Research
 The shiitake
mushroom research facilities at Alabama A&M University are located
near Hazel Green, Alabama. The two enclosed buildings were purchased as
portable buildings that were placed on concrete pads with built in
drains. The floors were cut out of the buildings after delivery. They
are heated and cooled with a window cooling/heating unit. There are
windows between the front doors on the south side (the front that you
see) and two windows at the north end. Fluorescent lights extend the
length of the buildings. Both buildings are insulated and the insulation
is covered with sheet rock and fiberglass boards. A ceiling mist system
is on a daily timer. The north windows have an outflow fan to remove
excess spores and increase ventilation. The house on the left is for
shiitake mushroom block production. The small entrance room is a
double door entry used to reduce contamination that would enter when the
outer door was open to the outside.
These shiitake logs (sweetgum) are covered by burlap to
retain moisture during the summer heat. In the background is a
rainwater collection system for irrigating and soaking logs in a remote
location.
The rainwater collection system is capable of catching 85
gallons per inch of rainfall. To soak 30 logs, about 30 gallons of
water is used. The used soak water can be diverted to other crops
but not reused for soaking logs.
 Several shiitake and oyster mushroom strains are being
evaluated. The remainder of the logs are part of an
experiment that compares indoor, outdoor and outdoor logs which are
fruited indoors and various water regimens using tap water, catchment
water and no supplemental irrigation.
The shiitake production house includes several experiments
and several stages of production. The sweetgum logs in the
foreground are spring (2007) inoculated logs. Some of the older logs have
ribbons and are further to the back of the house. The 150-gallon tanks are
used to soak one treatment (30 logs) at a time. The house is
heated, cooled and ventilated, has fluorescent lights and an overhead mist
system.
This 12 x 48-foot house holds about 600 logs with a
generous amount of spacing for harvest and moving logs. The shelves
are currently about 12-inches apart, with three shelves per rack.
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