Growing Mushrooms At Home 101: Knowing The Lifecycle of Mushrooms

If you are interesting in growing mushrooms using spores, then you might be among those who are overwhelmed by the information they find over the Internet. Using mushroom spores to have your own little farm does not take rocket science.

There are no secrets really in growing mushrooms from spores but you need to know the basics. First thing you need to understand is the life cycle of mushrooms.

Mushroom Life Cycle

In the mushroom world, everything begins with spores. The mushroom you see is the reproductive portion of the fungus and is responsible for releasing spores in a process referred to by experts as sporulation. In nature, the spores of the mushroom can be spread on soil, plant litter, or perhaps dung and once the spores are under that material, they begin to produce mycelium.

The mycelium is the filamentous network in the early development of mushrooms. It helps the fungus to absorb enough nutrients to help it nourish.

Given the right conditions, a nucleus will form and develop into a tightly packed little mass that will pop above ground. The maturation process will continue until you notice the mature fruiting body.

A full-grown mushroom will have a cap where the next mushroom spores may come from. You will notice that the underside of the cap of the mushroom will have gills, where new spores will form.

Mushroom growers can eventually harvest the mushroom spores to begin a new generation of mushrooms.

Getting Started With Spores

Now if you do not want to get your hands dirty and look for the kind of mushroom you want to grow in the wild, you can easily source your mushroom spores over the Internet.

Make sure you are only dealing with a reputable company with enough safety provisions for online transactions. With a few clicks, you can get your own spore prints, spore syringes, cultures of edible mushrooms, substrates, and other equipment you will need to grow your own mushrooms.

You can get mushroom prints where the mushroom spores have been isolated from a particular variety of mushroom. You can use these spore prints to study samples, grow them, or store them for any future use.

There are also spore syringes available today. With this one, the spores are mixed with sterile water in a syringe. You can then use the syringe to drop some samples onto microscope slides for research or you can use them to cultivate your own mushrooms.

When ordering mushroom spores, it will be best to know which kinds of mushrooms are illegal to possess or ship in your state or city. Also know the requirements so you can acquire mushroom-growing supplies without getting in trouble with the law.

Once you have your mushroom spores, you can store them in your fridge for later use. Do not freeze them as this may damage the spores. What you can do is leave them in a dark and cool place where they can actually last forever.

Buying your mushrooms spores and other supplies though is not enough. Don't be tired to learn new things so you can be more efficient as a mushroom grower. There are a lot of mushroom books and videos available so you can learn the best techniques and practices.

Mushbox.co is your ultimate source of mushroom kits and other supplies if you are thinking of growing some magic mushrooms.