Everything to know about success in growing mushrooms: please see if you can find an answer before reaching out.
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A rule of thumb: if you are comfortable, it will be comfortable. The main thing is to not put it somewhere that's too dry. Keep away from heat pumps, fires, or heaters.
During this stage, you do NOT need to mist or spray it with water. Everything it needs (including water) is in the bag.
Find a comfortable spot, a kitchen counter is fine. It should be shaded, not too hot or cold and away from drafts. See our article (QR code link) about the best locations to grow mushrooms.
Check the batch number written on the side. The first 4 digits are the date it was made. The month is first so 0915 means Sept 15th. Mushrooms will start growing in 2-3 weeks, but it may start sooner, so check it daily for pinning.
Over the next few weeks, you can watch the mycelium grow. It is the whitish-looking stuff spreading through the bag.
If it hasn't started 'pinning' after 4 weeks contact us.
Although the mushrooms are not growing yet, your mushroom grow kit should be showing signs of life. You may notice that the mycelium is getting denser, and possibly it's starting to thicken around the air holes. When baby mushrooms start to grow out of the holes we call this stage pinning. The baby mushrooms are called pin-sets.
This is a short stage (usually a day or two. However, it is the most important stage. If there is a failure to grow it will be due to a lack of humidity during pinning. Remember, you don't need to mist until it starts pinning.
Rule 1: Mist - Rule 2: Mist again
It is best to err on the side of caution and overdo the misting, especially in the first 48 hours. It's disappointing to hear from customers who have had their first flush stall in their first few hours of life due to a lack of humidity. If it does stall the info in the above link will help you get back on the right track.
NOTE: In summer, pinning may start as soon as 2 weeks (or even earlier), but in winter it may take up to 4. If it hasn't started pinning after 4 weeks it may have gone dormant, so read the article about things not going as expected.
If it has not started pinning you could try popping it outside for a few evenings and bring it back inside for warmth. A bit of a cool shock is what it may need as it will think 'winter is coming' and hurry along. During the winter it may take up to four weeks to pin. If it has taken longer than 4 weeks to grow it may have gone dormant. Here's an article about what to do if mushrooms are not growing.
If you need help please use the live chat feature on our website.
Now would be a great time to find some great and hopefully new recipes. We have recipes on our website.
To get the grow kit ready for the next flush, there may be some care required. You may need to do this if you had a failed flush and all your mushrooms stalled. There is generally enough water and nutrition within the bag to give you 3 flushes. However, if you follow these directions you will get many more.
Run your hand over the outside of the bag to clear the holes of any debris and nubby bits like pin-sets that have stalled, or stem stumps from harvested mushrooms. We want these airholes clear so they get plenty of fresh air and space to grow next time. You may need a small knife to trim nobby bits of mycelium.
Weigh the bag and compare its original weight to this new weight. The difference is the water loss.
Once it's lost about 70% of its water it's time for a drink. Generally, this should not be needed until after the 3rd flush (or possibly the 2nd if you have it in a dry location). Do this by...
IMPORTANT: Do not oversoak. This is one of the few things that will harm the mycelium and may cause mould.
Now you know everything you need, to be successful for subsequent flushes. If you do a good job in caring for it, it should reward you for many months to come. We have had customers give us feedback that theirs are still producing after 10 months. However, its yield will diminish as nutrition is depleted. After say 6 months you may want to experiment by adding some diluted liquid fertiliser to it. Use a metal straw, inserted into strategic spots inside the bag.
We've made our mushroom growing kits as simple to grow as possible. However, 2 problems are outside our control and can get people stuck. The first is stalling due to lack of humidity, the other is dormancy usually due to it being in the wrong location. These are relatively minor problems and easy to fix once you know how. Have a look at our in-depth trouble shooting guide to learn more about this issue.
You can also find the information by browsing the articles below.
We use a lot of care to make sure mould will not grow in the kit, so is very unlikely you will get an outbreak of mould. However, it can happen so we have an in-depth article on mould and what to do.
If it starts growing mould within the first two weeks, please contact us. If it occurs after a harvest it may likely recover.
Short answer, probably not! We have a process that has our failure rate at less than 1%. However, there is the small possibility that it is. In that case, we will replace it, no questions asked.
Your mushroom grow kit is made as part of a batch of about 10-15 bags. If there is a dud it would mean that the entire batch is similarly affected. Because of the cost involved in replacing a batch, we are highly motivated to maintain strict quality control. If we had made a bad batch we would know about it quickly. We also make and keep a control bag from each batch so that we can observe its growth. In the case of a bad batch, we would replace your grow kit without hesitation.
Environmental Factors: Generally, any issue with an individual bag is related to the unique variables in your home. These signs often include:
Contamination: Less frequently we will encounter some contamination like mould. In most cases, the mould will clear up, as healthy mushroom mycelium will either contain or kill it. We will generally replace a bag that has become mouldy if the mycelium is too badly affected to recover. Most often the mould has entered after the bag was made, via the air holes. Oftentimes, it's after a person has oversoaked the bag during rehydration.
Our Method: We have a reliable production method so we can ensure consistency across many batches. The only variable is the grain spawn used to make the batch (there is one bag of spawn per batch). Issues with spawn would be due to contamination of the spawn and would affect the entire batch. For us, this would be rare as we have a laboratory clean room where the cultures and spawn are made and we have tight protocols to maintain sterility. However, if it does happen this contamination would most likely be mould or bacteria. These are relatively easy to spot, so we would not use the spawn bag for production.
Control Bag: For each batch, we retain a small sample to make a control bag. If you contact us, we can then compare your bag with the control. This gives us better insight into what may be happening, and the advice we can offer to fix problems. It would also alert us to any potential contamination issue affecting the entire batch. Note: We incubate the control bag in our barn. It does not get any special or favourable treatment.
Our Support: We pride ourselves on our ability to work with you in having a successful mushroom grow. This means overcoming any issue you may have with the growing conditions. If we simply replace the bag without overcoming the problem, then we potentially doom the new one to the same fate. If you need support, please contact us using the live chat feature of the website (or by facebook message). Please include a photo of the bag, including the batch number on the side. Also, if you can, the order number.
There are only two main mushroom pests to look out for. The Phorid fly and the Sciarid Fly (aka fungus gnat). Both of these flies will lay eggs in the holes of the bags. After the eggs hatch, the larvae roam inside the substrate and quickly devour the mycelium inside. Eventually eating through the stem of the mushroom they emerge as flying adults via tiny pinprick-looking holes, out the top.
We have an in-depth article about mushroom pests, how to spot them and howo deal with them.