Is it worth growing mushrooms

[rullfarm]

That's the question really! I have seen various 'grow your own' kits and wondered if they were worth while. I'm not happy foraging and I'd rather not keep giving the supermarket my hard earned cash. Has anyone any experience?

Thanks

Sally

[Flo]

I've not met or heard from anyone who has really succeeded with grow your own kits. They certainly don't seem to be a money saving idea. There are just some things that a lot of us can't grow for various reasons.

[Rosendula]

I've tried a few kits over the years and failed miserably with them all. I've also tried buying some spawn which has been (somehow) put onto wheat beans. They have also failed. I have tried so hard to keep the right temperature and moisture levels, but nothing has worked. Yet mushrooms grow so freely in the wild. I can't help thinking I'm trying too hard.

I'd also be interested in hearing from anyone who's tried one of the log thingies.

[red]

i got a kit as a present once.

it worked - we were picking mushrooms daily. they dont taste any different to shop ones... not convinced it is cheaper either. when it had run out i bought some more.. er.. spore .. but never got aroudn to doing it again... not sure how easy it would be to restart. i found it interesting to do, but not really worth it.

[rullfarm]

Thanks everyone. I think the distinct lack of excitement has put me off this idea. I'll stick with homebrew!

[Peggy Sue]

I had 2 goes last year and have just got some spawn to have a final shot at it- after which I will learn to forage safely for mushrooms I think!

[Green Aura]

The cost of the stuff puts me off. Am I just mean or is £13 (I think that was the cheapest I found) a lot of money to waste on something that doesn't guarantee any return at all.

For that you can buy a fruit tree from a reputable grower - if you've had no growth in a couple of years they'll replace it.

[Rosendula]

Not it's not you being mean, Maggie. £13 is far too much. I think the dearest kit I bought was £4.99, and I thought that was a lot.

[Peggy Sue]

The spawn is alot cheaper (£2.99 I think), which if I get mushrooms isn't bad as mushroom are quite expensive..... IF I get mushrooms!

[Green Aura]

I think the £13+ were for shiitake and similar type 'shrooms that are really expensive to buy and they were impregnated in dowels you put in old logs.

[Silver Ether]

We did it they grew and they got mushroom fly ... yak ... best way to buy mush is by the box of the market £2.50/£3.00 for a huge box.

We do like mush so if they are the big field type theyare eaten really quickly, and the button ones as there seems to be so many in a box we use some fresh and then I freeze them in small bags and cook from frozen and they are fine... don't like the field ones frozen they go snotty....

[JeremyinCzechRep]

I tried the impregnated dowel thing in a cherry tree that blew down in August. Nothing from it yet... I was more successful with a bag of straw impregnated with oyster mushroom spawn. The bag went white, I then stabbed a few holes and out came the mushrooms. It is still going after about 3 months. I get mushrooms about once a week. Very tasty.

[alec-ish]

i got the portobella mushroom kit from suttons
it seemed to start ok with two huge mushrooms but they stopped growing after that i wasnt very happy as nearly £15 for 2 mushrooms is a rip off even though there were lovely!
though the last few days they seem to be growing again so wont speak to fast hopefully will get many more will let you know
either way i need to get alot more to make back my £15 but has been good to try

[carolinew]

I did really well with a bog standard mushroom kit I picked up from Woolies for next to nothing when they just wanted to get rid of their left over stock to get the shelf space for something else (I miss Woolies). So if you see one at the right price I'd say it's definitely worth a shot. I wouldn't bother with an expensive kit, though.

I bought some spore once the box one ran out (got a good 3 flushes of plentiful mushrooms from it before it ran out) but I never got around to doing it. Not that I did the kit THAT precisely, but I roughly did what it told me to do.

I've been really interested in the dowel posh mushroom starters, but the price has been a bit steep for me - especially as I read that it generally takes at least 2 years for them to get established sufficiently to fruit, and that it may take even longer than that before they do decide to fruit. Having said that, they're supposed to give flush after flush of fruit on the logs once they decide to get going. It all felt a bit uncertain and temperamental for me to try at that price, as we don't really have cash to spare. Like someone else on this thread, it feels like a better investment to get a fruit tree at the moment.

I'm very tempted by the oyster mushroom straw bale thing though, after reading JCRs post.

[ADG]

ok folks, loads of mushrooms for 50p

find yr local mushroom farm, once a week they take the bags of compost out, most charge a max of 50p per bag, take a couple home, put some damp newspaper on them in the shed for 24hrs, lift the paper and you will have a week of mad mushroom growing