I am probably going to regret this.

[jackb]

On a recent trip to Home Depot my wife tossed a mushroom growing kit into the cart saying: "I always wanted to try growing mushrooms." That statement always means more work for me.

OK, a week later and the mushrooms are looking good, and, it appears that we are going to get quite a lot of mushrooms, which is good, as they are five dollars a pound in the local market.

I always think: Why buy a kit, can't I do this myself? There was a video on YouTube of guy going to grow them in used coffee grounds. He was going to get the mycelium started on corrugated that he said he pasteurized with hot water from the faucet. My first thought was: you gotta be kidding. Well, there were two videos and at the very end of the second video there was a notice at the top of the screen saying that the process did not work due to contamination. I am not surprised, as he was just tossing things around on a table with no precautions whatever.

It seemed like a good approach, so I thought I would use my plant tissue culture procedures and autoclave everything except the mushroom pieces. My wife went to a local coffee shop and asked for used coffee grounds; they don't mind people asking for them, they even provided the bags!

I don't know if my approach will work either, but it should be interesting to try. Once you get them started you can keep them going indefinitely. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
jackb

 

[Smart Red]

Move over olive trees, mushrooms need the space. I doubt you will regret your wife's impulse purchase until much later. . .after the new root cellar construction or cave purchase.

 

[canesisters]

... will they have a bit of a coffee taste???

 

[jackb]

... will they have a bit of a coffee taste???

I doubt it, the kit is growing on used coffee grounds.

https://backtotheroots.com/

 

[Nyboy]

I forgot about one of those kits in truck of my car When I discover the kit white fuzz was growing all over the box.

 

[jackb]

I forgot about one of those kits in truck of my car When I discover the kit white fuzz was growing all over the box.

Our kit was sealed in plastic wrapping, so what was growing was most likely mold.

 

[journey11]

Cool, I'll be following this one. I've been experimenting with morel mushroom spores. Quite a concoction on that one. You make a spore slurry and pour it out on wood chips or bark mulch in the landscape. This recipe uses sterilized barley grains to host the spores.

I've seen oysters done on rolled up corrugated cardboard before. I'm sure you'll be successful. I don't know that most people even take the extra step of sterilizing everything, but I'm sure that's wise. I've also seen where they drill holes in an old oak log and inoculate the holes. There's a lot of how-to's on YouTube.

 

[jackb]

Cool, I'll be following this one. I've been experimenting with morel mushroom spores. Quite a concoction on that one. You make a spore slurry and pour it out on wood chips or bark mulch in the landscape. This recipe uses sterilized barley grains to host the spores.

I've seen oysters done on rolled up corrugated cardboard before. I'm sure you'll be successful. I don't know that most people even take the extra step of sterilizing everything, but I'm sure that's wise. I've also seen where they drill holes in an old oak log and inoculate the holes. There's a lot of how-to's on YouTube.

Well, I have a book about growing mushrooms at home on order.

 

[ninnymary]

Since we love mushrooms and like you say they are expensive, I've thought of trying to grow them. But the kits are also pretty expensive. They are around $30.

Is there a simpler and cheaper way of growing them than how you are doing it Jackb?

Mary

 

[jackb]

Since we love mushrooms and like you say they are expensive, I've thought of trying to grow them. But the kits are also pretty expensive. They are around $30.

Is there a simpler and cheaper way of growing them than how you are doing it Jackb?

Mary

Mary,
The kit Theresa purchased was about fifteen dollars. I am attempting to grow them from mushrooms I purchased at the market. First I have to get mycelium to form, so I am trying sterilized corrugated with pieces of mushroom interleaved between the corrugated. Once, and if, the mycelium forms I will transfer the corrugated and mycelium to used sterile coffee grounds to see if they grow. Also, I bought some grain inoculated with spore under sterile conditions on eBay. The spore only cost five dollars, but there is 10 grams, so it will grow lots of mushrooms. The least cost method would be to grow them from the mushrooms purchased at the market, because you get to eat the mushrooms in the process. Sort of having your cake and eating it too.
jackb