Organic Chicken of the Woods Mushroom Plug Spawn
Skill level | Experimental |
Grow location | Outdoors |
Spawn shelf life | 6 months (refrigerated) |
Incubation | 12-24 months |
Fruiting temps | 55-70°F |
Best log type | Scroll down for wood chart |
Chicken of the Woods (Laetiporus sulphureus) produces large, bright orange, multi-layered fruiting bodies with a texture reminiscent of chicken. When cooked, these mushrooms are juicy, succulent, and meaty with a mild, lemony aroma.
Chicken of the woods can be difficult to cultivate, and is therefore recommended for enthusiast growers who have had some success with other more advanced species or are looking to experiment and try new methods.
Because chicken of the woods is not a strong competitor, it requires a different cultivation strategy. Inoculation works best when logs are steam sterilized, incubated and colonized in filter patch bags, then removed from bags and partially buried in a shaded spot.
Note: Dowel may be fluted or spiral. Aside from being kiln dried, our wooden dowels are not treated in any other way.
Chicken of the Woods wood chart:
BEST WOOD SPECIES* | White Oak, Red Oak, Bur Oak |
OTHER SUITABLE SPECIES | None recommended |
AVOID | All other woods |
Ideal project size:
Plug spawn is ideal for smaller projects of 1-10 logs, though some log cultivators will use them for larger projects.
That's not mold, it's mycelium!
Your kit includes plug spawn colonized with mushroom mycelium. It may appear covered with a soft, white, mold-like substance - that's the mushroom mycelium! It is completely normal. The mycelium of some species is more prominent than others.
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To grow on logs using plug spawn, you will need a Drill Bit, Log Sealing Wax, and Wax Daubers.
We also recommend Filter Patch Bags for Chicken of the Woods to incubate your log segments.
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Click here to download our pamphlet on growing mushrooms on logs, stumps, and totems.
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Chicken of the woods does best in oak logs. However, it should be noted that chicken of the woods is prone to being out-competed by other fungi. For this reason, we recommend the following:
To limit competition and increase the chances of success, we strongly recommend sterilizing 8" by 8" segments of oak log in a pressure cooker or steam sterilizer before inoculation. Incubate your sterilized log segments for a few months in XL sealed filter patch bags until they are completely colonized. After colonization period, logs should be removed from bags and partially buried under 2 inches of top soil. The mushrooms will fruit from logs and emerge out of the soil.
(You can sterilize your log segments in a 22 qt or larger pressure cooker such as an All-American.)
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If you don't plan to use immediately, you can refrigerate your spawn for up to 6 months.
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Be sure to harvest chicken of the woods mushrooms when young to avoid a brittle texture. When cooked, they have a meaty, slightly lemony, flavor with a texture similar to chicken. The tougher outer pieces are best dried and used in soups or risottos or ground down to make rubs. The more tender, center pieces are delicious when sauteed with garlic, onions, salt, and olive oil. (A splash of white wine is nice, too!)
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If you’re going to consume home-grown mushrooms, make sure to cook your fresh mushrooms thoroughly with heat. If it is your first time eating this species, it is best to start with a small amount to check for allergies, even if cooked.
*Recommendations are based on our own testing. You may have different results experimenting with other wood species.
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money well spent
plugs arrived healthy and thriving with mycellium...will definitely be back for more...perhaps some inoculated sawdust as these do take some time to colonize logs.
Growing more mushrooms
Cannot be more happy of North Spore with the quality of their products and prices. Been growing Shiitakes for four years now and very excited to add Chicken of the Woods mushrooms in my mini farm.
Good Quality
Plugs arrived healthy and in great condition. At first I was a little skeptical of the lack of visible mycelium on the chicken of the woods plugs versus the oyster plugs, but all 3 bags of the chickens were the same and I realized that was just the difference in strain. I just inoculated some maple and beech logs 3 weeks ago and covered with beeswax and cheese wax. Waiting to see some good growth over the next year or so. I'll leave another comment when it takes off. Great quality plugs though!
Chicken of the Woods "Chicken salad" here we come!
I am super excited to put these logs in the ground. This is the first I have heard of cultivating chicken of the woods, and I am so hopeful and thankful that someone has helped make this possibility a bit more possible. We have a decent mixed deciduous forest on our property with plenty of oak. We plan to plug a few and see what happens. My order shipped very quickly and packaging was incredible as always. I am so happy we have found Northspore. So far, we have five different mushrooms hopefully popping up on our property soon.