Influence of substrate wood-chip particle size on shiitake (Lentinula edodes) yield

Wood chips from four commercial hardwood sawmills were screened with 10 US standard sieves (4–0.21 mm) to assess particle size distributions. 96–98% of wood chips were <4 mm while 95–99% of particles were >0.21 mm. The majority (mean=64.5%) of wood chips passed through US standard sieve size 14 (<1.4 mm). Shiitake (Lentinula edodes) was grown in three crops to determine the effect of four particle size classes (1=2.8–4 mm; 2=1.7–2.8 mm; 3=0.85–1.7 mm; 4= < 0.85 mm) on mushroom yield. Yields from substrates prepared with wood chips from class 4 (<0.85 mm) were lower by 27.7%, 12.4% and 2% (mean=14.9%) for Crops I, II, and III, respectively, when compared to controls. Profiling of wood chips may help growers optimize their production media and reduce production costs.