycelium to establish, so warm spells in winter months are a bit risky!
Are those any kind of wood chips or a hardwood ones? Can you start this kind of bed in October to produce in spring?
We use a mixed hardwood chip. And it depends where you are- you will want day time temperatures in the 50s for at least 4 weeks to establish the bed.
In Zone 6b, when would you plant these? Can they be planted now, in mid-autumn for a spring and fall harvest next year or do I beed to wait until spring ‘24?
You could plant them now as it's still mild enough in 6b!
@@FieldandForestProducts YES! Thank you!!! Your timely response is very much appreciated! Thank you. 🙏🏼
Could I grow these in a shady spot in Southern California, or is it just too hot?
It depends where exactly. If you're in the mountains you can grow them, but the Wine Cap do need some temperature variation to stimulate them to grow!
I have aged woodchips maybe 5 years old, but i think they're mostly pine, I should not use these correct?
If you also use straw you can certainly use those chips! Hardwood chips are preferable, but since the straw will be the primary food source the chip quality is less critical.
can someone send me a image link for spawns, i try to translate but still its not the correct translation.
Do you have to redo this every year or do they comeback? Also, can you grow any other varieties together in the same bed?
Wine Cap beds will continue to fruit for 2-3 years before need to re-plant. And it's best to keep the bed to one type of mushroom as two different species will compete against each other.
@@FieldandForestProducts thank you!
@@FieldandForestProducts curious about this - if you kept layering straw and wood chips after fruiting, would it keep producing year in year out?
Hello. I am in Northern Virginia, our temperature at night is from low to the mid 40s, could I make my wine cap bed, or wait until the night temperature rises above 50s. Thank you so much!
You're good to go now! As long as your day time highs are are in the 50s your wine cap will be happy.
@@FieldandForestProducts Thank you so much!
Can this be done with oak leaves?
we have limited access to straw, can we use hay instead? i think you say in your catalog not to use hay, i am curious why. thanks
We recommend against hay because there is too much nitrogen and generally too much nutrition for Wine Cap's liking. If you do not have access to straw I would go with a straight wood chip bed.
@@FieldandForestProducts thanks! we have enough woodchips for that so will go that route.
Sorry to bother you with this long question. I was wondering if winecaps would harm a healthy tree. I'm starting a bed in my back yard in a raised bed, but I also wanted to plant two american hazelnuts in my yard. I've read that honey mushrooms and a type of heart rot fungus can commonly harm them, which is bad news for me, because honey mushrooms are extremely prevelant in my neighborhood. I was considering putting a wine cap bed at the bases of the trees, in hopes that once it's completely established, it will outcompete any of the honey mushrooms trying to gain purchase near my hazelnut trees. Do you think this could be an effective method of protecting them? Or will the wine caps damage the living wood along with the hardwood chips I place at the base?
Great question! Wine Cap will not colonize a living tree. As a matter of fact Wine cap struggles to even colonize fresh woodchips. That being said, Honey Mushrooms are absolute beasts of the mushroom world and are hard to get rid of and I don't think the Wine Cap would necessarily outcompete them. If you were to try I would certainly use the straw method as it might smother the Honey mushrooms and let the Wine Cap grow.
@@FieldandForestProducts thank you so much for the response!
Can you inoculate around now in August? thanks
It depends where you're located. If your temperatures are below 80°F regularly then yes! We are safe to plant here in Wisconsin at this time, but i wouldn't recommend it in say, Mississippi.
We use cardboard. You're right the tape doesn't break down, neither do some labels and even worse, some glue. We remove all labels, tape and glue before use. If it's difficult to clean the cardboard, simy use a box cutter to score around the label or glue area, and peel that top layer of cardboard away.
It's also easier to clean the cardboard if it sits in a rain or under a sprinkler. We also don't soak the cardboard, but sine you do, it would be so much easier to clean it.
Can I use pignut and oak leaves as a base instead of cardboard? How many sq ft will the bag of spawn cover?
I would stay away from leaves as a whole for Wine Cap cultivation. One bag of sawdust spawn will cover 50 sq ft.
Did you use saw dust spawn, or peg spawn ?
With this we used sawdust. Peg spawn should only be used with wood chip beds.
I wish I could work on something like this. ❤️
I hate my life.
How long can I wait to plant after the mycelium arrives? What kind of wood chips are best? Any type wood to avoid?
You can keep the spawn in the refrigerator for up to 4 months. Primarily in this method the chips are used to lock in moisture so any type will do, but for the best results use hardwood chips. It is also best to let all chips age a few months for best results!
@@FieldandForestProducts - Thank you!
Lou Doty z/
@@FieldandForestProducts Won't letting the chips age (assuming outside) potentially let mold and wild fungi establish and compete for the space?
@@Mattchew2232 Potentially establish, yes. But even with that Wine Cap does better on partially composted chips. The great thing about Wine Cap is that it is aggressive enough to outcompete just about anything. We have used chips that are well on their way to decomposition and they have had some of the highest yields.
Maybe a silly question but still curious:
Can I use hay instead of straw then cover with woodchips? Unaware if there is a massive difference in these. Any seeds won’t grow because the bed will be in a forest setting.
We get this question a lot, so it's not a silly question! The answer is, no, hay cannot be used. The reason is because hay has a lot more nitrogen and general nutrition, which causes the bed to overheat and the mycelium to die off. Straw is a lot less nutrient dense and therefore doesn't present that problem.
@@FieldandForestProducts awesome guys! Thanks for the reply!
Could you please comment how much you water such bed throughout the season?
It depends where you're located! For us, we do not water the beds after the initial planting, but we get a fair amount of rain (Northeastern WI). Otherwise aim for at least an inch of water every two weeks.
@@FieldandForestProducts Thank you.
@@FieldandForestProducts Thank you.
How many flushes do they typically make?
It depends on a few things- what the bed is constructed of, how deep it is, etc. Typically Wine Cap come sporadically throughout the growing season with one large flush in the spring and one in the fall and smaller ones throughout the season.
When do you plant wine cap beds in 7b
Plant when you have at least 4 weeks of temperatures in the daytime highs of 50 degrees.
Do the Wine Caps keep growing in a "perennial" sense, or just a one-off annual-type that must be re-seeded?
Wine Cap are what I would call "semi- perennial". They'll come back as long as there is still nutrition in the bed. Most beds last about 2 years.
Thanks for having the decency to reply.
To boost nutrition, is it prudent to "dust" the established Stropharia bed w/ additional layer of wood chips? Would that spur another crop?
@@docjody8624 That will extend it, but the yields of subsequent crops will likely be quite smaller. Even healthy beds lose vigor over time. If you do try to extend it, it's helpful to dig into the bed to expose the mycelium directly to fresh wood chips.
Oops. I didn't peel or poke the cardboard, and added a layer of woodchips first, then the straw, then woodchips, then spawn, straw, and a final layer of woodchips. Wondering if it's going to pool. Also forgot to soak the straw. Think I'll get mushrooms anyway?
Sure)
What is the best season to start this?
Any time from late spring to early fall works great.
@Damon TragicVille It really depends on your area. We plant end of May through early October here in Wisconsin.
Did you pasteurize your straw 1st?
We did not. For bed production we do not pasteurize the straw as it doesn't seem to make much of a difference either way!
@@FieldandForestProducts Is that for just wine caps, or would you do that with oysters, as well?
@@josephrule2432 I grow both outside and never pasteurize anything, never had a problem.
It's not the same at all outside regarding contamination, least that's how it seems
2:51 Kitty says that's my bed, get out of here
cool dogi
Are wine caps perennial?
Yes! They will return for 2-3 years depending on the materials used for the bed.
Could this technique help suppress poison ivy?
Yes! It will help suppress poison ivy, but ivy has a way of sneaking out past the border so you may have to be diligent about weeding.
Now do you water this?
Aim for about 1 inch of water a week. For us this usually happens with natural rainfall.
I wish this was natural for me too lol
@@KrusinTheSierra Fair enough- if you're in the Sierra's rain is harder to come by. We have someone growing them successfully in Sacramento in heavy shade with limited water- so it can be done!
@@FieldandForestProducts ok, heavy shade it is! North east side of property lol thank you!
@@FieldandForestProducts and yes I’m on the east side of the Sierra
I would like to have that stinging nettle. Can you send it to me? 😳
Could’ve ate those nettles. They’re delicious
If we were consuming more mushrooms and less pharmaceuticals life would make much more sense....
can anyone actually tell me that cardboard is good for growing mushrooms on? Supposedly all traditional forms of cardboard boxes that most people have access to to use in their garden (amazon boxes, other postal/shipping boxes, furniture packages etc) are using cardboard that was either composed with certain chemicals that not enough places have regulations against using...or even sprayed with who knows what for warehouse storage depending on what is packaged inside... since cardboard is a material where 70% is recycled, we can assume also that there may be micro plastics from glossy coated paper products, among other things I'm sure, in the post-consumer material.
So, we all know mushrooms are sponges that have the capability of absorbing toxins and heavy metals, does this not concern anyone? I am not a mycologist or scientist of any sort so perhaps there have been tests that disprove my worry however I would love to have access to some concrete information regarding this!
Where’s the science behind all the glue from the cardboard being absorbed by the shroom?