an easy way of growing mushrooms
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Fruiting Mushrooms From The Bag

Wanna know the easiest way to grow mushrooms? 

Here’s the secret. Keep it simple.

Why go through all the trouble of making a shotgun fruiting chamber, messing around with BRF cakes, or building a mono-tub with a super sweet fan and temperature controls?

Don’t get me wrong, I encourage all the above-mentioned methods simply because they are fun, you will learn a ton, and there are certainly worst things you could be wasting your money on.

But… this specific article is for those who are new to growing mushrooms and, are looking for a simple method to grow mushrooms at home. That said, if you are unsure if you want to commit the time and loot that comes with becoming a seasoned mushroom grower, then this post is for you.

Now that we got that out of the way, this is by far one of the simplest ways you can grow mushrooms at home. 

Things you will need: (Click blue links to see product on Amazon)

Preface:

First things first; If you want to be successful growing mushrooms, there is one thing you must know. And that is, cleanliness is key.

You see, mycelium, the fiber fungal network that mushrooms fruit from, will be quite literally eating the grains spawn. However, if not alone, they will be competing against other organisms such as mold. And, when growing mushrooms in your closet, it’s best not to have a bunch of mold spores floating around the air.With that said, the first thing you’re going to want to do is make sure that you’re working in a clean environment with little to no airflow.

Innoculation Steps:

  1. Wipe down all utensils and working spaces with rubbing alcohol and perhaps a spritz of Lysol in the air if you’ve got it on hand.
  2. Place the grain spawn bag and spore syringe on your clean worktop. Wipe down both the bag and the syringe using rubbing alcohol.
  3. Gently massage the grain bag as to break up any clumped grains within the bag and then stand it right side up. Pull out the gusseted edges on your spawn bag to allow for a little bit of air in the bag.
  4. Remove the cap from your spawn syringe. (optional) flame sterilize the needle with a lighter by moving the flame up and down the syringe needle a few times making sure the point gets red hot. Allow to cool.
  5. Wipe down your needle with an alcohol wipe.
  6. Once again wipe the injection port on the bag and then insert the syringe at a 45° angle. Press down the plunger slowly, beginning the flow of culture into the bag.
  7. The amount you will be injecting will vary based on if you’re using spores or a liquid culture syringe, but generally speaking, you want to inject anywhere from 1 to 3 cc’s of culture solution into the bag. It’s best to start in one part of the bag and move the needle around to spread the solution throughout the contents of the bag.
  8. Remove the needle and return the cap. 
  9. Massage the bag making sure that the injected liquid culture spreads throughout the grain bag.

Incubation:

After inoculation, it is your mission to find a suitable place to put the bag for incubation/colonization.

Ideally, this would be in a closet or other dark cavity with a temperature in the range of 75 to 80.

Place your bag in the incubation space and forget about it for 10 days.

After 10 days  will come back to find the bag is either fully colonized or partially colonized with white delectable mycelium. See photo.

If you see anything other than lovely white mycelium growing on the grains, something went wrong and it is now contaminated: Toss it out. 

If the bag is only partially colonized then gently massage the bag to break up the mycelium and spread the colonized grains among the uncolonized. This will help speed up total colonization time.

Keep checking on the bag every couple of days until it is fully colonized. Once fully colonized it’s time to introduce the substrate. Although this step is not necessarily required, I’ve found that adding the substrate leads to more uniform and multiple flushes.

 

Adding Substrate:

  1. Thourally wash your hands and your arm using soapy water. 
  2. Put on gloves.
  3. Disinfect your work area and any utensils youll be using with rubbing alcohol.
  4. Manhandle the colonized grain spawn bag. Your goal here is to break up any clumps so that the bulk substrate can mix evenly with the colonized grain.
  5. Cut open the top of both the substrate bag and the spawn bag using a knife, scissors or any other sharp object. Whatever you do, do not tear in to the bag using your teeth.
  6. Grab a handful of the substrate and toss it into your grain spawn bag. Do that one more time then put your hand in the bag and mix the grain and the substrate evenly.
  7. Grab another handful of substrate and place it on top of the mixed spawn and substrate. You will be topping the mixture with a 1/4-1/2 inch layer of substrate on top. Even out the top layer of substrate with your hand.
  8. Take your spray bottle and spritz some water on the insides of the bag. You’re going to want to make sure tiny water droplets are visible on the inside walls of the bag. 
  9. Fold the top of the bag over on itself and secure it using a chip clip.
  10. Now we will place our bag back in its hiding place for another five or so days. This allows for the mycelium to start mixing in with the substrate and drinking all of its good moisture.

Fruiting:

  1. After the 5 day recolonization period the top layer of the substrate should now be covered in the mycelium. If not, no worries. You can wait or put it directly into fruiting.
  2. Fruiting conditions in our case will consist of the introduction of fresh air to the bag. Additionally, we will be moving the bag somewhere where it will get ambient light. Do not place it in direct sunlight.
  3. Remove the chip clip from the top of the bag and spray the inside walls of the bag with your water sprayer.
  4. Refold the bag over and place the chip clip on half of the folded-over bag.
  5. Leave it alone
  6. Check-in on the bag every day or so and if you notice that there is no more moisture on the inside, open it up and give her a spritz.
  7. After some time you will notice tiny white dots on the surface. These are primordia and are the beginnings of mushroom fruit! Basically whatever you’re doing is working.
  8. After a few more days these primordia will start to grow into the mushroom-looking shapes that you’re familiar with.
  9. Keep up with the spritzing of water and half-cocked chip clip until these mushrooms are ready to pick.
  10. Ideally, you want to pick them just before their veil breaks, so that you don’t have spores all over the place.

Harvest your Mushrooms:

Harvest your mushrooms by wiggling them back and forth, twisting, or doing whatever it takes for them to break free of the substrate. Peep the video. 

And just like that, you’ve grown mushrooms at home, the easy way.

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4 Comments

  1. I’m at the point where I cut the all in one grow bag and sprayed. It’s been 3 days know and the top almost looks like it’s growing mold. It smells really good and the rest of the bag looks good. What should I do. Thank you

    1. That’s a tough one. It would really depend on the type of mold you suspect is growing on the top. If you’re lucky, then its cobweb mold and you can remediate it by spraying the substrate with hydrogen peroxide to kill it. If it is trich mold, i.e. green mold, then unfortunately I would toss it. If you are unsure, you may want to keep the top of the bag closed with a chip clip until you are able to identify it.

  2. Have you tried it without the casing layer of coco coir? I didn’t use a casing layer with my bags and they are already fully colonized.

    1. I have. However, I found that it took far longer for pins to form when not using a casing layer.

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