What do I need to grow mushrooms?
Posted by Mushbox Admin on 1/9/2011
to What you need to know
What you need to grow mushrooms from home
It may seem overwhelming at first when you see so many different things like substrates, and mushroom kits, pressure cookers and mycology supplies. It is a lot of stuff to manage.
This article should help put it all in perspective allowing you to get exactly what you need to start growing. If you have not already done so please quickly read "The Mushroom Life Cycle" so you have an understanding of how mushrooms reproduce. If you already know about spores, germination, and mycelium colonizing them you are good to go.
To grow mushrooms you need 3 basic things: 1) Mushroom spores / liquid culture, 2) Substrate / growing mediuim, and 3) an environment or chamber to control the light, temperature and humidity.
1) Mushroom spore / Liquid Culture.
First you need the spores or culture of the mushroom you want to grow. Most common is a mixture of spores and water in a syringe, this method is reliable and works well but can take some time. A live culture, or liquid culture syringe will work much faster but is more complicated to create and manage. Learn more about spore syringes - learn more about liquid and live cultures.
First you need the spores or culture of the mushroom you want to grow. Most common is a mixture of spores and water in a syringe, this method is reliable and works well but can take some time. A live culture, or liquid culture syringe will work much faster but is more complicated to create and manage. Learn more about spore syringes - learn more about liquid and live cultures.
2) Substrates and Growing Mediums.
The next component for growing mushrooms is a substrate or actual growing medium. This is like the soil for plants, it helps feed the mushroom mycelium and gives the mushrooms a main base to launch there growth from. There is a wide variety of substrates to choose from in different formats such as jars or bags, the most common is rye grain as it works well with many different mushrooms.
Learn more about using substrates.
Learn more about using substrates.
3) The Growing Chamber
The final and most important component is your actual growing environment. This can range from a simple plastic tub to a fully automated system controlling humidity, light, and temperature settings. As long as you can maintain the temp and humidity you are good to grow.
Learn more about building a grow chamber.
Learn more about building a grow chamber.
Bringing it all together - Inoculation
Now you need to bring them all together. The first step is to produce mycelium from the spores or culture. To do this you need to inject your spores or liquid culture syringe into the substrate and incubate it until the spores germinate and fully colonize the substrate to form a chunk of mycelium. For incubation you want to keep your substrate in a warm, dark place while keeping the correct incubation temp specific to your mushroom species. This incubation and colonization process can take anywere from 2-8 weeks depending on the species, strain and growing chamber used.
Casing the mycelium, or fruit directly
After you have a fully colonized jar or bag of mycelium you can decide if you want to fruit direct, or break it up into casing.
Fruiting from Jars
With jars you would need to get the block of mycelium out of the glass / plastic jar and then place it in your grow chamber to begin fruiting. You can stack up the blocks of myclium to form a pyramid or just have the blocks placed inside your chamber.
Fruiting a Grow Bag
With a grow bag you can actually fruit it directly inside the bag. All you need to do is add light and keep the FAE (fresh air exchange) flowing and mushrooms will grow filling up the bag. Checkout our Monster Mushroom Compost Bags for more info and pictures.
With a grow bag you can actually fruit it directly inside the bag. All you need to do is add light and keep the FAE (fresh air exchange) flowing and mushrooms will grow filling up the bag. Checkout our Monster Mushroom Compost Bags for more info and pictures.
Break it up into a Casing Layer
Another technique seperate from fruiting directly is to break the mycelium up and use in a casing. This method combines another step and layer of substrate to allow the mycelium to gather more strength and surface area thus creating much more mushrooms larger in size. More about Casing. And also you should consider the Mushbox Casing Kit for getting started in mushroom growing.
Another technique seperate from fruiting directly is to break the mycelium up and use in a casing. This method combines another step and layer of substrate to allow the mycelium to gather more strength and surface area thus creating much more mushrooms larger in size. More about Casing. And also you should consider the Mushbox Casing Kit for getting started in mushroom growing.
With either method you choose once you have a fully colonized substrate as a jar, grow bag, or even a casing layer you can begin the pinning process by exposing the mycelium to light and maintaining fruiting temperatures. Within a couple weeks, sometimes much sooner depending on the strain of mushroom, you should start to see pinheads forming along the surface of the mycelium. After seeing your first pinheads the mushrooms will be growing very fast and you should be ready to harvest your first flush very soon. You will know when they are ready to pick when the caps are fully open and the veil is just about to break or has already broken.
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Date 10/18/2011 8:06:00 PM
julie
i thought the mushrooms tips should be closed when you pick them.. ?
Date 3/8/2012 9:30:00 AM
Linda Jackson
PLEASE have someone proofread your articles! While I respect your vast knowledge, the mistakes and misspellings reduce your credulity. Sorry about the pet peeve.
Date 5/28/2012 11:49:00 PM
markmoore
It’s Pleasure to understand your blog. The above content blog is very impressive, and I genuinely enjoyed reading your blog and points that you simply expressed. I enjoy coming back on the typical basis, post a lot more around the subject. Thanks
http://bioactivepeat.com.au/growing-medium/best-growing-medium-for-organic-vegetable-gardening-2
Date 9/15/2012 7:49:00 PM
chris McLaughlin
I ordered a mushbox mini kit and it didn't come with any instructions. Help!
Date 9/25/2012 3:23:00 PM
Anonymous
Many of your links are broken.
Date 9/25/2012 3:23:00 PM
Anonymous
Many of your links are broken.
Date 1/23/2013
kkelock
Julie you fuckin bitch grammar nazi whore . Go fuck yourself! the post is pro .
Date 2/12/2013
NORO RICHARD
For the growing of mushroom what really do i need in small scale growing?
secondly I would like to get more knowledge regarding mush room growing.
Thirdly is there international market for it?
Thanks
Noro Richard.
Date 2/12/2013
NORO RICHARD
For the growing of mushroom what really do i need in small scale growing?
secondly I would like to get more knowledge regarding mush room growing.
Thirdly is there international market for it?
Thanks
Noro Richard.
Date 4/1/2013
pet
I'd love to grow mushrooms--like the brown ones I buy in the grocery store. Would your method be considered organic?
By the way, almost none of the links worked--luckily the videos did.
Date 4/22/2013
Hotaru
kkelock, how about you growing a pair and have someone wash that filthy mouth of yours? Albeit the article being a good read, it does need grammatical proofreading and there's no need for you to troll in the comments section. If your idea is to vouch for this article, your blasphemous remark is doing the complete opposite for me and any readers carrying an IQ higher than 100.
Date 10/27/2013
mutebi henry
yeah.........this is wooow..and youth who have failed t get jobs should resort to this........
Date 9/12/2014
Ed Smith
Mushrooms spores, substrates and the growing chamber is important when a home grower thinking to start cultivation of own mushrooms. For all the cultivation stuff visit http://www.magic-spores-shop.com/
Date 2/24/2015
kkelock
I apologize to Julie, she wasn't the grammar nazi, it was Linda, but that post happened almost 4 years ago, so why go re-opening old wounds. I love you all, and I just though that I would let you know that Jesus is my savior and that shrooming during church has taught me to be a better and greater person. My god provide for all of you. Amen!
Date 4/22/2018
phillly2van
Good on you kkelock!
Date 4/22/2018
phillly2van
Good on you kkelock!
Date 5/3/2018
Rodney Foster
Have you tried growing magic mushrooms usings PF Tek? I've been reading this reading this article about mushroom growing here in https://www.trufflemagic.com/blog/pf-tek/ and its really fascinating. It is really easy, inexpensive yet reliable way of growing this kind of mushrooms.
Date 11/24/2018
Ira R. Pollak
My name is Ira. I am 68 years old. I am disabled and house bound. I cannot physically go out and pick my shrooms any more . Does your kids include spores that I could use "medicinally"? Thank you for your time and God bless .
