Cross posting content from an international forum per request. This is a new method so I will say I cannot be accountable for anything bad that may happen from it.
I use a recipe of 100g ~ 200g of wheat bran (you can substitute with soybean hulls) and 1000g of oak fuel pellets. I sterilize it in the oven at 250 fahrenheit for 20 minutes. I also add a small amount of calcium carbonate. Then I mix them together while they are still hot, and add boiling water until it is at "field capacity". I put them into 16 fl oz deli containers and there are three medium sized holes with micropore tape covering them.
Microwave in high for 20 minutes. In order for proper sterilization, make sure the holes covered in micropore tape are large enough and plentiful enough so that the container does not explode in the microwave. After these containers are cooled down to around room temperature, add the grain spawn with the mycellium into the container.
For methods that are not entirely sterile, it is better to be generous! I use homemade popcorn grain spawn. You should add these grains in a still air box or in the bathroom after a hot shower and spraying disinfectant into the air. Wear gloves, use alcohol on your hands, and wear masks!
Soon you will see the mycellium spreading and see have nice kinshi! Expect some failures from contamination with this method. I prefer oyster mushrooms because they grow very fast and are one of the best mushrooms for unsterile methods.
The kinshi is completly colonized on the outside after about two weeks. I just have to wait about a week to make sure it is completely colonized inside as well, and to let the mycellium thicken up and digest the sawdust. None of the ~40 or so kinshi are contaminated whatsoever. I still suggest doing a pressure cooker method rather than the microwave method if possible.
Mushroom Type Notes:
Trametes versicolor (Turkey tail mushroom) is supposed to be the ideal mushroom for most beetles in the genus Lucanus (Lucanus elaphus, Lucanus capreolus, etc) I suspect Ganoderma lucidium is potentially good for these species as well.
Pleurotus sp. (Oyster mushroom) is good for most beetles in the genus Dorcus (Dorcus brevis and Dorcus parallelus). It is also the easiest and fastest to grow.
I use a recipe of 100g ~ 200g of wheat bran (you can substitute with soybean hulls) and 1000g of oak fuel pellets. I sterilize it in the oven at 250 fahrenheit for 20 minutes. I also add a small amount of calcium carbonate. Then I mix them together while they are still hot, and add boiling water until it is at "field capacity". I put them into 16 fl oz deli containers and there are three medium sized holes with micropore tape covering them.
Microwave in high for 20 minutes. In order for proper sterilization, make sure the holes covered in micropore tape are large enough and plentiful enough so that the container does not explode in the microwave. After these containers are cooled down to around room temperature, add the grain spawn with the mycellium into the container.
For methods that are not entirely sterile, it is better to be generous! I use homemade popcorn grain spawn. You should add these grains in a still air box or in the bathroom after a hot shower and spraying disinfectant into the air. Wear gloves, use alcohol on your hands, and wear masks!
Soon you will see the mycellium spreading and see have nice kinshi! Expect some failures from contamination with this method. I prefer oyster mushrooms because they grow very fast and are one of the best mushrooms for unsterile methods.
The kinshi is completly colonized on the outside after about two weeks. I just have to wait about a week to make sure it is completely colonized inside as well, and to let the mycellium thicken up and digest the sawdust. None of the ~40 or so kinshi are contaminated whatsoever. I still suggest doing a pressure cooker method rather than the microwave method if possible.
Mushroom Type Notes:
Trametes versicolor (Turkey tail mushroom) is supposed to be the ideal mushroom for most beetles in the genus Lucanus (Lucanus elaphus, Lucanus capreolus, etc) I suspect Ganoderma lucidium is potentially good for these species as well.
Pleurotus sp. (Oyster mushroom) is good for most beetles in the genus Dorcus (Dorcus brevis and Dorcus parallelus). It is also the easiest and fastest to grow.
