I plan my fruiting of my shittake logs by watching the weather. I have cold and warm weather strains. Toney you really have to place your logs in a shaded place were wind doesn't dry them out. When your ready to fruit just soak the logs in water for about 3 days.
Latt the blue oyster has a taste all of it's own. The stem is very woody on this strain and should be cut off. The best part is no bugs, the ones I harvest from the wild most of the time are loaded with those black beetles.