Growing Mushrooms!

Mushrooms are a pretty good source of protein and other nutrients, as well as being pretty tasty. I've chosen to grow shiitake and oyster since I like them best and they are also really different in terms of texture and taste, and prefer different types of growing media. However, there are tons of different types of mushrooms that can be cultivated, and many of them can be grown pretty easily using the same principles (be sure to check though on if the variety you want to grow does better in a particular growing media).

Different growing media can also be used, depending on the space that you have available and the variety of mushroom you select. Since I live in a one-bedroom in the city (which unfortunately lacks outdoor space), I don't have a ton of room to grow things (I do have a pretty nice little setup though). There are a ton of kits and things online that would allow for growing some delicious 'shroomies via (please note: I am totally not promoting any of the companies who's websites are linked below, it's just to show what I'm talking about):

1. Sawdust, corn, or woodchip filled bags
2. Sawdust, corn, or woodship filled boxes
3. Old logs (you can either get pre-inoculated (as shown here) or if you have the time (several months!) and space (lots of space!) and access to cherry or oak logs (I don't, unfortunately) you can inoculate your own logs with spores)
4. Various other media, including (as also shown here) a roll of toilet paper

Thanks so much to giardinaggioindoor for translating this to Italian!

Step 1 You'll Need. . .

I've opted for shiitake and oyster mushrooms, and I'll be growing them using two different growing media - shiitake with a pre-inoculated log (I'll run down how to inoculate your own though, in case someone is lucky enough to have the resources to do so), and oyster with a roll of toilet paper.

For Shiitake:
- a log inoculated with shiitake mushroom spores (I used a 6" one from here) - if you want to make your own logs, check out step two
- a large container for soaking
- a box to keep the log contained and moist, as well as a place to keep the box where it's cool and not too bright (step three explains how to construct a pretty simple plexiglass box, an aquarium could probably also be used)
- though not needed, a lazy Susan or other turntable is helpful for keeping the whole log moist
- a dish slightly larger than the diameter of the log
- a spray bottle
- lots of non-chlorinated water (kept cool) - I prefer to just get some of the big jugs from the grocery store

For Oyster:
- a roll of toilet paper
- a "tee pee kit" (contains oyster mushroom spores, bags, and rubber bands)
- a box to keep the roll contained and moist, as well as a place to keep the box where it's cool and not too bright
- though not needed, a lazy Susan or other turntable is helpful
- a dish slightly larger than the diameter of the roll
- a spray bottle filled with non-chlorinated water (kept cool)

Comments

[antonc81]

Spores are the microscopic reproductive structure that falls from the gills of mature mushrooms. Individual spores are not visible to the naked eye and spores can either be seen as very fine smoky dust falling off mushrooms or as spore prints taken from a mushroom cap. What you are referring to as "spores" in this article are definitely not spores. These are actually a grain based spawn. Probably rye grain inoculated with mushroom mycelium.

[shesparticular]

In the package that they came in, they were labeled as "spores" - I do understand that there is quite a big difference though. Thanks for pointing that out.

[jobergy]

do you have any idea what morals grow on? is it oak? 

[eerebus]

Morels don't grow ON trees, but rather with trees. They are famously allusive and mysterious. They like burn sites, low ph, old orchards. I've tried growing them on burned apple wood mixed with wood chips, saw dust, gypsum and perhaps some other things. I think they have not grown because I didn't give them enough shade, but it is possible that the morels i found for the first time about 50 feet away was the patch a started last year. (they tend to move around)

[shesparticular]

I don't have any experience with morels, but according to this, I'd guess yes, but oak chips not logs it seems.

[jobergy]

wow that was a fast reply lol. hey thank you! OH! I dont know if your interested or not but i  have a recipe for Stuffed Portabella's! all you have to do is scrape out gills (obviously you want the BIG mushrooms), put cream cheese in the lil bowl u now created, put pieces of bacon in and diced green peppers on it (or mix it with the cream cheese before you put it in the cap) and pop it in the oven at ....well i guessed about 350 for 15 to 20 minutes and WALAH! ...AMAZINGNESS! i made mine too big so i had to eat it with  a fork but still SOOOO GOOD!....and as i said before whether or not you care idk but i thought id share it : ) take care and thanks!
Jobergy

[shesparticular]

Thanks! That sounds really good - though I'd have to find a way to replace the bacon. I've made stuffed button mushrooms baked with cream cheese and jalepenos - also really good!

[jobergy]

OOOO that sounds good too!, oh i am guessing your a vejasaurus? (vegitarian), are you completely Vegan or ...idk the others besides vegitarian but ya you get my point : )   the only thing i can think of is tofu then..or turkey bacon but thats still meat lol, idk if there is such thing as tofu bacon so ya lol good luck on that one! lol

[antonc81]

No probs. Maybe they meant that the grain was inoculated with spores collected from print.. I'm guessing that makes the most sense.. if youre interested in mycology you should check out the shroomery.org forums* and/or some of Paul Stamets' books... if you get into growing your own mushrooms on a regular basis you can collect your own spores or liquid culture and save yourself a bit of money :)

*(just ignore the fact that the majority of posters there are interested mainly in psychoactives! lol)

[shesparticular]

Thanks for the book suggestions! I had seen shroomery.org (and waded through the psychoactives) - not sure that I'm ready quite yet though to collect my own cultures - soon I hope!

[ninja cat 09]

has anybody tried growing shiiitakes on toilet paper, i'm trying now but no obvious colonization, although i do see these small wrikles on some sides of the jar.

[shesparticular]

I haven't, and I'm afraid I don't know if it would work or not (please let me know if it does though!). I'd assume that it'd be best not to have the roll touching anything though, and if you're keeping it in a jar, you may want to keep the top off to allow air to circulate.

[ninja cat 09]

it turns out the liquid culture i made from a dry shiitake was bad, nothing grew, wasn't even able to get it going on grain, but i have seen pics of people using phone books as substrate for them, i just spent all my money on oyster liquid cultures, so i wont be finding out any time soon.

[eerebus]

You need a healthy fresh specimen to clone if you want to make your own liquid cultures. Cloning from dried mushrooms won't work. Try a small piece of a fresh mushroom on agar. You can use your oyster cultures to grow oysters on phone books. I am doing it on a large scale this summer: http://www.alexiswilliams.net/wwff.html

[shesparticular]

Good luck with them! Please post pictures if they grow.

[co2wms7whcc]

I have been talking about growing some assorted mushrooms with a teacher for some time now and he recently gave me a few inoculated dowels he ordered. I have yet to see results on that. I also took several closed button mushrooms, which I've heard are the just unopened shitake, and sliced them, wrapped them in paper towels, put them in plastic sandwich bags and saturated them with well water. I checked them the other day and around the edges of the paper towel are fuzzy little white things protruding from the paper. I am almost certain this is the mycelium. I have yet to inoculate anything but I think I've successfully produced my own spawn from grocery store mushrooms!

[rubyintherough]

Is there any way to use Grocery Store Fresh Mushrooms to obtain a starter spore? I swear that my grandma started hers that way every spring in the '60s but I never saw how she did it.

[shesparticular]

Awesome question! According to eHow you can use store-bought mushrooms to create a culture. Apparently you can scrape the gills (brown part under the cap) of a mushroom and process this to use to grown mushrooms.

Since I've never done this, I'm afraid I don't have any info on that whole process, but I'm sure you can find some tips online or someone might have some additional suggestions.

[Raziel7]

instead of misting dry cakes you can dunk them in cold water for 24 hours. This leads to a bigger flush and induces cold shocking which is required for some species (not all) of mushrooms to pin.

[vrkelley]

Great idea! I had these questions!
1. Where do you get the Shiitake Mushrooms
2. How many hours of light is needed. Would a fluorescent grow light work?
3. Do the logs smell like rotting wood?

[shesparticular]

Thanks for your questions!

1. As noted, there are a lot of online sources for pre-inoculated shiitake logs - I got mine here.
2. The hours of light depends on what kind of mushrooms you're growing. I've had the best luck if they're kept in generally dim light, not darkness and not bright light. I don't think that a grow light would be needed unless you're in some kind of setting that gets no light at all.
3. I didn't notice a smell at all, but I'm sure if they were kept too moist and in too dark of an environment, they would get moldy or musty smelling.

Good luck!

[ronmaggi]

3m 5200 is neither glue or epoxy, it is an adhesive sealant. It really is not meant to be globed on like bathroom caulk as UV kills it.

[shesparticular]

It's what I had on hand, it worked rather well (despite being "globbed on"), and it has held up also. Considering the box needs to be put in a darkish area for the mushrooms to grow, I'm not sure that the UV rating is a huge concern. Thanks for the comment!

[bigstupidsmile]

IT'S SO SIMPLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[footer0]

Keep them in the dark - and feed them $H!7... Lol... hehe...

[Goodhart]

I would LOVE for someone to come up with a way to cultivate Morel mushrooms UMMM UM

[shesparticular]

I so wish I had the space to try growing morels! I came across a few places that sell the spores and such for them as well as other varieties, but I don't know if they're any good or how much harder they'd be to grow. I'd also really like to try some cremini, but I figured I'd start with two types at first.

[Goodhart]

I hadn't known that anyone had successfully grown morels on purpose. I know that it can be difficult at best:

Here are two places I found:

Morel Cultivation

and the Life cycle of the Morel, I don't know how accurate the first link is though.

[shesparticular]

I know they're really hard to grow, but I guess it might be possible (I don't have a yard though, so sadly I can't try it). I hadn't seen either of those sites, so thanks :) Always good to have more resources for information!

[N1CK4ND0]

I thought you meant a different kind of mushrooms lol, but good 'ible. ;]

[shesparticular]

Yeah, I realized later that that might come up. . .but thanks!