Growing Mushrooms

[Shimmy]

Hi everybody. I am about to start growing my own mushrooms as i have never done this before i would like all the help and advise i can get.First of all i would like to know what some of the words mean i.e. Substrate.Spores.Spawn.Mushroom Compost. and how do you make all this up to grow mushrooms.Any help would much appreciated.
Cheers

[Paulottie]

Welcome to the vine.

You can buy kits (B&Q someone said)...much simpler with instructions!...big thing is NOT too wet and constant temperature...16 c

the 'compost' is rotted strawy horse manure... normally treated with lime turned for a couple of months. and then capped with 'substrate' of sterile topsoil....or peat and lime (may also be term for the whole muck heap) the 'spawn' is what you buy...like a furry golf ball that you break up and push into you're mix. The spores are the seed that falls from a fruiting body and then send out a thread like root system in the compost from which the mushrooms grow.

You really need a cellar for this one though a shed might do.... spring or autumn best time...I really wouldn't advise this as you need to have a reasonably big heap and you'll have hundreds of them...Here's a thread from a while ago if your determined.

http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...ooms_5970.html

You might like to try other smaller projects with more interesting (and expensive)shrooms...Oyster in loo rolls or shitake or lionsmane in logs

[Two_Sheds]

i would like to know what some of the words mean i.e. Substrate.Spores.Spawn.Mushroom Compost.

Google is your friend here.

Substrate: A surface on which an organism grows or is attached.

That's a start, I'm not doing it all for you

Growing Mushrooms | Food | Channel4.com

[nerobot]

I've got one of the B&Q sets, which cost just under £5. Came with everything that you need and the instructions were nice and simple. So far, it seems to be working nice and I've got a few pea-size mushrooms (I think) growing in it. However, they are growing in a cold, damp, dark room, which is almost like a cellar (but just happens to be an un-heated room).

I say go for it, but it might be easier to start with a growing set.

Steven

[Rhona]

We've never had much luck with mushrooms. We've tried a kit in the cellar, and oyster plugs in a log - not a single cep!

Not giving up - might try a B&Q kit as well.

[BarleySugar]

I've put the 'casing' compost on mine, but no mushies yet, it looks as if I'm getting a white growth ove the compost. I thought thiswas suppose to just happen on the straw layer whihc contains the spawn, then the mushrooms (the fruit) came up through. Oh well, I'll wait and see what happens next.

[Hermit]

Weve had some in compost in a tub had it in the shed for months no look so we have stuck it under the varanda covered with carpet. Ive found a kit what comes with compost and a special board to grow mushrooms on instead of a log. Also you can have mushroom patchers but there more pricy.
Buy Mushroom Growing Kit
Gourmet Garden Mushroom Patches
Mr Fothergill's Mushroom Growing Boards :: Bakers & Larners of Holt, UK
seeds of italy do truffles and trees to grow the on, i might try them next year if i ever can grow mushrooms, if they dont grow in the compost ill get a board or a kit.
Seeds of Italy - Truffle and Mushroom Spawn

[nerobot]

Well, the one form B&Q is starting to produce some really nice big mushrooms Not sure if it is normally a good kit to try, but mine works well (and only took a few weeks). Has anyone else tried one of these kits?

Steven

[Paulottie]

Well, the one form B&Q is starting to produce some really nice big mushrooms Not sure if it is normally a good kit to try, but mine works well (and only took a few weeks). Has anyone else tried one of these kits?

Steven

Great...keep cutting and you'll probably get a few flushes out of it.

yes, I have tried these(not from B&Q).... once great, once a total failure

[BarleySugar]

Pinhead white mushrooms are showing in my mushroom kit. I wonder how long they will take to grow to a useable size.

[BarleySugar]

I now know how long it takes a mushroom to develop. I picked my first today, only 1, with another one on its way. I could do with a few growing at a time to make it a bit more worthwhile though.

[w33blegurl]

I've seen these mushroom kits in Homebase (5.99 I think) and wondered if they were any good. What sort of conditions do they need to be kept in ie outdoors or just somewhere cool indoors?

Cheers!

[nerobot]

BarleySugar: Glad to see your getting some (well one).

Does anyone know if its normal to have so much "white thread" stuff on top of the compost, as I don't seem to have any, but lots of white pea-size mushrooms?

Steven

[BarleySugar]

I didn't remember getting so many threads on the top of my one I had last year, and wondered if something was wrong, but if I look closely there are more pinheads coming in among the threads.
I have been keeping the box lid on, and it's in my understairs cupboard, so very dark and around 16 degrees now. I started the spawned straw around 20-22 degrees (30 Dec) before putting the casing compost on (9 Jan). The straw was covered with white threads then.
I do find the watering a pain, there aren't many places where I can spray without wetting the pinheads , and they don't like that. I remember from last time!

[nerobot]

Yes, I also find it very difficult to not water the pin-heads. Not really sure how to get around that one - so I don't bother and water all of it.

Does anyone know why you are not supposed to get water on the pin-heads?

Steven