Soy Hulls
Common Mushroom Substrate Materials (and Mushroom Substrate Recipes)
- Coffee grounds. Here at Grocycle, we started off by growing on coffee grounds and we’ve been doing it for years ever since.
- Straw. Straw is another cheap and effective material to use as a substrate. ...
- Coco Coir and Vermiculite. Coco coir is a material made of ground-up coconut shells and husks. ...
- Hardwood Pellets. ...
- Manure. ...
- Logs. ...
- Cardboard. ...
Manure
Growing Mushrooms from Ends
- Start by using a substrate like straw for your bedding material. ...
- Take two healthy oyster mushrooms, and spate the tops from the bottoms. ...
- Place a layer of growing medium in the bottom of your container, and then add the end pieces of the mushroom. ...
Coco Coir and Vermiculite
Best Substrate for Planted Tank Comparison Chart
- Fluval Plant and Shrimp Stratum
- Mr. ...
- Seachem Flourite Black Clay Gravel
- UP AQUA Sand for Aquatic Plants
- Hermit Habitat Terrarium Substrates, 5-Pound, Marine Blue
- Carib Sea Eco Complete Planted Black Aquarium Substrate
- Spectrastone Shallow Creek Regular for Freshwater Aquariums
- ADA Aqua Soil Amazonia 9 Liter Normal Type
Straw
Some common mushroom growing substrates are coffee grounds, straw, sugar cane bagasse, coco coir and vermiculite, sawdust, hardwood pellets, manure, logs and cardboard. Our Complete Guide to Mushroom Substrates has more information on mushroom substrates and how to prepare them.
Hardwood Sawdust
What is a good bulk mushroom substrate recipe?
What is the best medium for growing mushrooms?
What's the best substrate?
What type of substrate will grow mushrooms?
What substrate is best for mycelium?
A good substrate is dense in woody, fibrous materials like lignin, cellulose and hemicellulose. (These contain a lot of carbon, which is the main food source for your mycelium.)
What is the best bulk substrate for Psilocybe Cubensis?
The most suitable substrate for P. Cubensis is said to be rye grain. If grown inside a mason jar – a popular and effective method of cultivation – mycelium will permeate the grain within ten to fifteen days.
Which substrate is suitable for mushroom?
The main nutrients are less nitrogen and more carbon so materials containing cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin (i.e., rice and wheat straw, cotton seed hulls, sawdust [SD], waste paper, leaves, and sugarcane residue) can be used as mushroom substrates [8].
What is the best mushroom growing medium?
Best Substrate for Mushrooms A substrate mix of coco coir, vermiculite, gypsum (CVG) is probably the most widely used fruiting medium for growing psilocybin mushrooms.
How do you speed up mushroom growth?
Mushrooms need a humid environment when they're fruiting. After all, they're made of more than 90% water. Increasing humidity can help your mushrooms grow faster and of a better quality.
How deep should mushroom substrate be?
You want to have 3-5 inches of substrate. One 3lb injection port bag should readily inoculate one or two moderate sized tubs. You want to start by sprinkling about one inch of bulk substrate into your sterilized monotub, or in the liner if you're using one.
Does substrate affect mushroom taste?
The flavor of oyster mushrooms has been found to change depending on growing substrate (Guba 1970; Sturgeon 1989, 1990).
What pH does mycelium like?
about 5.5 and 6.5[9], reported that, the optimum range of pH for mycelium growth is about 5.5 and 6.5.
Do you have to sterilize substrate?
You should fully sterilize the substrate. Always follow the sterilization method with no exceptions. Check the pressure regularly when using a pressure cooker to achieve a heat sterilization.
What Is a Mushroom Substrate? What is it Used For?
A mushroom substrate is a material that mushroom mycelium can grow and establish itself in. The substrate provides mushrooms with the nutrients, moisture and energy they need to grow and fruit.
Common Mushroom Substrate Materials (and Mushroom Substrate Recipes)
There are a wide range of materials that you can use as a substrate to grow mushrooms. Some are fairly conventional while others are a bit newer and more experimental. Here are some of the most common substrates that mushroom growers are currently using.
How To Pasteurize or Sterilize Mushroom Substrates
Besides selecting a substrate to use, deciding when it’s appropriate to either pasteurize or sterilize the material is another important part in learning how to make mushroom substrate.
Why Is Pasteurization or Sterilization Necessary?
Pasteurization or sterilization reduce mold and bacteria and help ensure that the thing you’re trying to grow will have the best chance to get established.
Fermentation of Straw as an Alternative to Pasteurizing
One thing mushroom growers can do instead of pasteurizing straw is to ferment it.
How Do You Mix A Mushroom Substrate?
There’s no easier way to mix substrate than simply mixing it up with your hands. Of course, be sure to wash your hands thoroughly before you begin and consider wearing a pair of disposable gloves.
Which Substrates Are Best For Which Types of Mushrooms?
As we’ve alluded to throughout this guide, different kinds of substrates are best suited to different mushroom species.
What are Mushroom Substrates?
Mushrooms are not plants, a fact that makes no difference to consumers but makes a huge difference to growers. Unlike plants, which derive all their energy from the sun, fungi need to eat; the material they grow in or on is their food and, like animals, they need a species-appropriate diet for proper growth.
Logs
Many types of fungus eat dead wood, making cultivation in cut logs an obvious option. Not just any log will do; while many fungus species accept multiple types of wood, others are quite picky, and most have at least some woods they can’t or won’t eat.
Sawdust or wood-chip mixes
Saw dust or wood-chips—or, better yet, both—make a good, productive substrate, but are usually mixed with bran of some type (grain or soy) for added nutrition [iv]. As with logs, the species of tree the material came from matters, but many hardwoods are suitable and material from different species can be mixed.
What to do with used mushroom Substrate?
All used substrates can work as a soil amendment. Some types need further composting first, others do not. Some substrate types can also be used as an ingredient in animal feed mixes.
The Best Mushroom Substrates
Mushrooms consume carbon-based dead plant matter. Different mushrooms have different favorites. Oyster mushrooms can pretty much grow on anything.
How To Prepare Bulk Substrate
Bulk substrate for home-growing edible mushrooms is easy. For more detailed information see the step-by-step instructions on how mushrooms are grown.
Best Substrate Recipe For Growing Oyster Mushrooms
The best recipe for oyster mushrooms is used coffee grounds for stage 1 then pasteurized straw for stage 2.
Best Substrate For Growing Portobello Mushrooms
Use the same recipe as for growing button mushrooms (50% pasteurized compost with 50% pasteurized manure with one inch of pasteurized soil on top).
Best Substrate For Growing Shiitake Mushrooms
Shiitakes grow best on logs, wood chips, or sawdust. Logs should be cut green then inoculated before getting infected. Wood chips and sawdust should be pasteurized by adding boiling water and maintaining a temperature of 170 degrees F for at least 1 hour.
Best Substrate For Growing King Oyster Mushrooms
King oyster mushrooms can grow in the same substrate as oyster mushrooms. Start them in coffee grounds then finish in pasteurized straw. Coffee grounds will be pasteurized by brewing the coffee than using the grounds just after they are warm to the touch but not hot.
What Is Mushroom Substrate?
A mushroom substrate is a medium used to grow mushrooms. Typical commercial cultivation happens in three steps:
Mushroom Growing Substrates for Each Life Stage
Mushrooms need different nutrients during each stage of their life cycle. There are two main life stages for mushrooms: spawning and fruiting. Plant-lovers may find this concept familiar—plants require different nutrients in their vegetative stage than they do in their blooming stage.
Best Spawning Substrates
A spawning substrate consists of just one ingredient—some kind of grain or flour. In contrast, a fruiting substrate is typically a mix of three to five ingredients. As such, choosing a spawning medium is notably easier than choosing or building a fruiting substrate.
Best Substrate for Mushrooms
Due to the non-discriminatory nature of the internet—anyone with an internet connection can post their recipe—there are now thousands of different substrate recipes available at the click of a mouse. Many of these recipes can provide your shrooms with the ideal conditions to promote large, healthy, and potent fruiting bodies.
How to Grow Shrooms Bundle
An important note if following this recipe is that the medium should be pasteurized, not sterilized. If you sterilize the medium you will negate most of the benefits provided by the microorganisms in manure, as these will be killed during sterilization. Pasteurization will still kill contaminants, but allow most of the microorganisms to survive.
What do mushrooms like to eat?
Fungi in general have three different types of diet they gravitate to.
What are the best kinds of substrates?
Straw is a top choice of substrate material for most growers since it provides amazing yields and is suitable for numerous types of mushrooms. It’s also very cheap. Straw from any cereal can be used, and you can even experiment to see which one will suit your crop the best.
Coco coir and vermiculite
Coco coir is a mixture of ground coconut hulls and shells. Vermiculite is a silicate material that is often used in planting. They are quite often used together, but you can fud them separately in different bulk substrate recipes.
How to make the best mushroom substrates
The best substrate is the one that matches the spawn and mushroom you’re growing. Though you can make a safe bet by matching the substrate to the host said shroom latches on in nature (ie wood shavings for ones that grow on logs). Always start by doing in-depth research on your species of choice.
How to pasteurize and sterilize your substrates
Pasteurization is pretty simple – all you have to do is to keep the substrate temperature in the range between 160 and 170 degrees Fahrenheit for one hour. The easiest way to do this is by boiling it in a plastic bag. And if you want to make your life easier, you can get a sous-vide circulator that will do all the work for you.
What substrates produce the highest yields of mushrooms?
Straw based substrate comes at number one here. It’s followed up by sawdust, soy hulls, and manure.
What are the best mushroom fruiting conditions?
The ideal temperature for fruiting is between 70 and 79 degrees Fahrenheit. And, as it’s the case with mushrooms at any time, the area should also be dark and damp.
Guide to Mushroom Substrates
Luckily for growers, there are plenty of options to use as a mushroom substrate. All these options can confuse new farmers because there are so many options to choose from. We will break down everything you need to know to choose the best mushroom substrate.
How To Prepare Mushroom Substrate
Once you choose your substrate, you’ll need to make sure it is prepared for the mushroom spores or spawn. First off, you will add water and any additions to your mix. Amendments, like wheat bran or manure, add nutrients to your substrate.
Mushroom Substrate Recipes
Some mushroom substrates are straightforward, like cardboard, and do not need a recipe. These are the recipes if you are using a mix that contains multiple ingredients or supplements.
Can I Use Perlite To Grow Mushrooms?
Perlite alone is not a suitable substrate for growing mushrooms. However, it is a great addition to your mushroom substrate mix because it is sterile, retains moisture, provides aeration, and has a neutral pH.
Can You Use Potting Mix To Grow Mushrooms?
Potting soil can be used to grow mushrooms, but it is not ideal. Supplemental ingredients, like sawdust, straw, or coffee grounds, will need to be added so the mycelium has plenty of food to consume.
Can You Use Cow Manure for Mushroom Substrate?
Cow manure can be used to easily grow some species of mushrooms. However, for optimal use, it should be sterilized and mixed with a moisture-retention ingredient, like coco coir.
What Are Mushroom Substrate Bags?
Mushroom substrate bags are clear plastic bags that contain substrate. There is a small port in the bag that allows the grower to insert their mushroom spawn. Periodically, the port can be used to add fresh air to the bag to promote mycelium growth.
Common Mushroom Substrates
Logs
- Many types of fungus eat dead wood, making cultivation in cut logs an obvious option. Not just any log will do; while many fungus species accept multiple types of wood, others are quite picky, and most have at least some woods they can’t or won’t eat. Preparation of the log and later disposal are simple, and the growth process, though lengthy (several months to a year before th…
Sawdust Or Wood-Chip Mixes
- Saw dust or wood-chips—or, better yet, both—make a good, productive substrate, but are usually mixed with bran of some type (grain or soy) for added nutrition[iv]. As with logs, the species of tree the material came from matters, but many hardwoods are suitable and material from different species can be mixed. There are many different recipes, each...
What to Do with Used Mushroom Substrate?
- All used substrates can work as a soil amendment. Some types need further composting first, others do not. Some substrate types can also be used as an ingredient in animal feed mixes. Even if there is little nutrition left in the substrate material itself, used substrate is full of fungal tissue, which the animals can digest—and sometimes derive medical benefit from[vii], depending on th…