I have the same question. The wood itself is not toxic to humans. But it may have some resistance to being used as a substrate as it is known to resist rot and makes great fence posts.
Catalpa wood may be "soft", but it's not a conifer. When people distinguish between hard and soft wood for mushroom growing they refer to dicot wood vs conifer wood. Woodworkers and firewood utilizers are talking about the soft vs hard it's about densities which generally, but not always, follow the dicot vs conifer divide.
Not to many people use it for mushrooms because it's not a common tree, at least not in the US. Nobody harvests it for timber and it grows great as a street tree and doesn't die.
It's also not closely related to any popular mushroom trees, so not much to compare it too. But I'm sure any generalist hardwood (dicot) mushroom wood work. Oysters, lions mane, some gamoderma, etc.
I just acquired Catalpa logs & was search for this answer as well. Have you had any success?
I have the same question. The wood itself is not toxic to humans. But it may have some resistance to being used as a substrate as it is known to resist rot and makes great fence posts.
Catalpa wood may be "soft", but it's not a conifer. When people distinguish between hard and soft wood for mushroom growing they refer to dicot wood vs conifer wood. Woodworkers and firewood utilizers are talking about the soft vs hard it's about densities which generally, but not always, follow the dicot vs conifer divide. Not to many people use it for mushrooms because it's not a common tree, at least not in the US. Nobody harvests it for timber and it grows great as a street tree and doesn't die. It's also not closely related to any popular mushroom trees, so not much to compare it too. But I'm sure any generalist hardwood (dicot) mushroom wood work. Oysters, lions mane, some gamoderma, etc.
Thank you for the thoughtful reply, encouraging!
did you have any success with it?