Growing mushrooms for Less

Growing Mushrooms
Here are 5 tips on growing mushrooms for less:

1. Use recycled materials: Instead of buying new materials for your mushroom growing setup, consider using recycled materials. You can use old plastic containers, or cardboard boxes, or even repurpose an old dresser drawer to create a fruiting mushroom chamber.
2. Make your own substrate: You can save money by making your own mushroom substrate instead of buying pre-made bags or jars. You can use materials like straw, coffee grounds, sawdust, or shredded paper to make your own substrate.
3. Buy spawn in bulk: Spawn is the starting material used to grow mushrooms, and buying it in bulk can be a more cost-effective option. Look for suppliers that offer discounts for larger quantities of spawn.
4. Grow low-cost mushroom varieties: Some mushroom species are more expensive to grow than others. For example, growing shiitake mushrooms require specific growing conditions and can be more costly than growing oyster mushrooms, which are easier to cultivate.
5. Look for free resources: There are many online resources and communities dedicated to mushroom growing that offer free advice and help. Joining these communities can provide you with valuable tips and tricks on how to grow mushrooms for less. You can also look for free workshops or seminars teaching mushroom cultivation in your area.

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Why Grow Mushrooms 

So why would you want to grow mushrooms you may be asking yourself, or you already know why but here are 5 reasons why I like to grow mushrooms. 

1. Nutritional value: mushroom can provide a lot of protein and vitamins including vitamin B fibre and other minerals 
2. Cost Savings: There not over expensive to grow and don’t require excessive space and you don’t require expensive equipment to do it. 
3. Sustainable food source: You can use waste material to grow them and then use what is left to grow other food in as compost. 
4. Medicinal properties: Mushrooms have been found to have lots of health benefits like boosting the immune system, reducing inflammation and a wide variety of other things.  
5. Culinary versatility: Mushrooms can be used in loads of different ways to produce good nutritious meals from soups to substituting meat in burgers. It can be fried, roasted or grilled. 

How long does it take to grow mushrooms?

The time it takes to grow mushrooms can vary on a lot of things including the type of mushroom the temp required the substrate you have and also the humidity and airflow/condition. Here are some examples for you to check out.

Note that the time to grow each mushroom species is approximate and can vary depending on various factors such as the growing method used, the strain of the mushroom, and the environmental conditions. It is important to research and follow the specific instructions for the species of mushroom you are growing to ensure optimal growth and yield.

Cloning mushrooms

Cloning Mushrooms isn’t as hard as it may sound and you can do this at very little cost by using recycled items or it can be very expensive based and what your intended outcome to be.

If you are just looking to grow some nice healthy mushrooms as a hobby for you and your family then you can get away with a lot less equipment.

Mushroom equipment like flow hoods and fruiting chambers can become quite expensive to run and maintain.

But if you are NOT looking to mass produce these to resell or build a business then you can get away with a lot less.

A simple storage box can make a substantial fruiting chamber and be a lot easier to maintain. And keep clean.

Ok so now for the cloning part, this sounds expensive but it is not that bad, the main items you are going to need are.

1. A mushroom to clone (I used an Oyster mushroom from a local shop) Actually I used a few different ones with some excellent results pink oyster seems to be the best grower for me but you may have different results.
2. A clean work area so at the moment I don’t have a lab to grow in or any fancy equipment so I’m using the kitchen side to work on, I give it a good wipe down with antibacterial wipes and so far had what I would call pretty good results.
3. Some antibacterial wipes or isopropyl alcohol to clean and sterilize the tools and work area.
4. A small sealable container to grow your clone in (mycelium) this can be anything from a petri dish to a sauce pot as long as you can clean it and has a good lid.
5. Some Agar-Agar and malt extract. The Agar-Agar your probably not going to get away with this type of cloning but there are other ways we can do it as ill explain later. As for the malt extract, we can use a few different things like potatoes starch or rice start which can be saved from when you boil them. cutting costs and making it easier to get hold of.
6. A sharp knife or scalpel
7. A lighter.
8. Some surgical gloves are optional.
9. Masson jar

Work in process this may change.

Cloning Mushrooms to agar-agar. 

Growing mushrooms

Ok so you have your mushroom, and you are ready to start cloning it there are a couple of ways to do this, but we will begin with agar-agar and malt extract in a small dish or Petri dish if you have one. 

1. Step one we will be making the agar/malt extract mix and pouring this into our containers. I’m going to be using sauce tubs, you know the ones you get with your takeaway meal. As these are easy to get and cheaper to buy than Petri dishes for me.
2. Take a small pan and add 400mls of clean water and a tablespoon of malt extract and a half tablespoon of agar-agar and bring to a boil and stir until all is dissolved. (Warning this stuff is hot so be careful not to splash it on yourself) Then turn it off. 
3. While the mix is cooling a little, preheat a mason jar or jam jar in a bowl of warm water or run under the hot water tap for a couple of minutes, this should help with preventing the jar from cracking when you put the hot liquid in it. 
4. Then transfer the liquid to the jar, don’t leave this too long or it will set in the pan, and you will have to warm it up again to pour it. Next, we will put some cling film over the jar and transfer to a microwave and reheat it until it starts boiling again, I find that this helps with getting better results and less contamination. This can take variable times in different microwaves so keep an eye on it once it’s boiling, stop the microwave and leave it to cool with the door shut. 
5. Once it has cooled enough so that it is still a liquid, but not too hot to hold or melt the plastic container/petri dish we can poor it into them, you don’t need to fill them 6mm will be plenty and let it set and store in the fridge, now depending on how many tubs you have there may be some excess liquid so put it in the fridge and save it for your next mushroom, to use it later, this will require you to reheat it in the microwave to be able to pour it. 

Cloning the mushroom

Let us do this and clone a mushroom. We will take a small section from the centre of the mushroom’s stem. To do this, you will require a sharp knife like a scalpel or modelling knife. These work very well. A cutting board or plate is also handy so you don’t damage your work surface.

Take hold of your mushroom and split it down the centre of the shaft to create two halves.

On the flat surface of one of the halves of the mushroom, remove a small section of the stem. Be careful not to cut yourself or drop the stem section on the floor or work surface. If this happens, cut a new clean piece, you don’t need a massive amount. A 6x6mm section is plenty.

Open one of your Agar-Agar/malt extract tubs, place the section in the centre, and close.

Repeat this if you have more tubs ready. Now all we have to do is place this in a dark warm place and check to see how it is doing.

If all is going well and you have kept it clean, you should start to see growth in as little as 24hrs.

List of tools for mushroom cultivation

growing mushrooms for less

1. Measuring spoons
2. saucepan
3. spatular 
4. mason jar 
5. microwaveable jug
6. saucepot/portion cup
7. scalpel or modelling knife

Now let’s be honest I’m not an expert at growing mushrooms and you are going to have successes and failures in these methods but with time and patients you can get more success than failures and a lot depends on how clean you keep things when you are working with them, all said and done these little beauties grow in some of the strangest places so I think you are in with a good chance of success. 

If you are looking for more growing tips check out (Mushroom Grow 4 You)