Ways to Grow Mushrooms

Basic Steps

• No matter which growing method you choose, the basic steps remain the same. You need to choose the medium the mushrooms will grow in. You need to sterilize and pasteurize it, seed the beds with spawn, cultivate the proper growing conditions and harvest the mushrooms. The length of time can vary, depending on the species, but it usually takes about four months.

Logs

• Shiitake mushrooms are grown on logs or sawdust. Growing them on sawdust is a difficult process because temperature, light and moisture have to be closely controlled, and the risk of contamination is great. Logs are easier. Several different tree species with dense wood can be used, including red and white oak, or sweetgum. Mycelium, the thread-like filaments that form the main body of the fungus and operate something like roots, are put into the logs by inserting dowels or sawdust that have been treated with mycelium spawn into holes drilled into the wood. After the spawn has been inserted, the fungus needs time to spread. This process can take up to 18 months and is known as incubation. Temperature, humidity and light have to be controlled during incubation. When mycelium starts to appear on the log ends, you'll know that incubation is almost done and fruiting will soon occur.

Straw

• Oyster mushrooms are easy to grow, so they're a good choice for beginners. They're usually grown on sterile straw but will grow on other high-cellulose waste materials. This can make them less expensive to grow, since some materials only need to be pasteurized, not sterilized. Oyster mushrooms produce a high number of fruiting bodies. If you use baled straw, you can save yourself some money because you won't have to pay to have the straw repackaged before you inoculate it.

Sawdust

• Mushrooms can also be grown in plastic bags stuffed with sawdust. Alder and oak are good woods to use. Avoid cedar, redwood and pine. The sawdust should be about as coarse as sawdust generated from a chain saw. Millet and bran are often added to the sawdust along with 65 percent moisture. The sawdust needs to be sterilized at 250 degrees for two to four hours. Commercial growers use heat-resistant plastic bags that have a filter patch to allow gas exchange while keeping out microorganisms that might contaminate the substrate.