Comments on: How to grow mushrooms in bulk

How to grow mushrooms in bulk

Deathalicious — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 19:12:05 -0800

How to grow mushrooms in bulk

By: Greg_Ace

Greg_Ace — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 19:13:54 -0800

How to grow mushrooms in bulk posted by Deathalicious Oooh, I get to say "Eponysterical"!

By: hippybear

hippybear — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 19:16:01 -0800

I foresee some very memorable Halloween parties thanks to this FPP.

By: vidur

vidur — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 19:28:44 -0800

Oooh, I get to say "Eponysterical"! Ace comment, that one.

By: The Sprout Queen

The Sprout Queen — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 19:37:39 -0800

Goodness, that's complicated! And I say that as a home brewer who's experienced in culturing liquid yeast.

By: the theory of revolution

the theory of revolution — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 19:42:23 -0800

shroomology.com does it again

By: TwelveTwo

TwelveTwo — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 19:58:00 -0800

And we were just talking about Mario!

By: lostburner

lostburner — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 20:08:16 -0800

Put on freshly laundered clothes, if you are going to wear clothes at all. I like this guy's style.

By: R. Schlock

R. Schlock — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 20:08:29 -0800

"Yo, Mr. White! I've got this great idea for the August best post contest..." "It's September, you moron."

By: Splunge

Splunge — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 20:09:09 -0800

I love mushrooms enough to appreciate this FPP. But not enough to do it myself. But thanks to those of you that do it.

By: Chocolate Pickle

Chocolate Pickle — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 20:12:13 -0800

Step 1: sterilize fifty tons of horse manure. Step 1.5: give up and let the pro's do it. Buy your mushrooms at the store.

By: clvrmnky

clvrmnky — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 20:21:36 -0800

@Chocolate Pickle, you can only buy the mushrooms these guys are talking about in stores in Victoria, BC.

By: R. Schlock

R. Schlock — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 20:22:36 -0800

Buy your mushrooms at the store. It's gettin' weird in the Whole Foods parking lot.

By: LiteOpera

LiteOpera — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 20:25:09 -0800

I was sorely disappointed that this was about the groovy kind of mushrooms, which I'm not so interested in. I was hoping that the FPP was pointing me down the road to cheap, homegrown pierogi filling.

By: sendai sleep master

sendai sleep master — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 20:28:18 -0800

Depends on the kind of pierogi your makin'.

By: sendai sleep master

sendai sleep master — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 20:28:53 -0800

The pierogis I make negatively impact my grasp of basic grammar!

By: Chocolate Pickle

Chocolate Pickle — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 20:29:51 -0800

Are these guys talking about growing psilocybin? I didn't pick that up.

By: scalefree

scalefree — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 20:37:38 -0800

There are sections devoted to growing gourmet & medicinal mushrooms such as oyster, shitake, enoki & reishi. But most of the users are probably just interested in the blue ones.

By: yeolcoatl

yeolcoatl — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 20:43:14 -0800

This is not about minecraft?

By: Dr Dracator

Dr Dracator — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 21:15:20 -0800

I thought you just use the mushroom method: Feed them shit and keep them in the dark.

By: Chocolate Pickle

Chocolate Pickle — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 21:15:52 -0800

Alright, I update: Step 1.5: give up and let the pro's do it. Buy your mushrooms from the Mysterious Magic Mushroom Man.

By: Isadorady

Isadorady — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 21:19:40 -0800

Many years ago I lived with a bunch of law students in Berkeley. The most conservative future corporate lawyer of all of them used to grow shrooms in the attic crawlspace. This is just the kind of finicky perfectionist prepwork he would have loved. I was sorely disappointed that this was about the groovy kind of mushrooms, which I'm not so interested in. Second that emotion

By: Deathalicious

Deathalicious — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 21:28:52 -0800

Isadorady: "I was sorely disappointed that this was about the groovy kind of mushrooms, which I'm not so interested in. Second that emotion" Oh my goodness. Thirded. This is awkward, but it never occurred to me that this was for anything other than your garden-variety edible mushrooms. I was thinking about what we could do with our large but unused basement and I thought, "ooh! grow mushrooms!" then found this article. Looking back on it, the constant references to "shrooms" should have been a hint. I'll leave this up for those who are interested but just for prospective employers coming across this page: my interest in fungi extends solely to those used for culinary, not recreational purposes, okay? And if you ever see me happily showing off a jar of homegrown mushrooms, they will be chanterelles, oyster mushrooms, or something similar. Hope that clears everything up. And now, exit stage right.

By: Deathalicious

Deathalicious — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 21:30:01 -0800

Oh hey, you guys, before I head out: does anyone know if you could use this technique to make tasty mushrooms? Or only mess-your-head mushrooms? Because I'd still love to grow my own if possible.

By: telstar

telstar — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 21:34:08 -0800

Ok, now this is funny. I was wondering just which upcoming holiday this post was timed for. The reverse happens a lot. I'll be talking to an acquaintance about hunting wild mushrooms and the first thing they think is that I'm talking about "shrooms" or psilocybin mushrooms. Yes, any "saprobic" or dead-stuff-eating mushroom can be grown like "shrooms". Lots of good instructional vids on youtube last time I looked. Examples: oyster mushrooms, shiiitake, herecium.

By: peeedro

peeedro — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 21:50:43 -0800

But the "dead stuff" that the mushroom species prefers determine the growing method. For example, you can grow oyster mushrooms using the same methods as these psilocybin mushrooms because they both grow on decomposing grasses and grain (e.g. horse/cow dung, used coffee beans, cooked straw). But if you want shiitakes, they grow on decomposing hard wood and these methods wouldn't work at all.

By: The Deej

The Deej — Sun, 09 Sep 2012 22:07:57 -0800

Boys! Raise giant mushrooms in your cellar!

By: whorl

whorl — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 00:44:39 -0800

I would probably give this a try were it legal.

By: pharm

pharm — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 00:54:34 -0800

Is growing your own muchrooms (for eating, not, um, "medicinal" purposes!) actually illegal where you are whorl?

By: whorl

whorl — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 01:06:39 -0800

Psilocybin is, yes. Only place it isn't illegal in the states is New Mexico.

By: cromagnon

cromagnon — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 01:47:40 -0800

Noting the fact that different edible mushrooms require different substrates, here is some detail on growing common field mushrooms in bulk, and a 100-hour distance learning course if you're really serious...

By: nicolas léonard sadi carnot

nicolas léonard sadi carnot — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 01:59:27 -0800

Deathalicious, yeah, you can adapt the technique for eatin' mushrooms simply enough. The cubensis mushrooms you use for wizardry are more hardy than some varieties of foodshrooms though, you might need a different nutritive substrate and different humidity conditions.

By: MuffinMan

MuffinMan — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 02:32:09 -0800

Thank you for this. Mrs MM bought a home growing mushroom kit and after a lot of care and attention it yielded about four mushrooms. Price per mushroom: £0.75. This was marginally cheaper than the home grown potatoes - 12 potatoes grown from seed in new potato growing bags and fresh compost. Cost: £0.90 per potato.

By: bap98189

bap98189 — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 03:36:14 -0800

That's not bulk. This is growing mushrooms in bulk (skip to 0.40 for the start of the cool stuff).

By: jeffburdges

jeffburdges — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 03:49:35 -0800

There are a fair number of countries where growing psilocybin mushrooms remains legal, even if selling them has been outlawed, just like with marijuana. There are various studies suggesting that psilocybin has less harmful potential than alcohol, cannabis, tobacco, etc. And the lethal dose is apparently higher than caffeine. I'm personally not terribly fond of drugs that keep you awake all night, including psilocybin, but imho society should encourage psilocybin as an alcohol alternative : small quantities do make you more sociable, supposedly it doesn't mix well with alcohol, etc.

By: titus-g

titus-g — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 04:44:03 -0800

"....and after a lot of care and attention it yielded about four mushrooms. Price per mushroom: £0.75." I've had mixed success with the kits, of the two I've bought the first produced about 3 flushes, the second (from Dobbies IIRC), produced about 3 mushrooms. The wood grown ones do look less hassle, especially if you just upcyle a paperback to grow them in.

By: Mayor West

Mayor West — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 05:56:30 -0800

(Reading peeedro's link on growing your own shitaakes) Alternatively, you can try shocking the fungi into fruiting - this involves submerging the logs in cold water for 24 hours, and then bashing the log with a mallet or dropping it on a rock. Nobody is quite sure why this induces a flush of fruiting - but it may have something to do with fungi suspecting that a tree nearby has fallen, and hence sensing that it's a prime time to spread its spores. The more I read about mushrooms, the more convinced I become that they are 1/3 of an evolutionary step away from taking over the entire goddamned world.

By: hat_eater

hat_eater — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 05:59:18 -0800

You can grow a variety of edible fungi using techniques much simpler than those described in the article, but if you wanted to make proper pierogi stuffing, you'd be out of luck. Cultivation attempts of the wild mushrooms used in it have failed so far. It is, however, possible to spread them to your part of the forest if you own one.

By: cromagnon

cromagnon — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 06:07:42 -0800

The more I read about mushrooms, the more convinced I become that they are 1/3 of an evolutionary step away from taking over the entire goddamned world. Done it before, can do it again.

By: Jode

Jode — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 06:52:04 -0800

A mycologist friend once gave me a pile of inoculated white oak logs. They produced many delicious shiitakes over several years.

By: wormwood23

wormwood23 — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 07:34:54 -0800

Getting to this post late, let me just reemphasize: this technique can be used for the legal, edible, feed-it-to-a-child kind of mushrooms that you get at the store.

By: flug

flug — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 08:15:22 -0800

Price per mushroom: £0.75 Any time you can keep the total price* of do-it-yourself projects below, oh say, £75.00 per mushroom you're really doing quite well. * Including such incidentals as emergency room visits, replacement of roof and household belongings after the fire, etc., etc. . . .

By: IAmBroom

IAmBroom — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 08:40:34 -0800

scalefree: There are sections devoted to growing gourmet & medicinal mushrooms such as oyster, shitake, enoki & reishi. But most of the users are probably just interested in the blue ones.

For the record: not all blue ones are psychedelics, and some blue mushrooms are poisonous. Just like with hunting mushrooms for eating (w/o the trip), it's important to be sure before you consume.

By: wcfields

wcfields — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 08:48:43 -0800

bap98189: "That's not bulk. This is growing mushrooms in bulk [yt] (skip to 0.40 for the start of the cool stuff)." We covered this video a little bit ago.

Havatec, always. My partner. Every day, every week, every year. posted by gilrain at 2:33 PM on June 7

By: handbanana

handbanana — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 09:39:18 -0800

I have grown mushrooms before. Let me tell you it was so much fun! Yes it seems kike a lot of work, but to see the process up close and personal you get attached to it. I can fondly remember getting out the pressure cooker, cleaning EVERYTHING, setting uo the substrate, and of course innoculating the jars. Fungus is fascinating. And the process wss like a complicated version of gardening. It is a ton of fun and it is so awesome to grow your own mushrooms. Plus you get to enjoy breathing out the containers and maintaining humitity levels during fruiting. Oh hkw I do miss the process. Very rewarding hobby!

By: nanojath

nanojath — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 10:17:53 -0800

Step one:Ponder getting hot nutrient soups, manure, compost, or a variety of disinfectants all over your laptop or computer. Step two: If you're actually serious about this go buy a couple appropriate books by Paul Stamets.

By: edmo

edmo — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 14:08:38 -0800

If you're interested in just growing mushrooms at home with a simple and easy kit check out http://www.mushroomadventures.com/ I gave some a few of these to family as x-mas gifts last year and at first they were like "uh ok, weird gift" but once they started growing they were thrilled.

By: MiltonRandKalman

MiltonRandKalman — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 14:24:24 -0800

Its easier to to buy a kit. gmushrooms.com sells them fairly cheap. Coincidentally gmushrooms.com website was also created using a mixture manure, nutrient soup and sterilized needles.

By: mudpuppie

mudpuppie — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 15:28:06 -0800

Isadorady: "I was sorely disappointed that this was about the groovy kind of mushrooms, which I'm not so interested in. Second that emotion" Oh my goodness. Thirded. This is awkward, but it never occurred to me that this was for anything other than your garden-variety edible mushrooms. I was thinking about what we could do with our large but unused basement and I thought, "ooh! grow mushrooms!" then found this article. ... And if you ever see me happily showing off a jar of homegrown mushrooms, they will be chanterelles, oyster mushrooms, or something similar. Hope that clears everything up. And now, exit stage right. posted by Deathalicious at 9:28 PM on September 9 [13 favorites +] [!] Oyster mushrooms, yes, but not chanterelles -- they've not yet been successfully cultivated. The process outlined in the link wouldn't be that different most kinds of Agaricales (i.e., gilled mushrooms). Gilled mushrooms are the easiest to get spores from (slice them across their equator, place face down on a piece of glass or paper, cover with a bowl, and come back the next morning). Problem 1 in cultivating culinary mushrooms is in finding the right growing medium, since marny of the mushrooms we consider edible and choice have a mycorrhizal association with a particular species of tree and won't grow unless that tree's living (or dead) roots are present. Problem 2 in cultivating culinary mushrooms is that while getting spores from gilled mushrooms is easiest, most of the mushrooms that are valued culinarily aren't gilled mushrooms. Chanterelles, morels, boletes/porcini -- none of them have gills. And, among the three, boletes are the only ones that easily drop their spores. Thank you for indulging me in some late-afternoon myco-pedantry. *Is getting itchy for bolete season to start up again in a couple weeks, and chanterelle season to start up in a month or so. Itch itch.*

By: plinth

plinth — Mon, 10 Sep 2012 21:08:25 -0800

Here is a story reported to me by my best friend in college. One evening, J was hanging out with some friends and at least one guy was tripping on shrooms. Apparently a little too literally because he sprained his ankle very badly. J was worried that it was broken, so they did the most responsible thing a college student could do: they loaded him in a borrowed shopping cart and pushed him to the ER. J warned the ER doctor, a young German MD, of the victim's state and that he should be a little careful approaching him. The doctor assured him, ja, that he wouldn't startle ze patient. So the doc leaned over him a little too closely and said, "zzoooo, you're on ze magic mushrooms, eh?" The patient turned white, his jaw dropped and he started screaming. They never did find out what he saw. The college was notorious for the mushrooms class. They had labs that consisted of an unknown sample that you needed to key out. One guy and his partner keyed out magic mushrooms. They couldn't believe it because they were looking at thousands street value, so they keyed again: same result. They asked the professor and got a resounding "YOU'RE RIGHT!" One student after taking the course found a nice patch of Big Laughing Gym and after double checking they keying, he convinced a freshman to try it out. It is literally eponysterical. I saw this guy sitting in a chair swinging one arm back and forth and laughing to no end. He thought he was swinging his arm through the chair.