Chicken of the Woods on Black Locust

Laetiporus sulphureus
Chicken of the Woods – Sulfur Shell

Division: Basidiomycota
Class: Agaricomycetes
Order: Polyporales
Family: Polyporaceae

This fungus is commonly found on oak. It also grows in the wounds of other trees such as yew, sweet chestnut, willow and some species of conifers. Laetiporus decomposes such trees by producing a black rot. This mushroom grows in brackets. Each individual shelf usually ranges from 5 to 25cm across. Young fruiting bodies are moist, rubbery and range in a hue of yellow to orange. Chicken of the Woods thrives from late spring to early autumn. [1]

Harvesting
The brackets are roughly fan-shaped and may be smooth to lightly wrinkled. They grow in an overlapping pattern stacked one on top of the other. The outside cap color ranges from bright whitish-yellow to bright whitish-orange. If you cut them open, the inside flesh will be soft and similarly colored. As the mushroom ages, the brightness of the colors fade and the flesh becomes harder and more crumbly. Be sure to pick younger fruiting bodies. Look for caps that are juicy with a tender texture. Ideally they should ooze clear liquid if you slice them. [2]

Taking Care of the Girdled Black Locust Trees and Logs
Once your logs and stumps are sealed and the wax has hardened, it’s time to position your logs for incubation. The logs should be placed so they are off the ground, on pallets, cinder blocks, or other logs. We do not recommend incubating your logs in direct contact with soil. Logs should be stacked in crisscrossed piles called “ricks” to help conserve moisture and space. The ricks should be located in a moist, shady area under dense forest canopy or shade cloth. (A space has been cleared out on the backside of the stables)  It’s important that sufficient moisture is maintained to support the growth of the mushroom mycelium. Water your sealed logs once or twice every other week for 5–10 minutes at a stretch until freezing temperatures or heavy rains begin. You only need to water them when they are not getting regular moisture. You can help with moisture retention by covering your logs or stumps with a sheet of burlap or shade cloth. Place boards or similar braces on top of your logs under the material to keep it suspended 2–4 inches away from the logs. Do not use plastic to cover your logs as this will encourage mold or bacteria to form on your logs. Incubation will require 6–12+ months for the mycelium to fully colonize the wood. The length of time needed for colonization depends on the species of mushroom, wood type, and the size of the log. Smaller diameter logs (4–6 inches) will colonize more quickly compared to larger (8+ inch) logs. Depending on the wood type and diameter of your logs and the species of mushroom you are cultivating, your logs may be ready to fruit in as little as 6 months. The longer you wait to “force fruit” your logs, the greater the level of colonization. Preferably, we recommend waiting 9–12 months before attempting to initiate your logs for fruiting (possibly longer if you used a denser wood like Oak). Visually check if the log is ready to fruit by looking at the waxed cut face of the log. When sufficiently colonized, you should see a “mottling” pattern covering approximately 65% of the end of the loges separate so cross-species competition does not occur. [3]

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[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laetiporus

[2] http://www.mushroom-appreciation.com/chicken-of-the-woods.html

[3] Fungi Perfecti – Plug Spawn

For cultivating Chicken of the Woods using plug spawn I ordered the mycelium off of Fungi Perfecti’s website. The tools used for this process were:
Plug Spawn
Two girdled black locust stumps and two 3ft logs
Power Drill with appropriate drill bit
Tap Measure
Bees Wax
Paint Brush
Hot Plate

In the black locust field to the left of the garden two trees were sawed off around 3 feet and girdled at the bottom by cutting a few inches of bark off. After a week of being girdled, these stumps died and were ready for inoculation. I drilled rows, spacing 4 inches between each hole using a 12mm soft steel screwtip bit with a stopper that maintained the correct depth needed for spawn. To ensure areas of the wood were not being over colonized I spaced each row 4inches apart and staggered them in a diamond shape. Each girdled tree received two holes on their sawed off tops.

Once my rows were drilled I filled them with the Chicken of the Woods plug spawn.

I melted my bees wax using a hot plate and used an old paintbrush to cover the plug spawn. To ensure that no competing fungi grew on the girdled trees and to lock in moisture, I waxed the barkless,
exposed areas, including were they were girdled.

For my 3ft logs I repeated the same process. Replacing the act of waxing the girdled areas to lock in moisture, I waxed each end of the logs to seal them.