Can you use perlite to grow mushrooms

Is there a problem with contamination of the perlite? Hydrogen Peroxide Chlorine How much water do I add to the perlite? Do I put the cakes directly on the perlite?

Releasing CO2 How long before I can harvest? We do not advocate illegal activities but we do believe in the right of the individual to have free access to information and ideas. We strongly recommend that the reader learn about applicable local and federal laws regarding possession, production, and sale of any mushrooms that they intend to grow whether using this or any other method.

This FAQ may be copied as long as it remains intact with all credits attached. Credits The information contained in this FAQ has been culled from a variety of sources. As far as I know, the idea to humidify with perlite first started being tossed around early in It's a pretty simple idea once you understand how perlite and water interact.

Many of the details of the process have been filled in by adventurous netizens who tried the process, modified it, and posted their details to various newsgroups, web boards, or mailing lists. The actual collection of information, writing and layout of the faq were done by Erowid. Revision History 1. In addition to requiring less daily care, some people say the perlite method can sometimes provide up to 4 or 5 flushes. Many people seem to have great luck with this method!

If you have any information about using perlite that isn't included here What is perlite and how does it work? Perlite is made of small pieces of extremely porous volcanic rock. If you look at is closely microscopically you'll see that it looks like swiss cheese with relatively huge holes. When water is added, it is wicked into these pores of the perlite. This porous structure then serves to slowly evaporate the water back into the air. The huge surface area in the micropores of the perlite helps the water evaporate forming a vapor of tiny droplets which tend to stay well in the air, as opposed to the bubbler and humidifier methods which have large droplets which tend to condense.

This evaporation process takes a while, which is perfect for our purposes, since we want to prolong the evaporating process as long as possible.

Perlite can be purchased from most gardening supply stores. It's generally kept in the same area as bags of dirt, manure, fertilizers etc. Mushrooms add flavor and character to recipes around the world. Some varieties of edible mushrooms such as the shiitake Lentinus edodes are available at grocery stores, but some people prefer to grow mushrooms at home.

The process is simple when you start with pre-inoculated mushroom "cakes" available from suppliers on the Internet and moisture-retentive perlite, which maintains the moist environment necessary when growing mushrooms. Place a terrarium in a location out of direct sunlight.

It's very much like riding an enormous roller coaster, once that baby rolls out of the station, do not stand up, do not try to climb out of your car, shut up and hang on, with the faith that most people have lived through this--Terence McKenna. This has happen to me and I left the cake and it turned out fine. Is it actually touching the Pertile yet? It may take a turn towards the light before it hits the bottom. BlimeyGrimey Psychonaute en devenir. The mushroom will be fine.

Only problem is that it can be a bitch to clean of the perlite once you pick it. I've had a few times when I munch on some dried mushrooms and then feel that hard grit and have to spit it out to pick out the damn piece of perlite that somehow sneaked by the wash.

Just rinse the mushroom off gently under cold tap water once picked to clean off the perlite which may be stuck to it.

Trying to brush it off tends to just spread it around. Visiteur Visiteur. I thought you couldn't use perlite to grow mushrooms??? You don't use perlite to grow mushrooms. I mean you don't use perlite in the cakes. Perlite is used to line the bottom of the fruiting chamber to add humidity to the chamber. CaptainMax Psychonaute en devenir.

If you black ot the sides of your fruiting chamber and have a light at the top, it should grow towards the light. Take a trip to the SporeLab www. Is this the same CaptainMax that sold me a syringe of "Oh Canada" cubensis which turned out to be an Agrocybe? Yes, you want to maintain the humidity and fresh air. It can be a little less humid than when trying yo initiate pinning, but you still want it to be moist. Do you have any suggestions on how to keep the fruiting box at an adequate temperature.

It currently winter in my corner of the globe and I am looking at growing some warm climate mushrooms such as golden oyster. Hey James! Yellows can still grow at reasonably low temperatures. If you are trying to warm it up, you could consider placing it on top of your refrigerator, there is usually some extra warmth up there.

But in general, room temperatures are perfect. If I placed this in a larger tub. Could I just simply add water to the larger tub to a point below the substrate and let it soak into the perlite through the holes In the tub? Will this be ok or should I build a room to accommodate. That is awesome! It is hard to say for sure… I have had luck using a flow hood in all sorts of areas, with carpet, dogs ect. Just make sure that anything in the flow is clean, and that you have a pre-filter on your flow hood.

Best of luck! Hi Tony, Thanks very much for sharing your information. I am only just starting out and your site has helped me massively already. I was wondering if it is possible to grow 2 different mushroom types in the same Shotgun Container or should they be kept well away from each other? I would like to experiment with growing a variety of Fungi in the future but cant find much information about growing different types near each other. Any advice from you or anyone else would be greatly appreciated.

Hey Chester! Yes, that is definitely possible to do. Hey There Tony, I am a first time grower and all your videos have really made this new adventure so exciting. I purchased some liquid culture to inoculate some sterilized rye grain. Do I wait until the bag is completely white or can I put it in the fruiting chamber immediately after inoculation? I find your videos the easiest to understand, so I thought maybe you could help me!

Hey Jamie! Thanks for checking out the site and videos! For an SGFC, wait until the block is fully colonized before you put in the chamber.

Lot this post. Helped me a lot. I do have a question. Is this the right type of Perlite? Another solid write-up. You could spawn to bulk using a monotub. Meaning when the mycelium blocks have fully formed, open the bags, cut the blocks up and put it in another substrate lol inside a Monotub, certain monotubs are self sufficient so very little maintenance.

Tony, great article a noob question do you drill holes on the bottom? I read people say that is a must and then use another chamber underneath filled with water to keep the top chamber temp up. I have a warm enough area when I do not need a water filled camber, so are holes on the site by the Perlite good enough? Do you need holes on the bottom?

Hope that helps! Hi there, thanks for all the info. I was just wondering if it could be possible to use sponge instead of perlite? Thanks for the great information! Can you really just place the bag of substrate plus mycelium directly on top of the moist perlite?

Is that not a problem for the bags? Any thoughts on why some pins seem to have aborted they are hard while others are growing nicely? Could pins dry out if the hole in the bag is too big? Great article. I live in the tropic. How can I keep the temperature in sgfc cool enought for the mushroom to grow properly? When I have been able to grow a solid mycelium I have had marginal growth in the fruiting chamber.

My chamber is typical but I have it mounted over a tub of water. In the tub are humidifiers sending moisture to the perlite above, and adding warmth. It seemed clever but with poor results and where I live, as we are heading toward hotter and drier temps high temperatures and low humidity I need a solution for my lack of fruiting!! Hey lovvvve your site and youtube vids!

You are helping so much with my newbie setup. Can you re-use the perlite for another round of blocks? Or do you swap it all out once youve fully fruited and harvested all your flushes? If you can re-use, how many cycles ya think? Hey tony, just saw your video and was wondering how often you should be changing your perlite or do you not at all? Thanks for making these great videos and guides! Thank you for all your hard work and dedication to providing us with information on everything!

I just started getting into the shroom world and took your advice on buying an oyster mushroom grow kit and so glad I did. Thanks again man and keep up the great work!

I subscribed to your Youtube Channel,,love your vids by the way,,Great Job!!