What conditions are necessary for fungal spores to germinate?

germiation of mushroom spores

• How can I encourage/make mushroom spores germinate ? I can collect lots of spores (standard spore prints)from edible mushrooms growing in nearby woods, but I would like to know what conditions will encourage germination of these spores on the appropriate species of wood?

• Answer:

  Hi, There are a number of ways to cultivate mushrooms from spores once collected properly. You have specified 'wood' in your question so I will concentrate my efforts there for your answer, but there are a number of other methods as well. One method, other than wood, which comes to mind is the Hydrogen Peroxide method documented by R.R. Wayne Ph.D. http://www.mycomasters.com/ which if nothing else is a very interesting read. Now, on to the wood methods. In most of the guides I have read, sawdust is out, but chippers or planers create a good wood bed mix. What type of wood to use is often the preference of the mushroom. Shiitake mushrooms for example grow on hardwood logs under forest shade. They prefer colder humidity than some other mushrooms, and most often you will find them growing wild by streams. Shiitake is also one of the easiest mushrooms to grow. Oak logs are usually used, but other hardwoods can also be just as good. Since you are gathering from a local forest, your best bet is going to be the hardwood growing in that area. You will want young, healthy trees. Avoid deadfalls, and logs of uncertain origin. You don't want something with obvious signs of disease. Commercial growers us a standard of 4" in width, cut 30" long. Pines and other conifers will not produce mushrooms, the sap is much to acidic. This website page here (http://www.shroomery.org/index/par/24333 ) has a complete, blow by blow description on how to cultivate shiitake mushrooms year around. Another good Shiitake mushroom page is on Ohio State's website (http://ohioline.osu.edu/for-fact/0040.html ) For good spawn production, proper spawn preparation is necessary. Take note of the mycelium, and see if normal growth patterns for your lines are observable. Contaminants can be the downfall of your spawning efforts. Make preparations so that other fungi, bacteria or insects growing in or on the culture do not infest your mycelial culture. The Penn State Links below have great articles on how to insure your cultures. Also there is some great information on grain growing (as apposed to wood growing) on that site as well as some other information such as basic procedures for mushroom growing, cultivation of shiitake on natural and synthetic logs, and spawn growth. For a general knowledge, blow by blow description from spore germination to harvest spawning, (http://www.erowid.org/plants/mushrooms/mushrooms_cultivation_az2.shtml ) is a good page for that. There is another article (http://www.mycosource.com/homecult.htm ) on mycosource.com titled Grow your own mushrooms, which has much more in depth information, and a few times while reading it I felt like it was possible the author was trying to "scare off" the neophyte grower form "doing it from scratch" and just buying the kit. However, it is a great source of information and in his "Growing at Home" area he talks about the lack of need for a good deal of the "lab requirements". I think between those two pages you should have a good idea of what to do and how to do it once you have your spore prints. If you need more information, please send me the type of mushroom you are trying to grow in your clarification request. Links of Interest A good glossary of Terms for Mushroom growing http://www.usask.ca/biology/fungi/glossary.html Home Cultivation http://www.mycosource.com/homecult.htm Mycology Resources at Cornell University http://mycology.cornell.edu/ Growing Mushrooms with Hydrogen Peroxide http://www.mycomasters.com/ Spawn, Spawning and Spawn Growth http://mushroomspawn.cas.psu.edu/SpawnGrowth.htm Penn State Mushroom Spawn Laboratory Home Page http://mushroomspawn.cas.psu.edu/ Getting a Year-round Harvest from Japanese Forest Mushrooms http://www.shroomery.org/index/par/24333 Mushroom Cultivation and Marketing http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/mushroom.html Spore Print Sheet (Jpg file on Wikipedia) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Spore_print_sheet.jpg The American Mushroom Institute http://www.americanmushroom.org/ the Mycological Society http://www.msafungi.org/ Something to look out for: the book Mushroom Cultivator: A practical guide to growing mushrooms at home, appears to be anything but... you can read some comments on this book here: http://www.sciencedaily.com/cgi-bin/apf4/amazon_products_feed.cgi?Operation=ItemLookup&myOperation=CustomerReviews&ItemId=0961079800&ReviewPage=2 I ran across this in the library this morning while researching your question, and I agree with most of the comments: A huge source of information, but not a practical guide. Search Strategies Home Mushroom Growing mushroom spore germination +wood mushroom spore thanks, webadept-ga