Oak Mushroom — edible when young (boil for about 25 minutes before consumption). Used in boiled and fried forms. Grows on decaying broadleaf trees (oak, elm), but mainly on oak trunks and stumps in July-August. Cap: flat-convex, matte, 5-10 cm in diameter. Dense, fleshy, whitish, with dark fibrous scales, margin rolled inward with hanging white remnants of the veil. Gills: descending, frequent, white, later yellowish. Stem: 2-5 cm long, 1-3 cm in diameter, thick, tapering at the base, finely scaled, with descending gill edges, whitish to yellowish, with quickly disappearing ring. Flesh: white, thick, dense, pleasant in taste and aroma.
Cultivation of Oak Mushroom on wood: freshly cut logs are cut into logs 30-40 cm long, 15-25 cm in diameter. Drill holes in a checkerboard pattern, 2 cm in diameter, 4-5 cm deep, fill with mycelium, and cover with bark, sawdust, or moss. Water using drip irrigation. After 2-3 months, bury each log 10-15 cm deep in the ground.
Cultivation on nutrient substrate: soak straw or sunflower hulls in boiling water, let stand 7-8 hours, drain water. Before sowing, the substrate should be 70% moist, temperature 20-30°C. Cool substrate is mixed with mycelium and placed in a transparent bag. Germination lasts 15-18 days at 14-28°C. Where fruiting bodies appear, carefully make cuts in the film. Fruiting occurs in waves every 5-7 days.
Use high-quality straw, free of mold. Cut into pieces 2-3 cm long. For 3 kg substrate: 1 kg dry straw, 100 g bran, 20 g lime, 40 g gypsum, 1.8 L water. Thoroughly mixed substrate is left in a warm place for 3 days (mix again twice during this time). Then use a low-pressure polyethylene bag (PND), fill it with substrate, tightly seal it, and seal edges with a match. Next, sterilize by steaming the bag over boiling water (1 hour 30 minutes). In a pot (bucket), pour 4 L water and place a glass jar on top of the bag, ensuring the bag does not touch the water. Cover the pot (bucket) with a lid, leaving a small hole for steam release. After steaming, cool the bag to room temperature. Use a heated nail to make 12 holes in the bag in a checkerboard pattern.
Wash hands thoroughly, disinfect with alcohol (deodorant), then carefully, without breaking sterility, insert mushroom "chopsticks" into holes, but not all the way, leaving 1/3 on the surface. The bag inoculated with "chopsticks" is left in a dark, dry room at 20-24°C for 20-30 days until the bag is fully colonized (when it resembles a uniform white biofilm). After this, open the bag, spread it out (distance between bag edges and substrate should be 5-7 cm), and leave it in a shaded area at 14-16°C and humidity not less than 80% (spray). After 15-20 days, mushrooms will begin to appear on the substrate surface. For the 2nd-3rd wave of growth, seal the bag, keep at room temperature for 7-10 days, then repeat the cultivation cycle.
