Growing mushrooms in your home

a photo guide

from

reStore Gardens

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This guide is based on the live demonstration conducted by Mr. Sekar at the 3rd National Conference on Urban Gardening held in Chennai, on 25th January, 2013.

Growing conditions

Chennai weather is conducive to growing Oyster mushrooms. Mushrooms need an ideal temperature of 25 – 28C. In Chennai, the weather is usually 35C outside and 30C in the shade.

When kept in a cool dark spot, the ideal temperature for mushroom cultivation can be reached.

To start growing mushrooms you need to buy the spores. The spores shown below have been grown on a corn cob. One “bottle” of spore can be used for 2 sacks. The spores on the right have been broken into 8 pieces.

Step 1: Preparing the strawYou will need sterilized straw. Sterilized straw will ensure all other fungi spores are killed. To sterilize straw, boil it in water for half an hour. Squeeze water out of the straw. The straw has to be 60% moist i.e. when you squeeze the straw, no water should be wrung out. The straw is ready to use.

Step 2: Preparing the bagStart packing the straw into the plastic bag of approximate dimensions 12*24 inches. Fill in two inches of straw. Crumble one chunk of the the spore on top of the straw along the edges. Spores grow out from the sides of the bag, so it is important to distribute the spores along the edges. Spores in the middle will not germinate.

Step 3: LayeringPack in four inches of straw. Repeat the process three more times. After the last layer of spore, pack in two inches of straw.

Step 4: ClosingTwist the open end and tie the bag tightly.

Step 5: Making air holesMake 12 – 20 holes using a sharp stick all over the bag. This will promote air circulation. The mushrooms will grow out through these holes.

Step 6: Germination

Your mushroom bag is now ready. Set in a cool dark place to promote mycelium growth.

You can also get the cool dark effect by hanging a wet jute sack around the grow bag. Make sure that the sack is at least one foot away from the plastic bag. Spray the sack every 5 days to keep it moist.

Mushrooms will start sprouting in 18 days.

Your grow bag should look like in cross section

2"

2"

4"

4"

4"

spore

spore

spore

spore

Straw

Straw

Straw

Straw

Straw

1 foot 1 foot Jute sack Jute sack

This is what the mushrooms will look like growing out of a bag.

Happy mushroom growing!

Questions, clarifications, more information contact

Mr. Sekar +919940338374

A reStore Gardens publicationreStore Adyar Centre No. 27/ 10, 2nd Main Rd., Kasturba Nagar, Adyar,

Chennai - 600020 IndiaEmail: info@restoregardens.org