How to Grow Mushrooms From a Fresh Picked Piece of an Adult Mushroom

Pick the mature mushrooms by plucking them close to the soil. Use a gentle touch to keep the fruiting bodies, or the heads of the mushrooms, intact. Place the plucked mushrooms in a dry paper bag as you gather them.

Spread the mushrooms over a piece of newspaper and examine them for any signs of disease or deformity. Toss out any damaged or soft mushrooms.

Cut the bottoms of the mushrooms off the fruiting bodies, using just the caps for propagation. Throw away the stems.

Place clean white paper on a countertop or table where it will remain undisturbed for 24 hours. Set the mushroom caps on the paper, with the gills on the bottom and the smooth cap on top. This will allow the spores to drop from the gills as the mushroom dries.

Set clean jars over the fruiting bodies. Leave the jars in place for at least one full day. Carefully remove the jars and lift up the edge of one mushroom. You should see an imprint of the bottom of the fruiting body. If you don't see this pattern on the paper, replace the jars and leave them in place for one more day. Take off the jars and mushroom caps to expose the spores. Scrape the spores into a pile for planting, using a clean razor blade.

Prepare the collected spores for planting, using the culture dish and agar medium that came in your kit. Mushroom spores must soak in the agar medium until the mycelium forms a fine web over the surface of the liquid. This can take between three days and two weeks, depending on the variety. Remove the growing spores and transfer them to the mycelium medium provided in your mushroom gardening kit, following the manufacturer's instructions.