Outdoor Shiitake Mushroom Production on Hardwood Logs in Mississippi

Download the full publication by selecting the publication image in the right column.

Shiitake (shee-tah-key) mushroom, Lentinula edodes, is a popular specialty mushroom grown, marketed, and eaten around the world. It is from Japan. Mushroom foragers will not find shiitake mushrooms growing wild in the United States. The shiitake has an umbrella-shaped cap that is tannish brown on top with whitish, cream-colored underside gills. Shiitake mushrooms have culinary and medicinal properties. They are high in protein, nicely aromatic, and chewy, making them the perfect meat substitute in vegetarian dishes. The medicinal benefits include promoting heart health and supporting the immune system with anti-tumor, anti-viral, and anti-fungal properties.

The mushroom cap is the edible part. It begins as a fungal spore that germinates and spreads threadlike filament hyphae (roots) throughout a suitable substrate (hardwood) until saturation. It produces a reproductive mushroom structure (cap) on the surface when environmental conditions are right. Most mushroom fungi obtain energy and nutrients by decomposing plant material. Shiitake mushrooms feed on the cellulose and lignin in specific wood. They are cultivated outdoors on hardwood logs (known as bolts) or on hardwood sawdust blocks in environmentally controlled growth chambers. 

This publication covers outdoor shiitake production on logs using spawn-inoculated sawdust or wooden dowel plugs. This publication also provides information on basic terms in shiitake mushroom production, basic steps on growing them, strain selection, spawn type, obtaining hardwood logs (bolts), shiitake cultivation site/bolt laying yard, forcing bolts to produce mushrooms, fruiting, harvesting, storing, and marketing. Additional resources are also available in the publication. 

For answers to specific questions, please contact state Extension specialists or your local Extension office.

The information given here is for educational purposes only. References to commercial products, trade names, or suppliers are made with the understanding that no endorsement is implied and that no discrimination against other products or suppliers is intended.
Publication 4150 (POD-01-26)
By Donna H. Beliech, Area Extension Agent IV, Rankin County. Photos by Donna H. Beliech and Kevin Hudson.