Tabletop Mushroom Cultivation

Alson Sears, D.V.M.
Christopher Keller
AWSEARS@HOTMAIL.COM

1. Large Bucket
2. Ice
3. Water (Bottled water is best, however do not use distilled water)
4. Completely colonized sawdust block

Procedure

1. Add ice to bottom of bucket.
   
   
    
    
2. Place colonized sawdust block in bucket.
   
   
    
    
3. Place more ice on top of colonized block; completely fill bucket with ice.
    
4. Fill bucket with water.
   
   
    
    
5. Sawdust block should be soaked in ice water for 2-3 days. Continue to add ice to keep water cold. The bucket may be placed in the refrigerator to aid in cooling.
    
6. After the colonized sawdust has been chilled for 2 - 3 days, remove it from the ice water and allow it to drain for several hours.
    
7. At this point, the mushroom block is set to fruit. For fruiting to take place, the sawdust block must maintain certain climate conditions. The temperature should be kept between 70 and 80 degrees. The humidity needs to be between 80 and 90 percent. The mushrooms also need sunlight and fresh air. All of these factors make fruiting very challenging.
    
8. How you achieve these conditions depends on time and space constraints. If you are only fruiting one or two bags, you may wish to place the bags in a window covered by a larger clear plastic bag with holes cut to allow air exchange. The high humidity can be maintained by misting the block several times a day. The humidity should be high enough that small water drops are always present on the inside of the bag.
    
9. If you are planning on fruiting larger quantities of mushroom blocks, you may wish to construct a small greenhouse. Depending on the size you construct it, you can use a room humidifier instead of misting bottles. Just remember, fresh air is also important, so allow for plenty of air exchange.

   
    

   
    

   

   

References
 

Many of the supplies needed for growing mushrooms can be found at local department, grocery, or hardware stores. However, you may need (or want) to order some of the supplies from other companies, following is a list of companies that can provide you with hard to find items.
 
 

• ICN Biomedical Research Products
  Tel (800) 854 - 0530
  www.icnbiomed.com
   
   
• Aldrich Chemical Company
  Tel (800) 558 - 9160
   
   
• Carolina Biological Supply
  (800) 334 - 5551
   
   
• Sigma Cell Culture
  Tel (800) 325 - 3010
   
   
• Fungi Perfecti
  Tel (800) 780 - 9126
  www.fungi.com

The first four companies will only be able to supply you with culture plates and possibly agar if you cannot find it elsewhere. Fungi Perfecti will have everything else you may need.

GOOD LUCK
AND
HAPPY GROWING!
 
 

Home

Agar
plates

Spore print

Preparing grain

Inoculating grain

Preparing sawdust

Fruiting mushrooms