How to Plant and Grow Mushrooms

Love mushrooms in your food? Like to grow mushrooms at home but don’t know where to start? If yes is your answer, this guide is for you that will help you with how to grow mushrooms at home.

Not only that, this article will cover types of mushrooms and caring tips that will help you in growing the shrub in your home. Keep scrolling!

Thinking of growing mushrooms at your home? They are extremely delicate and need care and a controlled environment to grow.

Mushrooms can be cultivated in indoor spaces by creating an ideal temperature and perfect ambiance. 

Many people choose them to grow in their homes because of their high nutritional value and low calories. It is also rich in selenium and potassium. Therefore, if you want to grow mushrooms at your home, then follow this guide.

This guide will provide you with a complete stepwise guide that helps you grow mushrooms very easily and which variety you can cultivate quickly. 

But, before that, let’s know more about Mushrooms and types of varieties that can easily be grown in the home. 

All About Mushrooms

Basidiomycota

Mushroom belongs to the fungus group, which has a fleshy body and spawns from the mushroom spore.

There are more than a hundred varieties of mushrooms available in the market. Some of the varieties are edible and used in various dishes and even in the Pizza as toppings and in risotto.

Different types of mushrooms are available for cultivation and can be eaten. However, some varieties of mushrooms, such as mushroom mycelium, are known as binding agents.

This variety of fungus doesn’t grow like other vegetables. It’s not a plant; instead, it’s a fungus that requires a special growing medium and the right attention. 

Some varieties of mushrooms are ready to harvest within a few weeks, while some take a few months for cultivation.

The next section will talk about varieties of mushroom that you grow in your home easily with the help of the guide below. Let’s check! 

Mushrooms Varieties

Home gardeners love to grow edible varieties of mushrooms at your home. However, some commercial varieties are also available that are can be grown in your home. These are as follows:

1. Oyster Mushrooms

Oyster mushrooms are best to grow in your places. This is light brown to off-white and has a slight fan shape.

It has a sweet flavor and is often used in preparing soups and many Chinese cuisines.

2. Shiitake Mushrooms

This variety of mushrooms is famous in Japanese cuisines. It has a meaty texture and releases intense flavors when cooking them.

They can be eaten fried, as pizza toppings, roasted and stir-fried. 

3. Lion’s Mane Mushrooms 

It belongs to the group of tooth fungi with fruits. These mushrooms have bulbous shapes, and they resemble a large beard and lion’s mane. 

4. White Button Mushrooms 

This is one of the simplest varieties of mushrooms and has a spongy texture. You can also use them for pizza toppings. 

5. Maitake Mushrooms 

This variety is also famous by the name of Hen-of the wood. It can be cultivated in your homes and even found in wild regions.

It has a soft overlapped cap and is sold as a cluster of mushrooms. This mushroom has an earthy texture.

6. Portobello Mushrooms

This is one of the popular varieties of mushroom best known in Italian cuisines. It is sometimes also used as a meaty substitute for burgers and other cuisines. 

These are some of the varieties of mushrooms that you can think to grow at your home. Check the details and choose as which one you want to cultivate and start growing reading below. 

Where to Grow Mushrooms

Mushrooms require cool places to grow. They are sensitive to light so you can grow them in a dark place. It grows well in a high humid environment, so you can choose your home basement to cultivate the mushrooms.

However, before proceeding with the mushroom cultivation, check out the location temperature. It should be between 55 to 60 degrees F. 

Ensure that the location is away from the direct heat. The mushrooms grow best in cool and damp places. So, winters would be the perfect season to grow them.

They grow in dark places so try to create the perfect environment; otherwise, choose the dark locations to grow mushrooms. 

How to Grow Mushroom

Now, you know all the varieties of mushroom that can be grown. Let’s see how you can grow these mushrooms at home.

There are few methods that can be tried to grow mushrooms. We have mentioned all the ways that you check out below starting from the most basic method. Have a look! 

Method 1. Grow Mushroom Using Basic Method

Let’s start growing mushrooms using the most basic method following the below step-by-step guide: 

1. Select the Variety Of Mushrooms 

Ideally, three types of edible mushrooms are available that are easy to grow. The varieties are the white button, oyster, and Shiitake.

The mushrooms are easy to grow but require different substrates to cultivate.

Oyster mushrooms grow perfectly in coffee grounds and straws. The Shiitake can easily grow on hardwood sawdust. The button mushrooms can be cultivated in the compost manure.

Along with these, all the varieties requires different nutrition and environmental condition to grow. You can also choose the variety that you want to grow. 

2. Buy The Mushroom Spawns

Mushroom spawns are permeated mushrooms generally present with mycelia. This is considered the root structure used as the plant seedlings grow.

You can buy any high-quality mushroom spawn from offline and online stores.

But make sure to purchase spawns instead of spores. It consumes a lot of time to cultivate mushrooms from spores, so it’s better to grow from spawns. 

3. Sterilize Growing Medium 

If you are cultivating mushrooms in sawdust and straw, then sterilize them into the growing medium before you inoculate the spawns.

This helps to kill microbes present in sawdust and straws. You can add water to the sawdust and heat them for a few minutes for sterilization. 

4. Preheat the Substrate 

Before putting the pawn into the substrate, make sure to spread the substrate and preheat them. This encourages creating the ideal temperature to grow mushrooms. Follow the below process to preheat the substrate: 

• Place a substrate into the baking pan. A shallow pan is great for heating the substrate.

• Once you heat the substrate, mix the spawns into the sterilized medium and place the pan to heat again.

• It helps to create an ideal temperature and keep the substrate warm. 

•  Now, keep the set-up in a dark environment, and within a few weeks, the mushrooms will appear. 

5. Place Mixture in Ideal Environment

After a few weeks, you can get the completely colonized mycelium, and your substrate looks like white snowy fuzz. It takes two to four weeks to cultivate the fuzz.

If you observe the colonies, move the pan to a dark and shady place where the temperature is around 55 degrees F. 

• Generally, you can prefer to have the home’s basement or the darkroom. Before placing them into the dark places, check the dark spots on the fungus. If these spots are present, remove them from the substrate. 

• Cover your substrate with a potting mix and pray for water to moisten the soil. You can also use a damp towel to maintain the moisture in the soil.

• You can also place the low heating lamp near the spawns pan. This helps to create the ideal temperature and conditions to grow the mushrooms.

• Periodically add water and keep the soil moist. Also, maintain the ideal temperature and keep the environment cool.

• If the environment is too hot, then the mushroom doesn’t grow. Generally, try to maintain 70 degrees F temperature. 

6. Harvest Mushrooms When Mature 

Within a few weeks, you will see small mushroom bulbs appear. Maintain the ideal temperature when keeping the soil moist. Encourage a dark room and cool environment. 

• When the caps of mushrooms mature fully or start separating from the stem, these are the signs that they are ready to harvest.

• You can pluck them manually with the help of your fingers.

• Do not damage the newly grown fungus which is present beneath the surface. 

• Use a sharp knife and cutter to cut the mushroom buds. 

• Store them in paper bags and keep them in refrigerators. 

This is one of the easiest methods to grow mushrooms at home. If you fancy growing other varieties of mushroom using coffee grounds, you should see our next section. 

Method 2. Grow Mushrooms with Coffee Grounds

Another method that many gardeners use to grow mushrooms is using coffee grounds. Below is the step-by-step guide that will help you doing that.

Follow and grow mushrooms at home. 

1. Get the Coffee Ground 

Mushroom cultivation from the coffee ground is easier and allows you to utilize the ground properly; otherwise, the material is a waste. It acts as the best medium to grow mushrooms.

Oyster species are best cultivated with this kind of method. The medium is already sterilized because of the coffee brewing process. 

You need at least 2.5 kg of fresh coffee ground for 500gm of mushroom spawn. The best method to get the fresh coffee ground is to go to the coffee café and get the coffee ground. 

2. Get The Right Container 

The best method to cultivate the mushroom is to use filter patch bags. These are easily available with mushroom spawns.

In addition to this, use large freezer bags or milk cartons to grow the mushrooms. Make sure the container has holes to maintain the drainage. 

3. Transfer Mushroom Spawns into the Selected Container

Before transferring the spawns into the container, be sure that your hands are sterilized completely. Use an antibacterial soap to clean your hands.

After that mix, the mushroom spawns into the selected coffee ground medium and breaks them properly so that mushroom spawns mix properly. Seal the container tightly to maintain the ideal temperature. 

4. Put the Containers in the Right Location

The mushroom requires a warm and dark location for cultivation. The temperature should be between 18 to 25°C or 64 and 77°F.

Leave the mushrooms in the place for three to four weeks or until they start producing the fuzz. Remove the dark spots if present because they may damage your growing mushrooms.

5. Relocate the Mushrooms 

Once the container gets filled with white colonies of the mycelia, you can move them into the brighter areas. However, make sure to avoid the sunlight. Mist the container twice a day to create the humidity effect. It helps to grow the mushrooms properly. 

6. Harvest Mushrooms

After spawning, you will see small mushrooms start sprouting within five to seven days. Continue to add water and misting so that mushrooms can grow to their full height. When the cups of the mushrooms are raised to the height, they are ready to harvest. 

When the sprouting is stopped, you can also plant the coffee ground in the outdoor places under the bark as compost to grow new mushrooms. 

Method 3. Grow Mushrooms Using Mushroom Kit

If you don’t know how to grow the mushrooms or don’t have time for care, then use the readymade mushroom cultivation kit.

The mushroom kit has everything, such as sterilized straw, plastic bags, and a mixture. You only need to maintain the ideal condition in your home.

Within seven to ten days, you will be able to cultivate your mushrooms and harvest their mushrooms. 

• The kit usually costs between $30 to $40 and is best suited for growing common varieties of mushrooms such as oysters, Lion’s mane, crimini, white button, and Shiitake.

• Place the bed in a bright location but ensure it is away from the bright sunlight. It would be great to choose the shady places. You can also choose the room to keep the kit. Mist the soil continually with the water to keep the soil moist and maintain the ideal temperature.

• The mushrooms will start sprouting within seven to ten days.

• The best thing about the kits is that you can finish with mushrooms, not with disappointments. Once cultivated, you can place them outdoors and compost the piles.

There’s one more method that can be used to grow mushrooms in your home garden. The method is to use wooden logs to cultivate mushrooms. Sounds interesting, find out the below section on how to do that.

How to Use Wooden Logs to Cultivate Mushrooms

You may have seen button mushrooms growing near the damp wood logs after a rainy season. So, you can also use wooden logs to grow mushrooms. However, the logs need extra care and attention after dowels are placed into them. But before insertion, you need to drill the logs. 

The logs should be hardwood, not softwood, and cutting should be taken from the healthy wood, not conifers. The wooden logs you can use are beech, oak, hornbeam, hazel, chestnut, maple, birch, and holly. Also, the diameter of the logs must be 10-15 cm, and the length must be 45-60 cm. 

Make the holes with the help of a driller. The gap between the holes should be 15 cm. Now, you can place the impregnated dowels into the holes. The mushroom kit includes sealing wax which you can use to seal the holes.

Once you’re done with the insertion, place these wooden logs in a dark shady place. You can also keep them under the bigger trees with one of its ends touching the ground, whereas the other end is popping upward.

Ensure that the log remains moist and have patience because the first button of the mushroom may take several months and even more than 18 months to grow. 

Have Home Grown Mushrooms in your Plate!

This is all we have now for you on how to grow mushrooms at home. We have discussed most of the methods that gardeners use around the world to grow mushrooms. 

Mushroom cultivation is so fascinating and a great experience on its own. So, now you have the complete guide on successfully cultivating the best mushrooms at your place. Start growing these mushrooms and enjoy making super meals.

However, keep in mind to use the proper kit to cultivate the mushrooms. Always grow them in dark places. Keep the soil moist but not overwatered. Do harvesting keenly to avoid breakage and any other kind of damage. 

So, what do you think? Does the idea of growing mushrooms at home fascinates you? Will you grow mushrooms at your place? Do let us know in the comments section below and also mention which of these methods you use and why?

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