How to Grow Mushrooms in AU

Mix well-rotted farmyard manure and aged straw. Add 3 lbs. of gypsum and 2 lbs. of ammonium sulfate to every 200 lbs. of manure mix, according to the Australian Distance Education website.

Line a strong cardboard box with plastic and fill it with the straw manure. Place in a dark, sheltered and warm location such as a cellar, garage or shed and leave for a few weeks.

Allow the center of the compost to reach 140 degrees Fahrenheit. Check a thermometer. Once reached, fork and turn the compost to lower temperature back down to around 77 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the Australian Mushroom Growers Association. Much of the northern half of Australia has average daily temperatures of 85 degrees Fahrenheit and above, according to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. Find a cooler spot for your box if room temperatures consistently rise higher than 77 degrees Fahrenheit.

Buy a packet of mushroom spawn from a garden supply store or an online mushroom specialist. Mix the spawn into the compost. Spray water around the box and do so a few times every day to maintain humidity at around 95 percent near the compost.

Add a layer of sterilized peat moss to the compost when thin white fibers have developed. This is the mycelium, the organism that will produce the mushroom.

Maintain temperatures in the room of between 50 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit, as recommended by Humboldt State University. Spray water around the compost every day. Mushrooms may develop fast. Harvest mushrooms early for button varieties and a little later for cup mushrooms.