Mushroom Growing Kit - please explain

 I bought a Mushroom Growing Kit from Aldi.  It's in a square ice cream tub
about 8" x 8" x 3". In the bottom is a sort of mulch of straw, dry and set
hard in a chalky mass, then there was a sealed bag of soil. The instructions
were to add a measured amount of water to the soil then spraed it over the
straw and cover and leave. They were very basic instructions.

I would like to know what is supposed to be going on here: Where are the
spores?  Why the soil? What if it dries out? what are the best conditions
for growing mushrooms? If I wanted to take it all apart and grow them
elsewhere, in a bigger tray ( to get  a bigger yield ) how would I do that?

Tia

Tim W

 

I bought the same kit from Aldi, followed the instructions & I've got little
spores already, had it for 2 weeks now & its not dried out yet !

these arnt my photos, but I did a search for Aldi mushroom kit.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/blogalot/5508732691/

 

That's the one. I left mine sitting in the shed for a month or two before
opening it. Hope that hasn't messed it up.

Tim W

 
The spores are in the straw stuff (micelian?  Something like that).  You
soak the soil in a plastic bag overnight, iirc, then spread it over and put
the whole thing somewhere damp and cool but neither cold nor hot.  And the
soil should be misted (with a sprayer is best) but at a push you can water
lightly, to keep it moist but not damp or dry.  After a while a thready
white stuff grows on the top of the soil, then if you keep it in the right
conditions the mushrooms will grow.

I grew one very well when I was a teenager, but have never managed with
great success since.  :-(

If this is your first time, just stick to what they have given you.  If you
do it again next year maybe you can experiment more.  I think if you can
spread the bottom layer out more, that is the key to making a bigger area,
but I'm not sure if it will yield any more or not, as there will still only
be the same amount of mushroom-producing medium.  But I am only guessing.

 vicky@dinky.vm.bytemark.co.uk writes

The kids like growing the kits (not these ones, but no doubt similar) so
we have grown a few over the years, ours have always worked well with no
fuss. Our cellar is the perfect place I suspect. cool, fairly even temp,
and even a bit damp :-)

Might be worth pointing out that contrary to some peoples belief, they
don't need dark to grow, it's just that mushroom sheds are dark because
of course they don't need to be lit unless someone is working in them.

My 2 of my great uncles grew mushrooms on their farm, i loved the smell
of the mushroom sheds
--
Chris French