Getting Started
How to Set Up Your First Monotub
I wasted three tubs before I figured this out. Here's how to build a monotub that actually fruits properly, holes, polyfill, liner and all. Saves you the headaches I had.
Your Friendly Guide to Home Mycology
Grow Beautiful Mushrooms
With Confidence
Real tutorials written by someone who's killed plenty of grows along the way. No gatekeeping, no confusing jargon. Just the stuff that actually works, tested the hard way.
Latest Tutorials
Start Your Growing Journey
Stuff I've figured out through trial, error, and way too many contaminated jars. Pick whatever sounds useful.
Spawn
Grain Spawn Preparation: A Beginner's Guide
Dodgy grain spawn will ruin your whole grow before it starts. This covers what grain to buy, how long to soak it, PC times, and inoculation, the bits nobody tells you properly.
Substrates
Understanding Mushroom Substrate Recipes
Coir, straw, hardwood, manure... the options are overwhelming at first. I break down what actually works for each species so you stop overthinking it and start growing.
Complete Guide
From Spore to Harvest: Your First Grow
The full journey, start to finish. Spore syringe, agar, grain, bulk sub, fruiting. I wish someone had given me this when I started. would've saved months of fumbling around.
Troubleshooting
Common Contamination Signs & What to Do
That green patch on your grain jar? Yeah, it's probably trich. Here's how to tell what's gone wrong, when to bin it, and what to change so it doesn't keep happening.
Growing Methods
Indoor vs Outdoor Growing: Which Is Right for You?
Monotub in the spare room or logs in the garden? Both work brilliantly for different reasons. Here's what I'd pick depending on your space, budget, and patience levels.
Featured Guide
Deep Dive
Complete Guide
The Complete Beginner's Guide to Growing Gourmet Mushrooms
I put everything into one guide because I got tired of sending people to five different forum threads. Species selection, substrate prep, inoculation, incubation, fruiting... the whole lot. If you've never grown anything more exotic than a windowsill herb, this is where to start.
Oyster mushrooms are stupidly forgiving. Shiitake take more patience but taste incredible. Lion's mane is weird, beautiful, and honestly quite fun to watch grow. I cover all three and explain why they're the ones you should try first.
Read the full guideCommon Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Quick answers to the questions every new grower asks.
How long does it take to grow mushrooms at home?
Depends what you're growing, honestly. Oysters on straw? Could be picking them in 3 weeks. Shiitake on logs? More like 6 to 12 months before you see anything, but then they keep producing for years which is pretty brilliant. Most species fall somewhere in the 4 to 8 week range from inoculation to harvest.
What equipment do I need to start growing mushrooms?
Less than you'd think. Grab some grain spawn or a liquid culture syringe, pick a substrate (straw and coco coir are dead easy), and get a container to fruit in. A monotub, literally a plastic storage box with holes. works perfectly. Spray bottle for misting. That's your minimum. A pressure cooker makes life much easier for sterilising grain, and a still air box (basically a big plastic tub you stick your arms into) keeps contamination down during inoculation. Total cost? Under fifty quid if you're scrappy about it.
What's the best substrate for beginners?
Coco coir mixed with vermiculite. Hands down. It's cheap, it's forgiving, and you can pasteurise it with just a bucket and some boiling water. Straw works brilliantly too, especially for oysters. I wouldn't bother with supplemented hardwood or sawdust until you've got a few grows under your belt, the contamination risk is higher and the prep is fussier.
Can I grow mushrooms without a pressure cooker?
Absolutely. Plenty of people grow brilliant mushrooms without one. Pasteurise straw in a big pot of hot water (65-80°C for an hour does the trick), try the cold water lime bath method which is ridiculously simple, or just buy pre-sterilised grain bags from a supplier and skip that step entirely. I did my first four grows without a pressure cooker. Got one eventually because I wanted to do my own grain, but it's not a requirement to start.
What temperature should I keep my mushroom grow room?
For most gourmet species, you're looking at 15-24°C (roughly 60-75°F). Oysters are proper tolerant. they'll fruit in a garage, a spare room, basically anywhere that isn't freezing or roasting. Lion's mane likes it a bit cooler, around 16-20°C. During colonisation (before fruiting), keeping things around 22-25°C helps the mycelium run faster. My spare bedroom sits around 18°C year round and it works for almost everything I grow.