Jumpstarting Your Mushroom Log Inoculation Indoors

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General guidelines to starting mushroom log inoculation go as follows:

1. Cut logs while the trees are dormant 
2. Rest the logs for 2 weeks, but no more than 8 weeks
3. Inoculate the logs once the temperatures are regularly above 50° F

Tree dormancy begins in fall and lasts until budswell in the spring of the year. If you’re in a climate that gets winter weather you’re likely asking yourself “How am I supposed to cut trees while dormant and inoculate them in under 8 weeks when the temperatures are well below 50° F?”. Well, in this article, we’re going to break down your options. 

Option 1. Jumpstart your Logs Indoors

If your temperatures aren’t cooperating or you’re impatient to inoculate your logs, you can jumpstart your mushroom log mycelium run indoors. 

Oftentimes, farms are too busy in the spring of the year with planting vegetable crops that farmers opt to inoculate their logs in winter when the temperatures aren’t conducive to outdoor inoculation. Below are the basic steps to starting your log inoculation indoors:

1. Establish a room (basement, heated garage, workshop, etc) that keeps a steady temperature between 55 and 62 degrees. 
2. Inoculate your logs after a two week rest period and stack in your chosen area.
3. Cover your logs with cardboard and plastic sheeting or a tarp to lock in moisture. 
4. Keep logs covered until you can move logs outdoors (when temperatures are regularly above 40° F at night).

Jumpstart mushroom log incubation indoors by covering with plastic

While it is extra work, you can bypass the cold weather and inoculate your logs now. 

If the above process sounds like more work than you want to sign yourself up for, see options 2 and 3 below.

Option 2. Store Uninoculated Logs Outdoors Until Warmup 

In this case we treat the guidelines more like guidelines, not actual rules. Our farm is located in northeastern Wisconsin, and we have certainly cut logs in early winter and then proceeded to inoculate in April. And this is fine as long as the logs are stored properly! In winter there is little fungal activity so the risk of another mushroom species moving into your logs is quite low, but you do need to worry about the logs losing too much moisture. Keeping your logs deadstacked in an area outdoors that is out of the sun and wind and keeping them covered (ideally with snow or a water permeable fabric) will protect the logs until the weather warms. 

If you’re looking for a bit more information on this, watch our video How Long can I Store Mushroom Logs BEFORE Inoculating? 

Stacking logs outdoors until ready to inoculate

Option 3. Time Your Cut

This is the most popular and convenient option. Time your cut for early spring before bud swell, rest your logs for 2-8 weeks, and then inoculate. This allows you to keep the process completely outdoors with no concern for taking extra precaution outside of standard storage for your logs.