opening your grow kit and following the directions on the side of the box (if pre-ordered), misting and the most fun part – harvesting!( you’d typically notice growth after about 7 – 15 days).
A stubborn kit presents its own frustrations and even worse is the bad feeling you have when you find out your mushrooms aren’t growing.
What to do if you have issues with why your mushrooms aren’t growing? – Troubleshoot!
How long did you store the farm( grow kit) before growing it?
It’s true the farm can stay considerably fresh in the box for months before you start growing your mushrooms. Make sure however that you keep your farm in a cool area/room that doesn’t receive any direct sunlight (i.e., closet, bedroom). But once opened you need oxygen, water, and light to activate your farm!
Where are you growing your farm?
If your home is always dry or on a high altitude, remember mushrooms need oxygen so it’s important to remove the additional plastic bag / newspaper around the kit as soon as you notice mushrooms growing. Then water the Mushroom Farm as instructed on your grow box. The more water you give your mushrooms the bigger and faster they grow so don’t ever be afraid of over-watering! You could also consider using a window sill, a perfect fit for you urban dwellers out there. But ideally, you want to grow your mushrooms indoors with indirect sunlight and a bit of fresh air. Indirect sunlight will help the mushroom caps develop to their full potential. Once you see the tiny pinheads pop out, they’ll double in size each day!
We recommend that you continue to mist daily. If you have to travel for example but can’t find a mushroom farm babysitter, just re-soak your mushroom farm over night when you return for an extra boost!
Re-soak your Mushroom Farm (if your grow kit is pre-ordered) for a few hours, up to overnight.
Mind temperature: After the first harvest, your Mushroom Farm is more sensitive to temperature. Try to keep the kit in a bright area around 70 degrees if possible.
Water, water, water!: Don’t let it dry out. You can even grow your farm using a humidity tent. Take a plastic bag or newspaper and cover the kit. Spray/drizzle water directly on to the mushroom kit everyday. The humidity tent helps trap in the moisture and you will notice a little moisture present on the surface of the mycelium.
Score the surface of the mushroom kit with a fork and re-soak the kit overnight.
Place kit in a brighter area (filtered light is best).
Keep the surface saturated. The more water the better. With additional moisture and light your mushroom kit should pin after another week.
If you don’t see any growth in 10 days, take the bag out of the box and re-soak your kit overnight in cold water. Additional watering will help boost your Mushroom Farm into fruiting.
Remember, mushrooms need oxygen so it’s important to remove the additional plastic bag / newspaper as soon as you notice mushrooms growing. Then water the Mushroom Farm as instructed on our box. The more water you give your mushrooms the bigger and faster they grow so don’t ever be afraid of over-watering!
Growing mushrooms is a short cycle business with high turnover rates.The average production time line for cultivated mushrooms is three (3) months.
A mushroom farm or cropping house should be sited on a low ground field that has a moist and damp atmosphere around as this encourages growth.
For ease of operation, movement in the cropping house as well as management of supply schedules, it is advisable to divide the cropping house into compartments.
Once brought in, mushrooms should be allowed to recover from transportation shocks at least within a period of four days. It is important to given special attention to hygienic conditions in and around the growing house before mushrooms are brought in for stocking.
Bags should be opened as planned to meet supply schedules. Routine watering and harvesting should be done early in the morning.
If necessary conditions are met, growing mushrooms should flush within 6 days after opening the compost bags. Humidity range between 70-75% and temperature between 20-30 degrees are favorable.
The number of mushrooms flushing per bag is usually determined by the biological efficiency of the compost bags and necessary conditions of high humidity, low temperature, maximum aeration and adequate watering.
Adding value to your mushrooms not only gives you an advantage over your competitors but also makes consumers want to pay premium price for your products.
In growing mushrooms, value addition could range from totally processing the mushrooms into other products or just adding a creative touch that makes it different from what’s already on the market.
In both cases however the choice is yours to make. The issue here is to exceed your customers expectation so you can build good relationships and boost your profits.Your customer is satisfied and you get paid for it. It’s that simple!
Growing oyster mushrooms is a good way to start a mushroom farm business. Oyster mushrooms are typical home grown mushrooms.
Growing oyster mushrooms is relatively easy and inexpensive. You need practically no experience at all to start.
There’s need to have a good structure in place with the quantity of compost bags you want to house in mind. Your production capacity determines the quality and quantity of materials you would need.
Your cropping house could be made of concrete but using treated wood or even bamboo is relatively cheap and equally good for our purposes.
A simple shed firmly supported by wooden frames and roofed with thatch is good enough to start you off. It is advisable to use materials that can withstand the weather conditions in your locality.
The shed should have enough shade against direct sunlight and be located in a suitable place preferably a hygienic low ground field.
The growing system largely used for oyster mushroom production is the tray or shelve system. This is because the production of oyster mushrooms mainly requires the use of compost bags.
It is important to consider the direction of air flow when mounting your shelves. The shelves are usually slightly slanted to support the compost bags adequately and reduce the incidence of the bags falling off and also to enhance watering.
The compost bags are essential when it comes to growing oyster mushrooms and starting the process without them is like going for a hike without a back pack. It is imperative to decide whether your bags will come from an external supplier or from yourself.
This is necessary as it gives you a fair idea of how your production will run. In either case, once the bags arrive they should be allowed a number of days to recover from shocks of transportation and handling.
Stocking can begin after the fifth day when you are sure the right conditions have been established.
The tips of the compost bags should be carefully cut open just sizable enough but not too wide. Gently scrape the surface and water generously. Keep watering to maintain a moist atmosphere.
Constantly monitor humidity and temperature in your cropping house. This can easily be done by putting a thermometer/hydrometer at vantage points in your cropping house to take readings.
Ideally, temperatures should range between 20-30 degrees and humidity, 70 and above. Water intermittently and always keep the cropping house moist. Growing oyster mushrooms start flushing by the sixth day when necessary conditions are in place. Watering should continue nonetheless.
You can harvest mushrooms from your compost bags over a 2-month period. Mushrooms are ready for harvest after every sixth day but it is advisable to harvest according to your marketing plan. Oyster mushrooms can be dried after harvesting to give them a longer shelf life.
Return from growing Oyster Mushrooms to Mushroom Farming.
Attempts in growing Morel Mushrooms artificially have not been successful because of their need for just the right growing conditions, they only currently grow in the wild.
Morels grow in most temperate climates around the world and they can only be found during spring and early summer. There are many factors that affect the abundance of morels each season but weather plays the biggest role.
Like other mushrooms, growing morel mushrooms do well when daytime temperatures are between 60 and 70 degrees with nighttime temperatures of 45 degrees or more. Ideally, soil temperatures should range between 50 to 60 degrees and be moderately moist.
They are usually found in small patches under dead or dying elms, ash, apple and even pine trees. They seem to like to hide under or near thickets, deciduous trees e.g. oak and poplars or other small plants growing in the area.
However, since the ground cover varies a lot each set of mushrooms you come across may be growing in totally different conditions. Though morels cannot be grown, they can be found especially after a forest fire when nutrients released into the soil encourage their growth. The yellow, black and half-free morel mushrooms are the most common species and are the only three native to North America.
Grown Morel mushrooms can last for about two weeks before it starts to decay if the weather is good. It is necessary that you examine each one collected for any decay. Look particularly under the caps for any signs of decay.
Hunting for grown morel mushrooms typically runs from early April and runs through June depending on your geographical location. The Great Lake region in the United States is the most popular hunting grounds for morel mushrooms but they have also been found in almost all of the lower 48 states.
If you are new at hunting morel mushrooms it is advisable to accompany someone who is experienced. Be on the lookout for the false morel a mushroom that looks similar to a morel but that is incredibly toxic when eaten raw. The false morel contains a toxin that causes fatal liver failure and damage to the central nervous system.
Simply pinch or twist of the mushroom at ground level to harvest. Collection should be done into a large open weave bag. After harvesting, take them to a sink and give them a quick rinse under cold water to remove any foreign particles.
Cut them lengthwise and rinse them again. Store the clean mushrooms in a bowl ready to be used. The harvested mushrooms should not be kept for more than three or four days before eating.
Hunt for them like you would hunt for any other treasure from the woods. It can be a little tiring but it’s a lot of fun.
Hunting for Morel mushrooms is a good way to keep in touch with nature and still get paid a lot of money especially because these groups of mushrooms are considered a culinary delicacy and most top restaurants will readily buy.
So keep an eye out for growing Morel Mushrooms at a location near you. It’s virtually at no cost at all to you… less equipments, less physical work and less environmental impact. Just take advantage of the hunting season and make the most of it.
Return from growing Morel Mushrooms to Mushroom Farming.
Mushroom seed commonly called mushroom spawn in the mushroom industry is a result of mycelia expansion. They are generally very expensive, difficult to find and do not travel well over long distances.
Most beginners prefer to start with mushroom growing kits or so-called ready-to-fruit bags from which they can harvest mushrooms by just providing the proper conditions for mushroom growing.
However, others might have started with the organic materials for mushroom growing, i.e. substrate and mushroom seed purchased from their local provider.
The advantage is that whilst those who use the already made kit can see only fruiting, the second group of farmers experience both phases of the mushroom life cycle; vegetative growth and fruiting.
In other words, farmers who produce their own spawns gain a greater understanding and knowledge of the mushroom growing process.
Spawns are used to transfer mycelium onto any material from which mushrooms will grow, called a substrate. There are many different kinds of substrates, with straw, cardboard, logs, and wood chips just being a few examples.
Sawdust Spawn :is sterilized sawdust that has been inoculated with mycelium, often by grain spawn. The sawdust is usually made out of some type of hardwood with pieces neither too large nor too fine (a few mm in diameter).
Sawdust spawn can be used to inoculate logs, outdoor mushroom beds, pasteurized straw, cardboard, and a variety of other substrates. It’s also used to inoculate wooden dowels to create plug spawn. One of the main advantages of mushroom spawn in the form of sawdust is the size of the particles. Because they are so small and numerous, there are many more inoculation points for the mycelium to grow into the substrate. This results in faster mycelium colonization with less time for contaminants to take hold.
A disadvantage of sawdust spawn is that, on its own, it’s not as nutritious for mushroom growing as one would like. Thus you may be disappointed with your yield if you try to grow mushrooms from straight sawdust.
Mushroom growing kits made from sawdust are usually enriched with bran or some other source of nitrogen to increase yields.
Grain spawn: is sterilized grain that has been inoculated with spores or a sterile culture of mycelium. Many types of grain can be used with rye and millet being some of the most common. Other choices are corn, wheat, and different cereal grains.
Grain spawn can be used to create sawdust spawn, more grain spawn, or inoculate all sorts of pasteurized substrates such as straw.A big advantage of using grain is that it’s much more nutritious than sawdust, making it ideal to create more spawn or to inoculate indoor substrates.
A disadvantage is that it’s not as good a choice for inoculating outdoor beds. The yummy grains are a big target for birds and rodents Plug/Dowel:Plug spawn is a collection of small wooden dowels that have been inoculated with mycelium.
This can be done with sawdust spawn, or even with stems of live mushrooms.
An advantage of plug spawn is that it’s very effective for inoculating substrates made from wood or fibers. It easily colonizes cardboard, wood chips, paper, stumps, and logs. But its not always the best choice for straw or grain based substrates.
Woodchip spawn – Made from woodchips of various hardwoods.
Straw spawn – Pasteurized straw inoculated with mycelium.
Sawdust spawn plugs – Sawdust spawn in the shape of a plug with Styrofoam on the end.
The best way to get the most from your mushroom spawn is to match it to your substrate.
For example, if you want to grow mushrooms on logs, a wood-based spawn such as plugs or sawdust is best. The argument is that the mycelium is already familiar with this material, reducing colonization time.
Certain mushrooms also grow better on certain substrates. Before starting, research the types of mushrooms you want to grow to see which substrate to use.
Below lists which substrates are best for which spawn. This is just a general guideline; there are no hard and fast rules about it.
A little research regarding your mushroom and spawn type in the beginning can save you a lot of time and hassle in the long run. If you’re overwhelmed, it’s best to start with some easy mushroom growing kits to help you understand the fungal life cycle Once you’ve learned the about acquisition, handling and storage, the fun can begin!
Mushroom spawn can be purchased from a variety of different producers, either over the Internet or offline. Since there are many companies out there, it is advisable to do a little research to find one highly recommended. Quality varies greatly so take your time to find someplace good.
Spawn should come to you with a date of inoculation on it. Pay attention to this date, as degradation due to mold, bacteria, and waste products will happen quickly.
Mushroom spawn is a “use it or lose it” product, and rarely lasts beyond 2 months.
Thus you should use it as soon as possible after it arrives. If not, refrigerate it to prolong its life span. Keep in mind that you’re still working against the clock, so bust out that spawn as soon as you can!
Purchasing spawn is just fine for the occasional mushroom grower, but if you want to continuously grow a lot of mushrooms or start growing on a commercial level producing the spawns yourself is a better option. It isn’t too difficult, but it does require more sterile procedures.
Mushroom Kits are a perfect companion if growing your own food is the kind activity you want for the whole family. It is not only rewarding but also a healthy experience that is fun.
Grow kits help you learn the basics of mushroom growing; since someone else does the hard work of preparing the spawn and growing out the mycelium for you.
All you need to give them is water, fresh air, and lots of tender loving care.
You can check out one of these quality kits from Amazon.com. They have a good selection and fair prices.
Most mushroom grow kits arrive wrapped in a plastic incubation bag with a filter patch which allows the mycelium to breathe.
Not all mushroom kits come in the form of sawdust blocks. Some are simply mushroom spawn that needs to be “planted” in another material in order to grow mushrooms. Others are a bag of mycelium and pasteurized straw.
A typical mushroom kit comes with instructions on growing a specific kind of mushroom that is easy to follow.
Leave the sawdust block still wrapped in plastic in the refrigerator for a few days.This is what mushroom growers call “cold shocking”, done to simulate fall temperatures and encourage the mycelium to produce mushrooms before winter.
After 3 days cut the top off the plastic bag and place the bag and kit in a big container.
Fill the entire thing with water, and weigh the kit down with some heavy dishes.
These mushroom kits come with a “humidity tent”, which is a bag of clear plastic with small holes in it. Poke the kit with chopsticks so they would stick out and keep the tent inflated.
Cover the kit with the tent and mist it with water a few times a day. Mushrooms will appear in less than a week.
Just as you’ll expect more than one flush if you were going through the normal production process, these mushroom kits continue to produce every few weeks for up to 6 months.
After the kit rests it’s simply a matter of repeating the process over again, with refrigeration being optional. Soak it overnight in water, set up the humidity tent, and resume the misting cycle.
Mushrooms should appear within two weeks. As you’ll notice, the kit takes on a browner, leathery appearance as it gets older.
This is normal and harmless so don’t be alarmed. You can continue this process for months until the kit has shrank, darkened, and stopped producing mushrooms. After that you can put it outside somewhere in a compost pile.
Overall, you should be happy with your purchased kit if it was from a good source.
Mushroom kits make great gifts for both those just learning how to grow mushrooms and the advanced cultivator alike.
Mushroom-source.com is all about an adventure through the world of mushrooms; plus its filled with lots of goodies including tasty mushroom recipes; mushroom growing guides, detailed information about every kind of mushroom out there including edible mushrooms, psychedelic mushrooms, and the few toxic mushrooms that you should definitely avoid.
Well — that’s what me and my friendly helper here at mushroom-source have been up to( as you might have already guessed?). But, now, I’d like to throw the ball into your court.
I would love to hear about your best experiences, your most interesting information on mushrooms, your top mushroom growing tips… anything about mushrooms that you’d love to share.
If you’ve had anything to do with mushrooms or just adore these remarkable gifts of nature as much as we do, then share your mushroom stories with us! I can’t wait to hear them and I’m sure others who visit this site will thank you, too!
Do you have mouth watering recipe ideas that can liven up meal times? Carve a niche for yourself by sharing it!
What’s the latest discovery you made from your mushroom hunting expedition in the woods? It will be fun to share them with the rest of the world including any ID issues you found amazing.
How do you prefer to cook and eat your mushrooms? Share with us!your most embarrassing or breath taking moment in the mushroom kitchen.
Shiitake mushrooms are good to eat, an excellent source of protein, trace minerals, B and D vitamins, and low in both fat and calories. Shiitakes also have been proven to reduce cholesterol.
Home production of these mushrooms can be a rewarding and delectable hobby. They can be grown year-around indoors and out; on hardwood logs or blocks of sawdust; with an all-out effort or just casually.
The “shee- Ta-ke” mushroom is used in food and can be found in health food stores. This mushroom is growing in popularity in the U.S. and Europe due to its flavor and consistency.
Shiitakes typically grow on rotting hardwood; in commercial production, the moisture and temperature of logs used for growing must be carefully controlled.
Shiitake mushrooms do not bruise easily and can be stored for up to a month if harvested at the right time and refrigerated in “vegetable bags.” They can also be dried and stored in sealed plastic bags for up to 2 years.
Growing shiitake mushrooms does require patience. You can establish a shiitake garden by purchasing or cutting your own logs in the dormant season, and inoculating them yourself. It will take 6 to 12 months for these logs to produce mushrooms. For those with less patience, you can buy sawdust blocks or pre inoculated logs. You should be able to fruit them right away.
If you inoculate the logs yourself, order your spawn (the form of the shiitake fungus that grows through the log) from a reputable dealer 1 to 2 months before you plan to cut your trees. Spawn producers may not have the most desirable strains available if you wait too late to order. Give the spawn dealer your desired shipping date so your spawn will be as fresh as possible.
There are several shiitake strains (varieties) available. They are usually categorized by fruiting temperature requirements. Shiitake will generally fruit (form the edible mushrooms) at log temperatures between 41 and 86 degrees F.
· Cool season strains fruit at 41 to 68 degrees F.
· Wide range strains fruit at 50 to 80 degrees F.
· Warm season strains fruit between 50 and 86 degrees F.
Strains may also vary in productivity, appearance, mushroom size and length of time it takes to fruit.
Select strains that will fruit in the environment where you plan to develop your shiitake garden.
If you plan to use the shade of a maple tree, inoculate logs with a warm season strain for summer fruiting.
If you want to harvest mushrooms in winter, inoculate logs with a cool season strain. A wide range strain can be used for spring and fall production.
Logs grown indoors should be inoculated with a strain that grows at the temperature of the growing room you plan to use.
All strains can be purchased as sawdust or dowel spawns. Your spawn should be white and fluffy when you receive it . There should be little or no liquid in the bottom of the bag. If there are green patches (Trichoderma, a weed fungi), contact the vendor and ask for new spawn.
If the spawn is brown and loose, the mycelium is not well knitted and it was sent to you before it was ready for you to use.
You can store spawn at about 65 to 70 degrees F in a moist environment for a few weeks, to see if it will turn white, or you can return it and ask for your money back or a white bag of spawn. If you receive your spawn more than a few days before you plan to inoculate, you should place it in the refrigerator or a very cool basement.
Move spawn to room temperature about 24 hours before you plan to inoculate. When ordering a pre inoculated log or sawdust block, make sure you tell the supplier the fruiting temperature conditions, so you will get the right inoculated strain.
The three types of trees most often used for production of shiitake mushrooms are white oak, red oak, and sweet gum. White oaks are the most productive and are bothered the least by invasions of foreign or weed fungi. But, white oaks require the most patience, since it usually takes 8 to 12 months from inoculation before the mushrooms first begin to fruit.
Red oak and sweet gum have softer wood and will produce mushrooms in 6 to 8 months. They also require more careful management since they are more susceptible to other fungi, bark peeling, and rapid water loss.
Shiitake mushrooms will also grow on American hop hornbeam, ironwood, laurel oak, cherry, sassafras, sycamore, tulip poplar, and hickory.
How well the shiitake mushrooms grow on logs from these trees depends on how much care you give the logs and how well you control moisture, temperature, and exposure to other fungi. Other types of trees can be used for growing shiitake mushrooms, but under the best of conditions, you will only harvest a few mushrooms per log.
Continue Reading about Shiitake mushrooms here.
Pasteurizing straw for growing mushrooms.
Pasteurizing straw for growing mushrooms can be done in several ways; either by using the conventional method which involves pasteurization or the cold method which involves using a hydrated lime bath.
Substrate is the medium on which the cultivated mycelium grows and Straw is a fine substrate for the commercial growth of many varieties of mushroom, because it provides the necessary cellulose base for fruiting. But it must be properly prepared for mycelia growth since it is prone to green molds.
That’s what makes pasteurization very crucial to the whole process and it has to be done before inoculating with the mushroom spawn.
Sometimes, even with proper pasteurization, straw will naturally begin to contaminate with molds within two weeks if not fully colonized (because of competition from other organisms).
Therefore, it’s equally important to only use aggressive, fast colonizing species/strains with straw, and to provide the correct conditions for colonization so that the project is fully colonized within the 2-week time frame you have available.
Straw must first be chopped and hydrated. Chop the straw into pieces to break the waterproof coating on the straw and enable it to absorb water, providing a better medium for the mycelium to grow.
It will be worth investing in a chopper if you’re doing a large quantity of straw but if you’re growing at home, you can place the broken up (from the bale) straw into a clean trashcan or any other container, and then go at it with your weed eater. Other growers might lay it on the driveway or yard and use the lawnmower. But really, any method you devise to get the straw chopped up will be fine.
Hydrate the chopped straw in a container of warm water. The warm water is optional, but I’ve found the warm water hydrates the straw faster. Push the straw into the warm water and agitate it with your hands to work up. Allow it to sit for two to four hours.
Pasteurization straw fro growing mushrooms is the most critical step in the whole process. The grower “must”pay close attention to the time and temperature.
Pasteurization can be done in a 55-gallon steel drum and a simple heat source for the drum can either be a propane weed burner focused on the bottom of the barrel, or Cast iron camp stove, or even firewood.
First, pack the straw into a large burlap bag or a wire mesh basket made from hardware cloth. Then heat the water in the drum to 160° -170°.
After the water has reached 160° to 170°, place the filled bag or basket in the water. After about 15 minutes, turn off the heat. Leave immersed for about 30 minutes more, then remove and drain for 10 to 15 minutes.
Allow to cool by placing the pasteurized straw into a mixing container to finish cooling. Once cool, it’s ready for spawning.
Spawning must be done in a clean room to avoid contamination. A proper mix should have the dry weight of the substrate calculated, and add 10% of that weight in spawn added.
Now mix the spawn into the cooled straw. Mix the spawn into the substrate until evenly distributed. Fill the inoculated straw tightly into clear plastic bags (or tubes for larger quantities).
Be sure to package it tightly, then tie the top off with a wire tie, or fold the top over and use packing tape to create a seal.
Note: It doesn’t have to be air tight, as the bag should be no smaller than about the size of a gallon jar. Tubes can be created using plastic tubing up to 16 inches in diameter and 8 feet long.
Punch needle holes right after bagging to allow for adequate aeration. It is advisable to let the mixture breathe otherwise, it will go anaerobic and the spawn may die or the straw will go sour.
Return from Pasteurizing straw for growing Mushrooms to Mushroom Farming.