Do it yourself home mushroom growing kits

[Sundancefisher]

Anyone find a good one for sale in Calgary.

In the best scenario one can get lots of crops. Thinking the furnace room would be a nice dark place to grow mushrooms. Could place a small grow light if needed.

Any good recent experience?

Thinking oysters or other good cooking mushrooms.

Please just post about cooking mushrooms only!!

[calgarychef]

My only experience was an oyster mushroom kit to plant outside.
I got it this past July, forgot about it in the fridge for a month then planted it in the back flowerbed under the downspout. Darned thing was fruiting within a couple weeks. Can’t wait to see what it does next spring.

[Remco]

I wouldn't call it a good experience but I tried one of those ready to fruit indoor kits.
Mine would fruit great but as soon as they were about 2 inches big and poke out of the bag they would dry out.
I tried a humidity tent but it didn't like the lack of fresh air.
Next time I try I'll have to build some sort of humidity controlled chamber to prevent it.

[ghfalls]

You’re gonna need a digital temp/ humidity monitor. If it’s not controlled properly you won’t get a finished product.

[KegRiver]

Seriously, I've never tried a kit but have grown Meadow Mushrooms, that's the wild version of the canned mushrooms.

It takes a bit of research but it's not that hard once you know what to do.

Most Mycelium lives underground or under tree bark so they need no light.
The Mycelium is the body, the Mushroom is the fruit. The whole thing is a Fungi.

Meadow Mushrooms feed on the manure of grazing animals. Horse manure works best. With that in mind the ones that grow in wood may be a better choice for indoors.

Kits make it easy but it can be done by gathering spore from a mushroom that you want to propagate and putting it on or in the substrate it feeds on.

I have brought several types of mushrooms to my yard by simply spreading the spore from the species I want, where it has the best chance of producing.

I chose the natural method because the mushrooms I was interested in grow locally and they release nutrients that plants need.

The harvest is a bonus, not the goal.

[dgl1948]

I bought a button mushroom kit a few years ago. It worked great. Grew them in the basement. Had to mist it to keep it moist. I have never been able to find another kit with this type of mushroom.

[vinny]

I just ordered a couple of kits from Grow Mushrooms Canada. One Yellow Oyster kit and one Lions Mane kit for the father in law. With humidity tents. We'll see how it goes.

[KegRiver]

I bought a button mushroom kit a few years ago. It worked great. Grew them in the basement. Had to mist it to keep it moist. I have never been able to find another kit with this type of mushroom.

There are three specialty shops in Edmonton that sell mushroom kits and probably as many or more in Calgary.

[Sundancefisher]

I just ordered a couple of kits from Grow Mushrooms Canada. One Yellow Oyster kit and one Lions Mane kit for the father in law. With humidity tents. We'll see how it goes.

Those guys are interesting as they sell the stuff to basically grow on logs on your property. Not sure cost versus value but if you lived in an area with lots of the proper logs one could essentially plant mushrooms and let nature do the rest.

That would be cool especially if they kept coming back year after year.

[MyAlberta]

Last year the daughter and I foraged over the fall, and had a great harvest. This fall, other than several non edible species, nothing. Could have been the summer heat. We’ve been looking into bulk grow. The more we research, the more intriguing.

[Sundancefisher]

Last year the daughter and I foraged over the fall, and had a great harvest. This fall, other than several non edible species, nothing. Could have been the summer heat. We’ve been looking into bulk grow. The more we research, the more intriguing.

This one looks very interesting.

https://growmushroomscanada.ca/product/garden-giant-stropharia-kit/

[vinny]

Those guys are interesting as they sell the stuff to basically grow on logs on your property. Not sure cost versus value but if you lived in an area with lots of the proper logs one could essentially plant mushrooms and let nature do the rest.

That would be cool especially if they kept coming back year after year.

I ordered the bag kits but if it’s successful I’m gonna try some on logs at our mountain property!

[Sundancefisher]

I ordered the bag kits but if it’s successful I’m gonna try some on logs at our mountain property!

Let me know how the bags work.

Curious how the cost versus harvest ratio works out.

[vinny]

Each kit was about $30 including the tents. $25 to ship, so if you can get a group together to buy, it makes more sense. We’ll see how the harvest goes. First time might be a “learning experience”.

[dgl1948]

There are three specialty shops in Edmonton that sell mushroom kits and probably as many or more in Calgary.

Ut non of them sell the button mushroom kits. These are the common mushroom found in supermarkets. I originally got mine from one of the catalog seed companies. Came with stirofoam box, grow material and mushroom spawn. Worked really well.

[Lornce]

We bought the kits from growing mushrooms Canada two years ago. The wine winter caps and the Oyster mushrooms. Put them in our outdoor greenhouse and they both produced well. The funny thing was the following year we still got a small crop without trying. And the Oyster popped up in a sawdust catcher under my chop saw. So Bonus.

[tirebob]

Just in case people missed the OP's intent and request in his very first post... This thread is about mushrooms for food ONLY and not therapeutic or recreational and all such posts will be deleted. Start a different thread if that discussion is wanted please.

[KegRiver]

Ut non of them sell the button mushroom kits. These are the common mushroom found in supermarkets. I originally got mine from one of the catalog seed companies. Came with stirofoam box, grow material and mushroom spawn. Worked really well.

That may be. But button mushrooms are among the easiest to start from the mushrooms themselves. No need for a kit.

[Sundancefisher]

That may be. But button mushrooms are among the easiest to start from the mushrooms themselves. No need for a kit.

You talking about the ones you get from the grocer? Do you just let them ripen and then use? I’m curious exactly what you do?

[Sundancefisher]

I gotta try this.

https://youtu.be/45b2t7fqhjA

I’m thinking if a person just ran around the neighborhood looking for large trees getting cut down and the base ground out… one could get free wood chip mulch and just do the pasteurizing method.

Seems like some mushrooms like aspen and some coniferous.

I wonder if a person just called a tree removal company if a person could get some free mulch also.

My gut tells me in Calgary that it may be a challenge to keep them from drying out.

[vinny]

Let me know how the bags work.

Curious how the cost versus harvest ratio works out.

Took the first harvest last night. Yellow Oysters. Very tasty. Enough for a side dish. We’ll see how the second harvest goes. They grow extremely fast once they start. I’ll pick a day earlier next time so the stems are a little softer.

[TBark]

We found miller mushrooms in our field a few yrs ago, near the cow pies.
It took a while to ID them, and have been hard to find since, but we still find them.
The Book also called them sweetbread mushrooms.

TBark

[MyAlberta]

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/picture.php?albumid=2350&pictureid=11733

Blue Oyster, first flush. Some of the tastiest mushrooms I've eaten. $30 kit at the local farmers market. Second flush is just starting. Daughter and I have been planning a bulk grow effort, hopefully produce a flush once a week. These were doubling in size every day, amazing.

[sns2]

Great job fellas. Really cool.

[Qawwer]

Selling ready-made mycelium is a really great idea. I once grew mushrooms in a box. It was pretty easy and interesting.

[Sundancefisher]

http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/picture.php?albumid=2350&pictureid=11733

Blue Oyster, first flush. Some of the tastiest mushrooms I've eaten. $30 kit at the local farmers market. Second flush is just starting. Daughter and I have been planning a bulk grow effort, hopefully produce a flush once a week. These were doubling in size every day, amazing.

Would you say for the money it was worth it from a mushroom value perspective?

How many crops did you end up getting off one kit?

[PartTimeHunter]

What about the mushrooms that grow on the fairy ring on the lawn? Edible?

I wish I knew more about these. I've found lots of them in the yard, pasture, field and bush close to home

[MyAlberta]

Would you say for the money it was worth it from a mushroom value perspective?

How many crops did you end up getting off one kit?

We got a second, but much smaller flush off that same kit, and it’s done. Cost wise, Id say if one grew a gourmet shroom, it would be effective, but considering what we picked yesterday, not. We do intend to upscale homegrown though, and try many more varieties. This kit of blue oysters had a very rich taste, while our local wild ones have a mild taste.

These picked local yesterday. Out again today as this flush is ending
The fiddleheads were picked back in April
http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/picture.php?albumid=2350&pictureid=11746

[FCLightning]

What about the mushrooms that grow on the fairy ring on the lawn? Edible?

I wish I knew more about these. I've found lots of them in the yard, pasture, field and bush close to home

https://foragerchef.com/fairy-ring-mushrooms-marasmius-oreades/

[Red Bullets]

There is a mushroom farmer near Leduc/Edmonton that is growing in bags. This article and CBC video shows the bags more as vertical logs of hemp fiber. Each log produces quite a few. It would be pretty easy to take a corner in a room to hang a 'log' and box it in to be able to control the humidity.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/fungi-nisku-mushroom-lamb-gruger-1.5272003

[Red Bullets]

We got a second, but much smaller flush off that same kit, and it’s done. Cost wise, Id say if one grew a gourmet shroom, it would be effective, but considering what we picked yesterday, not. We do intend to upscale homegrown though, and try many more varieties. This kit of blue oysters had a very rich taste, while our local wild ones have a mild taste.

These picked local yesterday. Out again today as this flush is ending
The fiddleheads were picked back in April
http://www.outdoorsmenforum.ca/picture.php?albumid=2350&pictureid=11746

Save some spores and get some new mycelium and a host material to do the next grow.

[MyAlberta]

There is a mushroom farmer near Leduc/Edmonton that is growing in bags. This article and CBC video shows the bags more as vertical logs of hemp fiber. Each log produces quite a few. It would be pretty easy to take a corner in a room to hang a 'log' and box it in to be able to control the humidity.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/fungi-nisku-mushroom-lamb-gruger-1.5272003

Just need an autoclave big enough to sterile the ‘logs’

[Sjardine]

Anyone find a good one for sale in Calgary.

In the best scenario one can get lots of crops. Thinking the furnace room would be a nice dark place to grow mushrooms. Could place a small grow light if needed.

Any good recent experience?

Thinking oysters or other good cooking mushrooms.

Please just post about cooking mushrooms only!!


Check with your county office. Our county has put on workshops for mushroom growing. They go quickly though.

[aulrich]

We did some growing at the beginning of the lock down humidity control it key but when it worked it was reasonably productive and very tasty. I really liked lions mane mushrooms


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