Most people who go in for mushroom growing just go out and buy both the spores (or spawn) and the growth medium. They do this because this is the easiest way to grow mushrooms. But if you are thinking of growing mushrooms commercially, this can add massively to your costs. Or at least, it can add to your costs to an unacceptable extent. If this is the problem you’re facing, this article will tell you how to cut down on those costs by making the growth medium yourself. It’s not as hard as you think, and can go a long way towards making you a master of growing mushrooms.

Of course, no matter of knowledge is going to help you unless you have space in which to grow your mushrooms, so that’s something that you need to think about well in advance. If you’re thinking about mushroom growing on a commercial scale, you need to wonder where you’ll put all those happily-growing and healthy mushrooms. Because it’s possible to grow enough mushrooms for the occasional mushroom dinner right in the house, but if you want to go commercial, well, you’re going to need a greenhouse area at least.

If you have the area, the next thing you’re going to have to think of are planting containers. Remember that mushrooms are not plants, and they don’t need a deep container in which to grow. Instead think large and flat, containers that are more shallow pans than real pots. Most stores that specialize in gardening supplies should be able to accommodate you. Once you’ve got everything arranged, the best thing you could do would be to begin with one pan. And this is about the time you need to prepare your mushroom growth medium.

It’s easy to put together, you need cow or horse manure and straw. Mix them well in a shallow tub with holes in the bottom so that water can run off. You need to mix straw well into this. Add gypsum to the mix as you go about the mixing process. Now cover it with a sack and store it for a while. After some time mix the pile again and cover it again. Repeat this several times. Finally, your mixture should be ready, and you can go ahead and empty it into your boxes.

Then plant the mushroom spores in the mixture and cover it with more of the mixture, and you’ll soon have your first mushroom growing.