Rough-stemmed bolete (Leccinum scabum), also known as scaber stalk or birch bolete, is a delicious and popular mushroom, commonly picked and used in the kitchen. Fresh rough-stemmed boletes may be used in sauces and soups, marinated or dried, although they turn dark when dried. This species produces plenty of mushrooms all summer long until late autumn. It can be found in different woods environments, in coniferous, deciduous and mixed forests. It forms symbiotic associations with birches and grows mostly under those trees.

Mushrooms of the birch bolete are large, have fleshy, convex caps that sit atop long and slender stems. The caps take on different shades of brown colour, are shiny during draught and covered with slime after the rain. White or greyish tubes may be seen at the cap underside. Flesh of the older mushrooms turns watery and soft, hence it might be damaged in transportation.

Using the mycorrhizal mycelium available in our store you would be able to harvest scaber stalks not only in the woods, but in your own garden, too. Start the culture from April until late autumn, possibly on site with environmental conditions resembling those in the forest. Before planting, mix one package of the mycelium with 5 litres of peat and 1 litre of wood coal, ashes from a campfire or your fireplace. You may improve the air-water conditions by adding 0.5 litre each of gypsum and vermiculite. Moisten the mixture and place it into holes dug within the area of trees' root system. Cover it with a 5 cm thick layer of soil and then mulch with tree bark or leaves. The care is limited to watering the spawn during extended heat periods.

The development of mushrooms depends on many factors, such as the type and humidity of the soil, weather conditions and the vicinity of trees with whom they live in symbiosis. You will be able to harvest the first mushrooms within 2-3 years after planting in optimal conditions.

There are growing instructions and the sow-by date printed on each package of the mycorrhizal rough-stemmed bolete mycelium.