A Beginner’s Guide to Growing Mushrooms in Fall
Are you looking to expand your garden with mushrooms? Look no further. This guide has everything you need to know to get started. We’ll cover how to grow funky fungi during the fall season, when the weather is wet, cool, and mild. Join wine cap grower Jerad Bryant and learn how to cultivate your favorite mushrooms.
Contents
Mushroom growing is much easier than caring for plants. These unique organisms spend most of their time belowground, where gardeners can’t see them. They have root-like appendages named hyphae that form vast underground networks, called mycelia.
When enough hyphae grow and temperatures reach the perfect range, fruiting mushrooms appear above the soil. They grow from the mycelial networks, and they spread spores that germinate to form new fungal patches.
Because of their vast underground mycelia, mushrooms are incredibly resilient. They’ll survive frosty winters, temporary droughts, and pest pressures. Grow fall mushrooms this year with some easy-growing choices, then expand your garden to include rare types, like lion’s mane and almond agaricus, later on.
Organic Wine Cap Mushroom Sawdust Spawn
Organic Wine Cap Mushroom Sawdust Spawn
Organic Shiitake Mushroom Outdoor Log Kit
Organic Shiitake Mushroom Outdoor Log Kit
Organic Pink Oyster Mushroom Sawdust Spawn
Organic Pink Oyster Mushroom Sawdust Spawn
Pick a Method
Which method works best for your garden depends on the garden itself. There are many different cultivation techniques for indoor and outdoor growing. Start simple and small when you grow fall mushrooms, then learn what to do, and you’ll have the knowledge you need to add more mushrooms next year.
Indoor
Indoor growing requires careful planning and control. Monotubs and grow tents require sterile conditions and airflow to function. They’re best for experienced mycologists who know the ins and outs of growing fungi.
If you choose to grow fall mushrooms indoors, start with an all-in-one kit. These kits don’t require sterile conditions, and they’re ready to grow after purchase. Simply buy one, make a slit in the plastic, and keep the fungi moist while they sprout.
These kits often produce more than one flush of mushrooms. Continuously pick the caps to promote rapid regrowth.
Outdoor
There is a plethora of cultivation methods available for outdoor mushroom growing during the fall. I use garden beds to grow them, and you can too. All you need is a proper substrate and a mushroom that will grow in the ground.
Another method, log growing, is a tried-and-true technique that works better with wood-decomposing fungi like shiitake and lion’s mane. Log growing needs more setup to function properly, but it’s relatively easy to maintain once it gets going.
If you garden already and have ample beds, I recommend planting mushroom beds this fall. This method is easy to replenish, and it’s perfect for beginners. If you lack an outdoor yard, try an all-in-one kit on your kitchen countertop.
Choose a Mushroom
Different mushrooms grow on different substances. It’s not soil, it’s the substrate. Fungi differ from plants; they break down the substances they’re growing in. Certain species decompose wood, while others break down organic matter in the soil.
While there are dozens of different mushrooms to grow at home in fall, we include three ideal types in this guide. Start with wine caps or shiitakes outdoors, and go for your favorite type in indoor kits.
Wine Cap
Wine caps are exceptional for the garden! They produce flushes in spring and fall when the weather is moist and cool. Their caps are wine-red with white stipples, and they enlarge to the size of a portobello as they open up.
Wine caps also go by “the garden giants.” They’re famous for their ability to grow beneath taller crops, like tomatoes and corn, in the vegetable garden. They decompose the soil, turning it into nutritious humus for your nearby crops.
Use wine caps in bed setups outdoors in the fall. They prefer a substrate of hardwood chips, straw, or a mixture of both. You may also use hard softwood species in a pinch, like chips from a Douglas fir.
Shiitake
Shiitake are tasty, meaty, and easy to grow fall mushrooms in the right conditions. They prefer the log method over beds, as they need wood to break down. Their preferred substrate is wood from hardwood species such as maples, oaks, and alders.
Shiitake are great for growers who feel like they understand the basics of growing fungi. You’ll need to find a type of plug spawn to hammer into the logs, and wax to seal the holes. Don’t worry—we’ll cover how to use logs below.
Oyster
Oyster mushroom species are incredibly diverse! Choose from pink, blue, golden, snow, and Italian oyster mushrooms, among others. These fungi grow shelf-like structures that resemble half of an oyster shell, hence their name.
Pink and golden oysters are superb for outdoor growing in beds in warm regions; they’re not frost hardy, and they also grow well in tropical conditions.
Consider trying blue, Italian, or snow oysters in outdoor beds in regions with winter frosts. They’re hardy in the yard and delicious in the kitchen!
Inoculate Substrate
To grow fall mushrooms, start by inoculating a substrate. Inoculation is a term that defines the process of putting a fungal species into a growing medium. The easiest way to do so is with a bag of inoculated sawdust spawn, though there are many ways to get fungi growing in your yard.
Inoculation isn’t necessary if you’re using a pre-made kit for indoor growing. Simply open it up and keep it moist until mushroom caps sprout from the container. The following methods are best for outdoor mushroom cultivation.
Garden Beds
I use garden beds to grow fall mushrooms for easy sprouting. Wine caps and oyster species thrive in beds full of sawdust, wood chips, and straw. They colonize the substrate and grow their root-like hyphae inside it. Then, they sprout fruiting caps in fall and spring.
You’ll need the following materials to inoculate a garden bed:
- Mushroom spawn (sawdust, grain, or manure)
- Substrate (wood chips, straw)
- A garden bed
Spawn comes in bags full of sawdust, grains, or manure. You’ll open the bags up and crumble the spawn into small pieces. Layer the spawn crumbles alternately with the substrate in the garden bed, and place a two-inch-thick layer of substrate on top of the last layer of spawn.
Keep the bed moist, and wait until the mushroom caps appear. They’ll pop up in a few weeks after the spawn colonizes the substrate.
Logs
Log growing is a tad more difficult than using a bed. It is necessary, however, if you want to cultivate wood-growing fungi like shiitake and lion’s mane. They won’t sprout successfully in beds with straw and chips.
To inoculate logs, you’ll need the following materials:
- Suitable wood logs
- Drill and drill bit
- Mushroom spawn
- Sealing wax
Start by drilling holes in the logs, and hammer the sawdust or plugs into the logs. After the spawn enters the holes, seal them with a food-grade wax. Keep the logs moist in the shade, and wait for your mushrooms to appear as fall arrives.
Buckets
Bucket cultivation is perfect for growers with little outdoor space. You can set them on a balcony, porch, or patio. To use buckets, you’ll need to inoculate the substrate with spawn, then set the inoculated medium inside the containers.
Drill or puncture holes throughout the container for proper airflow. When the caps pop up, they’ll sprout out of the drilled holes all over the bucket.
Cover the filled and drilled buckets with a lid, and keep their interiors moist throughout fall. You’ll see caps sprout a few weeks after inoculating the substrate.
Straw Bales
Straw bales are also superb for small spaces. The straw acts as the substrate, and mushrooms grow out of the sides and the top of the bale. This method is ideal during the fall, as a lot of moisture is necessary to moisten the straw.
The first step is to soak the straw. Run a hose on a trickle over the top of the bale, or moisten it with a sprinkler. It should feel heavy, soggy, and wet. Using a shovel or pitchfork, create cracks in the bale and place the mushroom spawn inside.
Close the holes back up, and maintain consistent moisture in the straw bale. Caps sprout shortly after inoculation, and they may pop back up in the spring if they’re from a cold-hardy species.
As the straw breaks down, you may use it as a mulch around your garden. Or, get new straw bales and place the inoculated straw from the old ones inside them. The fungi will spread, and you’ll get another round of mushroom harvesting!
Harvesting
The harvest is the best part when growing mushrooms. What’s better than chopping down mushroom caps and sauteing them in butter? Nothing! The taste of homegrown mushrooms is unbeatable.
The harvest starts when you begin picking the caps. Wait for the mushrooms to appear, and let them mature to a harvestable size. Some taste better when young, while others have a tender texture as the caps open.
Pests like slugs and fly larvae may get to the mushrooms before you do. Beat them by picking the fungi when they’re young, before the caps open up on top. You’ll have a worm-free harvest.
Lift the clumps from the ground. Dust the fungi with a dry brush, and remove any dust or debris. Don’t rinse them! Water will cause them to rot quickly in storage.
Storage
Store mushrooms in the fridge until you’re ready to use them. They keep well in a brown paper bag. Avoid plastic containers or bags, as they trap moisture and air.
Your harvest will keep for a week or two in the fridge. If you’d like to keep them for longer, consider drying them instead of refrigerating them.
Dry the mushrooms by leaving them out in the sun for a few days. Rotate them so they dry evenly. If pests attack them, you may set them on your countertop instead and dry them near a sunny window. Or, hang them up like you would peppers for drying.
Aftercare
Isn’t that it? Well, sort of. Some aftercare ensures you’ll have harvests in future seasons. Protect outdoor beds and rejuvenate old plantings to get more mushroom flushes.
Winter Prep
Frost-hardy mushroom species need some protection during the winter to ensure they return in the spring. They endure snow and ice, but they benefit from a blanket of mulch to stay warm and cozy through the cold storms.
Mulch, like compost or leaf mold, protects and insulates the mycelia during the cold months. Layer a two to three-inch-thick portion on top of the substrate. If you don’t have these mulch amendments, consider using fall leaves, more straw, or coco coir.
Spring Rejuvenation
Rejuvenation in spring ensures you get another flush of caps from your mushroom beds. Peel back the mulch layer after the last frost date, and add fresh substrate on top. Use sawdust, straw, or wood chips, depending on what your mushroom species prefers to grow out of.
Keep the beds moist, and you should see a fresh round of caps when the weather hits the perfect point for fungi growth. Rejuvenate again in the fall, and you’ll have endless rounds of mushroom harvests!
