Grow Mushrooms on Wood Chips: A Simple and Rewarding Garden Project

Growing your own mushrooms is an incredibly rewarding experience Not only does it allow you to enjoy ultra-fresh mushrooms bursting with flavor, but it also gives you access to gourmet varieties rarely found in stores While techniques like log inoculation can seem daunting, growing mushrooms on wood chips is a simple method accessible to any gardener. With just a bit of guidance, you’ll be harvesting buckets of mushrooms from the natural waste in your own backyard.

Why Grow Mushrooms on Wood Chips?

Using wood chips as a mushroom substrate offers many advantages:

• Wood chips are inexpensive and widely available from local arborists and utility companies. This makes mushrooms accessible even on a tight budget.

• Chips provide a long-lasting food source for mushrooms supporting growth for multiple seasons. The decomposition process is slow, allowing for continued flushes.

• Wood chips naturally retain moisture well. This limits watering duties after the initial colonization period.

• No special tools are required beyond the wood chips themselves. Simply layer spawn throughout the bed.

• The established bed requires very little maintenance compared to other cultivation methods,

• Wood chip beds utilize empty garden space that often goes unplanted due to shade.

• Hardwoods like oak and maple provide ideal nutrients to promote mushroom growth.

• You can produce edible mushrooms while recycling waste materials like wood debris.

• Growing on chips allows you to cultivate gourmet varieties not found in grocery stores.

Overall, wood chips create the perfect minimally-involved environment for growing mushrooms at home.

Choosing a Mushroom Variety for Wood Chips

While many mushrooms thrive on wood-based substrates, certain varieties are particularly well-suited for growing on chips:

• Oyster mushrooms – Fast-colonizing and reliable, with excellent flavor. Prefer hardwoods like oak and poplar.

• Winecap mushrooms – Extremely hardy and heavy yielding. Tolerate some softwoods like pine.

• Shiitake mushrooms – Require pure hardwood substrate but produce nicely on chips.

• Lion’s mane mushrooms – Distinctive texture. Grow on both hardwoods and some conifers.

Avoid finicky wild varieties like morels in favor of prolific mushrooms evolved to decompose wood. Begin with vigorous oysters for the best chance of success.

Preparing Wood Chips for Optimal Mushroom Growth

While basic wood chips will work, a few preparation tips can greatly boost your results:

• Use hardwoods like oak, maple, alder and fruit woods. Softwoods contain oils that inhibit mushrooms.

• Fresh wood chips have less competition from established fungi and molds. Aged mulch often fruits poorly.

• Ideal chip size is 1/2 to 2 inches. Avoid fine wood dust or massive chunks. Proper aeration is key.

• Soaking chips in hot water pasteurizes them, killing competitors.

• Mixing in a small amount of straw gives added nutrients to support lush growth.

With the right wood and preparation, you’ll give your mushroom spawn the best chance at dominating the substrate.

Inoculating Wood Chips with Mushroom Spawn

Mushroom spawn contains mycelium, the root-like structure of mushrooms that will spread through your wood chips. To inoculate:

• Purchase spawn suited to your climate from a reputable grower. Invest in enough to heavily seed your bed.

• Moisten wood chips thoroughly before mixing in spawn to ease spread.

• Break spawn into tiny pieces and mix into moist chips, or sprinkle over layers as you build up the bed.

• Cover bed with damp cardboard to retain moisture during colonization.

• Wait 4-12 weeks for full colonization before expecting mushroom fruits. Patience is key!

The mycelium will break down wood chips before focusing energy on fruit production. But the reward is worth it.

Constructing the Growing Bed and Ongoing Care

Follow these tips for mushroom growing success:

• Locate bed in partial shade. Some morning sun is fine but avoid windy spots.

• Build a contained box, or mound chips over soil, cardboard or landscape fabric to prevent spread.

• Minimum depth of 10-12 inches allows room for rooting and retains moisture.

• Water daily during colonization until mycelium is established. Then reduce to keep moist but not soggy.

• Remove cardboard or cover once white mycelium dominates the chips. Maintain some moisture.

• Supplement with straw or manure if you notice poor growth. Wood chips lack nitrogen.

Given proper conditions, your spawn will flourish in the wood chips before you know it. Then the real fun begins!

Harvesting Your Wood Chip Grown Mushrooms

Within just 2 months of inoculating, your mushroom bed will begin fruiting. Use scissors to cut mushrooms off cleanly at the base when caps start to flatten. Never yank them and risk harming the mycelium. Harvest frequently, as mushrooms perish rapidly after reaching maturity. Store promptly in the refrigerator post-harvest. With minimal upkeep, your wood chip bed should produce for many years!

Troubleshooting Common Mushroom Growing Problems

Despite your best efforts, you may run into issues like:

• No growth from spawn – Expired spawn, incorrect temperature, or contaminating molds.

• Rotting mushrooms – Excess moisture or poor air flow. Improve drainage and circulation.

• Few or no mushrooms – Not enough water or nutrients. Supplement bed.

• Small mushrooms – Needs more nitrogen. Wood chips lack nutrition.

• Contamination by molds – Use fresh, sterile ingredients. Disinfect tools and redo bed if necessary.

Be prepared to restart if your bed shows signs of failure. Mushroom cultivation involves trial and error until you gain experience.

Expanding Your Wood Chip Mushroom Operation

Once mastered on a small scale, numerous opportunities exist to grow your wood chip mushroom endeavors:

• Experiment with different gourmet varieties to discover new flavors.

• Build tiered growing racks to multiply production.

• Use mushroom totems to further boost yields.

• Inoculate your own mushroom logs with wood chip supplemented spawn.

• Learn to create spawn from plugs or colonized sawdust.

• Grow mushrooms like shiitakes on supplemented sawdust or pellets.

• Develop value-added products like powders, teas and extracts.

Wood chips are the gateway into an incredibly diverse world of mushroom growing. Let this substrate kickstart your new hobby, passion or business!

Growing your own mushrooms on wood chips is deeply fulfilling. With a shady spot, quality spawn, ample moisture and time, you’ll be harvesting bucketfuls of the freshest, most flavorful mushrooms imaginable. Soon you’ll be hooked on the magic and intrigue of mushroom cultivation.