Mushroom Minute: Why do I need to inoculate all the way around the log and not just the top half?

From a gardener’s perspective it is easy to think that mushrooms will emerge from where you plant the mushroom spawn. While this can happen, typically mushrooms force their way out from weaknesses in the bark all the way around the log. But mushrooms won’t actually start growing until a log is fully colonized. Meaning the mycelium has worked its way through the entire log! Mycelium works it’s way from the outside inwards. So if you only inoculate the top half of the log the mycelium has to move from the top all the way to the bottom from one point as opposed to meeting another shoot off of mycelium halfway!
If you only inoculate the top half of the log you’ll still get mushrooms, but keep in mind that it will take much longer for the logs to become fully colonized. Meaning that it will take those logs much longer to produce their initial mushroom crop.

[@ChrisMeek-gg5de]

That's awesome and makes perfect sense

[@4zooflorida]

I cut down two trees, oak and maple, and inoculated four sets of logs, two sets for oyster mushrooms, two sets for shiitake. That was last fall when the trees were dormant. The two sets for the oyster mushrooms have these little brown fan like mushrooms growing. Does that mean the oyster mushrooms won’t grow? It was a year ago that I inoculated the logs.

[@FieldandForestProducts]

Usually the little fans are some sort of fungi just taking advantage of the easily available sugars in the bark and won't interfere with what you're trying to grow. I would keep the logs around for another year at least before giving up on them!

[@rhb30001]

Where to buy wax and wood plugs?

[@FieldandForestProducts]

www.fieldforest.net/