Question of getting rid of old culms (Wood Chipper?)

[Cyberous]

What do you all do with old culms after cleaning your grove? I'm thinking about getting a wood chipper to mulch them. This year is not bad since its a new grove but I expect in 3-5 years I will definantly need to find a way to dispose of the culms after cleaning and thinning the grove.

Don

[John G.]

Put them on craigslist.org for free or for a small fee someone will take them.

[boonut]

If you find a good boo chipper, let me know. I have heard that they absolutely tear those things up. It would be great to have boo mulch. I would use it for everything.

I usually burn my old culms and branches. I like the fireworks...

[Jeff: Igor's Apprentice]

Shrooms! Shrooms! Shrooms!

Seriously!

[Cyberous]

If they were good clum's (Straight) yes I could feel good about puting them on Craigslist,.. but they are not good quality, and right now most are whips so mulching would be the best solution.

As far as chipping,.. I'm going to rent (get insurance of course) so if it doesn't work out,.. all I do is return it

No shrooms for me thank

Here is a shroom you should try....
Clathraceae, Thye actually grow here at the local bamboo nursery,.. very gross. They call them chicken foot fungi.

[boonut]

I saw something like that fungus in my Oldhamii last week after much rain. It was like a spongy globe with holes and it was bright red. It first looked like chicken eggs. My wife broke one open thinking it was some kind of egg. I never saw anything like it. It later "bloomed"??? into a big red ball with holes about the size of a softball and empty in the middle.

That has to be the wierdest thing I have ever seen.

[Jeff: Igor's Apprentice]

Beautiful! And I'm sure the smell would greatly increase the pollinators for my Amorphophallus. One stinkhorn I would like to try though is the "Bamboo Mushroom", Phallus indusiata. Asian delicacy. And also a great beauty.

Grossities aside, shrooms can degrade wood quickly. And you can grow more conventional delicacies like Pleurotus ostreatus (oyster mushroom), Grifola frondosa (hen-of-the-woods), Agrocybe aegerita (Pioppino), or Stropharia rugosa (the wine cap).

In the book Mycelium Running, one of the modes of transportation- you have to keep that fungal mycellium moving!- that Stamets describes is letting it inhabit burlap bags. I can picture an inhabited bag being rolled up into a bundle of bamboo culms. Mycellium is kind of like fire- you have to keep it fed or moving or its gone. As Stamets says "Move It Or Lose It!"

[Jeff: Igor's Apprentice]

Boonut, what you are describing HAS to be a stinkhorn as well. People Eat some of the stinkhorns when they are in that egg stage.

[Jeff: Igor's Apprentice]

Here's a nice little selection of stinkhorns.
Maybe it was Clathrus columnaatus that you saw, Boonut?

http://www.mushroomexpert.com/stinkhorn_fame.html

[boonut]

Thanks for the links. It was a Clathrus crispus according to the pictures in your link. WOW!!! Thanks. My wife believed it was some kind of egg. When I opened it up, it looked like an egg with multiple babies inside.

Then the big red spongy thing came up. That was really cool. I may become a shroom nut after that experience.

[Jeff: Igor's Apprentice]

I may become a shroom nut after that experience.

Welcome to "The Light"

[boonut]

I am still trying to get over the name "stinkhorn".

[Bill Howard]

So .... back to the subject

I just saw the news and they said a 53 yr old man was yanked into a wood chipper machine today.

I was wondering if he was tossing in bamboo culms?

[philinshelton]

A few years back I used a small rental chipper. Seems to me it was a 7 horse power, and it had 2 chutes; one for branches to 3", and one for leaves and twigs. It worked fairly well, but it was a bit of work to push everhthing through, and I mangaged to bog it down a few times. This year I used one that hooks up to a tractor PTO. It's got a self-feeding roller and takes up to 6" diameter material. The chippings are very coarse because they tend to shred, but they work for mulching. It is very fast work compared to using the smaller, rental chipper, easier too. I was worried that bamboo might be very hard on the chipper, but it's much easier (at least on 2" canes and smaller) to chip than alder, maple, or fir branches.

[Cyberous]

A few years back I used a small rental chipper. Seems to me it was a 7 horse power, and it had 2 chutes; one for branches to 3", and one for leaves and twigs. It worked fairly well, but it was a bit of work to push everhthing through, and I mangaged to bog it down a few times. This year I used one that hooks up to a tractor PTO. It's got a self-feeding roller and takes up to 6" diameter material. The chippings are very coarse because they tend to shred, but they work for mulching. It is very fast work compared to using the smaller, rental chipper, easier too. I was worried that bamboo might be very hard on the chipper, but it's much easier (at least on 2" canes and smaller) to chip than alder, maple, or fir branches.

Awesome,.. Thanks for the insight,.. exactly the info I'm looking for!

Don