Growing ? Does growing on different kinds of wood affect anything ? Flavor, texture ? color ?

[amiart]

Growing ?  Does growing on different kinds of wood affect anything ? Flavor, texture ? color ?

What could a person grow that taste great, can grow in most areas zone 9 ?  Easily identifiable ? and is there a way to renew them and keep them going without having to purchase endless kits ?

[Kevin Hoover]

Different wood may or may not affect flavor, it depends on the tree.  Texture and color probably not so much, if at all.   I find, at least on the blue oysters I grow, that temperature plays a bigger part in color.  Summer higher temps produce lighter color, cooler temps produce darker colors.

What to grow in zone 9?   I’d check for fruiting temperatures that match your temperature.  I’d look at oysters, chestnuts and shiitake to see if any are grow able in your zone.  The info is out there, as all the spawn producers list fruiting temps.

Can you grow without constantly buying kits or spawn? Sure, after the first time.   Let’s talk grow bags, for instance.  You’ve got a bag of hardwood sawdust based substrate that is colonized by fugal mycelium and has produced mushrooms for you.  When it’s finished, you basically have a bag of spawn.   You can use it to colonize your next set of bags.

I do that with oyster buckets.  After the fruiting stops I have a bucket of colonized white straw.  I’ll use this as spawn for my next set of buckets.  But I’ll order fresh spawn every fourth set of buckets and start over.   I’ve found at that point fruiting diminishes.