- Naomi Stephens | Permaculture Designer
How to grow organic mushrooms at home from substrate | Using 3 Ingredients
Updated: Apr 6, 2022
Growing mushrooms at home is very rewarding. It helps you to source food for yourself that are quite difficult to find.
Learn how to grow your own mushrooms at home from a substrate, with this easy guide.

The easiest mushrooms to start growing are Oyster mushrooms.
They can be grown on toilet paper, books, and newspapers; and some have seen them growing on concrete! These growing mediums are called substrates.
Oyster mushrooms grow quickly and aggressively and are ready in about 1-2 weeks.
What mushrooms can I grow at home?
You can grow gourmet mushrooms like shitake, oyster, reishi, and lion's main.
Wild mushrooms like morels and chanterelles can't be grown at home as we can't replicate the delicate process that happens in the wild.
How do I get started?
You could either purchase a mushroom grow kit or start growing from a substrate.

How do I grow organic mushrooms from a substrate?
This is the fun part. I grow mushrooms from a hay substrate here's how:
List of materials:
Mushroom Spawn/Seed (can be found on eBay)
Purchase hay quite cheaply, as it's used for pet rabbits. Click here to see the one I purchased on Amazon for £4.29
Purchase mushroom grow bags here on Amazon for £5.09
Boil or pressure cook the hay to kill all the germs
Fill the bag with the hay
Then add your mushroom spawn and leave for 20 to 30 days until the substrate turns white
When the substrate turns white, start spraying with water twice a day
Then harvest your mushrooms by twisting and pulling them off the substrate.
See the video below, for an example of how this is done:
How do I grow mushrooms at home from a kit?
The easiest way to grow mushrooms is to purchase a premade mushroom growing kit.
Once your kit arrives, you simply cut an X into the middle and spray it with water twice a day. In 1-2 weeks, your mushrooms will be ready.

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I'll be growing more mushrooms including reishi, pink oysters, and lion's main. Be sure to subscribe for more updates, tips, and guides.