Mushroom Cultivation
Mushroom cultivation involves a series of steps that expands the size of fungal tissue known as mycelium, to a size large enough to grow mushrooms. There are both very low-tech options and much more involved processes.
For me the steps include:
– Moving a piece of myclium from a test tube and growing it on a petri dish
– Take a little bit of tissue from the petri dish and grow it in sterilized sugar water
– Transfer some of the sugar water / mycelium mixture into a jar of sterilized grain
– Sprinkle the sterilized grain into a bag of sterilized sawdust
– Once fully colonized, cut a hole in the bag to promote mushroom growth
Someone interested in cultivating can start at any point in this process. Often they will purchase a liquid culture (sugar water / mycelium), and use this to inoculate their sterilized grain.
You can purchase a liquid culture syringe of lion’s mane, shiitake, or oyster mushrooms from the store.
Commonly Cultivated Species
Media Recipes
Ingredients and Recipes for agar, liquid culture, grain, and fruiting substrates
Sterilization
Atmosphere
Fruiting Conditions
DIY Grow Kit Care and Maintenance