Laueana Growing

Mycology updates

Written by

Melvyn

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I went on an accidental mushroom foraging expedition on some recent walks through the woods. I also have a brief update on my Chicken of the Woods experiments.

COTW update

Mold contaminated my COTW grow bag and it did not form a full fruit unfortunately. Still, I learned something very important: shocking the mycelium with cold water causes growth through the filter.

DIY home made liquid culture for mushroom cultivation. A mason jar filled with home made mushroom liquid culture made of corn syrup and water. It is golden in color and has chunks of solid agar in it and mycelium growing in it in a hazy clump.
DIY home made potato starch dextrose agar for growing mushrooms. A mason jar shown from the bottom containing potato starch dextrose agar with an agar wedge transfer on it. Mycelium grows from the wedge transfer out into the fresh agar.

I have successfully grown chicken of the woods mycelium on my homemade potato starch dextrose agar jars (recipe). I also successfully made my own liquid culture using corn syrup and grew chicken of the woods mycelium in that. The mycelium is not very picky, it is just difficult to get it to fruit.

Accidental Foraging Expedition

I was walking in the woods recently, and I found three edible wild mushrooms! Mushroom foraging is great fun, but I am always more successful when I am not trying! I found lion’s mane, pinkish-white oyster mushrooms growing on a beech log, and some hairy-topped brown woodear mushrooms.

Riparian woodland ecosystem in Eastern North America. This is a good mushroom foraging location. If you are asking "where to forage for mushrooms" the answer is a place like this. Similar habitats occur in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky, Delaware, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and southern New York state.

The exact species of each is uncertain at the moment, because oysters, woodears, and lion’s mane have many species. However, all are generally edible.

Oyster mushroom foraging. Mushroom foraging. Foraging in the woods. Oyster mushrooms growing on a hardwood beech log. Found in Rockville, Maryland, USA. Eastern North American Woodland ecosystem.

I identified the oyster mushrooms by color (whitish/blush pink surface and white flesh), decurrent gills running partway down the stem, gregarious (grouped) shelf growing habit, and white spore print (Field Guide to Common Macrofungi, Oyster Mushroom ID Guide, Oyster Mushroom Description).

Mushroom foraging. Foraging wood ear mushrooms. Foraging in the forests of Eastern North America. Wood ear mushrooms growing on a log in a forest in Eastern North America. They are dark brown with a smooth underside and velvet like top. Foraged in Rockville, Maryland, USA.

I identified the woodears (AKA Tree Ears, Auricularia species) by shape (cup-like shelves), texture (rubbery flesh, tomentose/hairy upper surface, smooth underside), color (dark brown), and white spore print (Tree Ear Description, Auricularia Wikipedia)

Mushroom foraging. Foraging lions mane mushrooms. Foraging in Eastern North American woodlands. A lion's mane mushroom growing on a log in a forest. It is white and spherical or circular with pointy spikes or teeth.

Lion’s mane (AKA Satyr’s Beard, Bearded Tooth) is extremely easy to identify, at least at the genus level. Hercium species tend to have spiky, icicle looking “teeth.” This one was white and very dense and spherical. The spore print was white (Satyr’s Beard Description, Bearded Tooth ID)

Foraged forest product. Foraged lions mane. A lions mane mushroom in hand, forager is wearing flannel, background is the asphalt of a road with some painted lines.

All of the mushrooms I found are saprotrophic (grow on decaying things) instead of mycorrhizal (grow in a complex relationship with trees). They are wood lovers, although oysters will grow on almost anything.

Because I took spore prints (spore print how-to) to help with identification, I can now grow these in captivity!

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