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Welcome!

I'm not sure what kind of mushrooms you are interested in, but I would say the simplest way of starting to grow gourmet mushrooms would be purchasing a pre-colonized mushroom kit. These are usually only a week or two from producing fruits and will minimize the chances that you will get contamination.

I haven't purchased from them, but something like Fungi Perfecti's indoor mushroom growing kits (link) would likely be a good starting point. This will give you an idea if you like the most straightforward parts of the hobby.

If you find that you enjoy that and find which mushrooms you want to grow more seriously, you can move on from there.

If you want to get more information, a lot of books by Paul Stamets are considered required reading, such as Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms. There is a ton of information in these, but if you've already gotten an idea of what kind of mushrooms you like, you can find a ton of information about each mushroom in this. A lot of excerpts from this are also available on the shroomery.org pages for different mushroom growing parameters.

I hope that this is useful. Feel free to ask any questions! I'm definitely new around here, but it's definitely been a welcoming community.

Hey friend! That's kind of a big question with a lot of detail. All the information is out there, but it can be tricky to find. I think we can all empathize with you there.

Generally speaking, all the concepts are the same, it's only the equipment that changes. Essentially, all you're doing is the following, without any of the details:

 

1. Get a small culture and expand it
   
   
2. Wait a few days/weeks.
   
   
3. Use the expanded culture to inoculate some spawn. Alternately you can just buy the spawn online and skip to step 5
   
   
4. Wait around a few days/weeks for the spawn to colonize (if you didn't buy it online).
   
   
5. Prepare some substrate (usually sawdust/wood chips that have been pasteurized, or sawdust/wood chips supplemented with a grain bran that has all been sterilized) and inoculate it with your spawn. You can usually source hardwood sawdust/wood chips for free on places like CraigsList. If not, you'll have to buy it in the form of mulch or pellets.
   
   
6. More waiting
   
   
7. Expose the colonized substrate to fruiting conditions
   
   
8. More waiting
   
   
9. Take pictures of your grow and pretend it was all easy
   
    
   
   I usually advocate for getting a pressure cooker and beginning with grains/jars; but you said you were on a tight budget, so I'll give you some beginner-tier options to get the above accomplished. The caveat here is that they're by no means the best or least-risky methods, but you asked for a cheap way forward that is still effective, so that's what I'll give you. It would be impossible for me to list out every detail, so just ask me questions and I'll fill in the rest one thing at a time:
   
    
   
   You could pasteurize prepared wood chip/sawdust mix (substrate) in a coffee can or plastic tub (with a lid) and buy pre-made spawn online. Spawn is ≈$10-25USD and comes as bags of grains or sawdust. You can find tubs all over the place for cheap. Then you just combine the two, wait for the substrate to colonize, and fruit from there (Steps 5-9).
   
   You could also buy a grocery store Hericium mushroom, chop it up into slices, spread that out over moist cardboard, and let that colonize. This is a little more risky with Hericium (v. Pleurotus, which is much more aggressive). After it finishes, you would add that cardboard spawn to some pasteurized wood chip/sawdust mix in layers, then wait for it to finish colonizing before fruiting it (Steps 3-9).
   
   Those are both cheap ways to start out, but don't skimp on the spawn.
   
   Depending on the tote you use, you might need to make a ShotGun Fruiting Chamber (SGFC), which is just a tote with holes in it on all 6 sides, with some perlite or grow stone at the bottom. It's as expensive as it is to buy a tote. You'll need to find a drill and bit to make the holes. I can run you through that, too.
   
    
   
   All of this is just a basic idea to point you in a direction given your low budget. It's slightly more risky, but cheap and easy. That's the tradeoff.
   
   If you're in college, you might have access to a biology lab and be able to use their equipment. Glass Petri dishes, bio-safety cabinet, autoclave, possible supply of agar, etc. Let me know if you do and I'll walk you though some more advanced techniques that also meet your budget. All you'd have to do is buy a few bags at ≈$1USD each and either some liquid culture (≈$10), or even a store-bought mushroom will do.
   
    
   
   That's a super rough, dirty version. People will probably yell at me, but that's ok. I can't type out a novel here, so just ask questions about what you don't understand and we'll go from there. If you need a source that takes you front to back, go to your college library and Inter-Library-Loan "Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms" or "Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation: Simple to Advanced and Experimental Techniques for Indoor and Outdoor Cultivation".

#1) Your business in real life is your business, no one elses, PERIOD. Notice I used BOLD because I mean it! You can absolutely only trust yourself with whatever you're studying, places like this are the best outlet to discuss. There are plenty of resources available detailing the accounts of people with similar interests being involved in situations they would prefer not to be in, simply because another person had knowledge of their interests.

#2) To add to #1, separating online identities is a great idea regardless of what you are doing. You can research this, but I have occasionally searched for users posting actives and have linked them IRL to identities which are pretty likely to be the actual person posting.

#3) Consider what you're searching for, what accounts you are signed into & what digital footprint is built around your interests with those accounts. Have you looked into things you'd rather not have been associated with your main gmail for example? Look into virtual machines, VPNs & depending on how paranoid you are, distributions of Linux which are privacy oriented (TAILS, WHONIX etc..) that you can find plenty of resources for online.

#4) Like /u/DJWonderful said - common sense is most important. This translates from online to offline, but really is often overlooked.

I'd be happy to detail any other considerations or answer any questions, but everything I know was learned through combing curious search results.

For some interesting reading material, might I suggest: https://www.amazon.com/Art-Intrusion-Exploits-Intruders-Deceivers/dp/0471782661

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I have been growing them off and on over a few years but I have really only been experimenting with using the kits. You can actually get them online (https://www.amazon.com/s?k=oyster+mushroom+kit&ref=nb_sb_noss_2) or when I lived out west I found them at Natural Grocers once in a while. Once I bought some from NG that were on sale (close to expiration date) and they did still pretty well - but I think if they are super old kits the spawn could be dead or dried up.

It's an easy way to get started and just get some mushrooms without worrying too much about equipment or sanitation. I think in AZ you might want to order them when it's coolest temps possible unless you can make sure they don't sit out in the sun once delivered.

For misting them, I just use this kitchen sprayer - https://www.amazon.com/Evo-Oil-Sprayer-Non-Aerosol-Capacity/dp/B00ORXO9TO/ - I've had it a few years and works really well .. I use it for cooking too.

I'm starting out with actives, because they're fun and seem easy. So BRF cakes, solid forming substrate it is (i think).

> Feel free to message me if you've stumbled across something and could use a second opinion!

I humbly request your second opinion :D

Kerr brand only sells in US, sadly. That seems like the most solid brand. Fortunately there are EU based Ball jars vendors. I'm looking at these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ball-Mason-Glass-Preserving-Homemade/dp/B06Y17GW7L/ref=sr_1_4?crid=21DIZ130Q43ZG&keywords=wide+mouth+canning+jars&qid=1569764225&sprefix=wide+mouth+canning%2Caps%2C165&sr=8-4

and: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ball-65500-Oz-Lids-Bands/dp/B00Q52MDZC/ref=sr_1_7?crid=21DIZ130Q43ZG&keywords=wide+mouth+canning+jars&qid=1569764225&sprefix=wide+mouth+canning%2Caps%2C165&sr=8-7

The latter jars are probably unconventional for this job, but as I understand it, the 0.5l/quart cakes are usually stacked on top of each other in the fruiting chamber. Why not just cut the hassle of that out and use the larger jar?

Oh and I totaltly agree with the risk of running a pressure cooker, Which is why I decided to go with the presto. It's a quality product no doubt and it's analogue. There's a model that is even usable on induction, which we happen to have. The one you suggested is great, but I'd need to get a converter, too. Thanks for reminding me of the 110 vs 220v power grid issue. Also, I like the ability of putting it on top of a gas burner outside if I do get cold feed from running one of these beasts inside the house :P

Hey man, wanted to let you know I imported my PC from the UK. I'm using the 22L Hawkins Big Boy, ordered it off Amazon a good year ago. It holds I believe 7 quart jars, goes up to 15PSI and works like a charm:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hawkins-Litre-Aluminium-Pressure-Cooker/dp/B002MPQH80

I don't really know how large or many bags it would do, as I haven't used those before, but it seems plenty large, just check the specifications and see if it fits your needs.

Best of luck, hope this helps you out!

I'm going to assume you want to grow Oyster mushrooms.

It's going to be more than just the fruiting chamber. I've grown oysters in 5 gallon buckets outside in the shade.

You need a place to prep everything too. Do you have access to a kitchen? Are your house mates going to be ok when you start cooking up grains and straw that has an smell to it?

This is 27x18 and about the cheapest and smallest you can get for a fruiting chamber. Anything smaller and you are better off making something out of storage totes.

http://www.amazon.com/Gardman-R687-4-Tier-Mini-Greenhouse/dp/B000NCTGQE

best of luck!

The mycelium can tend to stall in taller jars, but people definitely get away with it. Whatever size your jar is, the BRF/PF tek recipe is simply 2 parts vermiculite, 1 part water, and 1 part brown rice flour. When doing taller jars I would err on the side of less BRF.

Not sure if you can purchase from Amazon but here is a dozen 1/2 pint, wide mouth jars for £14.95

This UK Supplies thread might be able to point you in the right direction in the future. Good luck

So this is my humidifier setup for my fruiting tent. Despite the fan running 24x7 I apparently do not have enough FAE to grow well formed oysters. What's the best way to fix it?

Would something like this blowing out from the bottom suffice? If not, what should I try?

https://www.amazon.com/OPOLAR-Speeds-Powered-Powerful-Office/dp/B01MR2SEAR

Thanks!

The product you linked to will not be adequate for sterilizing the various materials needed in mushroom cultivation. It is only capable of being used as a hot water bath for high acidity canning. This can be done with any pot with a lid.

You are going to want to get a pressure cooker that can achieve 15 psi (250 F). Additionally, you will want one that has a decent volume. I suggest one that can hold at least 7 standing quart jars. In the United States the 23 quart Presto pressure cooker is a pressure cooker that is readily available and a great value. If you have the money and space, you likely wont regret getting a bigger one. The more you can put into your cooker, the more time and energy you save.

Also, read the instructions carefully. Pressure cookers are bombs in your kitchen.

I use my instant pot to sterilize small supplemented sawdust blocks. Works well, you can find them pretty cheap on Amazon, and they are hella useful to cook lots of delicious stuff.


https://www.amazon.com/Instant-Pot-Multi-Use-Programmable-Pressure/dp/B00FLYWNYQ

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I misspoke in my first couple sentences there. You need half pint jars. In my experience, the taller the jar, the worse the result (with BRF). The best jars I've used are sold for ya right here - I've had a lot of experiences of uneven moisture in the taller jars as it drops slowly to the bottom and the dry verm layer starts taking some of the moisture. Not that I've had more contam issues, but colonization times with shorter jars are noticeably quicker. For BRF, you kinda lose the option of a larger jar. It takes a bit longer to colonize, the jar remains sealed with the full lid, etc. I mean technically you could do it, but it will take a long time. I would really recommend following your tek of choice step by step for your first time. It'll massively raise your chances of success and then you've got your spore prints and it's off to the races with either more and more jars or switching over to bulk (coir, poo, etc.).

Pick up this book, it is the perfect beginners guide that gives a good summary of a broad range of related topics.

The Essential Guide to Cultivating Mushrooms: Simple and Advanced Techniques for Growing Shiitake, Oyster, Lion's Mane, and Maitake Mushrooms at Home https://www.amazon.com/dp/1612121462/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_Le8lDbK2HHJGC

Excuse me if I sound ignorant, I'm just starting out. This is my first time growing anything, really. These are from a kit I bought so that I can make sure I can grow the simplest thing without horrible things happening.
The kit I bought is this one on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0189JPZL2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I don't even know how to go about sending you something like that, something like a spore print through the mail or what?

Okay I kinda cheated, I used this kit from amazon that had some good reviews:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07681XTGV?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

First step in what will hopefully be a long career of mushroom growing :)

Thanks! I got the greenhouse here.

Good tip on the sensor, I didn't think of that, thank you.

It's probably similar but Seal-R is actual laboratory film. Maybe the gardening stuff is as well? I haven't used that yet lol. Here's the Seal-R. TRANSASTRA Seal-R-Film Moisture Proof Self-Sealing All-Purpose Plastic Paraffin Based Laboratory Film, Rolls of 5.1 centimeters X 76.2 meters on 1 inch Core https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BB79DHV/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_eUPHDbSBJGGX0

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Amazon has a mushroom bible that I found very informative. There are probably better teks to use but this covers everything from supplies to techniques to contamination info, highly recommend it for the price! The Psilocybin Mushroom Bible: The Definitive Guide to Growing and Using Magic Mushrooms https://www.amazon.com/dp/1937866289/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_ckyMAbQEMA5EY

Looks like one of these: Pink Oyster Mushroom Farm - Beautiful Mushroom Growing Kit - All in One Indoor Growing Kit - Exotic Mushroom https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07681XTGV/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_xzGODb2CTPMJ7

Just buy it, cut an X in the bag, and mist with water a few times a day.

I bought [this] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0189JPZL2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_eDalybF951R0G) kit from Amazon a while back, and I just got around to starting it. About a week or so after I started misting it, the mushrooms started growing. It's great watching these things grow.

Please do some more reading, get a book like: The Essential Guide to Cultivating Mushrooms by Stephen Russel. The eBook is $10


The Essential Guide to Cultivating Mushrooms: Simple and Advanced Techniques for Growing Shiitake, Oyster, Lion's Mane, and Maitake Mushrooms at Home https://www.amazon.com/dp/1612121462/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_uJ2GzbQRZY3VM

Easily the best book on the subject and covers EVERYTHING from beginner to advanced Cultivation! https://www.amazon.com/Organic-Mushroom-Farming-Mycoremediation-Experimental/dp/1603584552/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1485652059&sr=1-1&keywords=tradd+cotter Do not think it is a waste of money!

It's probably similar but Seal-R is actual laboratory film. Maybe the gardening stuff is as well? I haven't used that yet lol. Here's the Seal-R. TRANSASTRA Seal-R-Film Moisture Proof Self-Sealing All-Purpose Plastic Paraffin Based Laboratory Film, Rolls of 2 inches X 250 feet on 1 inch Core https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BB79DHV/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_eUPHDbSBJGGX0

> I think I'll need to build some kind of canister with a much more powerful air pump attached. Perhaps something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Electric-Quick-fill-Portable-Inflator-Inflatable/dp/B074KH38RD

That's going to burn out within a few hours.

Algae will probably not be very good.

A two liter of algae might remove 24 pounds of CO2 a year.

Fresh air exchange with a heat exchanger will probably be your only option.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzK9j8oarXw

So I have a this in little indoor greenhouse https://www.amazon.com/Gardman-R687-4-Tier-Mini-Greenhouse/dp/B000NCTGQE/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1481908509&sr=8-4&keywords=green+house that I use as a fruiting chamber. And then I have a humidifier that sits inside connected to a humidity controller set at 90% relative humidity. To increase FAE I got small fan from and placed it just inside on the bottom rack pointing upwards and then cracked the zipper of the greenhouse about a foot so that it could suck in fresh air. Just had this on all the time. I think the weather has also helped. Its been pretty cold as of late (I live the bay area and don't turn on heat), so fruiting was triggered naturally.

Also a newb here.. I've found this book to be quite helpful. You don't have to be a total science nerd to read it and apply the techniques he presents

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1612121462/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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Also this video is pretty thorough

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ckLJgKy2taM&t=1925s

I’m following The Essential Guide to Cultivating Mushrooms . They are saying that I need to get the sawdust moisture just right to prevent bacterial competition to the mycelium. But to know how much water I must add I either need to completely dry the sawdust OR know the moisture content of my sawdust pile by taking a representative sample. They want me to take the rep sample, weight it then bake it dry, then weigh it again so I can make a ratio of dry to original weight.

It’s not that big of a deal, but each time I want to make a few bags I will have to do the oven method to see if my water content had changed. I thought it would be easier if I could spent 10-20 bucks on a moisture meter and just shove it in the bucket of sawdust for an instant read.

how big are you trying to go? a small investment can increase your volume quite a bit. a popular Martha can be made from a greenhouse rack a humidifier and a timer.

I use https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01NC0HQYV/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

What I like to do is poke {4} 1/4" holes on all four corners and put durapore tape on them. Hope this helps.

This book shows a very thorough color-picture step by step
and These lids are great for sterile inoculation.

You can get syringes of Lion’s Mane liquid cultures and poke some spawn with it, like rye berries. Once colonized you can bust up the berries and use them to inoculate a ton of supplemented sawdust, then you can fruit that.

If you want some depth, I recommend this book as it’s geared for beginners (like me). You can find PDFs online if you’re willing.

From what I've found on the UK Amazon you could actually get a 16 Quart(about 15.2 liters) for what you are saying that one will cost.
Edit: This one is even bigger (22 liters) and shows its £152 with free shipping to UK https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B002MPQH80/ref=mp_s_a_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1482407134&sr=8-4&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=pressure+canner&dpPl=1&dpID=51IS6lO4bML&ref=plSrch

A Presto 23 Quart PC will serve you well. The 12 quart model will also do just fine.

The Psilocybin Mushroom Bible: The Definitive Guide to Growing and Using Magic Mushrooms is the book i want to buy, so it is the one i would suggest to you.

that's what i figured but just had to check

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NCTGQE?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00