5 Ways to Grow Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms at Home

Mushroom cultivation is in itself a complex process, where the aim is to reproduce and promote the conditions necessary for the biological cycle of mushrooms to take place. During this process, we keep the mycelium alive by transferring it from one substrate to another and allowing it to expand and feed until we consider it mature enough to produce fruit. The final part of the biological cycle is indeed represented by the development of the mushroom itself, which is essential for the formation of spores and their release into the environment.

 

Thanks to the various cultivation techniques experimented with and developed over the years, we are able to grow various species of gourmet and medicinal mushrooms with relative ease, comfortably at home. Here we will list and provide a brief description of the various methods for growing mushrooms at home, starting with the simplest! 

 

1. Grow Kit

These grow kits that are often available for sale are simply the last step before the mushroom fruits. It is the easiest way because you rely on the producer to take care of all those more technical and laborious phases necessary to reach this point. These kits are blocks of substrate already colonized by mature mycelium, and ready to be put to fruit. At this point, the grower only needs to worry about providing the ideal conditions for the mycelium so that it can produce the best fruit! Very often these kits are prepared with the easiest species to grow, namely those species that are less fussy and adapt more easily to a wider variety of conditions, such as Pleurotus ostreatus or Pleurotus djamor. The grower is left to control the amount of oxygen, humidity, temperature, and light, thus obtaining the desired mushrooms!

 

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2. Grow Kit - Part 2

Ok, here we are actually talking about the same method described above, the use of already colonized and mature substrate blocks. The only difference is the greater difficulty related to the species you are trying to grow. The greater difficulty is therefore given by the fact that the species in question need more defined conditions and greater attention to allow them to produce fruit. We therefore consider it a step above the basic kit!

 

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3. Spawn to Bulk

At this level we take matters into our own hands. We will prepare a nice colonized block ourselves. To do this we need the mycelium, namely the grain spawn, and the production substrate. Grain spawn is nothing more than sterilized grain colonized by the mycelium of the species we want to grow. Careful, make sure it is fresh and live mycelium, not dried! The production substrate, on the other hand, will be a substrate based on sawdust or coconut coir, sterilized or pasteurized. Under conditions of maximum cleanliness, trying to use sterile technique to avoid contamination, we combine the grains with the production substrate. From each of these grains the mycelium will expand and then go on to colonize the substrate. These grains, in addition to promoting colonization, also provide the necessary nourishment for the mycelium to grow healthy and produce a good harvest. Once the substrate is fully colonized, we will finally have our block ready to be put to fruit.

 

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4. Prepare Your Own Spawn

The next step is to inoculate the grain spawn yourself. To do this, it is necessary to have a mycelium culture. Mycelium cultures are mainly found in two forms: in liquid culture or on agar petri dishes. Liquid cultures are often preferred because, being sold inside syringes, they can be easily used to inoculate the grain without the need to use laminar flow hoods or a SAB (Still air box). However, it is always important to use sterile technique and work in sanitized environments and with sanitized tools. To inoculate your sterile grain, whether in a jar or a bag, you will simply need to inject the liquid culture inside with a sterile needle. Once the mycelium has colonized the grain, you will have your fresh spawn ready to be used as an inoculant for your preferred production substrate.

 

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5. Prepare Your Own Culture

The most advanced level for a grower requires good practice and knowledge of laboratory techniques, and more equipment. The experienced grower will therefore dedicate themselves to every part of the mushroom's biological cycle, starting from spores or a wild sample. The spores are germinated under sterile conditions on culture media (Agar petri dishes), the mycelium that will form will be selected and transferred several times, until a contaminant-free culture is obtained that produces the desired phenotypic characteristics. Alternatively, it is also possible to start from wild mushrooms. In this case, a tissue sample is taken from the wild mushroom that you want to clone, it is put on an appropriate culture medium on a petri dish, thus obtaining the mycelium of that mushroom. Very likely, as with spores, it will be necessary to "clean" the culture from contaminants, making as many transfers of the mycelium to new plates as necessary to have a completely clean culture. 

 

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This is only a brief summary of the various steps we can try ourselves to grow mushrooms! 

Depending on your level of experience, you can find on our site everything you need to start growing mushrooms at home!

Happy Growing to everyone!