How to Grow Portobellos at Home

Gourmets love the portobello mushroom for its rich, nutty flavor and its robust, meaty texture. Gourmets who are also avid gardeners will find adding a portobello mushroom patch to their garden something of a challenge --- but a rewarding one. The mushrooms require very particular care and a dark space to grow in. While you can grow portobellos in a conventional garden, the need for darkness makes them better suited to cultivation in indoor garden spaces, such as closets and basements.

2-foot by 3-foot trays
Compost
Manure
Sawdust
Garden trowel
Portobello mushroom spore flakes ("inoculate")
Wood plank
Newspapers
Spray bottle

Instructions

- 1
  Place one or more growing trays or pots in a space where you have complete control over the light and temperature. The temperature must remain between 65 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit, and the garden space must remain dark most of the time. When you are working with the mushrooms, only low and indirect light is acceptable.
- 2
  Dampen a mixture of compost, manure and sawdust and scoop it out with a garden trowel to fill the growing trays to a depth of 6 to 8 inches.
- 3
  "Inoculate" the compost mix in the trays with dry spawning flakes from a portobello mushroom-growing kit, laying out about 1 1/2 cups of flakes per tray in loose, low heaps. Leave this overnight.
- 4
  Press the surface of the compost mix and flakes flat with a clean wood plank.
- 5
  Moisten the trays thoroughly with a spray bottle of water set to "mist" twice a day, every day for two to three weeks.
- 6
  Place a 1 1/2-inch thick layer of damp peat moss over the compost mix when you see a white webbing develop on the top. Cover that peat moss with newspaper, and continue moistening the newspapers twice a day thereafter. Lower the temperature in the growing area down to 55 degrees Fahrenheit.
- 7
  Check the growing trays after about 10 days. The mushrooms should have sprouted by this time. If they have, remove the newspapers. If not, continue checking every day for several more days before giving up on that particular tray.
- 8
  Continue to moisten the compost mix until the mushrooms grow to the desired size and are ready for harvesting.

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