I’m still working on getting my oyster mushrooms going in buckets. I’ve had to put it on the back burner because of house projects but I’ve got two fully colonized 3 gallon buckets with shredded cardboard and paper.
I’m still working on getting my oyster mushrooms going in buckets. I’ve had to put it on the back burner because of house projects but I’ve got two fully colonized 3 gallon buckets with shredded cardboard and paper.
I’m preparing to grow some enoki in autumn as they prefer the cool (autumn is pretty soon where I live), until then I’m trying to culture fungi found in the rotting wood of rewarewa (naturally fallen branches), as I have heard that bioluminescent fungi can occasionally grow in it. No luck so far, I guess I will have to look elsewhere
That sounds really interesting! I’m guessing you’re in the Southern Hemisphere since autumn is approaching for you.
We have some bioluminescent fungi here in North America too, though I haven’t had the chance to try culturing any yet. Have you been able to identify any specific fungi growing on the rewarewa wood, or are you just experimenting to see what appears? I’d love to hear more about what you’ve found and how you’re culturing them!
Also, enoki in the autumn sounds like a great plan—are you going for the traditional cultivated look or hoping for a more wild-style growth?
As the fungi are wood eaters and their bioluminescents is likely based on their metabolic activity (and is possibly related to the breaking down of lignin in wood) Im just trying to keep the rewarewa branches in conditions similar as to in the bush to be optimal for this fungi’s growth and metabolism. so I am trying to replicate the optimal conditions of the bush, humid, not to hot but still warm (to not encourage hot loving fungi taking over while still maximising metabolism of the fungi I want). I have had the branches in these conditions for a while now. While the mycelium of lots of different fungi are now present, non of it appears to glow.
also I haven’t had any mushrooms growing and some of our bioluminescent fungi only have bioluminescents in there stem (such as Mycena roseoflava) so yea no luck so far in finding bioluminescent fungi in the first place.
When I do find some I will have some petri dishes with Malt Extract Agar in them and will try and transfer it over, I don’t no if it will glow in these conditions but can always feed it sterilised branches if it needs to be breaking down lignin to glow.
All of this being sucsesfull is very wishful thinking on my part, It probably won’t work this time, but hopefully I will learn enough to get it to work eventually.
Plan B is to go after rain to one of our rainforests in hopes of finding some and transfering it to a Petri dish.