I have been working on a system for growing gourmet mushrooms in doors. i have built a fogger that keeps my terrarium at about 90 to 100% humid. I can go from 0 to finished in about 2 weeks. right now i'm growing Oyster mushrooms sp. Pleurotus djamor. i'm growing they in a substrate of cardboard egg cartons and shredded paper.
I'll send pictures soon
If you would like more info please contact me
enjoy
Mantis
Hi Mantis,
I would love to know more about growing mushrooms.....and I'm sure many other members would feel the same way.
Gary
"All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident." - Arthur Schopenhauer
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Gday Mantis,
Yep, me too, love mushies, would like to know more.
Cheers........Bigdog
I have been working mainly with oyster mushrooms. they can be grown in anything from straw to waste paper to coffee grounds/filters. blue osters are very aggressive. the key i'm figuring out is a constant humidity/ temp. if there is to much fluctuation the mycelium or spawn has a hard time colinizing the growing medium. all of this has more to do with controlled growing.
you can plug logs with impregnated plugs then wait for about a year or so. this only really works if you aren't in a dry climate, but works well in a greenhouse.
There is a lot of great info from mushroom mountain www.mushroommountain.com
and also from fungi perfecti. these people are probably the foremost experts in the states
I have plenty of experience growing mushrooms. Was churning out several pounds a week at one point.
The basics of what i used were: birdseed minus the sunflower seed, because germs could hide inside them, sterilized in jars (ball canning jars) then inoculate them with syringe of spores. Then into the incubator with them, which was a tote with water in the bottom and a little aquarium heater with another tote that rested inside it so you have a nice warm environment. When the jars were properly colonized (solid white) then pull the lids off and put a bag over them, to keep in the humidity and make sure the air flows out not in to keep them healthy. Little sandwich bags so the pointy corners make two little vents on the side. The other method being to get bigger clear totes drill holes in the side filling the holes with poly-fill to act as a crude filter, filling the bottom with a good layer of coco coir (already cooked) maybe some feed grade rye. The coir will hold a massive amount of water and as long as you keep them warm the humidity stays just right. break up the jars scatter that in the bigger totes and wait. The brilliant thing about the second method is you can take a bit from the jars and seed new jars for the incubator. that particular strain get tired after a bit doing that, so you will have to get new spore prints, but that kinda breeds better mushrooms seeing as you can take from the best fast growing tasty ones and cull your line down to your liking.
oh, and as far as i know mushrooms do not 'need light' beyond a 60 watt to remind them which way is up, seen plenty just grow straight down into the dirt when i put them in the dark.
You are probably looking for a more hands-off approach, this way is more like raising crops, your going for a fast constant yield, in a small amount of space for dirt cheap. Everything i needed to setup plus the first months supplies and the spore syringe cost $400, with about $20 running cost a month.
well, did not mean to ramble but that my method anyway.
Keep us updated on your shrooms, really interested to see how your project turns out.
Psilocybe cubensis
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