About Growing Mushrooms

Many of us are crazy about mushrooms. We love hunting for them in the damp forests during spring and fall, cooking them, tincturing them or just admiring their mysterious beauty. People have cultivated mushrooms for thousands of years. Around a century ago, American seed catalogs offered mushroom spawn bricks for 30¢ each, right there between the melons and the mustard.

We’re excited to collaborate with North Spore Mushrooms to offer the following selections for you to get started on your own fungus garden. These products are all Maine-grown without pesticides and on natural substrates. Most can be refrigerated until you are ready to start growing. Detailed instructions will be sent with your order, or can be downloaded as PDFs (See: growing mushrooms from plugs, growing mushrooms in beds, growing mushrooms on sawdust). We also have a comprehensive FAQ section below that will get you off to a good start.

Getting Started

First decide if you want plugs or sawdust spawn for your mushroom-growing adventure. Kits are a good choice for beginners.

Plug Spawn are small wooden dowels colonized by mushroom mycelium.

Sawdust Spawn is hardwood sawdust colonized by mushroom mycelium, and comes in a 5½ lb loaf. Depending on variety, it can be crumbled into outdoor beds or used for larger-scale log inoculation projects.

Plug Kit contains 100 plugs, wax, dauber, 5⁄16" drill bit, instructions. Everything but the log, drill and hammer to get you started.

Countertop Kits Simply slice open the bag, and keep in a humid environment, like beside the sink. Mushrooms should start to produce “pins” within 2 weeks and will grow quickly. Each kit contains a 4½-lb inoculated sawdust block that could produce up to 3 lbs of mushrooms over 2–4 months. Instructions included. The easiest way to get into growing mushrooms. Makes a great gift.

Growing Mushrooms

Log Method Drill holes in logs, insert plug spawn or sawdust spawn, then seal with wax. See mushroom tools, available at OGS. Be sure to choose an appropriate tree species for the mushroom (see variety descriptions.) We offer these options for log inoculation:

  • Plug Spawn 50 plugs will inoculate a single 4' long, 4" diameter log. Drill 1516" holes (or 8.5mm with angle-grinder adapter) into your log, hammer in the plugs and seal the holes with wax. Plugs are an excellent choice for beginners. Plugs come in bags of 100 or 500.
  • Sawdust Spawn Each bag contains 5½ lbs of hardwood sawdust colonized by mushroom mycelium, enough for about 25 logs. Drill 7/16" or 12mm holes in your logs, pack the sawdust using an inoculation tool and seal with wax. Good for commercial mushroom growers.

Outdoor Bed Method Some varieties can be grown in non-sterile outdoor beds of fresh wood chips, sawdust, straw or other organic matter. Plant them under orchard trees or in your garden paths! Layer Sawdust Spawn with your growing medium, and keep beds watered. One 5½-lb bag of sawdust spawn will inoculate a 4x4' bed. Once established, a well-maintained bed can produce for many seasons.

Growing Methods
Mushroom type Log method Bed method
Almond Agaricus   X
Hen of the Woods X  
Lion’s Mane X  
Chicken of the Woods X  
Shiitake X  
Nameko X X
Golden Oyster X X
Blue Oyster X X
Italian Oyster X X
Wine Cap   X

Frequently Asked Questions

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Can I get my order now or do I have to wait until April?
What kinds of trees can I cut for growing mushrooms?
What size should the logs be?
When do I cut the logs?
What if I buy spawn and can’t get around to inoculating in the spring?
What kind of yield can I expect?
How long will it take from inoculation to harvest?
How often should I water my log?
What tools do I need?
How long can I store mushroom spawn?
How many plugs do I need for one log?
How many years will a log produce mushrooms?
How do I choose plugs vs. sawdust?
Can Wine Cap be grown using drill or totem methods?
It’s okay for the log to freeze over winter?
Is it okay to inoculate one log with multiple types?
Will Hemlock work for the Reishi?
Are cultivated mushrooms the same size as their wild counterparts?
What kind of pests can I expect on my mushrooms?

Additional Resources:

We recommend the book The Essential Guide to Cultivating Mushrooms: Simple and Advanced Techniques for Growing Shiitake, Oyster, Lion’s Mane, and Maitake Mushrooms at Home.

The Cornell extension website hosts a lot of information on cultivating mushrooms, including short instructional videos. Click here to see online courses and videos on mushroom growing from the Cornell Small Farms Program.