A Beginner Guide To Growing Medicinal Mushrooms

Learning how to forage for mushrooms can be entertaining, but it can also be painstakingly frustrating and confusing. While finding medicinal mushrooms at your local marketplace can be easier for certain types, you have no control over how they were grown. The only safe method for growing medicinal mushrooms is to grow them yourself.

Growing your own medicinal mushrooms allow you to control all aspects of the growing process and will give you peace of mind with the finished product. With the thousands of strands of fungi out there, there is no need to worry about having the exact type of mushroom when you are growing them yourself.

However, growing medicinal mushrooms are sort of a science. So you need to have a good strategy for how to grow them.

Choose Type of Medicinal Mushroom

The type of medicinal mushroom to grow depends heavily on what you are looking to get from them. For instance, if you are a diabetic or have cognitive disabilities, you may want to start with a Lion’s Mane or Reishi mushroom.

You may even want to grow medicinal mushrooms for the profit alone. Imagine, a 500 square foot area to grow could yield up to 12 thousand pounds of mushrooms in the year. Depending on the type of medicinal mushroom, this could earn anywhere from $60-$150 thousand dollars. Who knows, you could end up finding a new career growing mushrooms.

Sourcing The Mushroom Spawn

The next step in growing medicinal mushrooms is attaining a mushroom spawn. There are two specific methods for doing this.

The first way is to try and purchase your medicinal mushroom spawn from a local retailer from your area. However, sometimes this is a cumbersome process depending on which type of fungus you are trying to source.

The second way is to search online for the specific spawn you need. There are tons of online stores that sell mushroom spawns.

For the advanced grower, there is an additional method. You may choose to grow your own spawn form the spore of the mushroom, which is found by taking a spore print from your specific mushroom. Warning: this method is for advanced growers only and not for beginners.

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Choosing The Surface or Substrate

Now that you have obtained your spawn, it’s time to find the proper substrate that you want to grow your medicinal mushrooms in. In some instances, this can be a difficult process that forces you to sometimes choose another type of fungi.

An important aspect to keep in mind is to be sure what your medicinal mushroom is, meaning is it a mycorrhizal fungi. These types of fungi require a specific plant or tree in order to grow them, which could put a damper on your backyard, for instance.

Morel mushrooms are an example of a mycorrhizal fungus. So before you plan what mushroom you want to grow, learn what type it is so you can better plan ahead for your surface.

Most simple medicinal mushrooms can use paper bags, wood shavings, cardboard, or wood pellets as a substrate. The Oyster mushroom works perfect for any of these for growing. However, if you are looking to find the perfect substrate for your growing, check out All In One Mushroom Grow Bag

When you choose your surface, you must then treat it before cultivating. There are several options for treating substrate like cold fermentation, lime baths, and stovetop pasteurization.

How to Plant The Spawn

Now that the substrate has been chosen and prepared, the time to begin growing your medicinal mushroom is here. This part of the cultivation process is usually referred to as the inoculation period.

The process of inoculation can be complex, but for the most part it entails using a heated syringe to implant the spawn into the grow surface or substrate. Oyster mushrooms, for instance, are much easier to inoculate. They require only mixing a moist substrate and spawn into small bags, which only require being spread out on the growing surface. Once the bag has turned completely white the incubation period is over.

Fruiting Medicinal Mushrooms

This is the final stage of the mushroom growing process. Here you will be at the stage to fruit and then harvest your mushrooms. Be sure to have a source of indirect light for your mushroom. Simply cut a small slit in the bag so that it can receive some airflow. Try to have the area at a temperature of at least 50 to 85 degrees Fahrenheit.

From this point, it should only take about 1 week for your medicinal mushroom to fruit. Once the caps of the mushroom, for the Oyster, begin to flatten out, you have reached the time to harvest.  Again, depending on what type of mushroom you are growing may make the external notification for harvest different.

Conclusion

The art of growing mushrooms may be a science, but it’s a challenge you’ll enjoy for sure. It’s recommended to begin growing simple types of fungi, then work your way up to the more challenging and rewarding ones.