I was perusing Instagram and came across this how-to guide on how to grow mushrooms in a bucket.
I remember growing mushrooms in a box in the dark when I was a child and have always wanted to do it as an adult.
Below is an article by Milkwood Permaculture
Ready to learn the way of the mushroom? Here’s a How-To for growing mushrooms in buckets at your place! Plus a beginner’s guide to fungi ID.
Fungi are an entirely separate kingdom of life – they’re not a plant, nor an animal. They’re a little bit weird and also deeply amazing. And without them, life on earth might not exist.
Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of some types of fungi. A mushroom- producing fungi spends the majority of its life cycle hidden under, or inside, other substances – substances like wood, soil or straw – in the form of mycelium, which slowly colonises and eats that substance, before fruiting into mushrooms.
It’s thought that there are about 10,000 species of mushroom-producing fungi worldwide. Of these, about 30 species are commonly cultivated – you know, portobellos, oysters, reishi and all the rest.
When you grow mushrooms at home you can be certain of what you’re growing and eating. Also by doing this, you won’t be
impacting on a natural resource, so you can grow as much as you need when you need it. Other benefits include: better health
for your family with this nutritious food; fewer food miles; plus you’re also learning a valuable skill you can share with
all your friends. Pass on the knowledge, so they too can become mycologist champions!
STEP 1: PURCHASE THE SPAWN
You will need grain spawn, 500 ml or ½ quart per 5-litre (1-gallon) bucket
We recommend you start with oyster mushrooms – Pleurotus ostreatus (sometimes sold as brown oyster, grey oyster, tan oyster or white oyster, lots of varieties available). You could also try Pleurotus citrinopileatus (golden or yellow oysters), Pleurotus djamor (pink oysters), Pleurotus pulmonarius (Indian or phoenix oysters), but we think P. ostreatus is best. The grain spawn – the carrier for the mycelium – can be bought from a specialist mushroom supplier, such as Aussie Mushroom Supplies or Field & Forest Products. When you grow mushrooms at home you can be certain of what you’re growing and eating. Also by doing this, you won’t be impacting on a natural resource, so you can grow as much as you need when you need it. Other benefits include: better health for your family with this nutritious food; fewer food miles; plus you’re also learning a valuable skill you can share with all your friends. Pass on the knowledge, so they too can become mycologist champions! We recommend you buy a 2-kilo (4-pound) bag ‘grain spawn’ to start with; you can keep the excess in the fridge for up to a month or so.
STEP 2: PREPARE THE BUCKETS
You will need
- 4 x 5-litre (1 gallon) recycled polypropylene food-grade buckets*
- warm soapy water
- a cone/step drill
*NOTE: Although in the video we showed how to prepare only a very small volume, we actually recommend doing at least 20 litres (5 gallons) at a time to make it worthwhile.
CAUTION: This process uses hot water and optionally builders’ lime which can be an irritant. Exercise care.
PROCESS
- Wash your buckets and lids well with warm soapy water to ensure they are clean.
- Drill a 10 mm (½ inch) diameter hole every 10 cm (4 inches) around the sides of the buckets (about 8 holes for a 5-litre bucket). We recommend using a cone/step drill and supporting the other side of the bucket to reduce the risk of splitting
STEP 3: PREPARE THE STRAW
YOU WILL NEED
- *straw – wheat straw, barley straw, oat straw or sugar cane mulch (bagasse) work best (not hay) (purchase enough straw to pack your containers very tight)
- cloth bag, pillowcases or brewers’ bags
- optional extras:
o gypsum (calcium sulphate) also sold as clay
o breaker builders’ lIme (calcium carbonate) also sold as hydrated lime (keep out of reach of children)
o hardwood (not pine)
o sawdust or wood shavings (nontreated) to give your mushrooms a more balanced diet
o coffee grounds
PROCESS
- Cut the straw into short lengths. Less than 50 mm (2 inches) is best.
- Put your straw in a large tub. Optional: add up to 50% sawdust or up to 20% coffee grounds at this point.
- Add enough warm water to thoroughly wet the substrate (exact amount of water does not matter).
a. Optional: add 1 teaspoon of gypsum per 5 litres (1 gallon). This provides calcium and sulphur and improves the consistency of the final mix.
b. Optional: add 1 tablespoon of builders’ lime per 5 litres (1 gallon). This shifts the pH of the mix to reduce the chance of contamination. CAUTION: builders’ lime can burn your eyes or irritate the skin and your nose and throat. Wear gloves, eye protection and a dust mask. - Mix well. Place your substrate in a cloth bag/pillowcase/ brew bag.
STEP 4: PASTEURISE THE SUBSTRATE CAUTION:
this process uses hot water. Exercise care.
You will need:
- your substrate (see above)
- a large pot and a heat source or a cooler and lots of very hot water
- a thermometer
- a rack or a rope and somewhere handy to drain the bag from disinfectant spray in a squirt bottle – this alcohol-water mix is much more effective than alcohol on its own (make sure you label it well and keep it out of reach of children, place the ingredients in a spray bottle and shake well):
o 7 parts of methylated spirits, rubbing alcohol or iso-propyl alcohol
o 3 parts of water - optional extras: clean tub or large bowl
PROCESS
- Submerge the bag of substrate in a vessel of hot water (60–80 degrees Celsius, 140–170 degrees Fahrenheit) for 1 hour. Weigh it down with a heavy object to keep the material completely submerged. Do this in a large pot (see the one in the video) or place the bag/bags in a large esky/cooler and cover it in 80 degrees Celsius (170 degrees Fahrenheit) water. If you close the cooler it will still be over 60 degrees Celsius (140 degrees Fahrenheit) after 1 hour.
- Wipe down any surface that you will place the substrate on with an alcohol disinfectant spray (recipe above).
- With clean disinfected hands remove the bag from the water and drain. (This is where the brew bags work really well. Just hoist them up and hang them from a rail for about 20 minutes. You could also place them on a clean rack of some kind.) The substrate needs to be at ‘field capacity’ (it should not drip unless squeezed hard).
- Allow the substrate to cool to room temperature. (After 20 minutes the substrate will probably still be too hot to inoculate with the grain spawn.) Alternatively, if you’re in a rush, disinfect a clean tub or large bowl with the alcohol spray and empty the hot substrate into it, and agitate it with your hands. You could also spread it on a clean surface like a table covered with a plastic sheet.
STEP 5: CLEAN THE BUCKETS
You will need
- your drilled buckets (see above)
- alcohol spray (see recipe above)
- micropore surgical tape
PROCESS
Wipe the buckets with alcohol spray. Cover each of the holes with a small square of surgical tape.
STEP 6: INOCULATE THE SUBSTRATE
YOU WILL NEED
- your pasteurised substrate
- large plastic tub or clean table to mix in/on
- alcohol spray (see recipe above)
- thermometer
- grain spawn
- your sterile buckets labels (masking tape and permanent marker)
PROCESS
- Ensure the substrate is less than body temperature (37 degrees Celsius/100 degrees Fahrenheit), but complete this process as quickly as possible after pasteurisation.
- Use the alcohol spray to disinfect the tub or table and then with clean hands add your pasteurised substrate.
- Add approximately 500 ml of grain spawn per 5 litres (16 fl oz per 1 gallon) to the pasteurised substrate. We want approximately 10% by volume. Mix thoroughly, make sure you break up the grain spawn and distribute it very well throughout the substrate.
- Place in final sterile buckets. Pack the substrate/grain spawn mix into the buckets, fill them to the top but do not pack it in so tight that it pushes the tape off the holes.
- Label your buckets with a strip of masking tape and a marker. Write the date, the variety and the substrate mix you used. This will allow you to improve your practice over time.
STEP 7: WATCH THE SPAWN RUN
To produce a crop (or flush) of mushrooms, the mycelium must first grow through, or colonise, the substrate. It has a source of food, but it also needs warmth for it to do so. The ideal temperature for a fast spawn run is around 18–24 degrees Celsius (64–75 degrees Fahrenheit) (average room temperature). At around this temperature, it will take 7–14 days for the substrate to be fully colonised with mycelium. Keep your buckets in a warm dark place in the house, and one that is preferably warm both day and night – this could be on top of your fridge, an airing cupboard, under the bed, or in a cupboard. After 5 days open the lid slightly and check for white ‘cottony’ growth appearing in small patches on the substrate. As time progresses the patches will join up, and, after a minimum of 7 days and a maximum of 21 days, the substrate will have turned completely white with mycelium and may start pushing off the tape and starting to fruit.
STEP 8: MOVE THE CONTAINERS FOR FRUITING
Now that the straw is fully colonised, the mycelium has built up a strong network and enough resources to produce the first flush of mushrooms. Move the container to a light airy place, and preferably somewhere that cools down overnight – like a kitchen worktop, a shaded windowsill that doesn’t receive direct sunlight or a porch area. Make sure the container isn’t near a direct source of heat like a radiator or direct sunlight. Oyster mushrooms prefer some light to grow – enough light for you to read a newspaper. For best results, you want a humid environment with a cool, stable temperature that gets good airflow and some light. You could even make a mushroom fruiting chamber out of an old plastic tub, garbage bin, plastic mini-greenhouse or even an old shower cubicle. Check out our blog post ‘Making an Off-grid DIY Mushroom Fruiting House’ for more ideas.
Exposure to fresh air stimulates the mycelium into producing mushrooms. Your containers with holes in the side will produce mushrooms from these holes – just mist the area a couple of times a day to prevent the mycelium from drying out. Baby mushrooms (primordia) really do enjoy high humidity, so mist as often as you can, but avoid spraying the baby mushrooms directly with water. Continue to mist at least twice daily while they mature into mushrooms.
Now that the straw is fully colonised, the mycelium has built up a strong network and enough resources to produce the first flush of mushrooms. Move the container to a light airy place, and preferably somewhere that cools down overnight – like a kitchen worktop, a shaded windowsill that doesn’t receive direct sunlight or a porch area. Make sure the container isn’t near a direct source of heat like a radiator or direct sunlight. Oyster mushrooms prefer some light to grow – enough light for you to read a newspaper. For best results, you want a humid environment with a cool, stable temperature that gets good airflow and some light. You could even make a mushroom fruiting chamber out of an old plastic tub, garbage bin, plastic mini-greenhouse or even an old shower cubicle. Check out our blog post ‘Making an Off-grid DIY Mushroom Fruiting House’ for more ideas.
Exposure to fresh air stimulates the mycelium into producing mushrooms. Your containers with holes in the side will produce mushrooms from these holes – just mist the area a couple of times a day to prevent the mycelium from drying out. Baby mushrooms (primordia) really do enjoy high humidity, so mist as often as you can, but avoid spraying the baby mushrooms directly with water. Continue to mist at least twice daily while they mature into mushrooms.
The substrate is capable of producing a flush approximately every 2 weeks, for around 6 weeks. To make sure it continues to produce – after each flush – remove any stem debris left behind carefully with a pointed knife. Ensure all the stem is removed, leaving just substrate behind. Continue to mist the hole twice daily, and after a few days, the mycelium will recolonise the hole in preparation for another flush. Once it has finished producing the substrate can be mixed into a compost pile where it may even continue to produce more mushrooms. Good luck! All our free mushroom growing resources are here: milkwood.net/category/mushrooms
