Lion's Mane - Mycelium on organic wood dowels

Hericium erinaceus

The Lion's Manes (Hericium Erinaceus, Hedgehog Hydne, White Pom Poms, Lion's Mane, or yamabushiitake) offer unique flavors reminiscent of seafood and coconut, with a texture close to meat. They are easily eaten sliced and sautéed like most other mushrooms.

These mushrooms, relatives of hedgehog mushrooms, produce hydnes (small white spines) when they reach maturity. We harvest them before the hydnes exceed 5 mm to preserve their taste qualities and extend their shelf life.

Lion's manes on logs take about 12 to 18 months to fully colonize the log. Afterwards, they will produce large mushrooms for several years.

For more information, we recommend reading our guide: "Log Cultivation"

How to inoculate logs with mycelium on wooden dowels?

Necessary equipment

• Log or recently cut wood block (max 3 months). Avoid coniferous woods. Most hardwoods are suitable. Contact us if you want more specific information. Log diameter: between 10 and 25 cm. Length: between 50 and 150 cm.
• Mycelium on dowels: For a length of 1 m, multiply the diameter of a log by 2.5. Example: a log 1 m long and 20 cm wide requires 20 x 2.5 = 50 dowels.
• Drill and bit of 8-9 mm
• Hammer
• Optional: vegetable wax, beeswax, paraffin, or green clay to cover the holes.

Instructions

• Wash your hands before touching the mycelium to maximize the chances of success.
• Make the holes in your log. The holes should be slightly deeper than the height of the plug. Space the holes about 10 cm apart. A 1 m long log requires about 50 plugs.
• Insert the plugs into the holes using a hammer. The plugs should not protrude from the hole.
• Cover with wax. Wax is used to protect the mycelium from insects and diseases as well as from drying out. Alternatively, you can also use paraffin, cheese wax, or green clay.

• Be patient: Place your logs in a shaded area, sheltered from the wind. Avoid direct contact with the ground which could bring small insects and contamination. You can, for example, place them on a pallet covered with a tarp. In case of heat, occasionally pour a watering can of water on the logs to prevent them from drying out.
• Harvest and enjoy your production. A log made under good conditions can produce mushrooms for 3 to 5 years.

Wood species

We recommend beech, poplar, and maple woods, but lion's mane will grow on most hardwood species. It also seems to give good results on walnut, whereas few mushroom varieties do well on this species. Oak woods can also be used.

Notes

The optimal periods to inoculate the logs are autumn, winter, and early spring, before the sap rises.

The main enemy of this culture is dryness: cover the wood with a tarp or veil if necessary to maintain the moisture of the logs, especially during incubation.

We prepare our bags by weight, so there may be slight variations compared to the indicated number.

We inoculate the plugs with a mixture of grains and wood shavings. It is therefore normal to have some sawdust mixed with the plugs. This remaining sawdust can also be used as inoculum.

Our quality commitment:

We produce our myceliums under laboratory conditions, which guarantees purity of strains and optimal quality.

We produce our mycelium in a 100% organic way and all our products are certified "BE-BIO-01, Agriculture Belgium" by CERTISYS.