Having Fun with Fungus: A Guide to Growing Mushrooms

If you want to grow your own mushrooms, it's best to start with high-quality samples. Many poisonous and edible mushrooms look very much alike, so only experts should consider foraging for samples. For a beginner, purchasing a mushroom cultivation kit is a good idea. Oyster mushrooms are tasty and one of the easiest types to grow, so many beginners start with those.

If you're sure the mushrooms you have are safe, you can gather spores for cultivation by creating a spore imprint. The spores are very small. Many thousands can be harvested from just one gill of a mature mushroom. To collect them, cut off the stem and place the cap, gills down, on a clean surface like an index card or sheet of paper. Put a drop or two of water on top of the cap to help loosen the spores. Next, cover it with a cup or glass and leave it for around 24 hours. The spores should drop onto your paper, leaving behind a clear print.

There are several different substrates and planter types that mushroom growers can use. The type that you use will depend on what type of mushroom you are growing. Easy-to-cultivate varieties, such as oyster mushrooms, can be grown in all kinds of planters, including straw, sawdust, or even cardboard. Other varieties like shiitake might prefer an old oak log. One planter that works well for a lot of types is a clean glass jar filled with vermiculite and brown rice flour.

After you have a clean spore print, you can harvest the spores from it by following a few simple steps. Start by wiping down your workspace with an antimicrobial cleaner. Next, add a few ounces of water to a glass jar, then microwave it for 2-3 minutes to sterilize it. When it's done, cover it and let it cool. Make sure to keep it covered, either with foil or a sterile jar lid. Once cool, gently scrape the spores from your spore print into the sterile water in your jar.

Use a sterile syringe to inoculate your growing substrate with the spores. First, make sure your planters, such as glass jars, are clean and sterile. Put your substrate in the jars and moisten it. Then draw up about 1-2 milliliters of the water containing the spores with the syringe. Use the syringe to evenly distribute the water onto the substrate.

Once you've got your mushroom spores in your planters, it's important to put them in the right location in order to encourage them to fully colonize the substrate. The best location varies based on mushroom type, but most mushrooms prefer a well-ventilated environment with indirect light kept between 60 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Some mushrooms prefer total darkness during the early stage. Almost all mushrooms like it nice and humid, around 85-90% if possible.

Under the right conditions, the tiny mushrooms, called pins, form larger, edible bodies known as the mushroom fruits. Keeping the mushrooms at the right temperature encourages fruiting. The ideal temperature depends on the mushroom type and may vary between the cultivation phase and the fruiting phase. In general, however, mushrooms prefer temperatures between 60 and 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Temperatures over 80 can kill the mycelium, so keep that in mind when choosing your growing spot.

Mushrooms need soil that is moist, not wet, to grow their best. They need water in order to produce fruiting bodies, but since they lack thick skins, they easily lose water. Mushrooms can exchange gases with the environment through their skin, so keeping the growing space humid also helps. Too much water, however, will drown your mushrooms.

If you chose a growing kit, the kit should come with some instructions about when the mushrooms will be ready for harvest. Otherwise, take a look at the largest mushroom in your planter. When the edge of the cap begins to point slightly up instead of slightly down, or when the cap becomes slightly more flat at the edges, it's time to harvest. If you notice them dropping new spores, it's definitely time to gather them. Cut or twist to remove the mature mushrooms.

There are so many different kinds of mushrooms to experiment with growing at home, including:

• Oyster: Pearl and king varieties are great for beginners.
• Enoki: These long, thin mushrooms are frequently found in Asian cuisine and fun to grow in bottles.
• Chanterelle: These sought-after golden mushrooms are meaty, chewy delicacies.