How to Grow Button Mushrooms
Growing button mushrooms is becoming a popular aspect of modern gardening. While it may not be as common as growing tomatoes or green beans, it’s increasingly part of a home gardener's toolkit—and for good reason.
Mushrooms are one of the easiest crops to grow. They don’t require sunlight, and affordable kits are readily available to simplify the process.
For many hobbyist farmers, growing mushrooms is not only a fulfilling activity but also a great way to earn extra income.
Grow Your Own Mushrooms at Home – Discover Easy Cultivation Kits and Supplies!
Button mushroom spores are easy to find and highly versatile in the kitchen. They are perfect for soups, stir-fries, and steak or chicken toppings.
Store-bought mushrooms are tasty, but homegrown mushrooms take flavor to the next level. Ready to dive in? Let’s go over the essential steps.
1. Choose the Right Location
Mushrooms thrive in cool, dark spaces with temperatures between 65 and 75 ℉. The area should be shielded from light and protected from any disturbances.
Ideal spots include basements, root cellars, or even dark cabinets for apartment dwellers.
2. Obtain High-Quality Spawn
To grow mushrooms, you’ll need spawn, not seeds. You can easily purchase spawns online or from a local nursery.
Some spawn comes pre-inoculated with substrates like soil, hay, or sawdust, making the process even easier.
3. Gather Essential Supplies
Growing mushrooms requires a few specific supplies not commonly used in gardening. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Container or Box: A cardboard box works well if it’s at least 6 inches deep and around 14 by 16 inches. Boxes with larger surface areas allow for better mushroom growth. If cardboard isn’t available, wood, plastic, or metal boxes work too.
- Plastic Bag Liner: Line the box with a plastic trash bag to retain moisture and prevent mess.
- Composted Manure: Composted manure serves as a nutrient-rich growing medium. Nitrogen-rich manure, like cow or horse manure, works best. Alternatively, a mix of compost and manure in equal parts will also work.
- Newspaper: This keeps the mycelium moist as it spreads through the compost medium.
- Vermiculite: Mixing vermiculite with the composted manure provides both aeration and moisture retention, essential for optimal mushroom growth.
4. Care and Maintenance of Mushrooms
Temperature Control
Button mushrooms require a warm environment to initiate growth. If your compost gets too cold, place the tray on a heating pad and adjust it to maintain a temperature of around 70 ℉. Avoid overheating, as this can damage the spores.
Moisture and Humidity
Check your mushrooms daily to ensure that the newspaper covering the compost stays damp. If it feels dry, lightly spray it with water.
Avoid pouring water directly onto the compost mix, as overly wet patches can disrupt mycelium growth.
Adding a Casing Layer
In about three weeks, a white web of mycelium spreads across the manure and vermiculite. At this stage, remove the heating pad.
Next, cover the mycelium with a fresh layer of the 50/50 manure and vermiculite mix, about an inch deep.
This step, called adding a casing layer, is essential for stimulating mushroom growth.
You can also mix peat and soil or peat and chalk for the casing. Spray lightly with water to maintain moisture, then cover with plastic.
5. Fruiting and Harvesting
Check the medium daily to ensure it remains moist. After another 3 to 5 weeks, your button mushrooms should start to appear.
Once the mushrooms begin to fruit, continue to mist the soil to keep it consistently moist. This will encourage robust and healthy growth for your homegrown mushrooms.
Growing button mushrooms is a rewarding and enjoyable project for any gardener, and the flavor of freshly harvested mushrooms is unbeatable.
With the right environment, a few essential supplies, and some patience, you’ll soon be savoring the fruits of your labor.
We hope you enjoy this video about growing button mushrooms
Source: Jany's garden
Did you find this post Useful or Inspiring? Save THIS PIN to your GARDENING Board on Pinterest! 
Once again, thank you for visiting our website!
We hope you've enjoyed exploring the content we've created for you.
Give yourself the chance to learn, get inspired, and have even more fun, keep browsing...
Last update on 2024-11-30 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
More Gardening Tips 👇🏼👇🏼