Growing mushrooms for fun and profit.
Many people are interested in growing mushrooms once they try fresh gourmet mushrooms for the first time.
When you bite into a mushroom not knowing what to expect, then it tastes like lobster or some other one of your favorite dishes it is hard not to catch the mushroom growing bug. What most people question is where do I start.
For most of us, starting a new hobby and investing thousands right away makes little or no sense. Nor does set aside a full basement or shed for a new hobby on day one. There is a simple alternative, and that is purchasing a fruiting block. These grow blocks are fully inoculated and ready to fruit days after you receive your kit.
What is fruiting?
Fruiting is the phase of growth where you harvest mushrooms for consumption. It is the last stage of the process before the harvesting of your mushroom crop.
By purchasing a fully colonized fruiting block, you take the hassle and science out of the process. All you have to do is keep the block humid (not wet) and in an area with good airflow and reasonable temperatures.
Once you have tried a fully inoculated fruiting block, you can decide for yourself if it is something you want to learn more about and pursue as a hobby. Don’t worry about spending thousands to get started too. I will share some low-cost methods to get going.
There are ways you can simplify the growing process even as you start to do it all yourself.
One way we can help is with our high-quality substrates. Our Fast Fruiting Mix provides the ultimate growth medium for many varieties of mushrooms. One of the easiest to grow gourmet mushrooms for beginning growers is Oyster mushrooms. They respond very well to the Fast Fruiting Mix that we provide.
Our Fast Fruiting Mix is created from the formula called the Master’s Mix. Many growers report yields that are as much as 2-3X the normal yield from a basic substrate. They also report better looking and tasting mushrooms. When your mushrooms look and taste better, this certainly helps with the resale value of your crops, should you choose to sell in the future.
What is different about our Fast Fruiting Mix is that both ingredients (50% Oak Hardwood, and 50% Soy Hulls) are combined into a pellet. This process makes measuring the mixture as simple as using as many scoops as you need and adding water. Not only have you assured the proper mix every time, but it also saves time on labor, and the cost of bulk mixers, or other costly equipment.
Something you will also need to get you started is a way to sterilize two different types of substrates for use.
Gain Spawn
You can use many things for grain spawn. Wheat, Berries, other grains, even something as simple as popcorn can be utilized. The grain spawn is the first set of substrate used to allow the mycelium itself to colonize and multiply. This is different than the fruiting phase.
Fruiting Block Substrate
This is the last substrate used by the mushrooms as their primary source for nutrition to grow. The fruiting block is often referred to when you are growing in a mushroom grow bags like those we carry made by Unicorn.
Sterilization allows your mushroom mycelium (the seed like component of the growing phase of mushrooms) to have a stable and clean environment to grow without having to compete against molds or other fungi. The healthier your substrate is, the better your mushrooms will grow, and you increase the likelihood that you will have healthy mushrooms to eat.
You want to prevent contamination during every step of your mushroom farming effort. Sterilization is a must-have step in this process. To sterilize the substrate, you need two things. Heat and Pressure. If you have enough heat and pressure, you can kill other living organisms in your substrate creating a clean slate for the start of the growing process.
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