How to Grow Mushrooms: Your Mushroom Guide 101

Portobello, Shitake, White Cap, Oyster. These are just a few of the many mushroom species available on your market. It is true that you buy most of the mushrooms in the market, but would it give you more pleasure to grow them yourself?

Looking at those white globes would make you think it might be too difficult to grow, let alone grow mushrooms. But then again, appearances can be deceiving. And it sure does! Mushrooms are one of those things that can surely capture your imagination. They may look delicate to the eye, but it really doesn’t take an expert hand to grow these babies. Check out buy magic mushrooms uk

What kind of mushroom do you want to grow?

This is an important part of the process if you want to grow your own mushroom garden. The reason you need to know the type of mushroom is that each mushroom has different needs. Some mushrooms are best used as studs and others need to be spawned. But for beginners, it is suggested that you use mushroom grow kits to make it easy to do, plus this can become a small project during the fall or spring.

Another factor that you should consider is the substrate where you are going to “plant” your mushroom seeds.

Log substrate

Some mushrooms are best planted on logs such as willows, oaks, and beech trees. These include oyster mushroom and shitake mushroom. Actually, it is not planted directly on the trunks. You need studs for that. These plugs are saturated with mycelium, the part of the mushroom from which the mushrooms we eat sprout. These plugs are then inserted into the trunk, sealed with a bit of wax to prevent any contamination, stored in a dark, dry place until the mushrooms are ready to be harvested. Logs should be protected from direct sunlight and strong winds. So better wrap them in a black polythene bag. The fungi would take about a year and a half to colonize the entire trunk.

Straw substrate

Perhaps one of the easiest substrates to handle is straw. First, you need to sterilize the straw. Do this by pouring boiling water over the straw. Once the straw has cooled, sprinkle on the seed, which is included in the mushroom kit. Be sure to shake the bag with the straw and the seed to spread it out evenly. Seal the bag. Place this is a dark and humid place. Mushrooms can be harvested in about 6 weeks.

Outdoor mushroom growing

This is one of the traditional ways of growing mushrooms. Use grain seed to inoculate fungi into manure or soil substrate.