Growing Indoor Mushrooms

Many gardeners have asked if it is possible to grow mushroom at home and the smart answer to that question is yes. In fact, the curious but tasty fungus is typically grown indoors rather than in fields or gardens. Production is taken with care as there are designed kits for mushroom cultivation. However, it is also a possible task to set up your own mushroom growing area in the comfort of your home. Before you learn exactly how, here are a few facts to chew on about mushrooms.

Fun facts about mushrooms

Mushrooms are not the usually green plants, rather they are fungi. They are different from the conventional plants as they are from plants. As a matter of fact, fungi and animals are now classified to belong to the same super-kingdom called Opisthokonta. Fungi usually act as plant recycler after they die. They transform them into rich soils through some microbiological activities unseen to our eyes. It is believed that if not for decomposers, mushroom and fungi, the Earth would have been buried in several feet of debris, meaning that life on the planet would already have disappeared or would soon disappear. The oldest mushroom discovered was said to have existed 90 million years ago, and some of the oldest living mushroom colonies are said to be fairy rings growing close to the famous Stonehenge ruins in England. This ring is so large that it was said that they could best be seen from airplanes. Mushrooms have been discovered not only to be nutritionally and medically rich alone, but can also be used for production of dyes for household use. ​

Mushroom generally grow towards sunlight. This suggest that sunlight is important for its growth like in plants but it is yet unknown to scientists how mushroom make use of light. All they could say is that it uses light and it is never one of those organisms that photosynthesize. Mushroom conducts biological processes such as bioremediation. 

This means it absorbs and digest harmful as well as dangerous substances as oil, pesticides and huge industrial wastes in environments that are threatened by all of these. That suggest that it is an environment purifier in its own little way.
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The world of fungi simply hold many secrets and by growing mushrooms, you are probably venturing into means with which the many mysteries of the fungi world will be revealed.

Choosing the right mushroom to grow

Just like the many crops that have been discussed that you can grow in your homes and backyards, growing mushrooms at home begin with choosing the right kind of mushroom to grow. There are no exact right choice to choose but below are some of the popular choices you could grow indoor;

• Oysters mushroom
  
• White button mushroom
  
• Shiitake mushrooms
  

After you have selected which type to grow, you would need to purchase spores of your mushroom of choice from a reputable store. Spores act like seeds in plants and spawn could be likened to seedlings. You could also grow mushroom with spawn. In fact, spawns are easier to handle and grow faster into mushrooms.

Medium of growth

​In contrast to many crops, the different mushrooms known have different growing mediums. Some, especially the shiitake mushroom are grown on hardwood sawdust, white button mushroom are grown on compost manure, while oysters mushroom finds it comfortable living on straw. ​

Growing edible mushrooms at home

After you must have chosen which mushroom interests you to grow and have secured the best medium for its growth, all other steps of growing mushrooms are basically the same and common to all mushrooms. You would need a cool, dark and damp location to lay your medium. This is usually best in a basement or unused cabinets and closets. What is most important is securing anywhere where you can create near darkness, while you can also control their temperature and humidity.

The best approach to this has been to place the growing medium in a pan and raising the area temperature to around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. Using a heating pad could help you accomplish this without much stress. After this is done, place the spawn on the growing medium. You could then drop the temperature to between 55 and 60 degrees Fahrenheit. This range of temperature is the best for growing mushrooms anywhere. You would also need to cover the spawn with little potting soil, preferable around an inch of that. You will then need to cover the soil with damp cloth, after which you would spray the cloth with water as it dries. ​

Barring all negative occurrences, you should see small mushrooms appear on the medium after three or four weeks. You would have to wait until the mushroom have their caps fully open and separated clearly from the stems before harvesting. It is as simple as that to grow your mushroom indoor.
You could try this project yourself as it is fun and worthwhile. This way, you could grow tastier mushrooms than you would buy at the stores in your own house.