Strain Spotlight: Lentinula edodes 75

The Shiitake mushroom, scientifically known as Lentinula edodes has a long and storied history ranging all the way back from 199AD in China, to this day it remains in wide spread use as an edible and medicinal mushroom. Grown normally on hardwood substrates, conifer sawdust or wood-chips supplemented with wheat bran or another type of grain.

 Our L.E. 75 strain is a shining example of this lineage. Easy to grow and easy to fruit. This resilient strain just seems to fruit in almost any condition. Producing a very consistent medium sized meaty brown cap and thick stem. Delicious with a beautiful texture this strain is ideal to spice up any meal when grown from home. Our 75 strain is a very efficient grower as well, producing a Biological Efficiency of 100% and above (calculated via wet weight substrate). The temperature range for L. edodes 75 is limited to the lower end, however with a suggested (10-24 °C) fruiting temperature. Our Lentinula edodes 75 strain is an ideal shiitake to start out with, durable and easy to fruit.  It provides people interested in kits with many meals of delicious mushrooms!

If you are interested in growing this particular shiitake strain you can find mushroom spawn of L. edodes 75 at Aloha Medicinals Inc. Below you'll find details on how to grow this strain. 

Materials needed:

• Tub (large enough to mix substrate in)
• Water
• Scoop
• Filter kit bags
• Woodchips/sawdust (oak, chinkapin, tanoak, hornbeams, alder, aspen, poplar, cottonwood, beech, birch, chestnut, hickory, maple, sweetgum, tupelo, willow)
• A grain supplement
• Eggshell (Calcium carbonate)
• Gypsum
• Measuring Cup
• Autoclave or pressure cooker
• Bucket
•  Sharpie
• Heat sealer
• Grain Spawn

PROCEDURE

Sterilization or pasteurization of a substrate is a key step in growing mushrooms, it ensures the best starting point for your culture to thrive and grow and avoids as much contamination by molds and bacteria as possible. Here is a step by step guide on a simple easy to do method for sterilization of sawdust substrate for use in kits.

1. First pour the sawdust or woodchips into the mixing tub, all measurements in this procedure will assume 30lbs of dry substrate
2. Next, add the grain supplement to your substrate. This amount should be 10-15% of your total substrate, around 3 pounds for this procedure.
3. Add the Eggshell (Calcium carbonate) and gypsum next, 1 cup each.
4. Mix thoroughly by hand or with a scoop or shovel, until the supplements are mixed seamlessly into the substrate, breaking up clumps when they are seen.
5. Add water with a hose and spray nozzle or a pitcher next. Mix very thoroughly, feeling the substrate as you go, the moisture content should be at around 70%. An easy way to check if you have enough water is to take a handful of sawdust and squeeze until only a couple drops of water come out of the substrate. The saw dust should not clump up when squeezed.
6. When proper water level is achieved used scoop to fill filter bags to a desired level. 6lbs of wet substrate is a recommended weight.
7. Clean the inside edges of the bags, this is to ensure a proper seal after sterilization.
8. Place bags into your autoclave or pressure cooker and sterilize at 121°c and 15 psi for 2 hours.
9. Remove bags into a clean environment. Using proper clean room procedure inoculate bags with desired grain spawn then heat seal them.
10. Mix grain spawn into substrate via shaking, this is to achieve the fastest colonization of your sawdust.
11. Place bags upright in growing rooms, with substrate packed down tight into a mostly solid block and wait to colonize then follow further growing instructions based on the chosen strain.

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