Aaaw shucks - I missed it !

[Nature's Babe]

We had a spare bale of hay which I thought I would try to impregnate with mushroom spores. I put it in a quiet corner, under the shade of the grape vine for ages nothing and grass started to grow on the top, still nothing and I thought it had been a failure - well never give up Today I found some mushrooms - sadly past their best, but on closer inspection another flush on its way, so I brought it into the greenhouse, who knows it may not be too late.

[Primrose]

I wish you luck NB. Everybody I know, including myself, who have ever tried to grow mushrooms from kits, etc. have always had dismal failures.
Perhaps lightly misting your hay bale in the greenhouse will encourage further growth. In their natural environment in woodlands they do seem to prefer warmish humid conditions.

[glallotments]

We tried growing shitake mushrooms using impregnated dowel sticks that have to be inserted into holes drilled in a fresh log! A year later and no mushrooms have appeared. The log has been left just in case but I'm not optimistic of success.

[Primrose]

I wonder how many Shitake mushroom logs will feature in this year's Christmas presents in view of the increasing "Grow Your Own" movement, and how many failures there will be? And how many customers ever ask for their money back in the event of failure?
I'm not sure what contributes to the failure of these kits but it does seem to suggest that growing mushrooms, except under controlled commercial environments, is a lot more tricky than most people are led to beliee.

[PLUMPUDDING]

The best mushrooms I've ever grown were from some mushroom compost I used to mulch a strawberry bed. I got loads.

But kits, bags of mushroom spawn on wet straw and a mushroom log have all been dismal failures. In fact I moved a shitake mushroom log last week from a cool shady place to a, hopefully still moist, but warmer place in the garden. I also put a few slug pellets down in case the slugs were eating the mushrooms before I've seen them - not very likely.

My friend's husband spent weeks trying to grow some on straw in his cellar carefully following all the instructions, and he eventually ended up with one 2 ft mushroom after they'd been away on holiday!

I'm sure if anyone complained they would suggest we weren't providing the ideal conditions. I'd be interested to hear if anyone has had a good crop, or anything at all, from a mushroom log, and how they did it.

[Nature's Babe]

Plum pudding I seem to remember mushroom compost doing the same for me too once, it might be worth brushing some into the lawn. A lot of wild fungi around still down here. Another wet and wild day here.

[Shallot Man]

glallotments. I tried this two years ago, slight success, noticed the log this year whilst tidying up the allotment, looked very dry and sorry for its self, tied a brick to it and submerged in the water butt overnight, lo and behold some time later had some more mushrooms.

[glallotments]

So I live in hope Shallotman. We have had success in the past growing mushrooms in a sort of growbag. You just sprinkles the spawn onto the top of the compost - lots of sciarid flies though.

We also had mushrooms growing from spent mushroom compost but they didn't look appetizing, howver some of our fellow plot holders picked some.

[Monika]

If I remember rightly, "Gardening Which" once tested mushroom growing kits and pronounced them a waste of money. A bit of fun perhaps but certainly more expensive than buying mushrooms.

Speaking of fungi: does anybody ever see chanterelles in shops/supermarkets? I absolutely love eating them, but they don't grow around here and can never find them in shops in autumn, not even Waitrose or Booths, the Lancashire-based supermarket which often has unusual things.

[Nature's Babe]

Like you Monika, I have never seen them in the supermarkets, though they have 4 or 5 other kinds of wild mushroom, last time I had them was after a woodland walk with my daughter in Devon, i haven't seen them growing round here. i keep meaning to go truffle hunting one day, as we have lots of hazel trees around here.