Making Mycelium

Intro: Making Mycelium

I am interested in bio materials that can return to the earth to support a circular economy. This project is the start of a larger project that will look at home made tools and products using waste food and bio materials to engage people to understand more about the product journey of the items they have in their home, ultimately reducing their consumption and impact on the environment.

Mycelium is the reproduction part of a fungus, consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae.

Mycelium is a fast growing organism and one of its primary uses is to decompose organic compounds. Petroleum products and some pesticides are organic molecules as they are built on a carbon structure, so they can be a potential carbon source for mycelium. This means it has the potential to consume such pollutants from their environment, (unless the chemicals are toxic to the fungus) which is a great potential for the circular economy to reduce the impact of plastics on the environment. As part of my research I will continue experimenting with the potential of this material to make a big difference to the material world.

This instructable guides you to making a material that is open for experimentation, it is not an end product. Get creative, and share your results.

You will need:

A sealable container - a glass tupperware is perfect

Corrugated cardboard

mushroom with a large base - I used King Oyster mushrooms

A scalpel or small knife

A dark place to store - a bucket is useful

STEP 1: Prepare the Growing Environment

Cut the cardboard into pieces that fit well into the container.

Stack them up inside and fill with water, you may need to weight them down so they are fully immersed under the water. Soak for 20-30 minutes so the layers of the cardboard will separate easily.

Drain then separate the layers so you have sheets of corrugated layers and sheets of flat card.

STEP 2: Cut Pieces of Mushroom

Take your mushroom and scalpel to cut tiny slices of the base. Only use the base as this is the reproduction part which will grow within the cardboard.

The third picture gives you a sense of scale to guide you with the size of each piece, make sure they are thin layers.

This will take you a while. I will be experimenting with using a food blender to see if this process can be sped up and if it effects the growth of mycelium.

STEP 3: Add the Layers

Add a layer of cardboard to the bottom of the container, as you form the layers you need to have a corrugated sheet and a flat sheet, the corrugated layer gives the mycelium space to grow into. Alternatively you can use corrugated sheets for all layers.

Spread the little pieces of mushroom evenly and fairly close together and cover with a sheet of cardboard.

Repeat until you have filled the container and the layers are filled with mushroom.

STEP 4: Store and Grow

Now you have the container ready, close the lid and store in a dark place at room temperature. Each day open the box to let some air out. Without any air exchange carbon dioxide levels build up and your mycelium will have stunted growth.

I put the container in a black bucket so it was in a dark place.

STEP 5: Watching It Grow

This is the exciting part. After a few days the mycelium will start to appear through the edges of the cardboard, this is why a clear box is the best as it allows you to see whats happening. It appears to seep through the cardboard, filling in all the gaps and holes.

Once the mycelium has reached a level you are happy with (I am still waiting for mine to completely surround the cardboard) you can heat the block to stop it growing any further. As my mycelium hasn't stopped growing I am yet to experiment with the heat process and the end product, when that happens I will update my instructable to explain my development. As I said in the introduction this is a work in progress project.

Thanks for reading.

Comments

[Кэвэн]

Can I use A polypore like Tramemetes Versicolor ? Polypore has no feet so where is the micelium created ?

[summonssunmind]

No substrate?

[Frah]

How can I now mold the mycelium into packaging models? And how do I heat treat? Thanks

[lauragiragon31]

Hi! The mushroom has to be fresh or it could be from de supermarket?

[newman9913]

My aforementioned project.

[newman9913]

I appreciate the simplicity of this post. I am new to growing fungi and am very intrigued with everything about it. My hours of scouring the internet is over. By some miracle, my very first attempt is growing beautifully. The specimen is in a clear glass jar. The substrate consists of expended coffee grounds, dead wood, wet coffee filters (shredded), and one boiled grapevine on top for funzies.
I say it's miraculous because nothing, save for the grapevine, was sterilized, the mushroom content consisted of one bag of dried mushrooms, I can not remember the type, and then cut and whole stems from button mushrooms.
My second attempt was completely sterilized and ended up moldy and full of worms.
I must have just found the goldilocks zone of mycelium and like I said, it's growing beautifully.
My question to you is, under what conditions can I cause the mycelium to fruit?
I have seen this and that about exposing it to small amounts of light, but there is too much conflicting information to deal with, as I am still new to this.
If you have reached the fruiting stage of your experiment, please tell me under what conditions did you get it to do so.
I know this was long winded, but your curiosity got my attention. [e-mail]
Thank you for your time

[RedReign]

hi, out of my little research I've done, I've found that when growing mushrooms people will 'sterilize' the containers with boiling water, so its probably better if you use hot water when soaking the cardboard to help w/ any bacteria :)

[LoveeHeavenly]

Very cute! You should continue one and grow mushroom out of the Mycelium!!

[faithmarytecla]

Thank so much Ashley,so do I have to leave the mycelium on tha cardboard layer or how do I transplant them?
Will they be exactly the same type of mushroom and edible ?
Thanks

[TerêncioS]

Hey Ashley how are you? Thank you for your time and all the answer u have given so far, I was wondering if the mycelium made from a certain mushroom would also fruit the same mushroom or how could I use that mycelium to grow other mushrooms? If you don’t have the answer I still appreciate you! Thank you so much!

[ashleyscarborough]

Hi, The mycelium strain you use will be the only type of mushrooms that will grow (unless there is a rogue infection), for example if you use a king oyster strain to form mycelium then you will see king oysters are the only mushrooms that grow. Mycelium isnt like soil that you can use to grow all sorts of things, mycelium is the roots of the organism just like the roots of a tree and the mushrooms are the fruit. I hope that helps.

[solloek369fractallove]

Many thanks Ashley!!!

[hanakarimoz]

I have a question it might sound silly but after my mycelium grow what am I supposed to do to make mushrooms fruit???

[sattmghtay]

Hi, Ashleyscarborough.
Thank you very much for sharing this. Please answer me because it is important for me.
As this process can get Enoki mushroom for edible or can Enoki base grow like what did in this process. And also share if you know how to make Enoki seeds at home.
Best regard,
SMH

[KayanS]

Is this safe for those who are allergic to mold?

[mailtosudarshan001]

Hi, I know it might sound ridiculous, but I was wondering if it was possible to use decaying or half dried and half wet kinda mushrooms. ?

[ashleyscarborough]

yes I would imagine half dried mushrooms would work if you rehydrate them. there's one way to find out... give it a try, and see what happens, I recon you'll be surprised.

[komanki1]

how can we use this mycelium to grow mushroom
could you send me how to collect this musroom mycelium and grow musroom.

[JoeH233]

Hey i am thinkimg of replicating this and have a bunch of corks from wine bottles around. Could they work?

[MinM18]

hi

how long days need mycelium growing in container box after that which thing(straw,etc) transfer ?.