Mushrooms anyone?

[MB3MB3]

I have tried growing some, but so far had no luck, only contams. I need to get some more culture to try again. I really wanted some fresh oysters, too
but my rental is really drafty and dusty, and I have kids and cats, etc. and don't have a proper SAB (let alone flow hood) so I potentially may not have any luck until I have money to buy more and better things.

[epsilon]

There are plans abound on the internet on constructing a home made flow hood and sterile work area. most plans run about 200$ although you can get away with a clean work area for less than 50$ I think all you need is a large storage tub long rubber gloves and silicone sealer. plus a spray bottle with 4:1 bleach solution.

[RootLoops]

i had a lot of success just using a clear sterilite tote with holes cut out for arms to go in. i just wiped the inside with alcohol liberally and usually used a shot of ozium or neutra air before spawning and grain inoculation and my environment is coated with spores of all kinds. the thing to keep in mind is that the air in the box should be still and not moving at all. like epsilon said plans abound from simple to super complicated.

self healing injector ports are a big help for folks with no hood(wish i had one). oysters are a lot more aggressive than most mushrooms i've seen them eat right through patches of green mold and go on to spawn clean colonies. those are the exception though most of the time green mold spells death for mushrooms.

i ordered some agar and a pressure cooker seal a little while ago when that all comes in i'll start a thread on the method i use, which is just one of many many many ways to grow them.

[Paul R]

Blue oyster fruiting from a straw bag that was inoculated with spawned wild bird seed.

Paul R

[RootLoops]

nice bag! i love birdseed, it's my spawn grain of choice

[bower]

I've grown Reishi from a kit - indoors though - and got some nice mushrooms and a big bag of spores from it. Friends of mine also dropped off an inoculated log here two years ago after helping another friend to set up a bunch of them - don't know whether it was oyster or ★★★★ake but got nothing so far, not sure how the other guy did.

Any tips on ★★★★ake would be interesting, it's a favourite but doesn't grow in these parts.

We do have a good variety of wild edibles here, and I enjoy the hunt as much as the food...

[RootLoops]

i'm not too familiar with shiitake i've only grown them from pre spawned and browned blocks. i would reason that if you only want enough to eat and share the easiest route would be plugs in logs. have you kept them watered? they need regular watering to keep growing. also the more plugs you put in the faster the log will fruit, less plugs takes longer to colonize. if you can find out where he got the spawn plugs the company might have some strain specific info

[henry]

Fun thread to watch I have never grown mushrooms but I might get hooked on growing them.

[ChrisK]

Can you provide detail on this method?

Originally Posted by Paul R

Blue oyster fruiting from a straw bag that was inoculated with spawned wild bird seed.

Paul R

[RootLoops]

culture starts out as mycelium on agar plates. you use that tissue to inoculate sterilized, hydrated bird seed in mason jars. once the mycelium has colonized the seed you break it up into individual grains again and add that in layers with hydrated sterilized or pasteurized(most common) wheat straw or hay or whatever you are growing the mushrooms on.

once the oyster finishes the hay it will start to form little white knots here and there. you cut out a hole or an "X" over the knots with a razor and spray the holes a couple times a day with water to keep them moist. most of the oysters i've grown indoors will fruit in the open air with no humidity chamber, though they will fruit best if you optimize an environment for them.

one thing i love about mushrooms is that you can clone them fairly easily, so if you happen to get a really nice cluster you can transfer it's tissue onto agar and essentially grow only the mushrooms that are in the cluster over and over again until the culture loses steam. however even if you've ran a clone until it's no longer productive you can start right back from square one by growing out the original, or "master", culture again. you can also clone store bought mushrooms and get pretty decent results for home use

[Paul R]

ChrisK, RootLoops gave a good run down on the process it takes to produce mushrooms. Anyone interested in growing mushrooms for the first time I suggest buying a block or bag that is already inoculated and ready to produce.

bower, shiitake logs benefit from a good soaking (submerged) for about 24 hours to shock them into fruiting. Keep the logs damp and shaded.

Paul R

[RootLoops]

Originally Posted by Paul R

ChrisK, RootLoops gave a good run down on the process it takes to produce mushrooms. Anyone interested in growing mushrooms for the first time I suggest buying a block or bag that is already inoculated and ready to produce.

bower, shiitake logs benefit from a good soaking (submerged) for about 24 hours to shock them into fruiting. Keep the logs damp and shaded.

Paul R

i agree with the advice on the blocks, once you see them grow the wonder of how will take over. and besides that you can clone some nice fruits off the blocks you buy, and grow them out all you want on your own if you choose to get that far into the hobby

[ChrisK]

I've grown a species of oyster with the cardboard and coffee grounds method above. What other species can you grow this way or like you show below? I don't really have the inclination to do the log inoculation right now.

Whats a good method of pasteurizing the straw? Approx. how much straw do you use and what size bag is that shown below?

Originally Posted by Paul R

Blue oyster fruiting from a straw bag that was inoculated with spawned wild bird seed.

Paul R

[RootLoops]

i have ordered the things i need and i have some cultures on the way, once they get here i will post a thread about how i do it, which is just one of many ways to go about it. maybe others will post their ways of doing things and we can get a few more folks into the hobby.

there are several species that will grow using basically the same methods, at least the grain part anyway. the process for growing reishi is about the same, only with wood chips or sawdust instead of straw. pretty much once you learn how to grow one most of that knowledge can be transferred to other varieties. Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms by Paul Stamets is a good read that has lots of info on a wide range of mushrooms and their specific needs and fruiting parameters, you might be able to find it at a local library or used online pretty cheap

[Paul R]

Here is an easy to grow mushroom. Wine Cap or Garden Giant (Stropharia rugosa annulata). Grab some wood chips according to the recommended cubic feet the spawn bag is capable of inoculating, water chips, add spawn, mix and level. You can find wood chips at compost sites and utilities. Inoculate the bed in the spring and harvest fruit late summer early fall. The following year you can pick all summer. The pic below is one I let go just to see how big it would get. I bought the spawn bag from Field and Forest.


Paul R