How to Easily Grow Mushrooms at Home

If you love mushrooms and would like to grow them at home, all you have to do is read the following instructions carefully, and if all things go well, you will produce your own fresh, healthy mushrooms. However, you should keep in mind that growing mushrooms in environments that are not fully controlled can be pretty tricky. The main things you need to consider and take care of when growing mushrooms at home are:

First of all, you should know that some mushrooms need special treatment to grow; thus, consider growing Pleurotus mushrooms which are the easiest type to grow.
You should start by selecting the most appropriate place and time of the year to start growing mushrooms. Remember that mushrooms like cool conditions and good ventilation (since they use oxygen). In most cases, light is not necessary for their growth. For this reason, the best location in your home to place your mushroom cultivation is the basement, a cellar, a garage, or a barn.
Try to fix the environmental conditions to meet mushroom preferences. The air temperature should be between 13-21°C (stable), and the relative humidity should be 80-90%.
Then, you can purchase an already colonized block of portobello mushrooms from a legitimate seller. The most common sizes are 55cm in height, 38cm in length, and 18cm in width (38-40L). If you have more space and want to grow them larger, you can create mushroom beds (120-150 cm wide and 15-20 cm deep). Of course, you will need to buy or produce a suitable growing medium for planting beds. Compost (21-27°C) is the most popular one. You can mix horse manure (85%), hay (10%), poultry manure (5%), gypsum, and ammonium nitrate. You can add the mushroom spores you bought when the compost is cooled down. Some species, like shiitake mushrooms (L. edodes) are usually grown on wood logs.
Irrigate every 15-20 days or every time you observe that the sack has lost weight, for 4-5 minutes.
Do not remove the plastic cover.
After a few days, you will be able to start seeing the pins (small mushrooms) emerging.
Remember to maintain good ventilation throughout the growing period.
Depending on the type, the mushrooms are ready to be harvested when they are still fleshy but firm and have obtained the typical appearance of the variety. For example, champignons (common or white mushrooms) will be ready for harvest when they are still immature and white. The cap has the size of the stem length and is still closed and firm.
Simply cut them by hand (twist them out, not pull them)
The same hole can produce up to 4 mushrooms.
Each block can be harvested up to 4 times. You may collect up to 4kg of mushrooms during the first picking.

Depending on the mushroom species, the specific growing requirements may differ slightly.

Wikifarmer

Editorial team

Verified

Wikifarmer is a global platform with the mission of empowering farmers through educating them and offering them access to the open market to sell their products at fair prices.

Join our editorial team

Join our community and contribute to Wikifarmer, a platform based on the knowledge of a diverse community of farmers and people working in the agricultural industry from all over the world.

Article submission