u/casey012293

Diced jalapeños, Carmen peppers, and bell peppers from the garden. White onion, limes, and cilantro. Diced matsutake stems (canning the caps, stems made for a near-perfect dice). Salt and pepper. No measurements, just how I make my ceviches to taste and look.

I got the idea from someone who made a Matsutake Salsa so it could be either name depending on if you consider the mushroom a vegetable (salsa) or a protein source (ceviche).

Montana Zone 5a - in 10x12 greenhouse, 20 gallon pot.

I’ll be growing this in a greenhouse that’ll only give it about 6-7 feet of clearance including the pot height. I got it in the mail about a month ago and wish I’d had the foresight to top it lower when I first got it, but will do it after it’s lignified and dormant then propagate the branches. It’s very pretty where it is and has me excited to grow it! It’s the LSU Hollier and hope I don’t have trouble with splitting as I’m seeing with a lot of people with Hollier in dry climates.

I’ll keep the Albion strawberries until it needs its first root prune and I buried a couple mushroom blocks with it as that’ll provide some good mushroom compost once the mushrooms break down the wood chips in them. I’m growing black pearl king oysters and king trumpets which I’m hoping pop up once the weather cools down a quite a bit. My thought behind the strawberries was to help prevent root rot in the large pot while also growing mushrooms since it was a 2 gallon before this and I didn’t gradually increase pot size.

I hate ID posts but I’m hoping someone might give me an idea on how to ID this grape since I know sometimes leaves can be helpful. My neighbor is in his 80s and doesn’t know the name but has been growing it a long time. This is zone 5 Billings Montana. They are a seeded purple grape usually about the size of a dime that he usually juices to make jelly out of.

I’ve already planted a reliance seedless grape inside my greenhouse and have debated keeping a couple seedlings, but am hoping knowing more about the grape might inspire me to make a decision.

Obviously Desert King for obvious reasons.

I’m wanting to train my figs low cordon style similar to grape vines in order to keep the most compact possible for storage and also get the growth benefits of a good prune each year. Which ones do you all grow in pots that you prefer to get both crops, and which ones do you prune heavy to focus on the main crop?

Surely the breba affect the ability to get a heavier main crop on some so wouldn’t be worth keeping if you had to choose?

Photos is of my LSU Hollier. I also have VdB and plan on getting Desert King, Olympian, Panache, and possibly Peter’s Honey in pots. I still toss around the idea of getting a SJDK or a red Rimada type. I also want to trial one in ground and am hoping to find a bigger fruit variety with short ripening time for zone 5a.

I have some thoughts on how I’d do this but not sure if it’s entirely possible at all.

I was thinking I’d keep it pruned to a 5 or 10 gallon pot so that I could move it into an unheated garage before night temperatures dip into the 20s. I’d be able to let it go dormant and hopefully get its appropriate chill hours then bring it in during the February cold snaps where I’d normally have to put a warming blanket on my other figs. I’d use that move to bring them into our cellar under a grow lamp to start bringing them out of dormancy potentially 2 months before they’d be able to be moved to the greenhouse then out into the sun after risk of frost. It seems like a fair amount of moving in order to keep up with but potentially worth it to be successful with such a unique fig. I wouldn’t do this with more than 1-2 types of late season since the rest of mine would need to be more easily left in the garage or greenhouse during the winter.

Wondering who all has done similar?

[photo from Google search, not mine]

I came across this photo when looking up examples of figs grown in pots or buckets. I see TONS of advice for growing in pots from keyboard warriors that have no photos to back up their wild success stories.

I want to see all your best successes and know your secrets!

I live in Zone 5a and just planted a VdB and LSU Hollier in 20 gallon pots in my greenhouse. I’m going to experiment with a Desert King and Panache next summer and start them in 5 gallon buckets with the intention on not exceeding 10 gallon containers since those I’ll intend on moving in and out of the garage or greenhouse to live on the patio in the summer. I’m also still debating on which I want to try in the ground, either Celeste or Olympian. My neighbor grows a Chicago Hardy (which is why it’s not on my short list despite zone recommendations) that does not ripen fruit but has never been given winter protection so dies back each year and never pruned. I’m wanting to do one in the ground to inspire her to want to do some winter protection so the long game is to be able to trade for Chicago Hardy fruits to taste with some of the collection I’m going to try to grow.

These grew in much more dense than anticipated from two Xs in the bag on opposite ends, each being only about 3”.

I harvested the more open ones at the end and am leaving the rest for another day, but want to know your recipes. I’ll probably be able to get 2-3 good mushroom-forward meals out of this when it’s all done, and I need some ideas.

There are a lot of recipes calling for them added to soups/roasts or just sautéed, but am hoping to find some useful ones more in the “gourmet” category.

I’ve used these 20 gallon pots for 4 years in a row, they did great the first two years then I’ve noticed some stunted growth the previous two years. I’ve topped with compost almost every year so don’t know whether it is depleted or if I have nematodes but am wondering if anyone has advice for treatment. Do I need to do better with rotations? I do legumes periodically as well as balancing liquid fertilizers for nitrogen in spring and PK in summer with at least a bone meal addition once a year. Last year I thought it might be related to inconsistent watering but have excellent misters on timers that also have the in-line fertilizer injector installed this year. Greenhouse is also new this year so doesn’t help me that it was the same both years.

I used to be able to grow carrots, beets, zucchini, and all sorts of fun things and now my herbs and peppers are about the only things doing great with some success from cucumbers and tomatoes. My mint, thyme, and sage all came back without extra care, but basil and cilantro didn’t get bigger than a couple inches tall over the last few months. I got a single zucchini on four plants last year and none so far this year on much smaller plants. My root vegetables remain dinky after 3 months and many of the seeds don’t even sprout (unsure if the compost I used from HD is to blame because I had the same issue with wildflower and sunflower elsewhere.) Aside from the germination issue, could the stunting be from a nematode I am not seeing, and if so how would I determine or treat?

I treated insects only the first year but not since because I like to snack from the garden. I treated with an iron salt as a light sprinkle once in the spring to treat slugs. Outside of those instances, I’m pesticide free unless the compost, straw, or leaf additions had something on them.

One of the big factors keeping me from wanting to dump the pots is that I have perennials establishing in 9 of the 21 pots including figs, berries, and asparagus. Also, 400 gallons worth of soil for a full replacement doesn’t seem economical for a smaller scale hobby garden even every few years nor does my back wish for me to do that.

If there’s something else I can do to benefit my soil, I’d love to hear it.

I had a Black Pearl King block show up with some bruising/sweating as well as a King Trumpet block that didn’t really produce a decent flush of any type because of the temperature in the house. I was originally going to just plant them in the ground as-is but couldn’t resist the urge for an experiment….

I’ve been growing in maple chips I got from an arborist so I boiled a big pot to pasturize, drained, added a couple cups of rabbit pellets, and crumbled the spent Trumpet block into one and the BPKO into the other two with a little hydrated lime for pH adjustment. These are the giant paper pharmacy bags I doubled then will leave draped with the grocery bag with the ability to pull it up out of the soil after a period, keeping an eye out to pull before any bad molds or bacteria try to take over. Each weigh between 9.5 and 11 pounds each all mixed up and bagged. I decided “why not try to expand each of these blocks to a much larger planted grow?” I plan on leaving the plastic open at the bottom for moisture to wick up but then the plastic cover over the top to reduce competing fungi until the bag has a decent head start, then I’ll pull the grocery bag up and leave the rest up to chance. I’m still debating on if I want to mulch with straw, chips, or leave open at the surface. We have another 1-2 months of decent weather for warm incubation before it cools off anyway.

I have a small greenhouse I grow exclusively in 20 gallon pots and am putting a new pot together with a fig tree I just purchased and strawberries around the base. This will be awesome if it works but will be good mushroom compost regardless. I’m keeping fingers crossed for good mushroom harvests. 🤞

I cut larger holes in my shotgun box above and below fruiting level after my Grey Doves clearly needed more FAE. I’ve never grown Italian Oysters before so don’t know if this also needs me to cut bigger and more holes?

Grew the mushrooms on straw in our greenhouse where I also grew the cucumbers. Sliced the cucumbers and sautéed the mushrooms in just avocado oil.

Lake caught Kokanee salmon cured in brown sugar and salt mixture 2:1 with a small splash of liquid smoke.

Beagle for tax.

I made this bucket using supplemented maple wood chips and spawned with a grow kit after first flush. I know lions mane is a premature fruiter and that using a kit may have been the culprit, but I know this is not colonized well yet. I did a bag with the extra mix and that appears to be only about 25% colonized so I don’t think this is ready either. I knew the maple wood chips would take longer than sawdust so I don’t think it was as ready at the 3-weeks as it is acting.

Should I put plastic tape over the hole in the bucket at this point so it doesn’t have air to fruit? Unsure if that would keep it colonizing without fruiting early.

If given access, what would be your preference for growing oyster, lions mane, and others like chestnut/blackpearl/pioppino? Truthfully any different opinions by species would be appreciated as well for any of the gourmet types.

My initial thought would be maple for being more dense, but I also imagine it would take longer to colonize and fruit. I’ve seen a lot of people prefer aspen bedding to some other hardwood chips. Sorting through information is tough and it’s difficult to quantify biological efficiency with everything else. I wish I could more easily find places where people show different wood chips used side-by-side and give comparisons of BE, time to fruit, and yield per flush. Maybe someone here knows?

I’ve gathered a couple good chip sources and getting ready to do a side-by-side with maple and cottonwood chips. It’s what I have access to in Montana. I’m doing buckets currently and likely will do Italian oysters since it’ll be a while before it cools down to try the Blue Kings I’d like to do next, but at that time also want to compare the Blue Kings to regular Blues as well.

I want to set up some totems this winter and thinking these few months of experiments with chips in buckets will help me decide whether to do Aspen or Cottonwood or if there are better options I could source locally. I plugged a few maple logs this spring, but honestly think in terms of logs something faster fruiting would be nice even if it only lasted a couple years. This is all on residential time frame/space/consumption so I don’t need it to produce for a decade when it would be easy to inoculate new logs every few years.

I have a Violet de Bordeaux in one of the 20 gallon pots in my greenhouse and would like to add a honey/homey-berry type fig. So far these are the two I’m considering. I’m in zone 5 but plan on protecting as well as pruning to keep them alive and fruiting. I want big figs, but would trade that for one more productive and better tasting. These are both zone 7 and don’t want to go any lower in cold tolerance at risk of reducing any potential for production. Which would you choose or is there a better option I’m not considering?

Edit: Update - It seems pretty broad that LSU Hollier is superior in taste to both options I listed with more complexity and more productive than Gold. Gold has big fruits but even people who note having it say they prefer better taste to the size anyway. Gold is also more likely to split as it ripens which could be an issue for bugs. Peter’s Honey, while being an awesome fig, has a much larger mature size and would likely be more difficult to maintain size in a pot.

I ordered an LSU Hollier because its hardiness is rated similar to both, it is still medium-large even if not as big as Gold fruit, fruit has more complexity with a touch of strawberry/melon in with the honey flavor, and it is more compact at maturity in the 8-12’ so likely more capable of maintaining size in a pot in the greenhouse than Peter’s. As much as I’d love to show off giant figs from my greenhouse, I’d love more to show off more fruit with amazing flavor in potentially more shareable quantities.

I know I can use a UV plastic coat for the knobs, but wondering if there’s something heat resistant to spruce up the rest of it to make it a little prettier?

I had our griddle on its included stand the last three years and just bought a stainless steel table for outside to be able to fit this, our pellet grill, and a pizza oven on. I was hoping to make it all shiny and pretty for the new space.

The clear would be easier to see mycelium progress, this particular one is 8.5 gallons. They proportionally take up more space, but would also stack closer to each other on my shelves better to waste less space. 🤔I have this in a smaller format too which would be nice for lions mane and chestnuts.

Edit: still going to try this some time but just came into a ton of buckets dirt cheap so will use those for the time being.

Chestnut Mushrooms

The splats at the ends of the logs were a thought on how to keep them from drying out, but with the tarp had too much moisture retention and now have trich. I’ve seen mentions of burying blocks with trich in the garden and it’d all be fine, so wondering if I left these out to the elements if there’s still a chance to colonize well or if I should just give up. Alternatively, would a spray down with peroxide be a good or a bad idea?

Felt bag was leftover spawned straw I just tucked into the greenhouse under a bag, plastic container is one of three covered with a black bag in the garage. Unsure whether the light in the greenhouse or the temperature swings from 45 to 100 are what triggered the fruit, but I’m not complaining.

First time doing king trumpets, I have it near an AC outlet to keep it as cold as possible in our house. I am following the instructions to let it pin before cutting the bag and will put it in a humidity box once it pins. I cold shocked the bag in the fridge for a couple of days, wrapped the base for top pinning, then tented the top a week ago and all I seem to be getting is this mycelium bloom toward the top. I know 64 is toward the upper limit of what I’ve seen for fruiting temperature, but I don’t have a chilled place to fruit any colder. Does it need to be cold-shocked at this point again to trigger pins or is it just going to take longer than normal at this temperature? I planned 3 weeks to harvest before I’d be out of town for a week and I’m a little more concerned they won’t be ready until I’m gone.