Available in spring only! Needs burying outdoors.
The Maitake (Hen of the Woods) mushroom kit is made up of a 20cm. (8 inches) long oak log and varies in diameter from 10 cm. (4″) to 17.5 cm. (7″). The log has been sterilized and inoculated with sawdust spawn. It is totally chemical and additive free. Upon delivery, the log will be totally colonized with the Maitake mycelium. This mycelium is your mushroom organism and with the proper care and stimuli it will produce the “fruits” or mushrooms. The kit is meant for outdoor cultivation. It requires burying under 3cm. (1-2 inches) of soil and leaves in a shady spot of the garden. Burying should be done in the spring for harvest the following autumn. Periodic watering of the area where the kit is buried is recommended unless there is sufficient rainfall. Throughout the summer the mycelium in the log will establish itself in the ground. In the autumn the ambient temperature will fall and provide a “cold shock”, initiating fruitbody formation by the mycelium. The mycelium will digest the log and use its nutrients to produce successive crops of mushrooms over the following 3 years. Total drying out of the area will kill the mycelium so some care should be taken to water during dry spells. Do not however drown the mycelium by over-watering.