Growing food and herbs at home is a rising trend, and many people are taking it to the next level by growing mushrooms at home. All it takes is a good mushroom growing kit, attention to detail, and a bit of luck. If you’re wondering how to grow mushrooms and which mushrooms you’re most likely to succeed with, this article will be a good place to start. Use our overview on how to grow your own mushrooms as a starting point, and take it from there! The Best Types of Mushrooms to Grow at Home When you grow mushrooms, or anything else, it helps to set yourself up for success by beginning with the easiest crops. Once you’ve been through that learning curve, you can use your experience in your attempts to try more difficult species. These mushrooms are generally recognised as among the easiest ones to start out with. Oyster Mushrooms There are several types of oyster mushrooms that you can try. They’re easy to grow because they’re not fussy about the substrate on which you grow them. You can even grow them on coffee grounds, and they’re resistant to competition from other fungi that might otherwise spoil your crop. Shiitake Mushrooms Tasty Shiitake mushrooms are another great option for beginner mushroom growers. Apart from being delicious, they are renowned for their nutritional value and, in traditional Eastern medicine, are even regarded as having medicinal properties. They can be grown on logs outdoors, or on straw or sawdust indoors. Lion’s Mane A mushroom believed to improve mental clarity, Lion’s Mane is also good to eat fresh. Growers use growing bags with small holes that allow the fruiting bodies of this mushroom to emerge. It can be grown year-round in indoor conditions with high humidity, does not want exposure to direct sunlight, and performs well at room temperature. Reishi Mushrooms High in nutritional value, Reishi mushrooms are one of the easier mushrooms to grow at home. They love warmth, so a nice warm living room, conservatory or even a greenhouse is the perfect place to grow them. The easiest way to grow Reishi mushrooms is with a Reishi grow kit that comes with an inoculated and colonised substrate block. Wine Cap Mushrooms For those who hope to grow mushrooms with minimum input, wine caps could be the solution. In the right conditions, they can be grown outdoors in partial shade on compost-rich soil. Pioppino Mushrooms These mushrooms are gaining popularity with gourmets, and can be grown on pasteurised straw in humid indoor conditions. You can pasteurise straw by soaking them in 160-degree water for an hour which has the effect of reducing the amount of harmful competing organisms. Outdoors, Pioppino mushrooms will grow on straw or wood chips, fruiting during the autumn months. Using a Mushroom Growing Kit Mushroom growing kits are an easy solution to get beginner mushroom growers started. You’ll get precise instructions on how to get your kit growing, and you should get both the spawn and the substrate you need. Growing mushrooms from kits is a small-scale option, but even if you have hopes of producing mushrooms on a larger scale, a kit can help you to test the waters. Most kits yield at least two separate flushes which makes them great value. How to Grow Mushrooms on Logs Oyster mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms are traditionally grown on logs, and doing things the old-fashioned way is surprisingly easy. You’ll need hardwood logs and spores with which to inoculate them. It takes a year or two to get a harvest, but your logs will continue to produce mushrooms for years to come. How to Grow Mushrooms from Spawn Starting mushrooms from their “seeds” or spores calls for a little extra care and attention. That’s why many growers prefer to start with “spawn.” Spawn comes from ready-germinated spores that have already begun to grow into a network of mycelium - fine fungal threads that will ultimately give rise to “fruiting bodies,” the mushrooms themselves. When inoculating hardwood logs, you can use “plugs” of spawn which you’ll insert into holes you’ve made in the logs. Seal them in, and the mycelium will continue to grow and develop until your inoculated logs are ready to produce their first harvest of mushrooms. You can also use spawn to introduce mycelium into mushroom beds. Wine Cap spawn, for example, can be sown on soil and topped with a mixture of straw and wood chips. Add a thin layer of soil, more spawn and more mulch, layering it up till you’ve reached the desired height. Mushrooms require moisture to grow, but too much moisture promotes bacterial growth. Keep your mushroom logs or beds moist, but not constantly sopping wet, and without ever allowing them to dry out completely. Growing Your Own Mushrooms vs Mushroom Supplements Growing your own mushrooms can be a fantastic hobby, but it does require time and a little know-how. If you’re looking for a rewarding pastime, then mushroom growing could be for you. If, on the other hand, you’re more interested in using mushrooms as a health supplement, growing your own will mean a long wait, a fair amount of effort, variable supply, and mixed results. You’ll also have to eat mushrooms every day, since the full benefits of using mushrooms as a supplement are usually only realised when they are consumed frequently. In the interests of a varied menu - and to save yourself time and effort - choosing a reliable and high quality, pure mushroom supplement is likely to be the best solution. Select high-quality, independently laboratory-tested supplements grown under natural conditions, high in active beta-glucans and free from any contaminants. That’s where Grass & Co. does the work for you. And, alongside the benefits of functional mushroom extracts, we’ve blended in adaptogens, vitamins and minerals to complement the most complete functional mushroom range in the UK. Visit our Mushrooms products page to discover the easiest way to obtain and enjoy the natural powerhouses that are functional mushroom supplements. Grass & Co. and its materials are not intended to treat, diagnose, cure or prevent any disease. The information and products presented on this site are not intended for medical use nor do they make any medical claims. Always seek the advice of your healthcare provider for any questions you have regarding a medical condition, and before undertaking any diet, exercise or other health-related programmes. More about functional mushrooms
