Organic Hen of the Woods (Maitake) Outdoor Log Growing Kit

With Spawn
$29.99

Our Outdoor Log Growing Kits contain everything you need to grow mushrooms on logs, totems, or stumps! Each starter kit contains a drill bit, sealing wax, a wax applicator, a 100ct bag of plug spawn, and complete instruction guide. It's a perfect way to get started and requires the least amount of upfront investment. If you're gifting the kit or aren't ready to begin your project, you can select a “voucher” instead of plug spawn, which can be redeemed on site at a later date.

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Kit Type

In Stock. Ships in 1-2 business days.

Difficulty: Advanced

Hen of the Woods is a tasty polypore that frequently weighs twenty pounds. It gets its name from resembling a small hen covered with leaves. Hen of Woods has a semi-firm texture and taste similar to eggplant. It can be ripped into small pieces and added to a dish or left large to be the centerpiece of a meal.

Hen of the Woods will only fruit in oak logs. After a 1-year colonization period above ground, Hen of the Woods logs may be partially buried under 2 inches of top soil to mimic their natural place in an ecosystem. The mushrooms will fruit from logs and emerge out of the soil.

It should be noted that Hen of the Woods is prone to being out competed by other fungi and is not a reliable producer without first treating your logs. To limit variables we strongly suggest you sterilize 8" by 8" segments of oak log before inoculation and incubate your log segments for a few months in sealed filter patch bags until they are completely colonized. Remove them from the bag and partially bury them in a shady location. (You can sterilize your log segments in a 22 qt or larger pressure cooker such as an All-American.)

What's Included
  • A drill bit
  • Log sealing wax
  • A wax applicator
  • 100 ct plug spawn or voucher
  • Instruction guide
How to Use

Storage

If you don't plan to use immediately, you can refrigerate your spawn for up to 6 months

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.

Inoculation

All of our species work well with the log and stump methods. Colonization may start producing in 4-12 months, though fruiting is dependent on environmental triggers.

For our complete plug spawn pamphlet, click here.

Cautions & considerations

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.

FAQs

Plug Spawn FAQ

Log Cultivation FAQ

 

Related Articles

Get the Right Tools
Emboss-o-tag
Emboss-o-tag (+$15.99)

Keep track of your species

Log Inoculation Drill Bit
Log Inoculation Drill Bit (+$21.99)

The perfect size for our plugs

Angle Grinder Adapter
Angle Grinder Adapter (+$54.99)

Allows 4x faster drilling

Log Sealing Wax
Log Sealing Wax (+$3.50)

1/4 lb - enough for 100 plugs

Wax Daubers
Wax Daubers (+$2.99)

4-pack

Frequently Asked Questions

Plugs are very resilient but are slower to colonize. Plugs require only a drill and hammer for tools, and are economical for smaller projects. Sawdust colonizes drilled logs about 30% faster than plugs. They're good for larger projects, but aninoculation toolis required, along withother toolsif you'd like to speed up the project. The totem method, using sawdust, is good for urban settings or other locations without access to a forested or shady area. No special tools are needed.

You can use this log inoculation calculator to help you figure out exactly how much spawn you'd need, depending on the size of the log and hole spacing.For the totem method, one 5 lb. bag of sawdust spawn should be enough to inoculate three or four 10-12" stacks.

The general rule of thumb is one year of production per inch of log diameter. However, yields will vary greatly depending on the mushroom strain, tree species used, and environmental conditions each season.

Shiitake logs usually have their largest flushes during their second and third years producing. A good yield per log is ¼ - ½ pound each flush, with 2-3 flushes per season.

For plug spawn, you’ll need a drill with a 5/16” (8mm) bit to make holes in the log, a hammer to drive the plugs into the holes and wax to seal the holes. If you are inoculating several logs, you may find that an angle grinder adapter with an 8.5mm drill bit will help the work to go more quickly.

For sawdust spawn, we recommend a drill with a 7/16” (12mm) drill bit and an inoculation tool to pack the sawdust into the holes. If you are inoculating several logs, you may find that an angle grinder adapter with an 12mm drill bit will help the work to go more quickly. You can insert sawdust into the holes by hand but an inoculation tool greatly speeds up the process and allows the sawdust to be packed more densely increasing the success of log inoculations.

All of the holes need to be sealed with hot wax (cheese wax, food grade paraffin wax, beeswax etc…) to prevent them from drying out and to seal them off from contamination.

That will depend on what species you’re growing, the size of your logs, and environmental conditions. Most mushrooms on standard size logs in temperate climates will take about a year to fully colonize before they fruit. This can vary between 6 months to two years. Smaller diameter logs and soft hardwoods will typically fruit sooner, though they’ll have less longevity.

Often, mushrooms need cool weather and moisture to fruit. Growth slows in the heat of the summer. If you inoculate in the spring, you might get your first flush of mushrooms in the fall but most likely it will take a full year until you see your first fruiting. If you inoculate in the fall and are able to keep the mycelium from going dormant, you may get mushrooms as soon as the next spring, though more likely the following fall.

Cluster of brown-capped mushrooms with long, light-colored stems against a white background.

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Whether you’re growing mushrooms at home, in your garden, or at a commercial scale, we offer everything you need to cultivate success. We start with the highest-quality OMRI-listed ingredients, mix them in our state-of-the-art facility, and inoculate them in our custom-built lab, so you can rest easy knowing your product will yield the best results.

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