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- Studies say oyster mushrooms are easiest for people to grow for the first time.
- Research shows using sterile methods really cuts down on contamination when you use agar.
- Growing from agar lets you keep mushroom genetics and make strains better over time.
- You need high humidity (over 80%) when mushrooms are starting to fruit.
- Using grain spawn can make your harvest much bigger than using grow kits.
Growing mushrooms might seem hard at first, but it’s a very flexible and fun hobby to get into. Whether you just want to try growing mushrooms at home or want a full lab setup, there’s a way to grow that works for you. This guide explains the three main ways to grow mushrooms—from simple kits to working with agar—so you can find the best way for your skills, what you want to do, and how much you want to spend.
| Level | Best For | Difficulty | Tools Needed | Time to First Harvest |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grow Kit | Beginners | ★☆☆ | Spray bottle, SGFC if you want | 1–2 weeks |
| Grain Spawn | People with some hobby experience | ★★☆ | Setup for pasteurizing, grow bags | 2–4 weeks |
| Agar Work | Experienced growers | ★★★ | Lab setup, cultures, flow hood if you want | 4+ weeks |
Need supplies? Zombie Mushrooms has easy-to-use grow kits, grain spawn, cultures, and everything else you need to grow mushrooms at all levels.
Level 1: Growing Mushrooms from a Kit
If you're just starting to grow mushrooms, a grow kit is the easiest way to begin.
What It Does
A mushroom grow kit usually has a block of stuff that's already full of mushroom mycelium and sealed in a plastic bag with a filter. This stuff inside (like sawdust, straw, or a special mix) already has mushroom mycelium growing in it, so that part is done. You just need to make the right conditions—mostly humidity and air—so the mushrooms can grow.
All you do is open or cut the bag (like the directions say), mist it every day, and wait for little mushrooms to start showing up. Kits are ready to fruit (RTF), so you don’t have to worry about sterilizing or inoculation.
What You’ll Need
- A mushroom grow kit that's already started
- Clean water and a spray bottle for misting
- If you want:
- A commercialized fruiting chamber to help with air and humidity
- Clear plastic bag or tote to make a humidity tent (good if it’s not humid enough)
Important Conditions to Take Care Of
Humidity
To get mushrooms to grow, you need 80–100% humidity. If the air is too dry, mushrooms might not even start, or they might dry out and stop growing too soon. Misting inside the chamber or tent a few times a day can be like the forest floor where many mushrooms grow.
Some people put their kits in the bathroom, which can be humid after showers. Others use a homemade fruiting chamber like an SGFC.
Light
Mushrooms do need light, even though people think they don't. They don't photosynthesize, but light tells them it’s time to start fruiting. Studies suggest blue light or just indirect sunlight is best to get them to start pinning. A small LED or putting the kit near a window for 12-14 hours a day is often enough (ResearchGate.net).
Fresh Air Exchange (FAE)
Mushrooms use air flow to know when to grow. Too much CO₂ needs to go out, so airflow is important. But, too much airflow can also make it less humid, so you need to get it right. SGFCs are good for air flow and keeping humidity up.
Best Mushrooms for Kits
- Oyster mushrooms – Grow fast and fruit quickly; they can handle less than perfect conditions
- Lion’s mane – Looks and tastes special; people like it for brain benefits
- Shiitake – Fruit a bit slower but taste great and last long
Good Things About Starting with Kits
- Very easy for beginners
- You don’t need much equipment
- Quick to see results, growth in just 5–7 days
- You get to see how mushrooms fruit
- Good gift for people who like science or food
Level 2: Growing from Grain Spawn
To take the next step in growing mushrooms, you can use grain spawn, which gives you more options, more mushrooms, and more control.
How It Works
Grain spawn is a jar or bag of sterilized grain (usually millet, rye, or wheat berries) that has mushroom mycelium growing all through it. You use this spawn to put into a bulk substrate, so the mycelium can spread more before mushrooms start to fruit.
Unlike mushroom kits—which are already made and you can’t change them—this way lets you change the substrate and growing conditions for different kinds of mushrooms. It’s good for people with some experience who want to grow more mushrooms, try different kinds, or save money.
Tools and Supplies
- Grain spawn (pick the kind for the mushroom you want)
-
Bulk substrate stuff like
- Straw
- Coco coir
- Hardwood pellets
- Sawdust and bran (for mushrooms that like wood)
-
Grow containers such as
- 5–7 lb filter patch bags
- Monotub setups (for lots of mushrooms at home)
- Buckets with holes for lion’s mane or oysters
- If you want
- Pressure cooker (to sterilize substrates with lots of nutrients)
- Hydrated lime or hot-water baths (to pasteurize)
Getting Substrate Ready
Getting the substrate ready the right way is important so you don’t get contamination and the mycelium grows strong.
Options with Less Nutrients
These substrates are usually easier to pasteurize instead of sterilize, and they're good for mushrooms that grow fast like oysters.
- Coco Coir + Vermiculite: Used in different ways to grow at home because it’s easy to use and holds water well
- Straw: Needs to be chopped and pasteurized; often used for oyster mushrooms
Options with More Nutrients (For Experts)
Sawdust with wheat bran or soybean hulls adds nutrients but can get contaminated easier, so you have to sterilize it.
- Use a pressure cooker (at 15 PSI for 90–120 minutes) to sterilize grow bags with lots of nutrients
- Common for shiitake, reishi, and chestnut mushrooms
Good Things About Level 2
- More mushrooms than grow kits
- You can control everything about how they grow
- Grow different kinds at the same time
- Cheaper if you grow a lot
- You learn more about growing
Things to Watch Out For
- You need to be careful about sterile methods when pasteurizing and inoculating
- Can take up a lot of space depending on how much you grow
- Takes longer for mycelium to grow (14 to 30+ days, depending on the mushroom and conditions)
Level 3: Agar Work and Lab Growing
For growers who really want to focus on mushroom growing, lab work with agar is the most advanced step. It gives you full control over mushroom genetics, making spawn, and keeping cultures for a long time.
What It Does
This way starts with growing mushrooms on agar—a jelly-like stuff usually made from seaweed and nutrients like malt extract. Agar is a great place to watch, separate, or grow certain mushroom genetics.
It also uses tools and methods from science labs, like sterile tools, flow hoods or still air boxes, and sterilizing things with a pressure cooker.
Common Things You Do with Agar
Making Agar Plates
Agar is poured into sterile petri dishes and you put spores, tissue pieces, or liquid culture in it. This gets you clean, strong growth that you can then move to grains.
- Use sterile methods when pouring (use glove boxes or flow hoods)
- Let plates cool and keep them in clean places
- If you want: Add antibiotics or activated charcoal to help stop contamination
Making and Growing Grain Spawn
Once you have clean mycelium on agar, you take small pieces and put them into sterilized grain jars or bags. Once these are full of mycelium, they become spawn for bulk substrates—all made by you.
This saves money over time and lets you grow many kinds of mushrooms.
Storing and Using Liquid Culture (LC)
Liquid cultures are usually sterile sugar-water that lets mycelium grow fast. Syringes with injection ports let you put LC into substrates or move it to agar.
LCs are
- Easy to store
- Last a long time if you keep them cool
- You can share them with other mushroom growers
Cloning and Picking Strains
Take a small piece of tissue from a fresh mushroom, put it on agar, and grow your own exact copy. This lets you
- Keep mushroom strains that are really good or strong
- Pick for things like fast fruiting, big mushrooms, or resistance to contamination
- Help make strains better and keep mushroom types going
Equipment List
- Petri dishes or media jars that can be sterilized
- Pressure cooker
- Agar powder, malt extract, and other things to make media
- Scalpel, inoculation loop, or sterile tools
- Still air box or flow hood (for sterile work)
- Nitrile gloves, alcohol, and flame for sterilizing
Good Things About Agar Growing
- Full control over every part of growing
- You can reuse and grow more once you set it up
- Lets you clone rare mushrooms and change genetics over time
- You learn a lot
Hard Things
- Harder to learn and costs more for equipment
- High chance of contamination if you're not very sterile
- Not for beginners, but very rewarding for serious growers
Which Mushroom Growing Level is Right for You?
| Goal | Recommended Level |
|---|---|
| "I just want to try growing mushrooms" | Level 1: Grow Kit |
| "I want to grow often and try more kinds" | Level 2: Grain Spawn |
| "I want to clone, breed, or grow a lot" | Level 3: Agar work |
And it's okay to stay at one level as long as you want—or try all three as you get more interested.
Common Mistakes to Avoid at Each Level
Don't make these mistakes to have less trouble and grow more mushrooms
- Level 1: Not misting enough; putting kits in direct sunlight; not enough air flow
- Level 2: Using substrates that weren't pasteurized right; not being clean when inoculating; using the wrong substrate for the mushroom
- Level 3: Touching agar with tools that aren't sterile; using old or bad LC; not labeling cultures or writing down transfers
Good Things About Mushroom Growing Besides the Hobby
Growing mushrooms is more than just food—it can help your mind, body, and community.
- Nutrition: Mushrooms don’t have many calories, are high in fiber, and have lots of B vitamins and antioxidants
- Functional medicine: Mushrooms like lion’s mane and reishi are used for brain health, immunity, and stress relief (Stamets, 2000)
- Learning tool: A hands-on way to teach about biology, ecology, and chemistry
- Community building: Meet other local growers, go to mushroom events, or trade with groups
- Sustainability: Use kitchen waste like coffee grounds, cardboard, and farm waste as substrates to reduce waste
Whether you’re growing oyster mushrooms in your closet or making a big mushroom lab in your garage, growing mushrooms is full of learning, growth, and feeling good about what you did. Starting small is important—but as you get better, you'll see many possibilities open up. Wherever you are, Zombie Mushrooms is ready to help you grow, from spores to big wins.
Citations
- Stamets, P. (2000). Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms (3rd ed.). Ten Speed Press.
- Royse, D. J., Baars, J., & Tan, Q. (2017). Current overview of mushroom production in the world. In Edible and medicinal mushrooms: technology and applications, Vol. 1, 5–13.
- Feris, A. L., Clarke, B. O., & Lang, H. J. (2021). An experimental evaluation of household DIY biological cultivation systems for fungi. Mycological Progress, 20(6), 793–805.
- ResearchGate. (2017). Effect of Light on the Mushroom Pinning Stage. Retrieved from ResearchGate.net
