rafezetter":1bltvjg4 said:
MushroomMan":1bltvjg4 said:
Please excuse my ignorance, either if both are different?
Mycelium, a fungi from which its fruit body mushrooms grow from, eat wood, but only hardwoods. Softwoods are antifungal so aren't on its menu.
I can also travel to the home counties.
This is interesting - there was a bit of an argument with a guy on an american woodworking forum who stated that the hardwood chopping boards he made were "antifungal" and wouldn't have it that it only really applied to softwoods.
You're certain of this information?
Also - just read you can use coffee grounds apparently, might be worth looking into as an alternative source.
Thanks for asking as perhaps I should have stated most mycelium species thrive on Hardwoods and not so much on softwoods (although there are a few difficult to grow exceptions). In a mushroom growing context conifers hold higher anti-fungal compounds, which, as I understand, affects fungi's ability to secrete the necessary enzymes to break them down to then eat. This is directly related to how both woods are made up on a microsopic level. I imagine knowing the hardwood type the amercian was using would help solve the arguement but I couldn't find any clear contenders in my searches.
Coffee grounds are indeed a possible source but have some limiting factors mainly that it must be used with 24 hours of being brewed. Hardwood sawdust, chippings, shavings or pellets are much less restrictive and are undoubtly a much better source for achieving higher and reliable yields.
My hope is to find a long term source of hardwood byproduct, although I understand its such a shame when I read that it goes to landfill or is burnt for want of getting rid of it.
The following might help understanding differences in softwood and hardwood.
"The high concentrations of resins, turpentine and tanins (anti-fungal compounds) make conifers less suitable for mushroom growing. Conifers are used on occasion, but they are mixed one to one with hardwood sawdust. In general, the wood of broad leaf or hardwood species have proven to be the best mushroom growing substrates. Specificallythese tree types are: oak; elm; chestnut; beech; maple; and alder"
Paul Stamets - Mushroom cultivator
I also found this post on mycotopia.net
"The main visible difference between softwood and hardwood actually has to do with features of the reproductive cycle. Hardwoods have broad leaves and enclosed nuts or seeds such as acorns. softwoods dont.
there are also microsopic differences..
Softwood contains only two types of cells, longitudinal wood fibers (or tracheids) and transverse ray cells. Softwoods lack vessel elements for water transport that hardwoods have; these vessels manifest in hardwoods as pores. In softwood water transport within the tree is via the tracheids only. Some softwoods, such as pine, spruce, larch, and Douglas fir, have resin canals, which provide transport of resin as a defense against injury.
Pacific Yew and Douglas fir are softwoods that are harder then most hardwoods.
Balsa is a hardwood thats less dense then any commercial softwood.
Also some conifers are not evergreen.
Conifers that are not evergreen include larches and the Dawn Redwood.
also the larch is not evergreen but it does have resin canals.
it seems there are exeptions to every rule.
Softwood and Hardwood are generic terms that have nothin to do with the density or resin content of the wood"
On average, hardwood is of higher density and hardness than softwood, but there is considerable variation in actual wood hardness in both groups, with a large amount of overlap."
Thanks