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Wine Cap Cultivation

Wine Cap is a vigorous mushroom that grows naturally on outdoor beds of woody debris. It grows best on straw (not hay) or hardwood chips or sawdust, but can tolerate a mixture that includes some softwoods, but generally no more than 25% softwood. You can mix different woody materials -Wine Cap seems to do better if the beds have a variety of particle sizes, such as a mix of both sawdust and wood chips. Avoid branches or other very large pieces of wood as these take longer to colonize and can create too much air space in the bed.

Freshly cut wood is preferred, though Wine Cap can also grow well on more aged materials. Many folks are having success with the chip mixes coming from roadside crews pruning under power lines- and it's a free resource!

Wine Cap does best in partial shade but can tolerate some direct sun. Ideal locations would be at the edge of fields and woods, around the base of trees, in perennial gardens, or as part of the mulch in vegetable gardens, where annual veggies will provide some shade. 

Once established Wine Cap beds require little maintenance. During dry periods, the bed can be watered but do not over-water, as excessive watering can suffocate the mycelium.

If inoculated in spring, Wine Cap can fruit in as little as two months and will produce in the same bed for several years. Fresh woody material can be added each year to maintain the health of the bed. Inoculated material from one bed can be used as spawn to inoculate new beds on your property.

1. In a suitable location, remove any leaves, etc., down to either bare ground or plain grass. No need to dig a trench, but the bed should be in contact with the soil. One bag of sawdust spawn is enough to inoculate approximately 16 square feet.
2. Spread mixed woody material over the soil, about 1'' deep.
3. Break up the Wine Cap sawdust spawn and evenly sprinkle the spawn on top of the layer of woody debris.
4. Add a second layer of woody debris about 2-3'' thick.
5. Thoroughly water the bed.

Special Note: Wine Cap is available as sawdust spawn only. No plug spawn is available for Wine Cap.

Difficulty: Beginner

Wine Cap is a great mushroom for beginners. They colonize quickly and are reliable producers. Decent for commercial cultivation grown on straw or wood chips.