Author Topic: mushroom kit (Read 6964 times)

manicscousers · « **on:** January 03, 2007, 20:53:43 »

we've just bought a half-price mushroom kit from b&q, £2.49, got to be worth trying for that, anyone got any tips for us ?

Georgie · « **Reply #1 on:** January 03, 2007, 21:57:03 »

Hmmm. Is it one of those polystyrene trays with the compost sachet you dampen and cover with a lid? If so here's my advice: throw the compost and cardboard lid on your compost heap, break up the tray for 'crocks' and use the space it was taking up for something which will grow! ;D ;D ;D

G x

Bitter? me? ;)

kt. · « **Reply #2 on:** January 03, 2007, 22:01:53 »

You recommend mushroom kits then G ;D

Mrs Ava · « **Reply #3 on:** January 03, 2007, 23:00:10 »

hahaha Georgie, yes, I will almost agree with you there. I have tried again and again with the children and we may get 2 or 3 mushrooms, but that is about the lot. I am going to look at seeds of italy as you can buy spores that you sprinkle over straw which is packed into a bin liner! Might be worth a punt?

Georgie · « **Reply #4 on:** January 03, 2007, 23:14:51 »

I wish you luck, EJ, although that bin liner ain't gonna look too classy next to your new range. ;)

I seem to recall that some peeps here were trying the 'logs and plugs' method? It would be good to hear if they have had any success.

G x

Mark /\ · « **Reply #5 on:** January 03, 2007, 23:49:32 »

I have wanted to buy a mushroom kit for years but our lass said they smell so that put me off. Anyhow I bought one from B&Q 3 weeks ago.

I have followed all the instructions and have so far grown nothing. ???

I was expecting a load of little white blobs growing getting bigger and bigger ready for me to eat.

Yesterday though I noticed a white cottony (web like) thing growing in the corner is this how it starts?. I hope so. :-*

Mrs Ava · « **Reply #6 on:** January 04, 2007, 00:05:16 »

Yes Mark, that is the ...something very technical and fungi like...doing it's thing. Have you got lots of little black flies yet?

Columbus · « **Reply #7 on:** January 04, 2007, 06:49:21 »

I`m with Georgie on this, but best of luck, :) keep us posted of events, if any.

Col

Baccy Man · « **Reply #8 on:** January 04, 2007, 06:52:24 »

The button mushroom kits will produce a few pounds of mushrooms if they are fresh but a lot of the chainstore ones have not been stored properly or have been sitting around for months that is why people have problems with them.
The white weblike growth is the mycelium once it has spread through all availiable food it will start send up mushrooms which will double in size every 24 hours.
If anyone wants to try using spawn then I would suggest they stick to oyster varieties to begin with as they will grow on almost anything I grow them on coffee grounds, shredded paper, old phone books/yellow pages. Innoculating logs is a lot more hit & miss as the conditions have to be just right & it can take over a year before you see any results.
Most companies sell spawn directly despatched from this scottish company http://www.annforfungi.co.uk or Mr Fothergills are going to start selling their own range of mushroom spawn this year I tried the full range in october & it included some of the freshest kits I have seen in ages & everything has turned out well although the instructions are disappointing as they missed a few vital points for the dowel kits.

Grandma · « **Reply #9 on:** January 04, 2007, 07:54:35 »

Thank you! That's very encouraging - and just in time. :) I've had mine since late November and was about to chuck it out because it's covered in white cobwebby stuff. I thought it had gone mouldy! Will keep up the morning misting for a while longer.

Plum · « **Reply #10 on:** January 04, 2007, 08:47:09 »

Daughter bought one of the impregnated logs for me as a present a year ago. Followed instructions absolutely nothing. Heard an item in the autumn on Gardeners Question Time, they have had theirs for several years ( 4logs I think) had less than half a dozen muchrooms the last year. Several pounds per musroom. Had a little more success with the polystrene boxes, but still worked out very expensive per mushoom

Barnowl · « **Reply #11 on:** January 04, 2007, 10:38:50 »

Mum gave me a log last year - no results. Found this approach much easier:

http://www.shop.edirectory.co.uk/halls_kendal/pages/moreinfoa.asp?pe=DDEHBCJQ_+dried+wild+mix+mushrooms+500+gm&cid=863

;)

manicscousers · « **Reply #12 on:** January 04, 2007, 17:19:28 »

we ahd one a while ago, watered it too much so little black flies everywhee, been told to leave watering until the mushies start showing, we'll see :)

Wicker · « **Reply #13 on:** January 05, 2007, 21:24:07 »

tried spawn last year - followed instructions re straw etc absolutely as best I could compressing turning etc beforehand. Long story cut short - no luck with mushrooms, added some compost planted melons in and they grew!

Carol · « **Reply #14 on:** January 05, 2007, 21:44:38 »

We bought mushroom kit about 20 years ago and it was wonderful, we got lbs and lbs of mushrooms. I think they have perhaps changed the way they do this now for home growing.

Multiveg · « **Reply #15 on:** January 05, 2007, 22:05:48 »

I bought from a garden centre a box of Mr Fothergills - Pink Oyster - grow on recycled old books, newspapers or straw! Will give it a go - had button mushroom kit last year and only got 5? mushrooms! Hopefully will have more luck this time.

Marymary · « **Reply #16 on:** January 05, 2007, 22:42:09 »

Like you Carol I had a kit about 20 years ago & got loads of mushrooms, it was in a sort of bucket. I have tried 2 polystyrene kits in the last year & neither have produced anything though I agree they might have been old stock as they were reduced. I got an oyster mushroom kit for Christmas & am hoping for better results - can't be worse! :)

Marymary · « **Reply #17 on:** January 05, 2007, 22:44:13 »

PS I'm getting a couple of bags of 'spent' mushroom compost cos I've heard people saying it can still produce mushrooms - any tips on what to do with it to encourage them?

Baccy Man · « **Reply #18 on:** January 05, 2007, 23:00:58 »

For oysters you don't even need to buy a kit.

You will need:
1. A container -- a 5 gallon plastic bucket is a good choice
2. Coffee grounds -- enough to fill the container halfway
3. Fresh oyster mushrooms, about 2 ounces / 50g or more
4. some good recipes to make use of the results
5. A spray bottle.

Notes on source materials:
Your source mushrooms can be bought at a supermarket. They must be fresh, not dried, but they don't have to be in perfect condition.
In fact, when you can find some that have begun to round the bend just slightly, those are the ones you want. Some Oysters seem to not realize they've been cut and packaged for sale: if you look closely you will find the more exuberant specimens continuing to produce new primordia and even fully-formed stems and caps right off of their own dying bodies. These more virulent examples make excellent starting material for a home culture.

To obtain the necessary volume of coffee grounds, you can either save your own for a while or, better, half-fill your container with recently discarded grounds from a coffee house. If you explain and ask nicely, Starbucks will allow you to take away all you can carry.
It's preferable to bring home a mass of very fresh grounds like this rather than use your own, because the mass will tend to be properly hydrated, undecomposed, and uncolonized by competitor organisms. Once you establish your Oyster colony you can continue to feed it with leftover grounds from your own kitchen any time.

Planting your own colony is easy

First, make certain the grounds are at a reasonable moisture level. If you can squeeze liquid out of a handful, they're too wet. If a handful, when squeezed into a ball, won't hold together for a second, that is probably too dry. Excess water will breed competitor organisms and restrict the respiration that your oysters need to grow (they expire carbon dioxide, as we do). Insufficient water will stunt or entirely prevent their growth.

Having checked the water content, simply make your container half-full with grounds, then scoop out a hole sufficient to bury your source mushroom in the grounds. Tear your source Oyster (gently) into several pieces and lay them in the hole, then cover lightly with grounds, not too deep. About an inch of grounds covering the mushroom is good.

Care and feeding

What we call a mushroom is only the surface part of the organism -- its reproductive parts, in fact. Before producing actual mushrooms, the organism must grow its main body, known as mycelium, under the surface of its food source.

Maintenance of your Oyster colony is very simple. Keep a lid on the container, but not tight.Keep the material inside moist by spraying with water now and then. Depending on where you live, water may be needed in the morning and evening, or less than once per day. You will need to experiment with how open or closed the lid is kept, to keep a humid, but not stale, environment in the container. Experiment also with the temperature, by keeping the container in different locations -- some strains of oysters prefer a range of around 55-70°F /
13-21°C; some will thrive in a somewhat cooler or warmer range.

New grounds can be introduced to the container on a regular basis. The colony will still work if you don't, but you will see the original substrate shrink a lot over time as it is consumed by the oysters' metabolism. So feeding the colony is good. But you don't want to feed it so much and so often that its growing mycelium gets too deeply buried. The mycelium is a whitish, stranded, fungal growth that constitutes the underground body of the mushrooms, necessary to their growth before they put up their edible fruiting bodies. After giving the organism an initial week or so to recover from transplant shock and begin growing, you should be able to locate mycelium somewhere in the grounds by gently digging. If you can't find any mycelial growth at all, either the grounds are out of the proper temperature or moisture range, oryou're burying the organism too deeply.

Results

The length of time before there are new mushrooms to harvest will depend on climate and temperature. It seems to be a common experience of home Oyster growers to nearly give up on the colony and then, not long after that, take another look to find delicious clusters of gourmet love just waiting to be picked. Typically, though, you'll have edible results in three to five weeks. The mushroom needs to grow a network of mycelium under the surface,
strengthen itself by metabolizing a lot of the raw materials in the coffee-grounds substrate, build a lot of new cells, and finally burst to the surface with new fruiting bodies. This takes some time. Fortunately the burden of ownership is nothing more difficult than daily watering.

Harvesting

Harvest your new mushrooms with a sharp knife, attempting to cleanly sever their aboveground parts without disturbing the surrounding grounds or damaging any immature mushrooms that are nearby. Smaller ones will continue to grow from day to day. For goodtasting and healthy Oysters you'll want to harvest the ones that have reached a fair size but haven't come too close to spreading their gills yet. Try not to allow any of them to fully mature and open up to drop their spores -- this has an inhibiting effect on nearby growth.

Storage and lack thereof

Oyster mushrooms really should not be stored for long. Save them for up to a day or two in a refrigerator, but try to cook and eat them on the same day you harvest them. As much as they seem to thrive and regrow more willingly than other mushrooms, Oysters also have a very short shelf life, beyond which they quickly begin to taste fishy and may even be harmful to your health.

Mrs Ava · « **Reply #19 on:** January 05, 2007, 23:18:21 »

Wow! Really? Wow some more! Gunna get me to the coffee shop.

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Author Topic: mushroom kit (Read 6964 times)