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meta_mmxxii

Registered: 08/03/23
Posts: 598
Loc: PNW
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Agaricus Bisporus
#28580600 - 12/12/23 10:00 PM (1 month, 15 days ago) |
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I am starting an Agaricus grow and was wondering if there were anyone experienced at growing them. I have been reading around the net and the consensus is you spread out your sub, then layer your spawn over it, then add 2" of casing on top. Is this information correct? I would really like to hear from someone on the Shroomery because I know it can be trusted. Any input on this is very much appreciated. Thanks
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father_fungi
Mold Farmer



Registered: 12/13/21
Posts: 245
Last seen: 1 month, 14 days
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Disclaimer: I wouldn't call myself experienced, but I have some experience and have successfully cultivated this species a few times.
I've seen processes, diagrams, etc depicting what you describe. That was not my approach. But most of the readily available information out there is about growing them on massive scale, so... It makes sense. Mixing a quart of spawn with 20lbs of pasteurized substrate (my approach) is easy. Mixing 200lbs of spawn in 20 tons of substrate takes a whole lot of equipment.
I share the preceding to give credibility to the approach. Seems valid and plausible to me.
I mixed spawn with pasteurized compost and packed into storage totes (largish, maybe 20 liters or more?) and let colonize completely. Then cased with peat moss / lime based casing. Put into fruiting conditions once mycelium started peeking out of the casing. Stamets by the book, literally.
Some of the hurdles I ran into were:
- Using the proper substrate. Use proper compost. Agaricus is a secondary decomposer, it eats and thrives on microorganisms, the dead carcass of bacteria, actinomycetes, etc. Less than perfect compost still seems to work, but yields poorly. I could never get anything close to commercially reported yields. I suspect this is because I don't have the equipment to properly execute phase II composting, which from what I understand yields the large quantity of the proper spectrum of microorganisms for best results.
- Patience - isn't this always a problem?

- Lack of experience. This was a big one. Agaricus mycelium is a different animal. It look different, acts different, grows different... I threw a lot out because I didn't see what I was expecting.
- Proper fruiting temperature.
My best result (a. bisporus):

What species of Agaricus are you growing? Edit: I just saw your other post and the thread title (duh)... a. bisporus.
Quick comment on the other thread - Horse poo is not strictly necessary. It does provide A LOT of microorganisms to get compost started, as well as nitrogen, but it is possible to make compost without it. Have a look at Synthetic Compost. Urea, prilled sold as fertilizer, can be used as the major nitrogen source.
Here's a formula I used based on what I had available. It worked okay-ish.

-------------------- Agar and Liquid Culture Formulas Equipment, Teks, Etc FF Lid Tek
Edited by father_fungi (12/13/23 06:57 PM)
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meta_mmxxii

Registered: 08/03/23
Posts: 598
Loc: PNW
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Thanks for the reply father_fungi. I was going to be buying premade compost online that is made from horse poo, will this not work? And you say you mixed your spawn with the substrate? This confuses me cause everywhere I read it said the spawn was just layered between the sub and the casing. So you DO mix the sub and spawn?
-------------------- Lots of up-to-date Teks: Trusted Cultivators Teks The most comprehensive explanation of things I have read on the forums: Ultimate Tek Compendium Another very good read for new members: The Hitchhikers Guide 🅃 🄴 🄰 🄼 🄲 🄻 🄸 🄽 🄶 🅆 🅁 🄰 🄿
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