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Growing edible mushrooms can be fun. Here is a new method that can be simpler for the home grower than other traditional methods. It uses hydrogen peroxide to prepare a stove pellet growing meduim. This method was demonstrated at the Oregon Mycological Society Spring Foray 2000 in central Oregon by Ed Foy.



* Put 1 quart of stove pellets in a small, clear plastic bag, made to hold between 2-4 gallons, about .5 (point five) MIL thick.



* Fill 2 cooking pots with 3-1/2 cups each of water (7 cups total). Cover, bring to a rolling boil. Reduce heat, remove both pots after 1 minute.



* Pour contents of one pot into the bag of pellets. Close bag loosely. Wait for everything to cool before proceding. The moistened stove pellets will have expanded to more than 4 times their original volume.



* Add to the bag 1 tablespoon hydrated lime (Ca(OH)2) or 2 tablespoons of limestone flour (CaCO3). You may also substitute a teaspoon of granular or powdered gypsum for a teaspoon of either lime, as I do. Gypsum is reputed to force faster fruitings. All of this is to adjust the PH for best results. Next, you may add a nitrogen supplement. It should give you more mushrooms, but how will you ever know? Dr. Wayne of Eugene, the Peroxide Man, states in his manual that you can use your own urine, since it has lots of nitrogen. I prefer dried non-fat milk. Add 2-3 tablespoons to the bag.



* When the second pot of boiled water has cooled to room temperature, lift the cover and stir in 2 tablespoons of 3% hydrogen peroxide solution, available at all drug stores and markets (the brand name is not important). Now, pour the water/hydrogen peroxide mixture into the bag. Again, close the bag loosely and allow it to cool to room temperature.



* Finally, open the bag and mix in about a pint of spawn. You should gently knead and turn the bag to insure thorough mixing. Be sure that you have control of the process and that the bag is tightly closed. A spill at this point could be disasterous. You can close the bag with a twist tie and put it in its container.



* Keep it at room temperature, in the dark or out of direct sunlight. In a couple of weeks you should notice through the thin wall that the substrate is beginning to turn white. If still in the dark, move the bag to a place with enough light to read by.



* Watch for bumps, or primordia, to appear. When they do, open the bag, encourage air flow, spritz the block once or twice a day with light water mist. Cover with a humidity tent of some kind, if possible.



* When mushrooms reach full size, like an upturned hand for P. eryngii, cut and enjoy!



Note: The block may fruit again after soaking for a few hours in clean water if it has not begun to fall apart. Also, it is easier to do all of the mixing in a clean bucket and then fill 4-5 bags if you want that many fruitings. You will need about 2 quarts of spawn.

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whitefrost123 said:
i case with mushroom compost from greenhouse supply i just mix a lil peroxide in water to saturate the composte and vermiculite in garbage bag the first ime i did it i saw no contams untill it produced started producing minimal amounts and it was only green mold. this time i did it made alot at once , casing mix and i diddent mix it good enough with perox/watermix and it contamed like hell on surface any way so i burn it off with a torch .green mold agin i ate the shrooms no probs not sick or anything i diddent put enough water in garbage bag u want it to be like mud so every thing is mixed good than drain it off . i am experimenting with hydrated lime soaked straw now kep this alive and i will let u know if it gos t

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