For years I’ve looked for this mushroom in the wild with no luck, just didn’t cross paths, So I obtained a native culture from Selbys Mushrooms and grew it out on Small-leaf Privet.

The common name Velvet foot refers to the darkened stem base. The stem is round, some what fibrous or tough with a small hollow centre and there is no ring. The cap becomes slippery when wet and the colour is a light tan. The larger mushroom in the above pic is 4 cm in diameter. The gills are pale, close together and attach to the stem. They grow in tight clusters. Spore print white. They are a Temperate species of the world. In the wild they grow on hardwood stumps and logs often fruiting in snow. Our native Enoki are often sighted in Victoria where Johnathon made his clone. We were all excited to  see it fruit in Brisbane during Summer and to have fruited on small-leaf Privet substrate.

Fruit bodies often form on the Agar plates. The substrate I used was freshly cut small-leaf Privet, Chopped roughly into 1 inch pieces with Loppers. Pressure cooked at 15psi for 1.5hrs, then inoculated with wheat grain spawn. Pinning began at 1 month in late October. This particular strain fruited at room temperature around 30 deg C.

Spring 2020 I have them Pinning at 25 days- Temperature 10 deg nights 15 deg days. Making it a fast fruiter and potential to grow all year round.

We are running a 1 day workshop early October 2020 and will be Inoculating Privet logs.

Fruiting blocks raised above water provide good moisture levels preventing pins from dehydrating.

Link for booking Sat 3rd October 2020

or Link for booking Sun 4th October 2020

Video link