Grow in a BAG vs. Growing in a TENT
Growing in a bag is a great way to start on your mushroom journey. It allows you to easily watch the growth of your mushroom and see the different cycles from the comfort of home. Just like plants, mushrooms prefer temperature and humidity parameters per specific to growth patterns.
Just mention a few:
Shiitake mushrooms like high humidity in the 80 to 90% range and cooler temps. Pink oyster mushrooms will flourish in a living room humidity with warmer temperatures. King Mushrooms love cold weather. They flourish in temperatures between 58-65 degrees.
When first starting my mushroom cultivation path, I had snow oyster mushroom bags and didn’t realize that it was only triggered to fruit mushrooms during cooler temperatures. I had started the bags at the end of the summer and after many many weeks of waiting, I still had no mushrooms. I left the bags outside after giving up. We had a quick drop in temperatures and rain sometime after. About a week past until mushroom compost pick up, I went to check on the bags which had the most beautiful, large bouquets of snow oyster mushrooms! Each species of mushroom likes what they like-and grows where they like to grow. If you give them what they need, they will thank you with beautiful fruits (mushrooms).
After 4 years of study/obsession, there is still so much to learn. Even as a lifelong science nerd- my knowledge of mycology was nonexistent. Now I am the resident aspiring mycologist, on-call to all friends and family. (I still enjoy the investigation!) How is something that makes up the threads of the world so unknown? Millions of species and only a handful are understood enough to cultivate with consistency.
Anyone in my circle will hear that I have a love/hate relationship with my grow Martha tent. Reishi Antlers are almost completely grown inside the bag hidden from contamination. Oyster mushrooms, Lion’s Mane, & Shiitake are great for outdoor cultivated grows. There are many other delicacy mushrooms that are better/only found wild/foraged. When foraging there is a constant race to find forest treats before the critters do. Tents provide a high humidity environment which mushies are known to thrive in. Mushroom flushes can be 3-4x bigger with tented humidity controls and consistent FAE (fresh air exchange) versus grow bags in sprayed humidity. Unfortunately other opportunistic mold and unplanned fungi can also appear in this tent environment to compete for growth. It is a daily balancing act between FAE & moisture to keep conditions optimal for only the cultivated fungi. One contamination can wipe out many months of work and would rock operations to a halt.
Tabletop grow bags are fun for all to watch and is a wonderful introduction to mushroom cultivation. There is much less consistency in humidity from day to day. Vegetables tend to fruit in consistently for a season. Mushrooms fruit then conserve to gain strength for the next flush. Once all the nutrients in the grow block is digested then the mycelium goes dormant unless transplanted. The intention of nature when bearing fruits is recreation through spawn/seeds.
When you are done with grow blocks they can be further used as a significant additive to gardens with nitrogen, calcium and mycelium rich growth base. It’s a beautiful cycle of continuous regeneration. We all play our part with unique skills. Find what works for your growth. Mush Love <3
