OGBDlichenTek

Nan's Nook : Archives : Misc Tek & Questions : OGBDlichenTek
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Bovine Manure - Substrate Discussion 10 6/03 Mycota
Other Dung Teks  12    
Growing Outside ?  72   Kenny Keller
Cow VS Horse Dung  4   Mycoman

By Lichen (Lichen) on Friday, August 10, 2001 - 12:09 am:

This method proves that cubensis mushrooms are extremely easy to grow outdoors.

No sanitation is required. You will have soiled hands while you complete the procedure. Buy a nail brush!

If you have access to a field in the mountains or fields and can find some (old grey bovine droppings) OGBD, they will be perfect for this method:

Let the cowpies soak in rainwater if you can. If you can gather them right after a rain when they are already moist, and have pfcakes on hand, this takes five minutes. Once they are soaked take a cubic foot of them and let them drain. When they are drained to the proper degree, they'll be nicely moist.(The kind of cowpie that's been eaten by bugs and grown through with grass and has been sitting through three or four winters and sunny summers is ideal)

Find a shady spot under a bush where no traffic is likely to occur. Dig a hole the depth of however long your hand is, setting aside the leafy mulch, which should be thick under the brush you choose. Crush up the moist cowpatties and mix well with a pfcake or two, then settle the mass in the hole. lightly sprinkle the mulch over it until covered well, and water once a day if it's not raining. In four weeks the shrooms will do all the work.

Don't worry about bugs or other fungi. Many types of both will flourish along with the cubensis mycelium. Don't agonize or check it every day, unless you are a newbie, then you probably can't help yourself. Ya know? But remember to water it every day too :0)

Also I find the crushed dung can be moulded into practically any shape. If you put it in a box, you make a square cake. You could probably make that Mickey Mouse cake to enter in the contest, FF.

By Mushy (Mushy) on Friday, August 10, 2001 - 04:06 pm:

Lichen, you mentioned here and in your other post that you watered once a day, but in your other post you indicate that the fruits came after the rains...can you clarify this? Did you get them to fruit without rain?

Also, as I mentioned in my other post relating to this, I have wood chips over top, which helps to maintain moisture, but only an inch or two down. The top inch tends to dry out. If I don't water VERY WELL, the moisture doesn't get down far enough and things start to dry faster even at lower depths. I end up giving it the hose treatment for a few minutes every morning.

My question along this line is when you say water, do you mean WATER, or just mist? I am assuming watering would be fine, since things get poured on in nature, however all the indications for this hobby say not to get myc wet. Just wondering, in your opinion, what level of water addition worked for you.

Thanks!

By Lichen (Lichen) on Friday, August 10, 2001 - 11:00 pm:

yes, mushy, they were already fruiting when the rains began. It was a coincidence that the rain watered for me during the week prior to harvest. They will fruit just fine even if it doesn't rain.

In answer to your other question, yes, I actually watered the colonies from a watering can with a shower-type head on it. I get the water from my fishtank in the greenhouse--which is a little microsystem in itself. The water is very green. My feeling is it has lots of nutrients in it and can't hurt.
If you will cover up your stuff with tall grass or leaves rather than woodchips, the water can get in there easily enough, and it holds the moisture in and won't interfere with the shrooms when they want to grow upwards.

The mycelium is all rhizomorphic, strong, ropy stuff that seems impervious to water dripping on it. Also, remember that cakes that have flushed are unhurt when dunked in frigid water for 24 hours. Actually my impression is that the young, moldy looking mycelium is easily damaged by water, but not rhizomorphic.

Some of the roots on the outdoor shrooms are very deep and strong. In fact, everything about outdoor-grown shrooms is tougher, stronger; not all delicate and wimpy like some other methods.

By whitey on Friday, August 10, 2001 - 11:49 pm:

what's up....
a few weeks ago, i bought a 5 cubic feet of steer manure from a hardware/gardening store. all together it weighs about 100 lbs(only $5)!
well, here's what i did: i took some old cakes and spawned some moist manure. after a few of days i saw no growth at all, so i tossed it.
i then took some more manure, pasturized it, and spawned it with a fresh cake. i saw little to no growth after a week. so i mixed it up with some unpasturized manure and set it outside.i kept it moist and a week later, no growth.
SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME!

By Kaijan (Kaijan) on Saturday, August 11, 2001 - 12:19 am:

its possible that manure has a fungicide in it, you know.

does the bag say 100% organic, or something?

By Bigtex (Bigtex) on Saturday, August 11, 2001 - 12:29 am:

What should a bag of manure say if store bought?

By whitey on Saturday, August 11, 2001 - 12:44 am:

kaijan you're probably right. i thought of that too. the bag doesn't say anything about fungicide. but it doesn't say organic either.
thanks...
what a waste of 5 bucks!

By Lichen (Lichen) on Saturday, August 11, 2001 - 01:16 am:

no kidding

By Kaijan (Kaijan) on Saturday, August 11, 2001 - 01:30 am:

BigTex, If your going to buy it from a store, make sure it says 100% Organic on the bag, or something of the like. Anything else is most likely treated with chemicals and fungicides.

kai

By Bigtex (Bigtex) on Saturday, August 11, 2001 - 01:42 am:

Kai wat about organic composted manure? Does that sound good? 1 cubic foot for 93 cents. If i got pick it myself in the pasture where i go hunting i want the "patties" with grass growing through it right?

By Lichen (Lichen) on Saturday, August 11, 2001 - 01:59 am:

old dry grey ones with grass and bug holes...

By Fungusflipper (Fungusflipper) on Sunday, August 12, 2001 - 04:53 am:

Make sure you are buying compost, not just manure. Manure still has stuff in it the myc dont like. Lichen had success because the manure had been timecomposted by Ol Mother Nature. But, most store bought compost has sticks and leaves and peat and shit in it, which also is no good. Try Worm Castings. A little more expensive, but worth the money. And buy the fine screened stuff too so there is no extra shit to cause contams.

FF

By Lichen (Lichen) on Sunday, August 12, 2001 - 05:10 am:

yes, the good stuff seems to be laying around for me to pick up...as substrate nothing I've seen colonizes any faster, and wow! they are really, really good shrooms. My friend has eaten many shrooms here with us over the years, and just tried the first one from that pic, and says they're a step--level--above whatever else we've grown.

Up the cowshit!

By Lichen (Lichen) on Monday, August 13, 2001 - 04:47 am:

here's a pic of a few of the best specimens.
OGBD outdoor shrooms

Shroom Glossary : Compost