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Mushroom Food Plots

Nutrient-Dense Food Source

Mushrooms are a high protein and phosphorus food source that can produce up to 3 lbs of food per square foot annually. Deer have always eaten mushrooms for their nutritional value.

Creates healthy soil.

Over time, mushrooms will break down the food plot into beautiful healthy soil, helping to restore your land.

No chemicals necessary

The only ingredients needed for your mushroom food plot are wood chips, straw, and Myco-Habitat mushroom spawn. No herbicides, pesticides, or soil additives are needed to grow a mushroom food plot.

Complements traditional food plots.

Mushroom food plots provide alternative nutrients than plants used in traditional food plots can provide. Having both types of food plots can make your property a deer food destination.

NO heavy machinery required.

Mushrooms grow best in shaded areas, and removal of trees, stumps, and other large forest growth is not necessary. Removing unwanted vegetation with a lawnmower or heavy rake is all that’s needed to start your mushroom food plot.

Perennial growth with minimal upkeep.

All that’s required to keep your mushroom food plot growing for years is to add wood chips annually, and ideally add more Myco-Habitat mushroom spawn. Mushrooms will grow more plentiful after one or more years in the ground, with very minimal time and expense.

Site Selection

Shade is hands down the best spot. The darker the shade the better, because it will retain much more moisture, produce more mushrooms and produce them more often.

Mushroom Food Plots will be targeted very heavily by your doe population especially while nursing. Keep this in mind when you place them in to your land management plans. Often I recommend the clients place them in the timber near their other plots in the densest shade possible as a staging area.

Materials Needed

(Materials needed per 50 square feet)

  • 5 lb bag of SRA spawn
  • 1 bale of straw
  • 1/2 a pickup bed or 1 yard (27 cubic feet) of hydrated mulch, woodchips or coarse sawdust

Soft hardwoods and hardwoods are ideal, and the fresher the better. Other materials like pine, fir and spruce should not be the sole ingredients, but are fine in a mix. Other mulches like white cedar and bald cypress will work in heavier amounts in a mix, but hardwood and softwood are most ideal.

Diversity of particulate size is great, avoid using fine sawdust as the only material.

Moisture is key. Sawdust, wood chips, or mulch that are dry will not work. Fresh cut material is perfect. Bagged materials may need irrigation by submerging in a tank, creek or pond for 4 hours or more. Starting off with plenty of moisture in the materials will allow rapid, vigorous growth and promote self maintenance with natural rains. The larger the mass of the plot, the more water it retains.

When to Plant

Plant your Mushroom Food Plot anytime the soil temperature is above 50 degrees Fahrenheit and will continue to be for 3-4 weeks in the future. Mushroom Food Plot creation is ideal when the forecast is calling for a wet or rainy period ahead.

Site Preparation
Prepare Your Site

A: Blank site: Rake or remove the leaves & other forest litter to the perimeter of the 50 square feet plot site to expose soil, mow or remove any unwanted vegetation if desired.

B: Forestry mulched area: skip to next step.

Prep the Mushroom Spawn

Crumble the spawn up inside the bag to the best of your ability, cut open the top of the bag and disperse by crumbling more with your clean hands as you spread it.

Assemble Your Mushroom Food Plot

Apply 25% of spawn to bare ground, scatter half of a bale of straw that’s been pre-soaked overnight loosely to cover the area, add another layer of spawn (approximately 25%) and scatter the rest of the bale of straw (pre-soaked) on top of the first layer of straw and the spawn. Now add remaining ½ of the bag of spawn to top of straw and cover with 1 yd of wood chips at a depth of 3-6 inches, trying to completely cover the straw.

Complete Your Mushroom Food Plot

Tamp by foot or tool, ride over in ATV, UTV or use a cultipacker to ensure the materials are in contact and no large air voids are in the plot.

SRA Mushrooms

Stropharia Rugusa Annulata is native to North America and is very easy to grow on tree waste materials in nearly every climate, in virtually any soil, as long as it is shaded.

An established Mushroom Food Plot is nearly drought proof and grows prolifically, yielding up to 3 lbs per square foot.

SRA mushrooms are safe for people, and delicious to eat. You can safely enjoy any mushrooms the deer don’t eat first, or grow some in the garden for yourself!

Maintaining Your Mushroom Food Plot
Replenishment

If you choose to let your Mushroom Food Plot rot down, it will turn into several inches of beautiful, black, rich soil in 2-3 seasons with no additional work. To refresh or rejuvenate the plot, add 3-6 inches of new wood chips or mulch every 2 years. Elect to add new SRA spawn for consistent and robust, perennial production.

Moisture Maintenance

Ideally, ¼ to ½ inch or more of rain falls per week for the first months after plot assembly. Supplemental irrigation using drip-lines or overhead spray is ideal and will ensure a more abundant crop at 1 inch of water per week if climactic conditions are correct.