Creating Ur Own Mushroom Compost.

Looked for a little awhile and couldn’t find any mushrooms composting threads... It’s a great
resource for ur gardens for those of you that aren’t familiar with it.
Here’s a copied source explaining Mushroom Compost - Often sold at landscape supply houses, mushroom compost can help amend garden soil.
The recipe for mushroom compost varies from company to company, but can include composted wheat or rye straw, peat moss, used horse bedding straw, chicken manure, cottonseed or canola meal, grape crushings from wineries, soybean meal, potash, gypsum, urea, ammonium nitrate and lime. The compost ingredients are weighed out, then mixed in.
At the PictSweet mushroom farm in Salem, huge piles of mushroom compost sit for about 30 days and do what compost does - heat up. The straw provides the structure and some food for bacteria, and the urea, cottonseed meal and chicken manure provide most of the nutrients.

The bacteria multiply, forcing the temperature inside the pile up to more than 160 degrees, killing any weed seeds or pathogens that might have been present in the straw or animal wastes. The result is mushroom compost, ready to grow a crop of commercial table mushrooms.

Workers then inoculate the compost with mushroom spawn, or mycelium. Underground roots called mycelium grow in the compost, then five weeks after inoculation, mushrooms are ready to pick. A crop continues to be harvested for three to four weeks before the bed is exhausted.

After every planting cycle, the compost is removed because it is "used up," by the growing mushrooms. But it still has plenty left for gardeners and landscapers - it is sold to nurseries, landscape supply firms and general contractors all over the state.

Mushroom compost can supply nutrients and increase the water-holding capacity of the soil. But mushroom compost can be too much of a good thing for seeds, seedlings and young plants, said OSU's Hart.

"The soluble salts and other nutrients in fresh, undiluted mushroom compost are too concentrated for germinating seeds, young plants and other salt-sensitive plants including members of the heath family such as rhododendrons, blueberries and azaleas," said Hart.

To avoid killing germinating seeds and stressing heath family members, Hart recommends mixing mushroom compost with garden soil before using it on young plants. Or, order a supply of mushroom compost in the fall and let it sit uncovered, to "cure" over the winter.

Used with care, mushroom compost also can be used as a mulch around perennials, trees and shrubs, said Hart. For flower beds and vegetable gardens, till about three inches of the compost into the top six inches of fairly dry garden soil. For containerized plants, fresh mushroom compost should only make up about one-quarter of the volume of soil in the container.
Ok so here’s how to do it!
So the process is a bit more complicated then regular composting but personally worth the effort and super fun especially if you decide to grow gourmet mushrooms off it like Wine Caps or Shiitakes.
So for my “Tek” I use large tubs with multiple holes coving it like seen in the picture below.
I use the bottom of 50 gallon drums but you can use any size tubs to if they can take they inside weight and composting temperatures which can reach 175f or 80c. So once you have ur tub or tubs prepared it’s time to gather ur “ingredients”.
First I take a single layer of Alfalfa and soak it with water for about 5 minutes then break it up by hand until it’s evenly distributed and soaked on the bottom like seen below.

Once you have an even layer I continue soaking for a few more minutes to wash any nasty out.

Next is 4 gallons of chicken coop scrapes which is mixed of poop , straw and feathers
I use a 5 gallon bucket to measure but extract measurements don’t always matter since there’s millions of recipes and mushrooms grow on pretty much anything nutrient rich. So I fill the 5 gallon bucket 3 quarters full with chicken scrapes then I add 1 cup mixed grain and fill the rest with with lawn clippings and ground leaf powder

After that’s all added and mixed together I give it another quick wash.

After that I add another full 5 gallon bucket of wood chips.
Once again I give it a good toss and turn and wash. Next I add 2 gallons of aged horse manure and do a final soak.
Once this is complete you’ll need to mix and water daily. Watering and mixing is very very important I can’t stress this enough! Temperatures can get extremely hot if you have the right substrate combo. Hot enough to catch fire if left unattended for decent period of time.
You’ll need to flip and water ur beds for at least 2 weeks or until the temperature has maintained a consistent temp below 80 degrees or 26c.
You can keep ur mixture in the tubs or make a pile for the time being like seen below

Now after 2 weeks you’ve successfully created ur own nutrient rich mushroom compost! It should look similar to the picture below.

This is far to rich for most plants so start with a low mixing ratio. I use 25% Compost 75% soil for fresh compost. Here’s comes the fun part if you would like to further process ur compost..
First gather some 5 gallon clear bags and fill each one with around 2 gallons of compost. Depending on ur size container and bags used you should have about 5-20 bags.
Next choose you’re gourmet mushroom strain you’d like to grow. (**Disclaimer** Please don’t try and grow illegal mushrooms as these will not grow in this type of compost you’ll only be wasting time and recourses)
I’ll be using “Wine Cap” since it loves manures , wood and grasses and it’s my personal favorite for cooking. You can find dried spawn or spore syringes online to inoculate ur bags.
Amazon carry’s pretty much every type of spawn including wine cap www.amazon.com/Stropharia-Garden-Mushroom-Culture-syringe/dp/B00TWY0EEC
So after you chose a strain open ur bags and mix in a decent handful of spawn.
If using a spore syringe inject threw micropore tape on the side of the bag.
Then twist seal the top and put a zip tie on. So now that you’ve successfully inoculated ur bags it’s time to let them sit somewhere dark with temps between 70f-85f.
Here’s how factory’s do it
After a couple days you should see mycelium growing in the bags like below
And after about a month ur bags should be fully colonized like seen below

Just to be on the safe side I leave mine another 2 weeks. So after this waiting process you can trim the top off ur bags to make beds that resemble plant pots or hang ur bags in a shady spot that gets INDIRECT light for at least 6 hours a day. It should look like this if you hung it If you choose to hang bags you’ll need to poke holes for the mushrooms to grow out of. I recommend 15-20 holes per bag. If you cut the tops off the bags and use them like pots you don’t need holes. So after you’ve placed ur bags in the ideal spot ur gonna wanna lightly water it every other day until you’re mushrooms start growing like seen below

After 2-3 flush’s of mushrooms your compost will be less rich with nitrogen and better suited for certain plants. Now you have a product called “Spent Mushroom Compost” once again this can be mixed with ur potting soil but at a larger amount since it’s less concentrated.
As for ur harvested mushrooms you can eat them raw , Cook them or dry them as a light weight snack but that’s kind of an odd snack IMO lol.
Farming mushrooms can also be very profitable when growing gourmet verities like Shiitake and Oysters plus you gain 1,000’s of pounds of Mushrooms compost which also has a significant sales value. The small time farm I worked for in Mendocino pulled in $1+ million annually from three 40ft land sea containers of Shiitake , Oysters and Portobello’s. They would also sell there compost for $3-$5 per sqf. Anyway there’s a pretty much complete guide. I’ll add pictures when this seasons beds start growing! Feel free to ask any questions I know it can be a bit overwhelming. Here’s some of the results of my mushroom compost mixed at a 25/75 Ratio to boost ur confidence.

 

Here’s a copied step by step guide on mixing mushroom compost with ur soil -
1
Measure the length and the width of the areas you want to mulch or amend. For areas that have irregular borders, measure the areas at their widest and longest points.
2
Add together all the widths you measured, round up to the nearest whole foot and write this number down. Add together all the lengths you measured, round up to the nearest whole foot and write this number down. For example, if the total width is 3 feet, 7 inches and the total length is 9 feet, 10 inches, round up to 4 feet and 10 feet, respectively.
3
Multiply the total width number by the total length number to determine the total area that needs to be mulched. In the example, the total area is 40 square feet (4 x 10 = 40).
Ancestry
SPONSORED
Some GoT Stars Descended From Impressive Figures: Learn Who
On Game of Thrones, lineage is powerful and perilous. Family ties can get you killed. Now entering its final season, the show continues t...
By Ancestry

4
Calculate the cubic feet of mushroom compost you need by multiplying the total area by the depth you want your mulch to be or how much you want to work in as a soil amendment. The number for depth must be in feet. In the example, if you want to add a 3-inch layer of mulch you will need 10 cubic feet of mushroom compost (3 inches equals 0.25 feet, so 40 x 0.25 = 10).
5
Purchase your mushroom compost from a reputable dealer. Many offer the option of having it delivered for a small fee, or you can load up your own truck. Although you can mulch or amend at any time of year, the best time to do this project is in spring or fall.
6
Shovel small loads of mushroom compost into the wheelbarrow. Wheel it to the areas you want to mulch or amend and dump the compost there. You can choose to wheel and dump all the compost before spreading it or dump and spread each load as you go. If you have someone helping you, they can spread while you deliver the loads of compost, or vice versa.
7
Spread the compost across the area where you are working with a rake to the desired thickness. If using as a mulch, you only need to spread the compost. If using the compost as a soil amendment, use a garden hoe to work the compost into the soil.



Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum

 

Thank you took some time. I like getting people started on new things especially things you can grow and enjoy.

 

Yea it can sure be a big side profit if you have the time and space. Cheers to you to brotha!

 

Exactly. I’ve actually heard that to. They use it on the beds to prevent pests from eating the mycelium. Another reason to create ur own

 

Thank you


Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum

 

Hard to see with the lighting but my pile was steaming like a train when I flipped it this morning.
I’m guessing it’s around 140f right now.


Sent from my iPhone using Grasscity Forum

 

They help for that but it’s also to allow FAE and GE which mushrooms need to grow. We have a species here called “Ear wig” and they get into everything and anything they can fit threw. Same with the ants... ants will infest ur bags regardless of the hole size if it’s wet and there thirsty.

 

Thank you!
Picked up some new filters for my paint mask today. I’ll start using that around harvest time. Thanks for the tip!

 

Here’s some results from the compost after only 5 weeks. Compost + Colonized Grain + Soil layer mixed with a small amount of grass seed.
Strain: Portobello