How To Grow Mushrooms

Growing Mushrooms: Cultivating Fungi Like a Pro

Growing mushrooms is like coaxing a secret from the earth—quiet, patient, and deeply rewarding. Unlike most garden crops, mushrooms don’t need sunlight. In fact, they thrive in the shadows, content to grow where other plants can’t.

Understanding How Mushrooms Grow

Mushrooms are fungi, not plants. They don’t rely on chlorophyll or photosynthesis. Instead, they feed off organic matter, breaking it down to sustain themselves.

The part we eat—the mushroom—is the fruit. The real star is the mycelium, a network of fine threads that spreads through soil, wood, or compost, feeding and growing silently beneath the surface.

Choosing Your Mushroom Type

Start by deciding which type of mushroom fits your growing situation. Some species are pickier than others, but you can’t go wrong with beginner-friendly varieties like oysters, shiitakes, or white button mushrooms.

• Oyster mushrooms: Fast-growing and forgiving, they thrive on coffee grounds, straw, or sawdust.
• Shiitakes: These prefer hardwood logs, such as oak or maple, and take longer to fruit but reward your patience with bold flavor.
• White buttons: Ideal for compost or manure-based substrates, these are the grocery store staple you already know and love.

Creating the Right Environment

Mushrooms don’t need much space. A dark corner of a basement, garage, or even a cabinet can work. The key is maintaining the right balance of moisture, temperature, and ventilation.

For most varieties, aim for 55–75°F and high humidity. Mist regularly to keep the substrate damp but not soaking. You’ll know it’s too dry if the mycelium looks brittle or the mushrooms begin to crack.

Setting Up Your Substrate

The substrate is your mushroom’s food. Each type of mushroom prefers a different base—straw, hardwood sawdust, coffee grounds, or even cardboard. Sterilize the substrate first to kill competing organisms, which could outpace your mushrooms.

1. Soak the substrate in water to hydrate it.
2. Heat it to around 160°F for an hour. I do this in an old stock pot.
3. Let it cool completely before adding spawn to avoid killing the mycelium.

Inoculating the Spawn

Spawn is to mushrooms what seeds are to plants. It's essentially bits of mycelium growing in a carrier like grain or sawdust. Mix the spawn into your prepared substrate, ensuring even distribution.

For logs, drill holes into the wood and pack them with spawn. Seal the holes with wax to lock in moisture and protect the mycelium from contamination.

Patience and Maintenance

After inoculation, the waiting begins. Mycelium will colonize the substrate over a few weeks. You’ll see white, web-like growth spreading; that means it’s working.

Keep an eye out for competing molds. Green or black spots spell trouble, but you can often cut them out and save the healthy mycelium. Good airflow and careful moisture control help prevent these problems in the first place.

The first flush of mushrooms often feels like magic. One day there’s nothing, and the next, they’ve exploded into being.

Harvesting Your Mushrooms

Harvest when the caps are fully formed but before the edges start flattening or curling upward. Gently twist the base to avoid damaging the substrate, and don’t leave overripe mushrooms to rot—they’ll attract pests or disease.

Oysters fruit in clusters, so pull the entire group at once. Shiitakes are more solitary, but their stems snap off cleanly when ready.

Reaping the Rewards

Once you’ve harvested, you can often get multiple flushes from the same substrate. Simply let it rest for a week or two, keeping the conditions right, and it’ll surprise you again.

When the substrate is finally spent, don’t toss it. Compost it or dig it into your garden beds—it’s rich with nutrients and will supercharge your soil.

Final Thoughts

Growing mushrooms has taught me patience unlike any other crop. They’re mysterious and stubborn, yet deeply satisfying. And when you sauté the fruits of your labor in butter and garlic, you’ll swear they taste better than anything you could buy.

Mushrooms boast a variety of nutritional and medicinal benefits, making them a valuable and versatile addition to any garden. They can be grown year-round in a variety of climates and are an inexpensive and simple way to increase the variety of produce in your diet. Additionally, growing mushrooms can help improve soil health and reduce pests, providing an invaluable ecosystem service.