Mushroom Growing Guides
If you want to grow mushrooms and you’re looking for mushroom growing guides to help you, hopefully this page is what you need!
We’ve provided several different growing guides because each mushroom species has its own peculiar characteristics and needs, so it isn’t possible to provide a single one-size-fits-all mushroom growing guide. Instead, we’ve added links (below) to mushroom growing guides specific to the types of mushrooms most popular among home growers. It’s worth saying that if you’re a newcomer to mushroom cultivation, it is strongly advised that you read up on sterile working techniques before you even think about trying to grow mushrooms. If you don’t, you may well end up with your very own green mould farm instead of nice mushrooms!
How hard are mushrooms to grow?
Some mushrooms are very easy to grow, for example Oyster mushrooms, which are a great choice for a newcomer to mushroom cultivation. Others can be more frustrating, very fussy about their growing conditions and needs. Some grow quickly, while others can take months to fruit, particularly if you choose to grow them on logs.
What we would always suggest to anyone is to start off with a species that is relatively easy to grow and then once you’ve made your mistakes (and learned from them), move on to more tricky species. Ranking the growing difficulty levels of popular mushroom types for home growers is tricky because the level of difficulty can vary depending on individual experience, growing conditions, cultivation methods and more. That said, Oyster and Shiitake are generally considered the easiest to grow.
Mushroom Growing Guides
Oyster Mushrooms (Pleurotus species)
Shiitake Mushrooms (Lentinula edodes)
Lion’s Mane Mushrooms (Hericium erinaceus)
Reishi Mushrooms (Ganoderma lucidum)
Shimeji Mushrooms (Hypsizygus tessellatus)
Growing Guides – General Advice
The species-specific details will be in our growing guides but, in general terms, mushrooms are normally grown by using a combination of three components; living mycelium (think of this as the seeds), sterilised grain and a suitable substrate (you could think of this as the soil). Live mycelium, when grown on agar or in liquid culture is generally described as looking like white fungus, white mould if you like. This mycelium is actually what mushrooms fruit from (when they’re good and ready).
Most growers at all levels inoculate their grain and substrates with mycelium by using a liquid culture, which is live mycelium suspended in a nutrient solution, loosely described as a weak sugar solution. This liquid culture is injected into grain to inoculate it, and once left to incubate mycelium will grow and eventually colonise the entire block or bag of grain.
This colonised grain is then introduced to and mixed with a substrate – there are various types of substrate available depending on what type of mushroom you are growing, some based on straw, some hardwood sawdust, some coco coir and so on. The mycelium then continues its work until all of the grain and substrate have been colonised. At this stage your block/bag of grain and substrate will be totally covered with healthy mycelium, which will usually look like white-ish mould.
After this, the colonised substrate is triggered to fruit, or develop actual mushrooms. How this is done varies, depending on container type and mushroom species and we’ll try to include this information in our growing guides.
Throughout this process, growers need to pay very strict attention to sterile working techniques and also to maintaining the correct environment / storage conditions for their growth. Failure to do so can result in terminal contamination or simply an aborted growth.
Levels of Difficulty
Which mushrooms are the hardest or easiest to grow can depend on many factors, including experience, growing methods and more, but we have ranked some of the more popular species below as a matter of general interest. Mushroom growing guides for several of these species can be found above.
Oyster Mushrooms (Pleurotus species): Oyster mushrooms are widely regarded as one of the easiest mushrooms to grow at home. They have a fast growth rate, tolerate a wide range of temperatures, and can be cultivated on a variety of substrates, including straw, coffee grounds, and sawdust.
Shiitake Mushrooms (Lentinula edodes): While slightly more complex than oyster mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms are still relatively easy to grow for home growers. They require hardwood logs or sawdust blocks as a substrate and prefer cooler temperatures for fruiting.
Lion’s Mane Mushrooms (Hericium erinaceus): Lion’s Mane mushrooms are moderately easy to grow, requiring specific conditions such as cooler temperatures and high humidity. They can be cultivated on sawdust, straw, or supplemented hardwood substrates.
White Button Mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus): White button mushrooms are commonly found in grocery stores and can be grown at home with moderate difficulty. They require a composted substrate and consistent environmental conditions, including temperature and humidity control.
Reishi Mushrooms (Ganoderma lucidum): Reishi mushrooms are considered more challenging to grow compared to other varieties due to their specific requirements, including a longer incubation period, precise environmental conditions, and the need for specialized substrates such as hardwood sawdust or logs.
Shimeji Mushrooms (Hypsizygus tessellatus): Shimeji mushrooms can be trickier to grow at home due to their preference for cooler temperatures and specific substrate requirements, such as pasteurized straw or sawdust supplemented with bran.
Maitake Mushrooms (Grifola frondosa): Maitake mushrooms, also known as hen-of-the-woods, can be challenging for home growers due to their slow growth rate, sensitivity to environmental conditions, and preference for hardwood logs or sawdust blocks as a substrate.
Morel Mushrooms (Morchella species): Morel mushrooms are notoriously difficult to cultivate at home and are often foraged in the wild. Attempts to cultivate them have been met with limited success due to their complex life cycle, specific habitat requirements, and difficulty in replicating wild conditions.
It’s important to note that success will vary based on individual circumstances and experience. With proper research, experimentation, and attention to detail, home growers can achieve successful yields with these and many other mushroom species.