Does anyone here grow mushrooms

[TxAprilMagic]

Just looking for imput on mushrooms from anyone that does it. Where do you get your supplies and such.
Thanks.

[rainbird]

I'm new to it, but I'm now in the process of learning to grow oyster mushrooms (one of the easiest--and fastest--varieties for newbies to start with).

I have been interested in growing mushrooms for decades, and even started into it a couple times before. But I always quit once I started reading more of the details involved in sterilization/pasteurization of media, HEPA filters, clean rooms, etc. Always sounded too expensive/intimidating.

I met a guy at the local farmer's market this past summer. He grows a bunch of different things, but oyster mushrooms are one of his main crops. We got to talking, and he's been helping me get set up ever since, with advice, and occasional supplies like spawn and petri dishes and such.

Most of my equipment, I've either picked up locally, at hardware stores, or online for specialty stuff. Most equipment--however--I've actually just pieced together out of stuff here in the house. What I've mostly been using is quart canning jars (for grain spawn), my pressure cooker (for sterilizing grain), large rubbermaid bins (for treating chopped straw) ... plastic bags ... a couple of Petri dishes w/agar.

Get yourself a copy of Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms. It's one of the best books available on the subject ... however, take all of their warnings about extreme sterile processes and environments with a grain (or two) of salt.

[bowdonkey]

www.fungi.com, good stuff. I want to try the chainsaw oil this spring.

[TxAprilMagic]

Thank you, I was just like you when reading all that is out there on them, very in depth with so much about them I was afraid I would screw up and loose the whole crop not knowing what I was doing. I think I am ready to tackle it this time.

[JGex]

Another place that sells kits: http://www.gmushrooms.com/

And another: http://www.mushroompeople.com/

I want to start some this year, but may just research it and then plan for next year. Love mushrooms....

[rainbird]

A couple of months ago, I got a jar of grain-spawn from my mentor; it was old and suspect as to its purity. It was only meant as a first experimental effort into the process.

I seeded that spawn into 4 small bags of straw. The straw is chopped up (ideally with a lawn mower or wood chipper, but I used scissors -- pita), and then pasteurized (cooked wet in the oven at around 150, or treated with tap-hot water and a healthy splash of bleach), to kill off most of the competition. Then it gets seeded with the inoculated grain.

The straw bags are kept at 80-90% humidity and 70-75 F, for a couple weeks, while the mycellium grows through the bags. Then the bags are kept at 63-66 F and 95+% humidity for a few days to stimulate fruiting. Once fruiting begins, I kept them at the same condition (63-66 F, 95+% humidity), but less concerned about the exact conditions, while mushrooms grew.

I'm still figuring out a good way to set up a small growing area where I can reliably control the environment. Had some problems with temperature swings, and humidity level dropping off. Plus, as I noted, the original spawn was a bit suspect.

All that said, I still harvested a pound or so of mushrooms from my little bags. Tried several times to get them to fruit again after the first harvest, but never succeeded -- I'd get pinheads to form, but they'd quickly dry up and die. Ultimately, found a secondary fungus (blue mange) growing in/on the bags and mushrooms, and the whole lot went into a worm composting bin.


So, that was my first effort. Moderately successful, considering the original spawn was questionable, and my own growing process was sloppy at best.

Then I got a few petri dishes from my mentor, seeded with the last of his good strain of oysters from last season. After 4-5 days, he and I both realized that his last "good strain" was actually contaminated. All the petri dishes got tossed.

He and I both got to work on coaxing a few more mushrooms out of our last straw bags. I got a couple of half-grown mushrooms out of my bags (before the blue mange set in), and used those to seed a couple of new petri dishes. My mentor did the same at his place.

One of my cultures might have been contaminated. I cut out a bit of something growing that maybe didn't belong. Then, once both dishes were fully grown with what I hope is oyster mushroom spawn, I seeded several sterile quart jars of birdseed with little squares of mushroom-stuff from a petri dish (the one I'm sure was uncontaminated).

That's where I'm at now. I have a dozen jars of grain slowly being overtaken by mushroom mycellium. In a couple of weeks, each one of those jars will be ready for multiplication (one jar gets split up into 10 more jars, and allowed to grow out again), or directly seeded into new, larger, bags of prepared straw.


Some varieties and strains of mushrooms are very aggressive--fast growing and readily wiping out any competing molds/fungi. Others are rather sensitive, and can be easily overcome. The weaker your variety/strain, the more careful you need to be with sterile conditions and proper procedures. The oyster mushrooms in general are pretty hardy, and the specific strain we're working with is especially so. So I'm getting away with a lot of sloppy techniques (I've been skipping most of the details -- this post is long enough as it is). If you can start out with a hardy and forgiving variety, it'll help, at least until you get your technique down.

[pickapeppa]

I haven't done it yet but am going to innoculate some willow branches with a couple of oyster varieties and spitake plug spawn once the weather breaks. We had to cut down a willow in the fall and it's the right time for innoculating logs after they've been drained of the sap for the season.

Hopefully by fall we'll be seeing some mushrooms.

[rainbird]

Originally Posted by pickapeppa

I haven't done it yet but am going to innoculate some willow branches with a couple of oyster varieties and spitake plug spawn once the weather breaks. We had to cut down a willow in the fall and it's the right time for innoculating logs after they've been drained of the sap for the season.

Hopefully by fall we'll be seeing some mushrooms.

Good luck, sounds fun. I'll be inoculating some ash log-ends with maitake (hen-of-the-wood) plugs in the spring.

The oysters will probably do fine on willow (they eat anything with lignin in it). However, the shi-take may not do so well. Certainly can't hurt to try, but it's my recollection that they grow on oak and/or alder. Even if they do well on willow (and I'd love to hear of your results, regardless), they probably won't produce anything for a year or two; very slow-growing.

ETA: Now I see why you mis-spelled shi-take. The bad-word finder edits out the first four letters if you spell it correctly.

[pickapeppa]

Lol. Yes, I had to go back in to edit that one. Thanks for letting me know what to expect. I'll let you know what happens.

[sbin]

Thanks for the interesting mushroom links!
I will be looking for a nice Morel patch location.

[Scrounger]

Originally Posted by bowdonkey

www.fungi.com, good stuff. I want to try the chainsaw oil this spring.

Ok... what's the "chainsaw oil" thing?

[bowdonkey]

Scrounger, last year on this site he sold a bar oil for your chainsaw that innoculated logs. Looked really slick and easy. I don't see it listed anymore. I guess it's back to drilling holes and pounding in plugs.

[Gary in AL]

My DW tried it this past year and we got a few. She was growing ----ake. But, it was so dry here in Alabama we couldn't keep the logs moist enough but she will probably try again this year. Gary