How to Cultivate Shiitake Mushrooms

Prepare a hardwood tree log (alder or oak, for example) approximately four feet long and four to 10 inches wide to begin the process of cultivating shiitake mushrooms. Use an electric drill to drill 25 two-inch-deep holes in the log with a 5/16-inch drill bit. The holes should be about four inches apart.

Push shiitake mushroom plugs completely into the holes, one plug per hole. Tap the plugs with a mallet to push them firmly into the holes. No part of the plug should be above the level of the log's surface. Purchase these plugs at a local mushroom supplier or online. These plugs contain shiitake mushroom mycelium, which begins the process of shiitake mushroom cultivation.

Seal each plug with melted cheese wax. Cheese wax is a protective coating wax for boxes and drums that store cheese. Melt the wax by placing the wax in an old tin can (a used vegetable can is fine) and placing the tin inside a pot with water, creating a kind of double-boiler. Boil the water, and the cheese wax will melt. Spread the wax over each plug hole with a paintbrush. Sealing the holes will protect the shiitake mushroom plugs from insects and fungus. Cheese wax can be purchased at a local mushroom supplier or online.

Prop up the log in a shaded area. Water the log every two weeks with chlorine-free water. Soak the log well during every watering (the log can also be immersed in water to fully soak it). The shiitake mushrooms will begin to cultivate inside the log. They "fruit" by sprouting out of the log. The plugs, which inoculated the log with the shiitake mycelium cells, cause the mushrooms to fruit all over the log.

Wait for the log to fruit, between six months to one year after inoculating the log with the shiitake mushroom plugs. Harvest the first crop of mushrooms by hand picking them off the log.

Continue to cultivate the log by immersing it in very cold water for 24 hours once every two months. This shocks the log into reactivating the mycelium cells, and the log will refruit. After each immersion, stand up the tree log again and a new crop of mushrooms will sprout within two weeks. Don't "shock" the tree log with the cold water more than once every two months so the mycelium cells have a chance to recover between fruitings.

Continue this process for three to four years, until the log is full of mycelium cells and has no more wood. At this point the log cannot cultivate any more shiitake mushrooms.