@@TheTubejunky If you watch the video, you will see that it very clearly advises AGAINST sterilizing the substrate, as that can actually encourage BAD mycelium to colonize the substrate. You WANT SOME life in the substrate. Just not enough to be dominant over the mushroom spawn.
same here. Ive started last year with magic mushrooms growing. But ive been thinking to hop onto a classic edible mushrooms too for my parents and family to enjoy good mushroom foods hahaha
Ben! Thank you for breaking down the actual process of growing mushrooms into bite-sized pieces that are easy to digest. Other videos seem to offer too much science that is not required to grow mushrooms. At 69 years of age, starting a mushroom farm is not my life's goal. I always enjoy and appreciate your videos as they are easy for me to understand. Greetings from the San Francisco bay area!
Agreed. After all, mushrooms will grow on a cowpie in the field with no help at all. Of course, you don't want to eat TOO many of that variety at one sitting! 😵💫
I like your style! You simplify it without all kinds of gadgets, and greenhouses and fans… Humidity monitors… The list goes on. You just cut to the chase and get it done. So I appreciate your video. I appreciate you. This is something I wanna teach my grandchildren how to do this? It’s a science project that they can eat so thank you.
Mushrooms are incredibly good for you, especially medicinal mushrooms varieties like Turkey tail, Lions mane, Reishi, shiitake, cordyceps, etc and if you put them in the sun they absorb Vit D, giving you extra Vit D in your diet. There was recently a discussion about them from a mushroom expert and Prof Tim Spector on the ZOE channel on UA-cam. They’re amazing and you have now inspired me to try and grow them.
@@NoraNoita yes I had guessed that as we can also absorb Vit D from sunlamps providing they have the right kinds of UV and mushrooms aren’t going get that during the winter in Northern hemispheres, so putting them out in the sun to absorb Vit D from the sun isn’t an option during winter. Looks like getting sunlamps for growing our mushrooms then 😄
Thanks for showing that you borrowed a tool!!! It’s is great to show that DIY is accessible even if you don’t own all the supplies because you can lean on your community for support
I got a automatic mister and 30 free buckets in an old tent I got from facebook marketplace for 30 bucks. I used dried grass clippings and mulched leaves instead of straw and it works fine, giving me 2-4 harvests each time. I pasteurize it in a steel trash can, I use the juice to water my garden, can't let all those nutrients go to waste. My neighbors started giving me their grass clippings and I've been just laying it out to dry, they don't use chemicals on their grass either.
Thanks for making this video! Very easy to follow and I can't wait to grow some oyster mushrooms for my mom and I. We love making a clear soup with oyster mushrooms and or the gourmet mix at the supermarket. Almost equal parts water and mushroom, 1-2 slices of ginger, 1 good sized lemon grass stalk, salt to taste. It's a very simple recipe but a whole lot of flavor. In the summertime, we also add in young pumpkin leaves and oh my goodness, it's out of this world delicious!
I just did one of the mushroom grow kits and was thrilled watching them double in size each day! I’ve never been able to successfully grow anything before but now I want to try my hand at gardening.
I used to drill drainage holes in the bottom of the buckets too, but I don't anymore because I use wood pellets instead of straw, straw can get very wet and hence needs drainage, but this affects yields because you will have a bunch of mushrooms trying to form at the bottom of the bucket out of the drainage holes, this is not good because if the bucket is on a dirty surface (in the yard) then you can't really eat those ones, the benefit of wood pellets is that you can have precise control over the moisture content, so you don't need to worry about drainage with oyster mushrooms, 60% water and 40% wood pellet is optimal, so if you have 1 kg of wood pellets, then just add 1.5 L of boiling water and hydrate in a sanitized cooler to retain heat over 24hrs.
I can't speak for this guy but I know that when people forage mushrooms they want to find them growing on some kind of hardwood so I would think White oak is probably idealwhat I'm thinking is purchase some white oak wood chips or pellets like you would use for smoking meat, but instead use those in place of straw. The story I get from ChatGPT looking up the impact of growth media is that cardboard straw and some other materials may give you softer less flavorful mushrooms than you might get using hardwood.@@naturalchefshobhan6667
In the US make sure the straw you buy isn't sprayed with an herbicide! I grew potatoes in resin tubs and it went fabulous. Those tubs were $20 at Home Depot but using these smaller buckets would be even cheaper and not too heavy to move after watering.
I was going to suggest the exact same thing about pure straw if you are able to find some and then be able to afford it! Thankfully the farmers are honest letting me know what they spray with..
I’ve never felt so confident that this is something I can grow. My overall gardening experience is filled with only tiny successes but I have a feeling I might see a big win with mushrooms. Thank you for showing so many of the stages to the process.
Thanks for the video, interesting! Quick tip, for drilling large holes in plastic like these buckets try running the drill in reverse. You get a much neater round hole and the bit will not “grab” and make a mess.
Probably a better solution if possible, is to use a conical drill or step drill for making nice neat holes in thinner materials like plastic & sheet metals, you can also give the hole a slight shamfer between the steps for a clean smooth finish without burring.
I was absolutely captivated by this video and I am so happy it showed up on my feed! I absolutely love mushrooms on my plate and while I'm used to foraging them in my home country, that's not commonly practiced where I'm at now. I never considered growing them instead, this looks super fun and doable! Thank you, fellow 'shroom enthusiast! :)
Me too. It isn't as if he was at the time trying to grow a sample in a Petri dish to see what kind of germ was already present to discern what kind of disease his mushrooms got.
I think it is worth mentioning that it is no advised to take off the lid as much as he does in the videos. Oysters are generally resilient but there is always a risk of contamination. Also the tape should stay on the bucket until the mushroom starts pinning, the bucket acts as a hard tree trunk and the holes with tape acts as a weak point for the mushroom to 'fruit' The mycelium is strong enough to push the tape aside. It is also worth mentioning that the mycelium is actual 'plant' growing and that the mushrooms are the fruits of the mycelium. Spraying water directly onto the fruit is also not advised but getting the right balance between moisture and oxygen can be hard.
Just a comment - I got an oyster mushroom kit last year and it specifically warned against growing it indoors in a room that is often occupied. Apparently they release a lot of spores and quite a few people develop an allergy. I grew mine in the boiler room, which has some windows.
Get them picked before they get too big. That way you harvest before they spore. Consider it like courgettes, sure you can have massive fruits but a better fruit if its picked sooner. There will be more flesh and less gills.
I grow my oyster mushrooms from spores/mycelium starting in my home with liquid culture then to grain jars. Last, I finally place them in the unoccupied outdoor garage to grow inside the buckets. My family and I do not have allergic symptoms even though but I guess everyone is different so maybe try to do an allergy test first. If you have allergies do not fear because there are also the more rare spore-less variety mushrooms which should never release spores. I was nervous myself about the danger at first but now I'm growing over 10 different mushroom strains from scratch as novice with no fancy equipment.
Yes, I think the trick is to harvest them before they produce loads of spores, which can make quite a mess as well. I think at the very least, it may be worth avoiding them in the bedroom, which carbon dioxide levels can get quite high overnight, potentially slowing the mushrooms' growth.
Need to produce some more videos on mushrooms first. In the meantime, check out our other mushroom guide: ua-cam.com/video/8aouihUZOuw/v-deo.htmlsi=tAcl8xzdhUc7Tez3
With a little luck and a little looking, you may be able to find oyster mushrooms in a grocery or farmer's market to try out for your own use at home before committing to home cultivation. They're not perfectly interchangeable with the common white button mushrooms, although you would not go far wrong acting as if they are. Some ice cream tubs (in the U.S. market at least) are of similar volume and shape to the buckets used here, and so "free" with the purchase of the ice cream and a vigorous cleaning after. Oyster mushrooms do not keep all that well fresh, but you can dry them (and then optionally powder them) for much longer preservation. It can be handy when home cultivation provides them at a schedule that awkwardly suits your use of them.
I was a mushroom hater because all I ever had was the white cap button muxhrooms and I could not stand them. Thank goodness a co worker got me to try oyster. Gosh how I love them! cooked in butter with a little bit of thyme. Like heaven!
Just a random post. Really love your page. Im a father of three kids and as it turns out a hazelnut and hops farmer. Theres always so much to learn. Youve helped our home garden take on a whole new life and really really appreciate the time effort and attention to detail that you have. Thanks so much and cant wait to keep watching! cheers mate! 👏👏🍻🍻
Oh wow - what kind words! That's really lovely to hear. You must be a great dad getting your home garden in shape - I'm sure the kids must love to get involved with that. Thanks for watching. Cheers mate back at yer! :-)
‘Back To The Roots’ mushroom kits started by them going to coffee shops & getting free coffee grounds to use as substrate - instead of straw. They mixed it with sawdust, pasteurized it & drained the liquid to keep it moist. They made a lot of money doing this!
Alex Jong and Adam Sayner ("GRO CYCLE" yt channel) were probably the first commercial UK Mushroom growers and are experts in their field. They have helped many people become Urban Commercial Shroom and Microgreen farmers. Spent Brewers Grain is another potentially cheap substrate, which like coffee grounds is a waste product which needs to be rapidly inoculated but is pre-sterile/pasteurised from the brewing process. If you have local brewers, microbreweries, it would make an excellent grain spawn and mycoremediation of such perhaps freely given waste.
@@SirDydimus86 To be honest I think I actually found the idea on a USA mushroom websites lists of potential substrates/grain spawns and substrate disposal ideas. Similar to microgreens the waste post shroom grows, then too needs a purpose, but yes brewers spent grain is excellent grain spawn potentially free.
I saw your channel 4 months ago and because I would like to write to you .Your method and explanation are beautiful and smooth. I followed the same method as you and it worked for me. My family and I are now enjoying the mushroom soup that I grew in your way. I sincerely thank you. I am grateful to you 😍😍
For mushroom recipes, I recommend boiling them until the water fully evaporates! I watched a youtube video where the cook tested the best way to cook mushrooms and found how they kept their flavor this way and are REALLY delicious. Any mushrooms. I tested it and is the way I cook all mushrooms now. Just put them in a pan, fill with water until they are covered, and let it boil until all of the water evaporates. Trust me, it is great!
@@GrowVeg I did it with portobello mushrooms, shimeji, and also funghi secchi, the funghi secchi I added afterwards to a stroganoff recipe and it was amazing! All the flavor was kept in!
This is so cool!! Thank you for making this video. I'm not sure what led it to be in my feed, but I am glad. You've got me convinced to try my hand at mushrooms. I am a 60yo widowed grandpa. I cook a lot, but I have not gardened much at all in my life. Thanks for the inspiration. I can't wait to get my things together and see how it turns out!
loving the video and the emphasis on keeping everything clean only to see the tape being ripped with the mouth by habbit at 7:20. Gave me a chuckle. Awesome !
Thanks for making this great video - I've been wanting to try my hand at growing shrooms, but have a few too many irons in the fire most of the time. I have food-grade 5-gallon buckets and lids, don't have any straw, but do have a quantity of clean, rather fine sawdust. Since I'm finding lots of mycelium in my "wild" wood-chip piles, I know various shrooms will grow in them, and in sawdust. I saved a few "baby bella" mushrooms from the grocery store, aging them in the fridge so their spores will develop, and intend to break them up into a bucket of pasteurized sawdust - now that you've inspired me! I wish I'd seen your video LAST night - it rained all of today and kept me indoors - I could've been prepping a shroom-bucket instead of what I DID do! Oh well - it's supposed to rain and/or snow this weekend, too, so that'll be my project for those days I can't work outside. Thanks again!
this is the first video I've seen of this channel, and the enthusiasm is infectious! I've been trying to find things I can grow in my apartment, mushrooms might be the way to go ^-^
Herbs, a single tomato and pepper plant for the balcony. A rack of microgreens for salad and sandwiches can look like decor in dining or livingroom. Grow a jar of sprouts on your kitchen counter, some kombucha or other fermented drink.
@@CM-sy3to This is almost exactly what I've been planning! I've got some grocery-store "regrow" experiments (scallions, garlic, 2 ft tall cherry tomato plant) and some strawberry starts going in window box planters on the ledge in my bedroom (can't do it in the living room--that's the cat's sunbathing spot). I've got other experiments going with a grow bag (baby red and purple potatoes) and a set of three felt cubes (I tossed some sprouting onions in one) out on the balcony. I've got some trays I'm going to try using for microgreens &/or sprouts and just got the seeds. I may set them up on top of the video cabinet cum pantry, under the always-on ceiling light. I hadn't thought about kombucha...maybe something else fermented. Thanks for the reminder of "microgreens for salad and sandwiches". I salvaged a 36"W x 13"D wire rack I'm going to set up as a living/dining area divider/storage. It was a tall unit, but I'm going to set it up as two half-height units back-to-back (36"W x 26"D) so it doesn't block the view from the dining area to the living room/balcony window and sun. Favorite/mini-appliances on the middle shelves; small items on top, with a row of narrow window box planters with herbs down the middle as "green decor" (they'll get light there and be easy to "cut and come again"). Maybe I can tuck a mushroom bucket on the floor, under the middle shelf, with indirect light, instead of the milk crate I was going to keep (grocery-bought) apples or root veg in. (I once put a bag containing a block of mushroom starter I bought at a farmers market out on the balcony and forgot about it--the mushrooms broke through the bag and I got a harvest despite my complete neglect! Next time it might be better to have it where I won't forget it.) I have plans for restarting a tomato plant in a festive bright green litter bucket in one back corner of the balcony and a red pepper or mini-cucumber plant in a matching bucket in the other back corner. I figure I can put a trellis or cage against the wall in those corners if/when needed. Eventually, the felt cubes in the front corners and along the rail should have some greens, I think, or things that need the 12" depth of the cubes--beets perhaps (I love beet greens), maybe my potted rosemary when it needs re-potting (with some edible flowers around it or ?). I haven't decided what to try in the 10" x 15" x 7" D beverage crates (salvaged) that fit nicely on the iron baker's rack (also salvaged). The rack squeezes in along the side rail, between the felt cube in the front corner and the green bucket in the back corner. It's got four shelves...I should be able to grow some short lettuces and greens, maybe strawberries, radishes...whatever can grow in shallow containers.
I’m on my fourth harvest from each bucket! I just added new straw on top of the buckets once they sunk in, added back some tape to the holes and extra luke warm water and boom! I grow mine in a glass kitchen cabinet and it grows great!
Hello and another great video :) I have been trying to grow oyster mushrooms in my veranda for years. The gray and blue grow in the winter months and the yellow and red in the summer months. That way I always have fresh ones. I also spray them with moisture in the morning and evening. I do use column bags, so I can see when the mycellium is almost gone and then make a new bag, but this can take more than a year. I can recommend everyone to try this, especially considering the price if you want to buy them fresh...
Discovered you yesterday 😃 LOVE YOUR CHANNEL. My wife and I have about 20 raised beds in a small yard-1/4 acre in Mobile, Alabama. This is our 4th year gardening. My son and I foraged for mushrooms in wooded areas near our neighborhood- mostly chanterelles and boletes. I'm very excited to start growing mushrooms in buckets! THANK YOU! SO MUCH TO LEARN.
I didn’t realize how easy it is to grow mushrooms!!! I will definitely need to find a source (in CDA preferably) for the new year! Thank you for your video & information! LOVE your channel!
We took the dive into mycology this year and have blue oysters growing in a monotub as I write this. When I home brew I know if I start with a strong yeast and billions of cells they will out-compete the bad bugs but mushrooms are an entirely new world. Understandably, there's such a focus on sanitation (like homebrewing) that I think some of us forget these grow naturally in "dirty" forests. Have you had any wild spores take up residence or other growing issues with these buckets? I know when I first started I was extra cautious to avoid things like cobweb fungus (which apparently is rare) but am learning to just be judicious with cleaning and enjoy the harvests. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Never had any problems. The pasteurisation is just a precaution - to up the chances of a 'clean' growth. Probably not always necessary, but reduces the risk of weed fungi and gives peace of mind I guess.
Great stuff! Cheers Ben. Mushroom stroganoff! Right into a pot with butter onions and lots of garlic, chicken stock, herbs, Bronners bullion, cook then thicken with a bit of arrowroot starch…YUM.
Ok, this video quality is wildly good! The framing of your shots and the panning and transitions are amazing! You are also a really good teacher. You steps are clear and explained and wow I’m just super impressed… and looking for buckets now
Curious is the ripping tape with mouth possibly contaminating it? I guess I’m just wondering how carefully I need to be I’m anxious about it I suppose. Excited to try this although worried about in fl with all the other things that may grow. Thanks for the video
The teeth-ripped edge would, in theory, be beyond the edge of the hole being covered. I don't think it would up the risk appreciably, but, good point, better to use scissors!
I'm 2 years into gardening, this will be my next project for sure. Thank you. I didn't know about automatic misters, you glossed over that. I will be hunting one of those down for my indoor collection of plants. 😅 Thank you.
Props for going through the trouble of digging out that cape and hat just for the joke. I don't know when you last picked up a playstation controller but I can assure you that it does hold up to watching mushrooms grow. Not to say that watching mushrooms grow isn't fun.
Thank you so much for this video. It's the first one i've watched that teaches how to continue to use the old straw to begin a new bucket so you do not need to buy micelium each time. That's exactly what i was looking for. I'll try this, tysm
Thank you for mentioning how to continue to reproduce the mycelium! You are the first tutorial that doesn't either completely skip that or tells me to continue to buy starter until I die. Appreciate it! We will try this this weekend.
I do love a mushroom. This one is on my growing list of 2024. Thank you for being one of my favourite channels on YT. Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas and Great New Year 🖖
So I've not done it myself yet, but I've researched this before, and I believe the following to be true: 1) if you want to skip the pasturisation step, I believe you can use compressed straw pellets, which are sort of pasturised by the compression process. A bit more uniform which might help with handleability as well 2) propogating from spent straw totally works, but the longer you do it the more the risk of pests goes up. More of a problem for commercial growers, but something to keep an eye out for. Mites seem to be the thing. If they show up you just need to isolate and start your next batch from grain spawn again, so contamination aside youve lost nothing. Questions and compliments! 1) the sterlising powder, what is it? Is it the same stuff brewers use? 2) Ive grown kits and ive done deep dives on all the ins and outs of commercial growing. But this video was pitched at just the right level of practical to cut through the useful but cluttered cloud of possibilities logged in my head. Buckets over bags may be a real gotcha for getting me moving - the bags arent exactly expensive but its another thing to track and buy, and feel bad about because of the disposability. Somehow buckets feel more doable and sturdy and sustainable. Take up less brain space
Thanks for your helpful comment Zoe - so pleased you found the video useful. Yes indeed, the sterilising powder is the same stuff brewers use. Quite cheap to buy and it goes a long way.
Your video is inspiring. I've been a gardener for nearly 50 years and celebrate when I see mycelium growing in the soil because I know that I'm in for a mystery treat.... But I never thought about growing fungi in buckets in the house. Winter project for sure. Many thanks.
Super Yummy Oyster mushroom pasta recipe from my home (Japan) that I’ve enjoyed for decades is so simple 😊 1. Separate oyster mushrooms into small pieces. 2. Prep pasta (I like linguine) by boiling with some salt in water -> al dente 💕 3. While pasta is prepping, Sauté the mushrooms with olive oil in a skillet until soft. 4. Put equal amount of Soy sauce and Japanese Sake, and finish sautéing. 5. Put al dente pasta into the skillet and mix with the mushroom sauce. 6. Put on a plate and top with chopped green onions and some cayenne pepper powder. Enjoy 😘
If you want to clean up the holes in your bucket and make them look rounder and get rid of the rough bits, roll up a piece of sandpaper into a tube. Put it in the hole and rub it in and out a few times. It expands into the hole, and if you twist as you go in and out, you get a nice round hole. Works on thin wood sheet as well.
It doesn’t work. Years ago during the pandemic shutdown, our washing machine broke and we couldn’t get a mechanic to come to our house. I made the diy plunger & bucket with holes method but I couldn’t smooth out the edges of the holes with neither sandpaper nor trying to melt them. I tried drilling from the opposite end too. No variation worked. I never ended up using it because the edges were too rough to wash clothes in.
Highly enjoyed your video,my son is nearly 10 and he has been nagging me to grow mushrooms and l didn’t want go buy a kit.l now know how to do it and we ll do it with my son for sure.Thank you very much.🤙
Many thanks. I ordered the spawn and started in a large brew size tub today. It was really easy following your process. Looking forward to checking in a couple of weeks. For now it is inside in a room with a stable temp and aim to harvest before they spore. Great to have something to grow at this time of year.
@@mihi-j9r Hi, it worked really well. I don't have much time so haven't reused/renewed the spawn. I'm intending to do again when time isn't so limited. I would try another variety though, I did oyster mushrooms and didn't find them very tasty.
Psychedelics saved me from years of uncontrollable depression, anxiety and illicit pill addiction. Imagine carrying heavy chains for over a decade and then all of a sudden that burden is gone. Believe it or not in a couple years they'll be all over for treatment of mental health related issues.
Please does anyone know where I can get them? I put so much on my plate and it really affects my stress and anxiety levels, I would love to try shrooms
I was having this unbearable anxiety and depression because of mental stress from school, work and life generally. Then I came across a mycologist dr.joeshroom He saved my life honestly.
Since I started micro dosing mushrooms, I have noticed a few thing for sure, better mental and physical awareness. My positivity and will power has rocketed as well. It's been really good.
I followed your instructions to the letter (or almost...) and it turned out great! Here are my modifications: 1. I bought oat straw at a pet shop. I didn't know they have straw flavors for rabbit bedding, lol. A quick Google search told me that oats are a good base for mushroom growing. Does it matter? Anyway, I learned that straw is surprisingly costly. 2. I couldn't find any grain spawn quickly. It seems like most places make very large quantities on demand only. I was looking at weeks of delay. Instead, I used a blue oyster growing kit. It cost about $20 (CAD) for 1kg of mycelium fully colonized in sawdust. There was no issue combining the sawdust base with straw. Let me know if it's an absolute no-go. I crumbled it with a 10% mycelium to straw ratio and let it sit for 2 weeks. Next time I will do at least 3 weeks. 3. I made 1-inch holes, but 1/2 inch would have been better. The bucket had a hard time retaining moisture, small oyster buttons started growing from every hole but did not fully develop - even from the holes covered in surgical tape. My question is, does this method work with lion's mane? If so, any recommendations regarding the specifics of growing lion's mane? Thanks a lot!
Love this Ben - it's always mushrooms with me and I haven't tried them yet so expensive in the shops. More complicated with Shitake though! I thank that's an outside job.
Haha - Trevor is my long-suffering neighbour. And yes, he's definitely getting the next batch of shrooms! (Probably should have got the first to be fair!).
Great Video , How much did it cost for all the Starter kit please ? or how much cost for each bucket ? As Tesco and other big super markets charge a lot for mushroom.
So it's definitely cheaper than buying them in the supermarket, especially when you consider that you can use older straw to re-start a new bucket. Costs were roughly as follows: Buckets: 5 buckets cost £7.83 (Amazon) Pet straw: £5.99 (though I'm sure I found it cheaper when I bought it - around £3.99) Microprous tape: £4 (Boots. Lasts ages!) Sanitising stuff: £2.39 (Lasts ages!) Mushroom spawn: Varies. I bought an enormous bag for £29.99, but can buy smaller bags from £8.75. Sourced from here: urban-farm-it.com/products/blue-grey-oyster-mushroom-grain-spawn?variant=45076413710616 The buckets are, of course, reusable, and the other costs are minimal, bar the spawn. But given the yield, still cheaper than buying in the supermarket.
Thanks for the great contents! And to all the viewers who saw the comments about “psychedelics saved my life” or “my ADHD was cured by mushroom” or whatever, please don’t consider getting them delivered. I see these comments everywhere on mushroom growing channels, it’s clearly all automated bots repeating the same sentences. Please report them as spam if you find them.
It's always intriguing to see our gardener's, I've embedded my strawberries in a permanent bed and I'm looking forward to planting out, I'm propagating on the space I have available, I'm seeing my peas pop up, so I'm excited, it's a work in progress, but it's always rewarding 👍
I grew oyster mushrooms in 5 gallon buckets a few years ago in a similar way, but i didn't have a drill so i stabbed each bucket with a screwdriver and i made Way more holes. Definitely recommend following his process...
Have you tried growing Shiitaki or Chestnut Mushrooms? If so, I'd be interested in learning about that, I like mushrooms but I don't want to spend loads of money on kits and you show ways to do things much more on the cheap! Thanks Ben for all of your helpful advice and have a Merry Christmas!
Thanks for watching. I've not tried growing chestnut or shiitaki mushrooms yet - but hope to do so soon. Oysters are just very easy, but I suspect chestnut mushrooms would be too.
- getting bale straw and throwing it through a garden shredder can work... (you may have a friend who has one to borrow) Growing the mushrooms in an outdoor woodshed or similar seems a great idea.
Mix together 10 cups of hardwood smoking pellets, any variety or blend of hardwood works. ($9 for 30 lbs) and 3 quarts of water (2.8 liters). The pellets are sterilized during the pelletizing process. This is one common substrate for shiitake, lions mane and oysters. It fluffs right up, colonizes well and no sterilization needed. Just mix and add the spawn. I use hydrogen peroxide instead of water and the mushrooms love it since it turns into pure water and oxygen while keeping things sterile. I use peroxids with all of my shrooms and spray the cultures down with it using a sprayer on the peroxide bottle. Every spray bottle I've seen the nozzle fits a peroxide and rubbing alcohol bottle. Temu has the best price for them. Activated charcoal powder mixed in the substrate is my latest experiment and some types really go crazy on it in the petri dish stage. Masters mix makes bigger crops and shrooms but needs sterilization and adds soybean hulls and wheat bran to the smoking pellets. I can't find straw at a reasonable price so smoking pellets really saves me. I'm too used to seeing your comment has been rejected at this point. It's human milk and chest feeding now! Yahoo won't even let me use chicken breasts in comments and furniture polish without polish capitalized and not get rejected. Furniture polish, Polish sausage. Hickory dickory rejected. I really need to get to bed!
Your video and the comments are so fun! I doubt I could grow my own (our cellar is dark and warm, but very dry), but it's so fun just *learning* things. And then you came in with the witches' costume, lovely! *cheers from the new subscribers bench*
Thank you so much Ben! Coincidence! I received my Oyster mushrooms-in-a-box today! I was excited to get them started, but as soon as they are done, I’m going to use your well-explained and easy to follow method! Cheers
Thanks for warning against boiling the straw! I appreciate that you explain WHY you do everything, not just HOW to do it.
Thanks for watching. I really enjoyed this project, especially given the savings to be enjoyed from growing your own like this.
Try a pressure cooker as this will sterilize your substrate and kill everything. It can help reduce future contamination and grain to grain transfers.
@@TheTubejunky If you watch the video, you will see that it very clearly advises AGAINST sterilizing the substrate, as that can actually encourage BAD mycelium to colonize the substrate. You WANT SOME life in the substrate. Just not enough to be dominant over the mushroom spawn.
@@GrowVeg will any straw work? (oc after being boiled)
@@TheTubejunky you are one of those people that read the synopses but say you read the book.
You're a fungi! Sorry, I mean a fun guy!
This is the first video of yours I watched and I loved it.
Subscribed!
So pleased you watched the video and thanks for the sub. Welcome to the channel!
Same here 😍
Same here! I cannot wait to try this! I'm a little wary of doing it indoors in my home (hello, mold). Any tips?
same here. Ive started last year with magic mushrooms growing. But ive been thinking to hop onto a classic edible mushrooms too for my parents and family to enjoy good mushroom foods hahaha
Ben! Thank you for breaking down the actual process of growing mushrooms into bite-sized pieces that are easy to digest. Other videos seem to offer too much science that is not required to grow mushrooms. At 69 years of age, starting a mushroom farm is not my life's goal. I always enjoy and appreciate your videos as they are easy for me to understand. Greetings from the San Francisco bay area!
So pleased this video was easy to digest. It's a really fun project - I do recommend trying it. :-)
Agreed. After all, mushrooms will grow on a cowpie in the field with no help at all.
Of course, you don't want to eat TOO many of that variety at one sitting! 😵💫
I like your style! You simplify it without all kinds of gadgets, and greenhouses and fans… Humidity monitors…
The list goes on. You just cut to the chase and get it done. So I appreciate your video. I appreciate you. This is something I wanna teach my grandchildren how to do this? It’s a science project that they can eat so thank you.
So pleased you found the video useful. It's a great project for kids, so I'm sure your grandchildren will love doing this. :-)
Mushrooms are incredibly good for you, especially medicinal mushrooms varieties like Turkey tail, Lions mane, Reishi, shiitake, cordyceps, etc and if you put them in the sun they absorb Vit D, giving you extra Vit D in your diet. There was recently a discussion about them from a mushroom expert and Prof Tim Spector on the ZOE channel on UA-cam. They’re amazing and you have now inspired me to try and grow them.
I'll keep an eye out for that discussion. I also take lion's mane for the brain! :-)
what about Bella mushrooms, l love that flavor......can they grow this same way???
Cordyceps grow on insects
the Vitamin D mushrooms you see in stores are hit with special lamps to get the Vitamin D into them.
@@NoraNoita yes I had guessed that as we can also absorb Vit D from sunlamps providing they have the right kinds of UV and mushrooms aren’t going get that during the winter in Northern hemispheres, so putting them out in the sun to absorb Vit D from the sun isn’t an option during winter. Looks like getting sunlamps for growing our mushrooms then 😄
I love how you use both metric and imperial units and explain everything not just the how to, but the why do
Thanks for showing that you borrowed a tool!!! It’s is great to show that DIY is accessible even if you don’t own all the supplies because you can lean on your community for support
I got a automatic mister and 30 free buckets in an old tent I got from facebook marketplace for 30 bucks. I used dried grass clippings and mulched leaves instead of straw and it works fine, giving me 2-4 harvests each time. I pasteurize it in a steel trash can, I use the juice to water my garden, can't let all those nutrients go to waste. My neighbors started giving me their grass clippings and I've been just laying it out to dry, they don't use chemicals on their grass either.
Sounds like you've driven down the costs even more and have a great system there! :-)
Do you make spore prints or do you just break it up like he did in the video?
Who is this Mister and how is he automatic 🤔
@@aaron-gz 🤣
Awesome!
Thanks for making this video! Very easy to follow and I can't wait to grow some oyster mushrooms for my mom and I. We love making a clear soup with oyster mushrooms and or the gourmet mix at the supermarket. Almost equal parts water and mushroom, 1-2 slices of ginger, 1 good sized lemon grass stalk, salt to taste. It's a very simple recipe but a whole lot of flavor. In the summertime, we also add in young pumpkin leaves and oh my goodness, it's out of this world delicious!
That sounds totally delicious! :-)
I just did one of the mushroom grow kits and was thrilled watching them double in size each day! I’ve never been able to successfully grow anything before but now I want to try my hand at gardening.
That's really great to hear! You should definitely try growing more. :-)
I used to drill drainage holes in the bottom of the buckets too, but I don't anymore because I use wood pellets instead of straw, straw can get very wet and hence needs drainage, but this affects yields because you will have a bunch of mushrooms trying to form at the bottom of the bucket out of the drainage holes, this is not good because if the bucket is on a dirty surface (in the yard) then you can't really eat those ones, the benefit of wood pellets is that you can have precise control over the moisture content, so you don't need to worry about drainage with oyster mushrooms, 60% water and 40% wood pellet is optimal, so if you have 1 kg of wood pellets, then just add 1.5 L of boiling water and hydrate in a sanitized cooler to retain heat over 24hrs.
This is really useful information, thank you so much! :-)
When you say wood pellets, do you mean what people burn in a pellet burners? Or do you mean wood chips? Could you use wood chips??
I can't speak for this guy but I know that when people forage mushrooms they want to find them growing on some kind of hardwood so I would think White oak is probably idealwhat I'm thinking is purchase some white oak wood chips or pellets like you would use for smoking meat, but instead use those in place of straw. The story I get from ChatGPT looking up the impact of growth media is that cardboard straw and some other materials may give you softer less flavorful mushrooms than you might get using hardwood.@@naturalchefshobhan6667
Can I use the wood pellets that I use in my heater?
In the US make sure the straw you buy isn't sprayed with an herbicide! I grew potatoes in resin tubs and it went fabulous. Those tubs were $20 at Home Depot but using these smaller buckets would be even cheaper and not too heavy to move after watering.
I was going to suggest the exact same thing about pure straw if you are able to find some and then be able to afford it! Thankfully the farmers are honest letting me know what they spray with..
Looks quite doable and love shrooms! Thank you so much for sharing this informative video
That's why using a pet feed or bedding straw is a good idea.
Thanks for the reminder.
I’ve never felt so confident that this is something I can grow.
My overall gardening experience is filled with only tiny successes but I have a feeling I might see a big win with mushrooms.
Thank you for showing so many of the stages to the process.
I hope you're inspired to try it - it's very satisfying. :-)
Thanks for the video, interesting!
Quick tip, for drilling large holes in plastic like these buckets try running the drill in reverse. You get a much neater round hole and the bit will not “grab” and make a mess.
Top tip - thanks so much. I'm pretty useless with power tools, so appreciate this comment! :-)
That might be true for twist and Forster bits; however, he was using a spade bit for the larger holes.
Probably a better solution if possible, is to use a conical drill or step drill for making nice neat holes in thinner materials like plastic & sheet metals, you can also give the hole a slight shamfer between the steps for a clean smooth finish without burring.
Would laundry baskets work?. I've seen them used before. And specifically how many more types of mushrooms may be grown this way???@@GrowVeg
good idea. i've had drill bits grabbing in plastic, never thought of reversing the drill bit. Wiz
I was absolutely captivated by this video and I am so happy it showed up on my feed! I absolutely love mushrooms on my plate and while I'm used to foraging them in my home country, that's not commonly practiced where I'm at now. I never considered growing them instead, this looks super fun and doable!
Thank you, fellow 'shroom enthusiast! :)
It's great fun to grow them this way - definitely give it a try! :-)
Thank you for being an awesome person who’s making wholesome, helpful content!
And thank you for watching. :-)
I like how he emphasizes cleanliness and sterilization but then uses his teeth to tear the surgical tape.
Me too. It isn't as if he was at the time trying to grow a sample in a Petri dish to see what kind of germ was already present to discern what kind of disease his mushrooms got.
worked fine for him...
Yes, I realise the error of my ways now. Scissors next time round!
@growveg Ok THIS is why I love your videos - sense of humor and humility. Truthfully not a apocalyptical-type error, though, right?
Ok THIS is why I love your videos - sense of humor and humility. Truthfully not a apocalyptical-type error, though, right?
@@GrowVeg 🤯
I think it is worth mentioning that it is no advised to take off the lid as much as he does in the videos. Oysters are generally resilient but there is always a risk of contamination. Also the tape should stay on the bucket until the mushroom starts pinning, the bucket acts as a hard tree trunk and the holes with tape acts as a weak point for the mushroom to 'fruit' The mycelium is strong enough to push the tape aside.
It is also worth mentioning that the mycelium is actual 'plant' growing and that the mushrooms are the fruits of the mycelium.
Spraying water directly onto the fruit is also not advised but getting the right balance between moisture and oxygen can be hard.
Great suggestions and advice, many thanks for sharing this. :-)
Maybe you should make videos as well
well i cant see where he has gone wrong , the method that grow veg used is perfect as you can see the great results !
Just a comment - I got an oyster mushroom kit last year and it specifically warned against growing it indoors in a room that is often occupied. Apparently they release a lot of spores and quite a few people develop an allergy. I grew mine in the boiler room, which has some windows.
Using a Martha tent works well to control spores; venting it outside is even better.
Get them picked before they get too big. That way you harvest before they spore. Consider it like courgettes, sure you can have massive fruits but a better fruit if its picked sooner. There will be more flesh and less gills.
I grow my oyster mushrooms from spores/mycelium starting in my home with liquid culture then to grain jars. Last, I finally place them in the unoccupied outdoor garage to grow inside the buckets. My family and I do not have allergic symptoms even though but I guess everyone is different so maybe try to do an allergy test first. If you have allergies do not fear because there are also the more rare spore-less variety mushrooms which should never release spores. I was nervous myself about the danger at first but now I'm growing over 10 different mushroom strains from scratch as novice with no fancy equipment.
Yes, I think the trick is to harvest them before they produce loads of spores, which can make quite a mess as well. I think at the very least, it may be worth avoiding them in the bedroom, which carbon dioxide levels can get quite high overnight, potentially slowing the mushrooms' growth.
Great video, I'm gonna try it!
Please do a playlist on growing different types of mushrooms!
Need to produce some more videos on mushrooms first. In the meantime, check out our other mushroom guide: ua-cam.com/video/8aouihUZOuw/v-deo.htmlsi=tAcl8xzdhUc7Tez3
With a little luck and a little looking, you may be able to find oyster mushrooms in a grocery or farmer's market to try out for your own use at home before committing to home cultivation. They're not perfectly interchangeable with the common white button mushrooms, although you would not go far wrong acting as if they are.
Some ice cream tubs (in the U.S. market at least) are of similar volume and shape to the buckets used here, and so "free" with the purchase of the ice cream and a vigorous cleaning after.
Oyster mushrooms do not keep all that well fresh, but you can dry them (and then optionally powder them) for much longer preservation. It can be handy when home cultivation provides them at a schedule that awkwardly suits your use of them.
Really great advice here, thank you. :-)
I was a mushroom hater because all I ever had was the white cap button muxhrooms and I could not stand them. Thank goodness a co worker got me to try oyster. Gosh how I love them! cooked in butter with a little bit of thyme. Like heaven!
@jeffengel2607 if you dry them, reconstitute with white wine before sautéing them.
That water ypu poured off of the straw is a great liquid fertilizer for the garden
What a great idea, thanks. :-)
Water from grain spawn soaking/cooking, is also an excellent agar medium for subsequent liquid cultures or cloning generations.
Thanks!
Just a random post. Really love your page. Im a father of three kids and as it turns out a hazelnut and hops farmer. Theres always so much to learn. Youve helped our home garden take on a whole new life and really really appreciate the time effort and attention to detail that you have. Thanks so much and cant wait to keep watching! cheers mate! 👏👏🍻🍻
Oh wow - what kind words! That's really lovely to hear. You must be a great dad getting your home garden in shape - I'm sure the kids must love to get involved with that. Thanks for watching. Cheers mate back at yer! :-)
This is the most complete, clearest, least caveats mushroom growing instruction I have ever come across. I will actually try it this time
Except using his mouth to break the tape😂😂😂😂
But who knows he’s on top of it maybe his mouth is like a dogs😂😂❤
‘Back To The Roots’ mushroom kits started by them going to coffee shops & getting free coffee grounds to use as substrate - instead of straw. They mixed it with sawdust, pasteurized it & drained the liquid to keep it moist. They made a lot of money doing this!
Smart move!
They did that for you?
Alex Jong and Adam Sayner ("GRO CYCLE" yt channel) were probably the first commercial UK Mushroom growers and are experts in their field. They have helped many people become Urban Commercial Shroom and Microgreen farmers. Spent Brewers Grain is another potentially cheap substrate, which like coffee grounds is a waste product which needs to be rapidly inoculated but is pre-sterile/pasteurised from the brewing process. If you have local brewers, microbreweries, it would make an excellent grain spawn and mycoremediation of such perhaps freely given waste.
@@PandoraChaser2this is awesome! Now if companies in the States would take that stance...
@@SirDydimus86 To be honest I think I actually found the idea on a USA mushroom websites lists of potential substrates/grain spawns and substrate disposal ideas. Similar to microgreens the waste post shroom grows, then too needs a purpose, but yes brewers spent grain is excellent grain spawn potentially free.
I saw your channel 4 months ago and because I would like to write to you .Your method and explanation are beautiful and smooth. I followed the same method as you and it worked for me. My family and I are now enjoying the mushroom soup that I grew in your way. I sincerely thank you. I am grateful to you 😍😍
I am so delighted to hear this has worked so well for you. Fantastic! :-)
@@GrowVeg thank you 💖
@Myco_blacky 💖
For mushroom recipes, I recommend boiling them until the water fully evaporates! I watched a youtube video where the cook tested the best way to cook mushrooms and found how they kept their flavor this way and are REALLY delicious. Any mushrooms. I tested it and is the way I cook all mushrooms now. Just put them in a pan, fill with water until they are covered, and let it boil until all of the water evaporates. Trust me, it is great!
I'll have to give it a try!
@@GrowVeg I did it with portobello mushrooms, shimeji, and also funghi secchi, the funghi secchi I added afterwards to a stroganoff recipe and it was amazing! All the flavor was kept in!
This is so cool!! Thank you for making this video. I'm not sure what led it to be in my feed, but I am glad. You've got me convinced to try my hand at mushrooms. I am a 60yo widowed grandpa. I cook a lot, but I have not gardened much at all in my life. Thanks for the inspiration. I can't wait to get my things together and see how it turns out!
I'm so pleased you're inspired to give this a go. It means a lot to make videos that affect change like this. Happy growing! :-)
Giving all measurements in the metric system as well just shows what a good person he is.
Much love from the other side of the planet!
You would be such a good teacher.
Thank you. :-)
loving the video and the emphasis on keeping everything clean only to see the tape being ripped with the mouth by habbit at 7:20. Gave me a chuckle. Awesome !
Clean scissors next time!
Thanks for making this great video - I've been wanting to try my hand at growing shrooms, but have a few too many irons in the fire most of the time. I have food-grade 5-gallon buckets and lids, don't have any straw, but do have a quantity of clean, rather fine sawdust. Since I'm finding lots of mycelium in my "wild" wood-chip piles, I know various shrooms will grow in them, and in sawdust. I saved a few "baby bella" mushrooms from the grocery store, aging them in the fridge so their spores will develop, and intend to break them up into a bucket of pasteurized sawdust - now that you've inspired me! I wish I'd seen your video LAST night - it rained all of today and kept me indoors - I could've been prepping a shroom-bucket instead of what I DID do! Oh well - it's supposed to rain and/or snow this weekend, too, so that'll be my project for those days I can't work outside. Thanks again!
So pleased you enjoyed the video. Very best of luck with your shrooms! :-)
this is the first video I've seen of this channel, and the enthusiasm is infectious! I've been trying to find things I can grow in my apartment, mushrooms might be the way to go ^-^
So pleased you've discovered the channel - welcome!
Herbs, a single tomato and pepper plant for the balcony. A rack of microgreens for salad and sandwiches can look like decor in dining or livingroom. Grow a jar of sprouts on your kitchen counter, some kombucha or other fermented drink.
You have to be very sterile and present.
@@CM-sy3to This is almost exactly what I've been planning! I've got some grocery-store "regrow" experiments (scallions, garlic, 2 ft tall cherry tomato plant) and some strawberry starts going in window box planters on the ledge in my bedroom (can't do it in the living room--that's the cat's sunbathing spot). I've got other experiments going with a grow bag (baby red and purple potatoes) and a set of three felt cubes (I tossed some sprouting onions in one) out on the balcony.
I've got some trays I'm going to try using for microgreens &/or sprouts and just got the seeds. I may set them up on top of the video cabinet cum pantry, under the always-on ceiling light. I hadn't thought about kombucha...maybe something else fermented. Thanks for the reminder of "microgreens for salad and sandwiches".
I salvaged a 36"W x 13"D wire rack I'm going to set up as a living/dining area divider/storage. It was a tall unit, but I'm going to set it up as two half-height units back-to-back (36"W x 26"D) so it doesn't block the view from the dining area to the living room/balcony window and sun. Favorite/mini-appliances on the middle shelves; small items on top, with a row of narrow window box planters with herbs down the middle as "green decor" (they'll get light there and be easy to "cut and come again").
Maybe I can tuck a mushroom bucket on the floor, under the middle shelf, with indirect light, instead of the milk crate I was going to keep (grocery-bought) apples or root veg in. (I once put a bag containing a block of mushroom starter I bought at a farmers market out on the balcony and forgot about it--the mushrooms broke through the bag and I got a harvest despite my complete neglect! Next time it might be better to have it where I won't forget it.)
I have plans for restarting a tomato plant in a festive bright green litter bucket in one back corner of the balcony and a red pepper or mini-cucumber plant in a matching bucket in the other back corner. I figure I can put a trellis or cage against the wall in those corners if/when needed. Eventually, the felt cubes in the front corners and along the rail should have some greens, I think, or things that need the 12" depth of the cubes--beets perhaps (I love beet greens), maybe my potted rosemary when it needs re-potting (with some edible flowers around it or ?).
I haven't decided what to try in the 10" x 15" x 7" D beverage crates (salvaged) that fit nicely on the iron baker's rack (also salvaged). The rack squeezes in along the side rail, between the felt cube in the front corner and the green bucket in the back corner. It's got four shelves...I should be able to grow some short lettuces and greens, maybe strawberries, radishes...whatever can grow in shallow containers.
Make sure the spores don’t spread into your living area. There’s something called spore lung (?) from breathing in spores continually.
Followed your video and now have five buckets full of pink oyster mushrooms! Thank you so much!
That's really fabulous to read - well done! :)
I’m on my fourth harvest from each bucket! I just added new straw on top of the buckets once they sunk in, added back some tape to the holes and extra luke warm water and boom! I grow mine in a glass kitchen cabinet and it grows great!
Cleans everything meticulously. bites tape into peace's... keep the videos up, il be starting mine in the next few days so I really appreciate it.
Great to hear you'll be starting yours - hope they grow well. :-)
Good morning from South Africa. We just want to wish you and your family a lovely Christmas and an exciting new year. Love from the Kelly family.
Thank you so much - that's incredibly kind of you. A very merry Christmas to your family also. :-)
Hello and another great video :) I have been trying to grow oyster mushrooms in my veranda for years. The gray and blue grow in the winter months and the yellow and red in the summer months. That way I always have fresh ones. I also spray them with moisture in the morning and evening. I do use column bags, so I can see when the mycellium is almost gone and then make a new bag, but this can take more than a year. I can recommend everyone to try this, especially considering the price if you want to buy them fresh...
Great to be enjoying them all year with both types. You're a mushroom pro! :-)
Discovered you yesterday 😃 LOVE YOUR CHANNEL. My wife and I have about 20 raised beds in a small yard-1/4 acre in Mobile, Alabama. This is our 4th year gardening. My son and I foraged for mushrooms in wooded areas near our neighborhood- mostly chanterelles and boletes. I'm very excited to start growing mushrooms in buckets! THANK YOU! SO MUCH TO LEARN.
How wonderful to forage chanterelles - a real treat! :)
The world is your oyster! Love it Ben! Such a great idea. I’m definitely going to try this! 😊
Definitely do - very satisfying and no end of amazing puns! ;-)
I didn’t realize how easy it is to grow mushrooms!!! I will definitely need to find a source (in CDA preferably) for the new year!
Thank you for your video & information! LOVE your channel!
Hope you manage to find some and grow them. A fantastic project for the new year.
We took the dive into mycology this year and have blue oysters growing in a monotub as I write this. When I home brew I know if I start with a strong yeast and billions of cells they will out-compete the bad bugs but mushrooms are an entirely new world. Understandably, there's such a focus on sanitation (like homebrewing) that I think some of us forget these grow naturally in "dirty" forests. Have you had any wild spores take up residence or other growing issues with these buckets? I know when I first started I was extra cautious to avoid things like cobweb fungus (which apparently is rare) but am learning to just be judicious with cleaning and enjoy the harvests. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
Never had any problems. The pasteurisation is just a precaution - to up the chances of a 'clean' growth. Probably not always necessary, but reduces the risk of weed fungi and gives peace of mind I guess.
Great stuff! Cheers Ben. Mushroom stroganoff! Right into a pot with butter onions and lots of garlic, chicken stock, herbs, Bronners bullion, cook then thicken with a bit of arrowroot starch…YUM.
Yes - that does sound maximum-volume yum!
Ok, this video quality is wildly good! The framing of your shots and the panning and transitions are amazing! You are also a really good teacher. You steps are clear and explained and wow I’m just super impressed… and looking for buckets now
Thanks so much! :-)
Curious is the ripping tape with mouth possibly contaminating it? I guess I’m just wondering how carefully I need to be I’m anxious about it I suppose. Excited to try this although worried about in fl with all the other things that may grow. Thanks for the video
I've grown several mushroom kits and never sterilized anything. May have not been as successful as it could've been, but there weren't any issues.
The teeth-ripped edge would, in theory, be beyond the edge of the hole being covered. I don't think it would up the risk appreciably, but, good point, better to use scissors!
That tape can be torn off of the spool by hand.
A small tip. Keep all the buckets stacked when drilling. They all get drilled at once this way instead of doing them individually.
Smart move! :-)
That harvest looks like a valuable heap of delicious mushrooms. Enjoy! 🍄
It was a total heap of deliciousness. Very much enjoyed, thank you!
I'm 2 years into gardening, this will be my next project for sure. Thank you. I didn't know about automatic misters, you glossed over that. I will be hunting one of those down for my indoor collection of plants. 😅 Thank you.
Props for going through the trouble of digging out that cape and hat just for the joke.
I don't know when you last picked up a playstation controller but I can assure you that it does hold up to watching mushrooms grow. Not to say that watching mushrooms grow isn't fun.
This comment made me smile. Thanks so much! :-)
Thank you so much for this video. It's the first one i've watched that teaches how to continue to use the old straw to begin a new bucket so you do not need to buy micelium each time. That's exactly what i was looking for. I'll try this, tysm
Great stuff! My old straw-inoculated bucket looks like it's just about to start fruiting. :-)
What an absolutely pleasant man you are and an enjoyable presentation you did there. Thank you so much for this. Cheers.
You are most welcome, and thank you for your kind words. :-)
Thank you for mentioning how to continue to reproduce the mycelium! You are the first tutorial that doesn't either completely skip that or tells me to continue to buy starter until I die. Appreciate it! We will try this this weekend.
Thank you for sharing. My favorite recipe; Broccoli 🥦 and mushroom sauce
Mushrooms in a sœur cream sauce.
The perfect mix of super informative, and playfully goofy.
Amazing content!
Thanks so much! :-)
I do love a mushroom. This one is on my growing list of 2024. Thank you for being one of my favourite channels on YT. Wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas and Great New Year 🖖
Thanks so much for your kind words. Here's to a very productive 2024! :-)
Ice cream can come in 1 gallon containers at US grocery stores. Handy sized buckets to have around the house.
So I've not done it myself yet, but I've researched this before, and I believe the following to be true:
1) if you want to skip the pasturisation step, I believe you can use compressed straw pellets, which are sort of pasturised by the compression process. A bit more uniform which might help with handleability as well
2) propogating from spent straw totally works, but the longer you do it the more the risk of pests goes up. More of a problem for commercial growers, but something to keep an eye out for. Mites seem to be the thing. If they show up you just need to isolate and start your next batch from grain spawn again, so contamination aside youve lost nothing.
Questions and compliments!
1) the sterlising powder, what is it? Is it the same stuff brewers use?
2) Ive grown kits and ive done deep dives on all the ins and outs of commercial growing. But this video was pitched at just the right level of practical to cut through the useful but cluttered cloud of possibilities logged in my head. Buckets over bags may be a real gotcha for getting me moving - the bags arent exactly expensive but its another thing to track and buy, and feel bad about because of the disposability. Somehow buckets feel more doable and sturdy and sustainable. Take up less brain space
The sterilization powder is likely made of lime.
Thanks for your helpful comment Zoe - so pleased you found the video useful. Yes indeed, the sterilising powder is the same stuff brewers use. Quite cheap to buy and it goes a long way.
Your video is inspiring. I've been a gardener for nearly 50 years and celebrate when I see mycelium growing in the soil because I know that I'm in for a mystery treat.... But I never thought about growing fungi in buckets in the house. Winter project for sure. Many thanks.
This looks like so much fun. I’ve had it as a vague thought for a while but this has helped crystallize it. Thank you 😊
Definitely give it a go! :-)
Super Yummy Oyster mushroom pasta recipe from my home (Japan) that I’ve enjoyed for decades is so simple 😊
1. Separate oyster mushrooms into small pieces.
2. Prep pasta (I like linguine) by boiling with some salt in water -> al dente 💕
3. While pasta is prepping, Sauté the mushrooms with olive oil in a skillet until soft.
4. Put equal amount of Soy sauce and Japanese Sake, and finish sautéing.
5. Put al dente pasta into the skillet and mix with the mushroom sauce.
6. Put on a plate and top with chopped green onions and some cayenne pepper powder.
Enjoy 😘
If you want to clean up the holes in your bucket and make them look rounder and get rid of the rough bits, roll up a piece of sandpaper into a tube. Put it in the hole and rub it in and out a few times. It expands into the hole, and if you twist as you go in and out, you get a nice round hole. Works on thin wood sheet as well.
Great advice - thanks so much!
It doesn’t work. Years ago during the pandemic shutdown, our washing machine broke and we couldn’t get a mechanic to come to our house. I made the diy plunger & bucket with holes method but I couldn’t smooth out the edges of the holes with neither sandpaper nor trying to melt them. I tried drilling from the opposite end too. No variation worked. I never ended up using it because the edges were too rough to wash clothes in.
Great video! You've sparked my interest in growing mushrooms!🍄
So pleased! Definitely worth giving a grow.
It was such a joy watching this video. It was lovely to watch someone be so enthusiastic about their chosen interest.
Thank you! :-)
Highly enjoyed your video,my son is nearly 10 and he has been nagging me to grow mushrooms and l didn’t want go buy a kit.l now know how to do it and we ll do it with my son for sure.Thank you very much.🤙
Great stuff - you'll really enjoy the process of growing them this way. I'm sure your son will be hooked on growing! :-)
Many thanks. I ordered the spawn and started in a large brew size tub today. It was really easy following your process. Looking forward to checking in a couple of weeks. For now it is inside in a room with a stable temp and aim to harvest before they spore. Great to have something to grow at this time of year.
That's really super to hear! I hope it grows well for you. :-)
how did it go?
@@mihi-j9r Hi, it worked really well. I don't have much time so haven't reused/renewed the spawn. I'm intending to do again when time isn't so limited. I would try another variety though, I did oyster mushrooms and didn't find them very tasty.
Psychedelics saved me from years of uncontrollable depression, anxiety and illicit pill addiction. Imagine carrying heavy chains for over a decade and then all of a sudden that burden is gone. Believe it or not in a couple years they'll be all over for treatment of mental health related issues.
Please does anyone know where I can get them? I put so much on my plate and it really affects my stress and anxiety levels, I would love to try shrooms
I was having this unbearable anxiety and depression because of mental stress from school, work and life generally. Then I came across a mycologist dr.joeshroom He saved my life honestly.
Thanks for sharing this experience. I've read a lot around psilocybin and it's potential benefits for treating depression.
Since I started micro dosing mushrooms, I have noticed a few thing for sure, better mental and physical awareness. My positivity and will power has rocketed as well. It's been really good.
Does Dr.joeshroom ship?
I followed your instructions to the letter (or almost...) and it turned out great! Here are my modifications:
1. I bought oat straw at a pet shop. I didn't know they have straw flavors for rabbit bedding, lol. A quick Google search told me that oats are a good base for mushroom growing. Does it matter? Anyway, I learned that straw is surprisingly costly.
2. I couldn't find any grain spawn quickly. It seems like most places make very large quantities on demand only. I was looking at weeks of delay. Instead, I used a blue oyster growing kit. It cost about $20 (CAD) for 1kg of mycelium fully colonized in sawdust. There was no issue combining the sawdust base with straw. Let me know if it's an absolute no-go. I crumbled it with a 10% mycelium to straw ratio and let it sit for 2 weeks. Next time I will do at least 3 weeks.
3. I made 1-inch holes, but 1/2 inch would have been better. The bucket had a hard time retaining moisture, small oyster buttons started growing from every hole but did not fully develop - even from the holes covered in surgical tape.
My question is, does this method work with lion's mane? If so, any recommendations regarding the specifics of growing lion's mane? Thanks a lot!
Great tweaks there, thanks for sharing this. Unfortunately this method wouldn't work with lion's mane, which I believe need hardwood to grow on.
Excellent cheat sheet for mushrooms! Thanks a lot, you explain so much and so little time.
Great tips for growing mushrooms, I do love them. As we live in Florida I do not see a problem with keeping up the humidity lol.
Yes indeed - plenty of humidity there! :-)
Love this Ben - it's always mushrooms with me and I haven't tried them yet so expensive in the shops. More complicated with Shitake though! I thank that's an outside job.
This is a genuinely easy way to grow them and, I reckon, the most cost effective. Give it a go!
I get excited seeing mushrooms do their thing. Seeing pins pop up gives me a joy I can’t explain. Just makes me happy
Did you give Trevor some mushrooms since he did lend you the drill and bit ?
Haha - Trevor is my long-suffering neighbour. And yes, he's definitely getting the next batch of shrooms! (Probably should have got the first to be fair!).
The best video I have seen so far for mushroom growing for beginners. Thanks so much for getting me started!
@TrumpJonas-oz1xr This TrumpJonas person is an obvious scammer
I'm so hooked to your channel. I was was newer green fingered, but now I'm happily growing free food. It's like a waiting love.
How wonderful! Enjoy your garden!
Great Video , How much did it cost for all the Starter kit please ? or how much cost for each bucket ? As Tesco and other big super markets charge a lot for mushroom.
So it's definitely cheaper than buying them in the supermarket, especially when you consider that you can use older straw to re-start a new bucket. Costs were roughly as follows:
Buckets: 5 buckets cost £7.83 (Amazon)
Pet straw: £5.99 (though I'm sure I found it cheaper when I bought it - around £3.99)
Microprous tape: £4 (Boots. Lasts ages!)
Sanitising stuff: £2.39 (Lasts ages!)
Mushroom spawn: Varies. I bought an enormous bag for £29.99, but can buy smaller bags from £8.75. Sourced from here: urban-farm-it.com/products/blue-grey-oyster-mushroom-grain-spawn?variant=45076413710616
The buckets are, of course, reusable, and the other costs are minimal, bar the spawn. But given the yield, still cheaper than buying in the supermarket.
I put my bucket with holes in a bucket without holes, when waiting for the mushrooms to come out. It saves a lot of money on tape and time.
What a really fab idea - I'd never think to do that. Brilliant!
Thanks for the great contents!
And to all the viewers who saw the comments about “psychedelics saved my life” or “my ADHD was cured by mushroom” or whatever, please don’t consider getting them delivered.
I see these comments everywhere on mushroom growing channels, it’s clearly all automated bots repeating the same sentences. Please report them as spam if you find them.
Thanks - and yes, they're definitely bots/spam. I try to delete them as they come up here too. :-)
It's always intriguing to see our gardener's, I've embedded my strawberries in a permanent bed and I'm looking forward to planting out, I'm propagating on the space I have available, I'm seeing my peas pop up, so I'm excited, it's a work in progress, but it's always rewarding 👍
This is the simplest tutorial I’ve seen. Thanks!
Merry Christmas Ben. Thank you so much for all the amazing advice you kindly share with us all ☃️🎄Wishing you continued success in the New Year 🥳
Thanks so much for watching. And a very merry Christmas and joyous start to the year to you and your family too. :-)
That’s genius, I’ll definitely give this a try.. thanks for sharing this👍
My favorite part is when he rips the tape with his teeth while he's talking about cleanliness. It's a 10. I have been enjoying the video though
Will definitely be using clean scissors next time! :-)
I'm making one for my mom this spring. She can hang it under her porch and she can have mushrooms all summer.
I grew oyster mushrooms in 5 gallon buckets a few years ago in a similar way, but i didn't have a drill so i stabbed each bucket with a screwdriver and i made Way more holes. Definitely recommend following his process...
Have you tried growing Shiitaki or Chestnut Mushrooms? If so, I'd be interested in learning about that, I like mushrooms but I don't want to spend loads of money on kits and you show ways to do things much more on the cheap! Thanks Ben for all of your helpful advice and have a Merry Christmas!
Thanks for watching. I've not tried growing chestnut or shiitaki mushrooms yet - but hope to do so soon. Oysters are just very easy, but I suspect chestnut mushrooms would be too.
Where did you buy all the required equipment and "ingredients"? Especially the spores?
shiitake are not as easy to homegrow. but they are best dried anyway
Shi takes grow on oak wood
4:33 talk about magic mushrooms 🍄
I've been thinking about growing mushrooms for a while I think I might give it a go thanks Ben 👍
Please do - it's so much fun!
- getting bale straw and throwing it through a garden shredder can work... (you may have a friend who has one to borrow)
Growing the mushrooms in an outdoor woodshed or similar seems a great idea.
Yes, that would be a fab idea. :-)
Mix together 10 cups of hardwood smoking pellets, any variety or blend of hardwood works. ($9 for 30 lbs) and 3 quarts of water (2.8 liters). The pellets are sterilized during the pelletizing process. This is one common substrate for shiitake, lions mane and oysters. It fluffs right up, colonizes well and no sterilization needed. Just mix and add the spawn. I use hydrogen peroxide instead of water and the mushrooms love it since it turns into pure water and oxygen while keeping things sterile. I use peroxids with all of my shrooms and spray the cultures down with it using a sprayer on the peroxide bottle. Every spray bottle I've seen the nozzle fits a peroxide and rubbing alcohol bottle. Temu has the best price for them. Activated charcoal powder mixed in the substrate is my latest experiment and some types really go crazy on it in the petri dish stage. Masters mix makes bigger crops and shrooms but needs sterilization and adds soybean hulls and wheat bran to the smoking pellets. I can't find straw at a reasonable price so smoking pellets really saves me. I'm too used to seeing your comment has been rejected at this point. It's human milk and chest feeding now! Yahoo won't even let me use chicken breasts in comments and furniture polish without polish capitalized and not get rejected. Furniture polish, Polish sausage. Hickory dickory rejected. I really need to get to bed!
Thanks for sharing this method - it's really great to hear alternatives to straw and I may have to try this way next time. :-)
Ben! Thanks for the vlog! Use pancake mix as batter and deep fry very yummy!
Great suggestion, thanks! :-)
The use of magic mushrooms completely helps one get over depression and makes you feel like yourself.
I got mine from doc.coby
the caldron thing was great
Thanks! :-)
Interresting, you sterilize everything and then you bite of the tape 😂..
But.. great idea! Very helpful..!!
Thanks, glad you found it useful. Lots of comments on me biting the tape. Scissors next time!
@@GrowVegI found it refreshing @GrowVeg after all sometimes you've just got to be Human❤
Your video and the comments are so fun! I doubt I could grow my own (our cellar is dark and warm, but very dry), but it's so fun just *learning* things. And then you came in with the witches' costume, lovely! *cheers from the new subscribers bench*
Brilliant - thanks for your lovely comment. And welcome to the channel! :-)
Thank you so much Ben! Coincidence! I received my Oyster mushrooms-in-a-box today! I was excited to get them started, but as soon as they are done, I’m going to use your well-explained and easy to follow method! Cheers
Fab stuff! Hope you get a great crop. :-)
The irony of boiling the straw and sterilzing the buckets and the surface to grow mushrooms!
I know - I regret doing that. I'll use scissors (clean ones!) next time around!
**DO NOT drill the holes into the bucket before you pasteurize your straw in said bucket!
They are supposedly reusable.
You just did a whole segment on sterilization, and BAM (7:15) used your mouth to cut the surgical tape keeping out contaminants.
I know - I regretted that as soon as I did it! Clean scissors will be used next time! :-)
Will try this here in Singapore..we get massive fungi growing happily in our very high humid environment!
I found this video very useful, THANK YOU! 🙂- I've always found the process of growing mushrooms daunting, but I think I will give it a try.
That's really great to hear. :-)
England. Where there is one power tool for every 1000 citizens
Haha - yes indeed! :-)
7:45 - point of contamination. Why not sterilize some ✂️
Yes, will definitely do that next time round! :-)
Who needs sterile scissors when you can just use teeth 🦷