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Hydroponic Mushrooms


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  #1  
Old 01-22-2010, 10:23 PM
GpsFrontier GpsFrontier is offline
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Default Hydroponic Mushrooms

I don't plan on doing this right away but I just cant get this idea out of my head about growing Hydroponic Mushrooms. They grow in the dark so there would be no need for lighting, cutting production costs (white asparagus grows in the dark also).

I am thinking of something like using short and wide containers, used as a drip system. The return line would be at the bottom of the containers with a Styrofoam spacers to keep everything from sitting in the inevitable small amount of water in the bottom. Then placing a screen on that, then line it with something like cheesecloth to keep the growing medium from falling through. I would use coco fiber for the growing medium because it has the texture most like soft dirt, and is very well at holding the moisture. Not sure if these trays should be covered yet or not, like a seed tray are. But that should not be hard to figure out.

I know when growing fungus that sterilization is extremely important, so everything will be sterilized. The coco fiber and cheese cloth will be boiled because I don't want to use chemicals there, and absolute no chemicals that have a fungicide can be used anywhere. I would also use a hepa filter air purifier in the room to filter out airborne spores that could make their way into the growing medium. It just so happens that the hepa filter air purifiers are quite common at the thrift stores here in town (we have at least 4 of them), and can usually pick one up for $20 or $30.

My biggest concern is the nutrient requirements. Way back when, we sent away for magic mushroom spores. They came with directions, these directions included using organic rye for the soil (organic is free from fungicides). I am not sure why. Was it more rich in nutrients than soil? Was it because of the bacterias as it decayed. Was that only for that type of mushroom? After all mushrooms generally grow in cow manure. Witch leads me to wonder what the pH level should be. I'm sure that not all mushrooms have the same nutrient requirements.

That also reminds me about something I had thought of a long time ago, growing truffles. If I could figure out how to grow them in captivity I could potentially make a fortune. As far as I know nobody has done it successfully, even in soil. I'm not sure why, but I guess nobody else dose either. I image it would be quite difficult to get a hold of the spores, and probably quite expensive. Because they only grow in nature I guess I would need to buy the truffles to get the spores.

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Old 01-23-2010, 09:17 AM
GGM GGM is offline
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Just had the same idea, was a at a garden center today and they were selling what I presume were spores and my mind switched to hydroponics. I will do a bit of research myself and see what we can come up with.

As for Truffels, they are dependant on the roots of certain trees (Oaks are a common one), they would need to be massively genetically modified in order to grow them in "captivity", then I doubt they would have the same aroma and taste. Don't worry plenty of scientists are trying and I believe last year the genome was sequenced, the holy grail of mycology.
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Old 01-23-2010, 01:25 PM
GGM GGM is offline
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A little info on their nutri ent requirements
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Old 01-23-2010, 07:21 PM
GpsFrontier GpsFrontier is offline
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Ya, I kind of know that about truffles, and I'm sure there are scientists trying to modify things. I was more or less thinking that If I could figure out the why's and how's, I could duplicate the conditions rather than modify anything. Then by giving them their option growing conditions they should have the best aroma and flavor. I cant grow a oak tree hydroponically (at least not yet ) but I'm not sure that it's exactly the roots themselves and/or why. It could possibly just be something related to their root systems. Sure it would be a lot of work to figure out how to grow them naturally in captivity (at all really) and not something I would be looking into any time soon, but always a thought in my head.

Quote:
I will do a bit of research myself and see what we can come up with.
Cool, me too. I do want to grow mushrooms soon. I don't plan to grow anything exotic though, at least not in the beginning. I will start with mushrooms that I know I like, mainly the White Mushrooms and Shiitake Mushrooms, then go from there. Because they seem to like to grow in manure so much I was thinking of making a compost tea out of actual compost. Like getting a bag of organic manure (organic so it wont have any fungicides in it) and/or plant compost then soaking it in boiling water with a bubbling system at the bottom, or maybe even used nutrient solution from another hydroponic system. Though I'm not sure I would boil the used nutrient solution, because I know it turns cloudy but I don't know why. Then straining it to put in the nutrient reservoir. Something like that should be much cheaper in nutrient costs also. You can buy spores of all kinds online easily, or probably just get the mushrooms from the store and get the spores from them, unless they don't have the ones you want to grow.
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Old 01-23-2010, 10:18 PM
GpsFrontier GpsFrontier is offline
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Just a few things to add. First, it looks like as I suspected they grow quite different from plants because they are a fungus.

"mushrooms are not a plant, but a fungus and they have a requirement for organic substances and compounds for growth and development which are not supplied by the usual inorganic nutrient salts we put in hydroponics. Because mushrooms do not have chlorophyll and do not photosynthesis to produce their own food in the form of sugars, they rely on decomposing plant and animal matter to supply the organic compounds and nutrients required for growth and development. Mushrooms also do not therefore require light for growth so it would be a waste of a well-lit greenhouse or growing area to produce mushrooms--these are usually grown in specially designed sheds which have temperature and humidity controlled."

Also because mushrooms rely on decomposing plant and animal matter to supply the organic compounds. I am not sure about the boiling water in the compost tea idea. It would probably be much better to boil it then let it cool down before adding it to the compost. The coco fiber would probably be fine but not necessarily the cheapest plan. I understand they usually use sawdust, straw, peat moss, and/or vermiculite and perlite as well for growing hydroponic mushrooms. I am also wondering if adding some of the leftover compost from making the tea to the growing medium wouldn't be a good idea. It wouldn't be a true hydroponic system then, but probably wouldn't hurt anything at all.

Also, it seems that it takes a while for the fungus to become mature before it flowers creating the mushrooms. They usually put the spores in a moist sterile grain to cultivate. They call this "mycelium" and sometimes refer to it as mushroom spawn. They then place this mushroom spawn in the sterile growing medium to flower. Kind of like a live yeast sourdough starter for making breads. I am trying to put together a text document with the important aspects I find on growing mushrooms and hope to be able to post it. The text document limit is 19.5 kb for this forum. Also bookmarking useful links on the subject.
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Last edited by GpsFrontier; 01-23-2010 at 10:23 PM.
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  #6  
Old 01-24-2010, 05:16 AM
GGM GGM is offline
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"The carbon source most commonly provided for growth of fungi in the laboratory is probably
the 6-C monosaccharide glucose, which is well utilized by most fungi, although some species grow
better on other carbon sources and some on a mixture of sources.
The concentration of the carbon source is an important consideration and should probably not
exceed 2% when the requirements of the species being cultivated are not precisely known"
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Old 06-01-2017, 08:37 AM
Giuliano Giuliano is offline
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Default Magic Truffles

Hi all, I just want to askl if someone ever tried using shrooms or truffles for medical purposes? I was reading some articles about this magic truffles and shrooms before engaging my self for the first time .They say that it has a very potent effect on the brain and hallucination. Unlike marijuana does it have any medical use? In one article that I've read magic truffles or shrooms are use on reducing the symtoms of obsessive-conpulsive disorder and anxiety. It can also help people to quit smoking and alcohol addiction. Some studies also suggest the property of magic shrooms/truffles can be useful for cancer patients. I would really want to hear other insights regarding this new possible alternative meds. Thanks
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Old 06-01-2017, 08:41 AM
Giuliano Giuliano is offline
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Default Magic Truffles

Hi all, I just want to askl if someone ever tried using shrooms or truffles for medical purposes? I was reading some articles about this magic truffles and shrooms before engaging my self for the first time.They say that it has a very potent effect on the brain and hallucination. Unlike marijuana does it have any medical use? In one article that I've read magic truffles or shrooms are use on reducing the symtoms of obsessive-conpulsive disorder and anxiety. It can also help people to quit smoking and alcohol addiction. Some studies also suggest the property of magic shrooms/truffles can be useful for cancer patients. I would really want to hear other insights regarding this new possible alternative meds. Thanks
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