Growing Mushrooms - Getting Started | Mushroom Mountain (2024)

I’ve Never Grown Mushrooms Before, What is the Easiest Way to Start?

It is important to pick an easy to grow species first. The following species are recommended for beginners based on their high rate of success and also the methods and materials are easy to source.

Mushrooms fruit when they run out of space to colonize, so when they take over a log, mulch pile, bag of pasteurized wheat straw, or compost bed they are capable of fruiting. Check out our Growing Resources page for books, PDFs, and videos that will walk you through the basics of cultivation.

Easiest Outdoor Production?

Outdoors on Logs – Shiitake

Growing Mushrooms - Getting Started | Mushroom Mountain (1)Shiitake mushrooms grown on logs outdoors is one of the easiest mushrooms for beginners to learn the cycles of mushroom production. Although oyster mushrooms may fruit easiest, they are insect prone, so Shiitakes are the one to start with. All log grown mushrooms are grown on fresh cut logs, so you will need to cut some fresh hardwood logs, preferably oak (check tree chart for alternatives), that is less than a month old cut from living healthy trees, 6-10” diameter logs are best. Logs are drilled with holes spaced out 4-5” around the entire bark covered surface and filled with either plug or sawdust spawn. Sawdust spawn can inoculate up to 100 linear feet o wood. Plug spawn can inoculate up to 10 linear feet of wood. The spawn is inserted, plug spawn is tapped in flush with a hammer and the sawdust is injected (with a plunger or stuffed in manually). Wax is melted in a jar sitting in hot water and brushed on with a small brush to cover the holes after the spawn is inserted. After all holes are spawned and waxed you are done spawning! Water logs occasionally, every week if it doesn’t rain, and after 8-10 months the mushrooms should have colonized and begin to fruit.

Growing Mushrooms - Getting Started | Mushroom Mountain (2)

Shiitake comes in three strain types: Cold (33-50), Wide Range (50-75), and Warm/Hot (75-100)

Spawn all of the strain types at the same time. They will fruit when the temperature window comes around AFTER the initial 8-10 months colonization has completed. Each strain fruits twice a year, and you may soak 10% of each strain types every week to optimize your weekly harvest and repeat after the first cycle. Once the logs have fruited twice in a season let them rest, tarping them to dry, and initiating soaking again when the next season comes back around.

Soaking – To soak logs submerge them in water (well or city), for 12-24 hours, NO MORE, it will drown them.

Fruiting – After soaking lean logs up against trees or cross stack them in a log cabin pattern and the mushrooms should emerge in a few days, keep these logs watered twice a day!

Picking – When shiitake caps flatten they are mature and can be twisted and harvested.

Log Resting – After harvesting, the logs can rest for 8-10 weeks, should be tarped to dry, and can be resoaked for a second time each year to produce another flush, after that they can be tarped until the following season. Shiitake logs can go dry for up to a year with no water and still live, so only water them when you want them to fruit!

Outdoors on Wood Chips – King Stropharia (Stropharia rugoso-annulata)

Growing Mushrooms - Getting Started | Mushroom Mountain (3)King Stropharia, also known as Garden Giant and Wine Cap, is a hardwood chip loving mushroom that naturalizes easily in landscape mulch and gardens. It will not grow on conifer, so you will need fresh mushroom wood chips (from healthy trees and cut within a few weeks).

You will need SAWDUST SPAWN for King Stropharia, and its as easy as mixing in the crumbled spawn into fresh wood chips (it helps to wet the chips first), and spread the spawn and chips into the landscape, between rows of vegetables, or top dress tree rings with the mixture to a depth of 3-8”.
King stropharia fruit in the spring and fall, if you spawn your chips in the spring they will fruit in the fall.

Outdoors on Manure Compost – Almond Portabella (Agaricus subrufescens/A.blazei)

Almond Portabellas are the cousins of the common white button and the crimini/portabella complex. Interestingly they are a tropical cousin that prefer to fruit at 75-90F, love composted livestock manure, making them a perfect candidate as a garden additive to intercrop mushrooms into vegetable beds or row crops.

You will need SAWDUST SPAWN that can be crumbled and mixed into the manure, which can then be turned into the soil or made into a bed all by itself.

Easiest Indoor Production?

Oyster Mushrooms

Oyster mushrooms can grow on a variety of wastes, including spent coffee grounds, recycled paper, cardboard, even cotton clothing.

You will need SAWDUST SPAWN for oyster mushrooms on bulk media. The easiest way to start is by collecting spent coffee grounds (daily in your kitchen or ask a local coffee shop to save them). Make sure they are fresh and collected daily using your own container, coffee grounds can get colonized by a competitor green mold easy.

Container – Use a gallon screw top container or a 5 gallon bucket with a lid. Add your coffee and filter daily for personal use, sprinkling sawdust spawn into the container sparingly, like you are salting it. If you have a large amount from a coffee shop dump the coffee into a large clean tub and mix 2 cups of sauwdust spawn for every 5 gallons of coffee waste into the media. After mixing dump the coffee back into the bucket to colonize. Fill bucket but leave about 2” of space or so for the developing baby mushrooms.

Spawn run – Watch your bucket daily, it should start to turn white and begin to colonize, finally taking over the entire volume of coffee. Keep lid cracked very slightly so it can breathe, but not dry out. If it looks dry water it to moisten. Once the mass is solid and white, it will think about fruiting. Baby mushrooms will form after a few weeks and you can mist them with clean water, move lid open slight every day to accommodate the growth, since they can be large. Harvest when they have stopped growing, return lid to its cracked position for two weeks, then pour two cups of water into the bucket to rehydrate the media and repeat the steps of fruiting. It will fruit 2-3 times, maybe more!

Growing Mushrooms - Getting Started | Mushroom Mountain (2024)

FAQs

What is the easiest way to grow mushrooms for beginners? ›

Spray-and-grow kits, a block of colonized substrate inside a small box, make for the easiest way for beginners to get started. “They're inexpensive. You get a lot of mushrooms out of them. And they're super easy,” says Lynch.

Can I inoculate old logs? ›

The answer is no. The window of inoculating hardwood logs is anywhere from 1 week to 6 weeks after cutting. In cooler climates, some growers cut logs in the fall, stack, and cover them with a tarp to overwinter, then inoculate in the spring.

Why are my shiitake mushrooms not growing in the log? ›

Keeping logs at the right moisture level is critical for shiitake cultivation. Logs that drop below 25% in moisture result in death of the shiitake fungus. If the mycelium is dead, white shiitake mycelium will not grow from either end of the log. Freshly cut logs contain the most moisture.

What is the best setup for growing mushrooms? ›

A smaller tent, such as a 2x2 or 3x3, can work well for smaller-scale mushroom production. Ensure the tent is lightproof, as mushrooms require darkness to develop properly. Set up the tent in a clean, well-ventilated area away from direct sunlight and extreme temperature fluctuations.

How to speed up mushroom growth? ›

To initiate fruiting, lowering temperatures and increasing oxygen levels generally encourages mushroom formation. Initiation can be in the form of cold shocking, water shocking or introducing more oxygen by cutting a hole in the bag. them with water as if in a strong rainstorm.

How to tell if substrate is too wet? ›

The rule-of-thumb for bulk substrates is that there should be little-to-no water released when you grab a handful and squeeze. If a few drops are released, that's OK. If a stream of water is released, your moisture level is too high.

How to keep mycelium alive? ›

Water generously every week to establish the mycelium. Check once a week for a few weeks to make sure the mycelium is spreading by digging down in a few spots and then patching it back.

Should I seal the ends of mushroom logs? ›

It also helps to keep other fungi out, limiting competition in your log. Wax should be applied to any areas where the bark is damaged or missing. This includes the holes you have drilled for plugs, as well as the cut ends of the log.

When to cut logs for mushroom plugs? ›

Wood should "season" at least 2 weeks before planting; longer for some wood species. Historically, the rule of the thumb has been "fresh is best," when it comes to deciding how long logs can sit after cutting before inoculation.

Should I water my mushroom logs? ›

Step 2, Water: Thoroughly water your log once a week during periods of no rainfall. Continue this routine for 3-4 months, then you may reduce watering to every other week. After 6 months, place your log directly on the ground so that it can wick moisture from the soil.

Why can you not eat the stem of a shiitake mushroom? ›

In actuality, the stems of shiitake mushrooms are technically edible and are not poisonous. Still, most people choose not to use the stems because they have an unpleasant woodsy flavor and are too fibrous and chewy to eat.

Can you grow mushrooms on dead logs? ›

Many mushroom species are suitable for cultivation on fresh wood. The easiest to cultivate are shiitake and oyster mushroom, as they are less demanding species. Still, it is possible to cultivate most mushrooms that naturally grow on wood – tree stumps, trunks of dying or dead trees, branches, etc.

Why do mushrooms grow on dead tree trunks? ›

Why Do Mushrooms Grow On Trees? Mushrooms are fungi that decompose organic matter, breaking down dead plant and animal materials. Trees provide the ideal substrate for fungal growth; they are rich in organic matter and provide the necessary water and nutrients for mushroom growth.

What is the easiest mushroom kit to grow? ›

I had an Oyster Mushroom kit from Caley Brothers and it was the easiest thing to set up and do. In a few days I have mushrooms forming which were absolutely delicious. You don't have to be an expert gardener to grow your own. Highly recommended.

What is the easiest edible mushroom to grow? ›

The 3 types of mushrooms that are easiest to grow at home are oyster, white button, and Shiitake. The method for growing each mushroom is similar, but the ideal growing medium differs. Oyster mushrooms grow best in straw; Shiitakes grow best on hardwood sawdust; button mushrooms grow best in composted manure.

What is the cheapest way to grow mushrooms? ›

Another easy, inexpensive option for growing mushrooms at home is inoculated sawdust in a plastic bag. These come in kit versions, but you can also make them yourself. Store them in a bathroom where it is dark and moist and you'll start to see flushing pretty quickly.

What are the best mushrooms to grow first? ›

Oyster mushrooms are by far the best mushrooms to grow at home for beginners. They come in many varieties, including pearl oysters, king oysters, and strikingly colorful pink, blue, and golden oysters.

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