Sarah Brown
Mushrooms are fungi with unique growing requirements compared to plants. They can be grown year-round and are popular with urban farmers due to their compact growth and minimal space requirements. The most common method for growing mushrooms involves large plastic bags filled with sterilized sawdust and wood chips, although they can also be grown on logs or in bottles and containers. Temperature, humidity, and lighting are critical factors in cultivating mushrooms, with temperatures in the 60s Fahrenheit being ideal for most species. Specialty mushrooms, unlike psilocybe and agaricus (button) mushrooms, require light for proper growth. The growing cycle for mushrooms is typically six weeks, with the first three weeks dedicated to developing the vegetative part of the fungus, called the mycelium. After dropping the temperature below 20 degrees Celsius, the final three weeks involve picking mushrooms and allowing them to regrow for subsequent harvests.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Growing Medium | Logs, containers, bottles, beds, plastic bags, or shelves filled with sterilized sawdust, wood chips, or compost |
| Temperature | 60s °F (15-21 °C) for most species; 50-65 °F (10-18 °C) in basements; Pink Oyster mushrooms above 65 °F (18 °C); Snow Oyster mushrooms below 65 °F (18 °C) |
| Lighting | Sufficient to comfortably read; specialty mushrooms require light for proper morphology |
| Oxygen | Adequate oxygen levels are necessary for fruiting |
| Strains | Pleurotus ostreatus (Oyster), White Button, Crimini (Brown or Baby Bellas), Portabellas, Enoki, Maitake, Shiitake, Lion's Mane, King Oyster, Nameko, and more |
| Growth Rate | Fast, doubling in size in 24 hours; visible mushrooms can be picked in 4 days; first harvest in 3 weeks; growing cycle of 6 weeks |
| Harvesting | By hand, using a trolley with a built-in knife and weigh scale; mushrooms are harvested in stages or flushes with a 3-day resting period in between |
| Yield | One square foot of space in a mushroom bed can produce 6.55 pounds of mushrooms; one acre can produce 1 million pounds annually |
| Environmental Impact | Low energy and water footprint; growers recycle agricultural byproducts and waste into compost |
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What You'll Learn
Mushrooms are fungi, not plants
Oyster mushrooms, for example, can be grown on straw or sawdust, and they prefer different temperatures: Pink Oysters like the heat and only fruit above 65 degrees F, whereas Snow Oysters prefer it a little cooler. Shiitake mushrooms are another popular variety and can be grown in bottles, on logs, or in containers filled with sawdust. They also have different strains that have been bred for different temperatures.
The growing cycle for mushrooms is six weeks. The first three weeks are spent growing the vegetative part of the fungus, called the mycelium, which is like the roots. This is also called colonising the casing layer. The last three weeks are spent picking mushrooms and letting them grow again. After the first three weeks, the temperature in the growing room is dropped below 20 degrees Celsius to signal the spawn to develop a fruit body (mushroom) and drop spores. Mushrooms are harvested in stages or flushes, with the first flush taking four to five days. They are then left to rest for three days, during which time the mushrooms grow back.
The seven main steps to growing mushrooms are: strain selection, substrate preparation, inoculation, incubation, initiation, fruiting, and harvest. The strain is similar to a plant breed, and different species of mushrooms have thousands of different strains. During incubation, temperature and humidity control are critical factors to maintain. For most species, temperatures in the 60s F are ideal, with the highest-quality mushrooms developing at temperatures in the low 60s F. Lighting is also important, as mushrooms use light to measure how far to extend their stems.
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Ideal temperature is 60°F
Mushrooms are fungi and require different conditions to grow than plants. They can be grown indoors and don't need sunlight, which makes them popular with urban farmers. The most common method for growing mushrooms is inside large plastic bags filled with sterilized sawdust and wood chips. However, this method produces a lot of plastic waste.
The ideal temperature for growing mushrooms is 60°F. The highest quality mushrooms with good fruiting speed develop at temperatures in the low 60°Fs. If a fruiting room was designed perfectly, keeping it around 62-65°F would be ideal. This is why many people fruit mushrooms in basements or other in-ground areas, as temperatures can be kept in the range of 50-65°F with little to no supplemental heating or cooling. As temperatures decrease, mushrooms tend to fruit slower but have a meatier texture. Once temperatures drop below 50-55°F, many species greatly decrease their productivity. As temperatures increase, mushrooms become thinner and go past maturity quickly. When temperatures rise above 75°F, many species reduce their productivity and become low-quality mushrooms. Some growers shift the species being grown based on seasonal temperatures.
Lighting is also important for growing mushrooms. Specialty mushrooms, unlike psilocybe and agaricus (button) mushrooms, need light for proper morphology. There isn’t a particular light spectrum that is needed as the mushrooms are not converting light into energy. It seems that mushrooms use light as a measurement of how far to extend their stems. Low-light environments create skinny mushrooms with long stems, similar to plants grown in low-light environments. Regular shop lights or LED strip lighting can be used for energy efficiency.
Oxygen is another critical factor in the art of fruiting mushrooms. Mushrooms are grown and harvested year-round. The growing cycle for mushrooms is six weeks. The first three weeks are spent growing the vegetative part of the fungus, called the mycelium, which is similar to a plant's roots. This is also called colonizing the casing layer. The last three weeks are spent picking mushrooms and letting them grow to pick again. After the first three weeks have passed, the temperature in the growing room is dropped below 20°C to signal the spawn to develop a fruit body (mushroom) and to drop the spores that are in the gills underneath the mushroom cap. This is the reproductive mechanism for another mushroom to grow, and it is how mushrooms are produced year-round. Mushrooms are harvested in stages or flushes. The first flush is harvested over four or five days. They are then left to rest for three days, during which the mushrooms grow back.
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Lighting is important
Mushrooms are fungi and require different conditions to grow than plants. They can be grown year-round and require relatively little space, making them popular with urban farmers. The seven main steps to the process of growing mushrooms are: strain selection, substrate preparation, inoculation, incubation, initiation, fruiting, and harvest.
During incubation, temperature and humidity control are the two primary factors to maintain. For most species, temperatures in the 60s °F are ideal. The highest quality mushrooms with good fruiting speed develop at temperatures in the low 60s °F. If a fruiting room was designed perfectly, keeping it around 62-65 °F would be ideal. As temperatures decrease, mushrooms tend to fruit more slowly but have a meatier texture. Once temperatures drop below 50-55 °F, many species greatly decrease their productivity. As temperatures increase, mushrooms become thinner and go past maturity quickly. As temperatures rise above 75 °F, many species reduce their productivity and become low-quality mushrooms. Some growers shift the species being grown based on seasonal temperatures.
The rate at which spawn run happens will vary given the density of the substrate and species of mushroom. Oyster, for instance, is faster-growing than shiitake. A sawdust-based substrate is much faster than logs. The growing cycle for mushrooms is six weeks. The first three weeks are spent growing the vegetative part of the fungus, called the mycelium, which is similar to roots. This is also called colonizing the casing layer. The last three weeks are spent picking mushrooms and letting them grow to pick again. After the first three weeks have passed, the temperature in the growing room is dropped below 20 °C. This temperature change signals the spawn to develop a fruit body (mushroom) and to drop the spores that are in the gills underneath the mushroom cap. This is the reproductive mechanism for another mushroom to grow, and is basically tricking the mushroom into growing fruit bodies so that they can be produced year-round.
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They can be grown indoors
Mushrooms can be grown indoors, and they don't require much space. They don't need sunlight, so they can be grown on shelves in warehouses, former industrial spaces, or basements. The most common method for growing mushrooms indoors is to use large plastic bags filled with sterilized sawdust and wood chips. This method replicates the natural conditions for mushrooms and helps retain moisture. However, it produces a lot of plastic waste and requires a lot of energy for sterilization and climate maintenance.
Another method for growing mushrooms indoors is to use traditional beds filled with sterilized sawdust and compost. Garden beds full of compost are an excellent medium for growing certain types of mushrooms.
When growing mushrooms indoors, temperature and humidity control are critical factors to maintain. For most mushroom species, temperatures in the 60s Fahrenheit are ideal for fruiting. A temperature range of 62–65 °F (16.7–18.3 °C) in the fruiting room is considered perfect. Basements and other in-ground areas are ideal for fruiting mushrooms, as they can naturally maintain temperatures in the range of 50–65 °F (10–18 °C) without requiring supplemental heating or cooling. As temperatures decrease, mushrooms fruit more slowly but develop a meatier texture. When temperatures drop below 50–55 °F (10–12 °C), many species significantly reduce their productivity. As temperatures rise, mushrooms become thinner and mature more quickly. Above 75 °F (24 °C), many species become less productive and produce lower-quality mushrooms.
Lighting is also important when growing mushrooms indoors. Specialty mushrooms, unlike psilocybe and agaricus (button) mushrooms, require light for proper morphology. While mushrooms don't convert light into energy, they use light to determine how far to extend their stems. Low-light environments create skinny mushrooms with long stems, similar to plants grown in low-light conditions. Regular shop lights or energy-efficient LED strip lights can provide sufficient lighting for mushrooms.
Mushroom growers are known as the "ultimate recyclers" because they can convert byproducts and waste from other agricultural sectors into compost or medium to grow mushrooms. Mushroom farms have a smaller environmental footprint than most other farms due to this recycling capability. Mushroom growing is a low-energy footprint crop, requiring about 1 kilowatt-hour (kWh) of electricity to produce 1 pound of button mushrooms.
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They grow in cycles
Mushrooms are fungi and require different conditions to grow than plants. They can be grown indoors and don't require sunlight, making them popular with urban farmers. The most common method for growing mushrooms is inside large plastic bags filled with sterilized sawdust and wood chips. However, this method produces a lot of plastic waste.
Another method that has been used for hundreds, if not thousands, of years is log growing. Garden beds full of compost are also a perfect medium for growing mushrooms. Mushrooms are grown and harvested year-round, and it takes about three weeks to produce the first mushrooms for harvest. The growing cycle for mushrooms is six weeks. The first three weeks are spent growing the vegetative part of the fungus, called the mycelium, which is similar to the roots of a plant. This is also called colonizing the casing layer. Once the fungi run out of food and space to keep growing, they are triggered to fruit.
During the last three weeks of the cycle, mushrooms are picked and left to grow again. After the first three weeks have passed, the temperature in the growing room is dropped below 20 degrees Celsius. This temperature change signals the spawn to develop a fruit body (mushroom) and to drop the spores that are in the gills underneath the mushroom cap. This is the reproductive mechanism for another mushroom to grow, and it can be manipulated to produce mushrooms year-round. Mushrooms are harvested in stages or flushes. The first flush is harvested over four or five days. They are then left to rest for three days, during which the mushrooms grow back.
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Frequently asked questions
There are seven main stages of mushroom cultivation: strain selection, substrate preparation, inoculation, incubation, initiation, fruiting, and harvest.
For most species, temperatures in the 60s Fahrenheit are ideal. The highest-quality mushrooms with good fruiting speed develop at temperatures in the low 60s Fahrenheit. If a fruiting room is designed perfectly, keeping it around 62-65 degrees Fahrenheit would be ideal.
Lighting is the simplest part of creating environmental parameters for healthy mushroom fruiting. If a book can be read comfortably in the fruiting room, the lighting should be sufficient.
The growing cycle for mushrooms is six weeks. The first three weeks are spent growing the vegetative part of the fungus, and the last three weeks are spent picking mushrooms and letting them grow to pick again.
