Organic Chestnut Mushroom Plug Spawn
Skill level | Intermediate |
Grow location | Outdoors |
Spawn shelf life | 6 months (refrigerated) |
Incubation | 12-18 months |
Fruiting temps | 60-70°F |
Best log type | See wood chart below |
Chestnut (Pholiota adiposa) is a popular cultivated mushroom in Japan. It produces velvety, small-to-medium, delightfully speckled caps resembling the color of their namesake nut. When cooked, they have a woodsy aroma, a meaty heaviness, and a rich, nutty, mildly-sweet flavor.
Chestnut mushrooms aren't too difficult to cultivate, but can pose some minor challenges with identification. They are not ideal for first time cultivators or those unfamiliar with how to properly identify different mushrooms species. However, this species can be quite rewarding to grow.
Note: Dowel may be fluted or spiral. Aside from being kiln dried, our wooden dowels are not treated in any other way.
Chestnut wood chart:
BEST WOOD SPECIES* | Aspen, Beech, Birch, Cottonwood, Hophornbeam, Hard Maple, Oak, Sweetgum |
OTHER SUITABLE SPECIES | Alder, Ash, Basswood, Buckeye, Cherry, Elm, Hackberry, Hornbeam, Mulberry, Willow |
AVOID | Hemlock |
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.
*Recommendations are based on our own testing. You may have different results experimenting with other wood species.