Resources for Mushroom Growers
Shiitake Cultivation

How to grow shiitake mushrooms on natural logs or on sterilized sawdust substrates. The links below bring you free information, but sometimes technical details are lacking. If these articles don't work for you, we recommend Shiitake Growers Handbook - The Art and Science of Mushroom Cultivation by Paul Przybylowicz and John Donoghue.

USDA's Office for Small-Scale Agriculture: A Small Scale Agricultural Alternative: Shiitake Mushrooms
Eagle Bluff Environmental Learning Center has made available 33 issues of Shiitake News and other materials. Shiitake News was published from 1984 to 1996 and contains lots of valuable information and research related to growing, marketing and the economics of natural-log shiitake production. If you are giving thought to growing mushrooms on natural logs, you must read these.
- Table of Contents to Shiitake News (with links to each available issue)
- Shiitake Mushroom Marketing Guide for Growers (PDF - 130 pages)
Michigan State Universty Extension: Shiitake Mushrooms - A New Forest Product? (PDF - 79K)
The University of Kentucky offers a series on shiitake cultivation:
- Shiitake Production On Logs: Step By Step In Pictures (PDF - 698K)
- Introduction to Shiitake: The "Forest" Mushroom (PDF - 408K)
- Shiitake: Spawn Selection (PDF - 223K)
- Shiitake: Monitoring Moisture Content of Logs (PDF - 88K)
- Shiitake: Harvesting and Post Production Management (PDF - 452K)
- Potential Profits from a Small-Scale Shiitake Enterprise (PDF - 241K)
- Resources for Shiitake Growers (PDF - 218K)
- Video: Growing and Marketing Shiitake Mushrooms on Natural Logs
Cornell University offers the following publications:
- Best Management Practices for Log-Based Shiitake Cultivation in the northeastern united states (PDF - 3110K)
- Shiitake Mushroom Cultivation - 2011 Introduction (PDF - 1970K)
- Log Based & Forest Shiitake Mushroom Cultivation in New England (PDF - 4,500K)
- Growing Mushrooms on Logs Bolts - Plug Spawn (PDF - 1,200K)
- Growing Mushrooms on Logs Bolts - Sawdust Spawn
- Japanese Shiitake Log Hillside Stacking (PDF - 1,700K)
- Video: Overview - Shiitake on Natural Logs
- Video: Drilling Shiitake on Natural Logs
- Video: Using a Sawdust Spawn Plunger
Cornell University and Viginia Tech have partnered to create a comprehensive series on forest farming shiitake (natural logs). Some of these videos are similar to those listed above, but generally have more information. Watch both to get an idea of how different techniques work. For example, the "Drilling" video above illustrates the use of a standard drill while the "Four Stages" video below shows the use of an angle grinder adapted to a drill - the latter is much faster:
Maryland Cooperative Extension offers further information on shiitake cultivation:
- Shiitake Mushrooms Enterprise (PDF - 256K)
- Shiitake Mushrooms Production and Marketing
- Shiitake Mushrooms (Budget Worksheet) Excel Format (Be sure to update the costs!)
- Video: Growing Shiitake Mushrooms (WMV - 4.8MB)
Alabama Cooperative Extension also weighs in on shiitake cultivation:
- Shiitake Mushroom Production on Logs (PDF - 1400K)
- Shiitake Mushroom Gardening (PDF - 1400K)
Missouri Cooperative Extension also has some information on shiitake cultivation:
- NEW! Growing Mushrooms on Logs (PDF - 1400K)
Various Studies:
- Bridgett Jamison and Nicholas Laskovski: Maximizing Log Based Shiitake Mushroom Production by Determining Optimal Fruiting Conditions (PDF - 216K)
Alice Chen Ph.D.: Cultivation of Lentinula edodes on Synthetic Logs (PDF - 156K)
For even more information about shiitake cultivation see:
- Pennsylvania State University: Cultivation of Shiitake on Natural and Synthetic Logs (PDF - 720K)
- Vermillion County Conservation District: Shiitake Mushrooms
- University of Florida: Shiitake Mushrooms (PDF - 74K)
- Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service: Growing Shiitake Mushrooms (PDF - 476K)
- North Carolina Cooperative Extension Service: Producing Shiitake Mushrooms: A Guide For Small-Scale Outdoor Cultivation On Logs
- University of Missouri: Growing Shiitake Mushrooms in an Agroforestry Practice (PDF - 2800K)
- Clemson University: Producing Shiitake the Fancy Forest Mushroom (PDF - 261K)
- John Donoghue and William Denison: Growing Shiitake on Underutilized Hardwoods (PDF - 24K)
- Work With Nature, LLC: How many mushroom logs do I need?
- Jill Jacoby: Organic Mushroom Cultivation and Marketing in a Northern Climate (PDF - 1490K)

This page was last updated on: June 05 2023.