Organic Maitake - Grifola frondosa - dowel spawn

Organic Maitake - Grifola frondosa - dowel spawn

Synonyms: Hen of the woods, Ram's head, Sheep's head, Signorina mushroom, Maitake, Kumotake, Huai Su Gu

​ The Maitake is considered a particular marvel in Asia, already centuries ago. This was due in part to its unusual bush-like shape, which allowed the mushroom to adapt exceptionally well to its surroundings. providing excellent camouflage. Additionally, it was considered so valuable (because of its properties) that its locations were kept strictly secret by collectors. Today, the Maitake is known in both Asian and European-American regions as a delicious, meaty edible mushroom, distinguished by its high nutritional value. Because of this, it has garnered significant interest in the pharma industry, and has been a valuable research subject in Korean, Japanese and American studies for several years.
The fruit bodies have a brownish to dark gray color, Many overlapping caps sprout from each mushroom stalk, with diameters ranging 2 - 10cm. The young fruit bodies are particularly delicate in flavor. Fully matured Maitake can be dried and prepared as tea. Under particularly favorable conditions, Grifola frondosa fruit bodies can weigh 500g or more.
Maitake contains many polysaccharides like Beta-Glucan, grifolin und grifolan as well as considerable amounts of ergosterol and Provitamin D.

This fresh product is prepared fresh for you to order. The production time is around 3 - 6 weeks.
The mushroom spawn should be processed immediately after delivery.
If the product cannot be processed immediately, it can be stored in the refrigerator at 4 °C for up to 2 weeks.
We recommend that you plan for this when ordering.

Suitable cultivation methods: 
wood logs 

Suitable substrates: hardwood
Suitable woods: poplar, oak, alder, aspen, maple, birch, ash, beech, willow, elm
Outdoors: this strain produces fruiting bodies in late summer to early autumn 

Link to instructions: ​CLICK HERE

You receive fully colonised spawn dowels for inoculating wood logs

1 pack of 500 dowels is sufficient for 5 wood logs.
1 pack of 1.000 dowels is sufficient for 10 - 20 wood logs. 

Inoculation  with spawn dowels is traditionally used in mushroom gardens and recommended for beginners. Depending on the species, mushrooms can be harvested over several years - until the fungus has depleted all nutrients in the substrate. The fruiting bodies typically appear from the second year onwards and continue for 3 - 5 years, coinciding with the mushroom season. The expected harvest yield is approximately 10 % of the fresh woods weight, spread out over multiple harvests during the 3 - 5 period.

Taxonomy:
Class: stander fungi (Basidiomycetes).
Subclass: Hat fungi (Agaricomycetidae)
Order: Pore fungi (Polyporales)
Family: Giant spore fungi (Meripilaceae)
Genus: Rattlesponges(Grifola)
Species: Grifola frondosa
Spores: white, slightly elliptic, smooth and glassy; 6 - 7 x 3,5 - 5 µm 

Growing conditions:
Phase 1: Mycelial growth
Temperature: 21 - 24°C
Humidity: 95 - 100%.
Duration: 14 - 30 days
CO2: 20,000 - 40,000 ppm
Fresh air exchange: 0 - 1 per hour
Light: n/a

Phase 2: Primordia formation
Temperature: 10 - 15.6 °C
Humidity: 95%.
Duration: 5 - 10 days
CO2: 2,000 - 5,000 ppm
Fresh air exchange: 4 - 8 per hour
Light: 100 - 500 lux

Phase 2: "frond" formation
Temperature: 10 - 15.6 °C
Humidity: 90 - 95
Duration: 10 - 14 days
CO2: 2,000 - 5,000 ppm
Fresh air exchange: 4 - 8 per hour
Light: 100 - 500 lux

Phase 3: Fruiting and harvesting
Temperature: 13 - 16 (18)°C
Humidity: 75 - 85
Duration: 14 - 21 days
CO2: <1,000 ppm
Fresh air exchange: 4 - 8 per hour
Light: 500 - 1,000 lux

Harvesting cycle: 2 crops, at intervals of 3 - 4 weeks

​

For quantities of 10 logs or more, inoculation with sawdust spawn is usually more efficient than working with spawn dowels.