Mushrooms for the first time

Inglezinho · February 2021

The bottom of our garden is more or less a wild wood with a number of rotting logs on the ground and an old rotting wooden table. I thought of trying to grow some mushrooms on them. The problem is I haven't got the first idea how to do it...I've seen plenty of mushrooms and toadstools growing in woodland but have no idea how to introduce them. I want the edible types obviously! Any help most welcome.

nick615 · February 2021

Buy some large flat ones from a fruit and veg shop. Lay some black side down on a large dinner plate for 24 hours and, when you remove them, there should be what looks like a black stain on the plate, but is actually mushroom spoors. Get a handful of wheat (ideally) or similar and roll it round the plate to become covered in the spoors. That, I understand, is how the commercial growers buy seed, ready impregnated. Maybe worth a try?

Dovefromabove · February 2021

Get hold of some spent mushroom compost (sold as a mulch) and spread it on your lawn. That often produces a fine crop of the type of edible mushroom commonly sold in UK supermarkets. They grow best in damp grassy meadows. They are not the types that grow in woodland and they don’t grow on ‘rotting wood’.

Some of the types of fungus that grow in woodland are edible, some are very toxic indeed ... some types look very much like the other. Do not try to identify edible varieties without an expert.

If you want to grow your own edible mushrooms you can buy kits for several different types

https://www.dobies.co.uk/vegetable-plants/grow-mushroom-plugs/

https://www.suttons.co.uk/vegetable-fruit-plants/grow-your-own-mushrooms/

You will see that you can buy plugs to insert into pieces of wood, but it has to be a particular species of tree and also it must not have been treated with preservatives etc at any stage.

You may find this interesting http://www.wildfooduk.com/mushroom-guide/

and if Covid restrictions are relaxed later in the year you may be interested in a Fungus Foray like this https://www.fungiforays.co.uk/
There are various organised forays taking place all over the UK.

I hope that’s helpful ... 😊

steephill · February 2021

Your logs and table are already rotting and are not a safe medium for growing a new crop of edible mushrooms. There is a big risk of accidentally harvesting toxic species. There will already be fungal colonies present which will make it very difficult to establish a new crop.

To grow on logs you need freshly cut wood of the right type for the species you want to grow. It can be a very slow process too, it can take a couple of years before you get any mushrooms. The ready made packs that @Dovefromabove listed are a better bet.

K67 · February 2021

You say you are Brazilian so assume that's where you live so don't know if you would be able to import anything in the plant line.
It would be helpful if you add your country or county of residence to your profile as others have.
It's pointless members giving you ideas without knowing your growing conditions and climate.

Dovefromabove · February 2021

@K67 😊 the OP has said on another new thread that he is currently gardening in the UK, but unless someone has previously read that thread they wouldn’t know that. 😉

The Personal Profile says that they garden all over the world ‘apart from the UK’
... I suspect something has been ‘lost in translation’ and they mean ‘as well as’ rather than ‘apart from’ .... but we’ve got there eventually 😊 👍

K67 · February 2021

Thanks @Dovefromabove.
Perhaps adding UK after his name might stop confusion

nick615 · February 2021

There's quite a lot of human traffic between Brazil and Portugal for historic colonial reasons, like Moroccans coming to France and Surinamens to Netherlands. Can be confusing.

Inglezinho · February 2021

Thanks Nick. I think your idea of buying edible BRITISH mushrooms from the supermarket and collecting the spores is the best one. I have a few questions so I think I'd better start a new thread.

Inglezinho · February 2021

Thank you again, Dove from Above. The only problem I have with Mushroom books is that they show edible mushrooms alongside deadly ones ie. Agaricus is a an excellent species, but Agaricus phallens is deadly, though fortunately not common. At least if I die from spores taken from supermarket mushes, my widow will have someone to sue.

When I was stationed in Germany, one of the favourite hobbies was collecting wild mushrooms. For example, they taught me how to recognise ceps, but they are are much commoner there than here. I have only ever found the indigestible ones, which turn blue when cut. There is even one used to treat alcoholism - indigestible when combined with booze.

steephill · February 2021

The wise old saying is true - "you can eat any mushroom. Once." Ignore any stories about colour changes, taste etc. being an indicator of edibility or lethality. There is no short cut to identifying safe edible species, it is a specialist topic. I cross-check at least four good reference books for fungi identification and also check a number of useful websites to help identify fungi. The websites are very helpful because they show just how variable in appearance even well known fungi can be. Fungal forays with reliable experts are worthwhile, look for a local natural history society to see if they run any.

It would be wonderful if we had an expert network like some other European countries but unfortunately we are on our own here. While I enjoy looking for and identifying fungi I only eat those which I can reliably and safely identify, only about half a dozen varieties at the moment. My garden has both delicious edibles and deadly poisonous killers but the vast majority are neither. Interesting to see and photograph but let them get on with their lifecycle unhindered.

Mushrooms for the first time

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