Spalting Questions

[pipemaker]

I would like to attempt to spalt some freshly cut Maple and Lilac branches.
Should I leave the bark on the pieces or remove it, and should I seal the ends or leave them open? The Lilac appears extremely prone to end checking.

I am going to experiment with some different methods.
Sawdust moistened with a beer/Miracle Gro mix
Damp sawdust with mushrooms
Damp sawdust with some wood that is actively spalted
Damp leaves with beer/Miracle Gro
and I will bury a few in the compost pile.

Thanks for any advice on how to prepare the green wood.

I apologize for the double post. I'm not sure what happened.

 

[jenamison]

Hey good question, I always thought that was a process on nature could pull off? I'll be watching this post.

 

[its_virgil]

This may help your quest to spalt. Check it out.
http://www.woodcentral.com/russ/russ4.shtml[
Do a good turn daily!
Don

 

[Ron in Drums PA]

I've found that beer/miriacle gro works the best. I always used wood shavings as opposed to fine saw dust. The mixture needs some oxygen for the spores to grow.

Freshly fallen leaves work better then green leaves

With the compost pile, burying within a few inches from the top seems to work better.

Leave the ends open if you are sealing in a bag, that where the spores enter the wood.

Unless we are talking about logs, I always took the bark off, but I don't really know that's better. I have some logs sitting upright on dirt, the tops are sealed and the bottoms are not. The bark is still on. It took maple about a full year to spalt. Birch took about 3 months to spalt and in the fourth month the birch was too punky to use. Keep a eye on the process.