How to Grow Mushrooms in Your Home

Mushrooms are simply delectable. They add a rich and earthy flavor to any dish you put them in. They are also very nutritious – they contain high levels of protein and potassium, but have very little fat and are low in calories. Mushrooms are delicious and are good for you.

It is just too bad, though, that fresh mushrooms can be quite pricey and the canned versions are just not as tasty or nutritious as the fresh ones. On the other hand, mushrooms can be easily cultivated at home under controlled conditions. So why not grow your own, as part of the organic living lifestyle?

Choosing Mushrooms to Grow

Of the 14,000 species of mushrooms identified by biologists, only 250 or so species are actually edible. Some of them lend easily to cultivation but others can only be found in the wild. Unless you can control the temperature and humidity in the place where you will be cultivating your mushrooms, your choice of what mushrooms to grow should depend on the climate in which you live. Some mushroom species grow best in cold weather while some like it hot and humid.

In addition, not all mushroom species are cultivated in the same way. Some mushrooms spawn best in damp sawdust, straw or sterilized wheat. Other mushrooms prefer to fruit in logs. So before you buy your mushroom kit, you should understand first the specific needs of the mushroom species you are going to grow at home.

General Guidelines for Growing Mushrooms

As mentioned above, the first step to cultivating mushrooms is buying a mushroom kit. This kit would be a packet containing straw or sawdust full of mushroom spores or mycelium. You can lay the spore packets in a pan filled with damp straw and then put the pan in a place that is damp, in total darkness, and where your mushroom spawn will not be disturbed. The ideal place for this is a basement, but you can use an unused closet or cabinet for this purpose. For the first three weeks, keep the temperature around your mushroom spawns at 70°F.

After three or four weeks, you will have observed the spawns taking root in their medium. When this happens, drop the temperature in the spawning area to 60°F. You will also need to put a layer of potting soil an inch thick over the spawn. Cover it all with a damp cloth. You need to spray the cloth with water whenever the soil begins to feel dry.

In another month or two, the spawns will have developed into small mushrooms. Just wait for them to grow bigger and continue spraying them with a little water. Your mushrooms will be ready for harvesting after two or three more months; you will know when they are ready when their caps have fully separated from their stems.

Mushrooms are remarkably easy to grow. With your own mushroom garden, you can be sure to have tasty and nutritious mushrooms in your dishes whenever you feel like eating them. You can even make money out of growing mushrooms by selling your produce to your neighbors. They will certainly appreciate the fresh mushrooms as much as you do.