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  • From: Evan <kodama@riseup.net>
  • To: nafex mailing list at ibiblio <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [nafex] cherry (Prunus serotina) as shiitake substrate
  • Date: Wed, 15 Feb 2012 19:44:36 -0500

Hey all,

In April/May 2009, a friend of mine and I got some Prunus serotina logs from
a neighbor clearing a fence row. These logs, ranging in diameter from 4-8",
we inoculated with shiitake sawdust spawn leftover from a previous
inoculation of sweetgum. Now, whereas sweetgum and oaks seem to be the
preferred substrate for shiitake in all the literature I've run across, we
figured it was no loss if nothing took from our little experiment. We had no
mushrooms in 2009, and in 2010 I think one or maybe two of the logs put out a
mushroom. I believed the experiment had proven unsuccessful until this past
year (2011) when the rains off one of those Hurricanes came through induced
at least 70% of the logs to fruit! There were many gorgeous and delicious
shiitakes jumping off these logs, and even later in the season I had a few
other logs give off a few more mushrooms.

We'll see how it goes through the next few years, but I feel comfortable
saying that P. serotina makes an acceptable if not good substrate for
Shiitake. Hope this helps!

cheers,
Evan
Southern Appalachians
elevation 2800-3000'
zone 6b


  • [nafex] cherry (Prunus serotina) as shiitake substrate, Evan, 02/15/2012

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