SHROOM WIZARD'S GROW GUIDE VERSION 4.0

MUSHROOM CULTIVATOR'S DICTIONARY

This little addition of my guide is to help beginners understand the terminology of mushroom cultivation. I’ve tried my best in this grow guide to use wording that most people can understand, but occasionally there are some words or terms most people are unfamiliar with that can’t be avoided. Hopefully this will help most readers.

Canning JarsThese are glass jars with two-piece metal lids (a ring & a disc). For my grow technique you will need to purchase one-dozen (12) half-pint “wide mouth” jars. These can be found in most of the larger grocery or hardware stores. If your local store doesn’t have any in stock, just ask them if they will order you some (which I discuss later in the guide).

ColonizeWhen you add mushroom spores to a substrate jar they will germinate and grow into a thick white mycelium. This white growth starts out in one small area and slowly spreads throughout the substrate mix. As the mycelium slowly takes over the jar, it is “colonizing” the substrate mix. When your canning jar is covered 100% with the white mycelium it is “100% colonized” and ready for fruiting (or growing mushrooms).

Inoculate (or inoculation) This is the step of adding, or planting, mushroom spores into pre-sterilized substrate jars. This can be accomplished using either a sporeprint or a spore syringe, both of which are discussed in this grow guide.

Mycelium – This is the actual mushroom plant (so to speak, because it’s really a fungi). Mushrooms are only fruits and not plants themselves. Like any fruits you might pick, the plant it is harvested from needs to mature and grow first. If you want to harvest grapes, you first need to grow the grape vine. If you want to harvest apples you must first grow the apple tree. In the same way, to be able to harvest mushrooms you first need to grow the mycelium, which is usually accomplished inside a half-pint canning jar. Once the mycelium has fully matured it can produce its fruits, which are known as mushrooms.

Organic Flour – This is flour that the grain (brown rice in my grow guide) was grown organically. This means that there were no pesticides, fungicides or synthetic fertilizers used in the growing of the actual rice. Normally, if these synthetic chemicals were used to grow the rice, small amounts of it would end up in the finished product. Mycelium usually will not grow if any of these chemicals are present in the substrate mix. If a bag of flour says it is “All Natural”, it isn’t organic. It must say the words “Organic” or “Organically Produced” on the bag of flour for it to work as a substrate for growing mushrooms.

Spores – Even though spores are not really considered seeds in the field of mycology, you can consider them as if they are. They are microscopic in size, but when introduced into the proper nutrient containing substrate, they will germinate and grow into a thick white mycelium.

Spore Print This is a collection of many millions of spores, which are usually collected on index cards, wax paper, or on glass slides. See – Spore Print above.

Spore Syringe – This is a medical syringe that normally holds 10 to 12cc. The syringe is filled with sterile water with millions of microscopic mushroom spores floating in it. Most people who cultivate mushrooms prefer using a spore syringe to inoculate their substrate jars because removing the jar lid is not necessary.

Spore Print – This is a collection of millions of microscopic mushroom spores, which are usually purchased on a folded 3x5 index card, a piece of wax paper or a glass slide. Later in this grow guide I will tell you how to make your own spore prints from the mushrooms that you harvest. I believe anyone is foolish who grows mushrooms and don’t collect their spores.

Spore Syringe – This is normally a 10cc or 12cc surgical syringe that has been filled with sterile water and millions of microscopic mushroom spores. Later in this grow guide I will tell you how to make your own spore syringes from the spores you collect.

Sterilizing – This step is necessary and very important. The canning jars and substrate mix, that you want to grow your mycelium in, must be completely sterile. There are literally billions of spores, called contaminate spores, floating in the air around you right now. These are living spores, and if they get into your substrate mix they will grow in the same way mold grows on bread or other foods. There is no way you can prevent these contaminate spores from getting inside your substrate jars as you fill them, but if you sterilize them properly, nothing living should be left inside your substrate jars. Then, when you add your mushroom spores, the mycelium can grow and colonize the jars without any contaminate competition.

Substrate (or substrate mix) – This is a mixture of organic flour, vermiculite and water. In nature, Cubensis mycelium grows in cow dung, but when you want to cultivate mushrooms indoors it is better, and more sterile, to avoid using this smelly stuff. Substrate contains all of the nutrients required for mycelium growth – minus the smell of dung. I look at it as “synthetic cow shit”.

ADVANCE to Chapter 15: FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS