What is container gardening?
Container gardening involves cultivating flowers or vegetables in portable vessels instead of directly in the ground, offering flexibility for gardeners in various spaces, from small balconies to large yards and gardens. This method allows for tailored growing conditions by selecting specific pots and soil mixes for different plant needs. Beyond traditional plants, the same principles of choosing appropriate containers and specialized growing materials, or substrates, can be applied to growing a variety of edible mushrooms, opening up a new dimension to homegrown gardening that is simple, doesn't require extensive space, and produces quickly.
What are the benefits of container gardening with mushrooms?
Growing mushrooms in containers is a highly space-efficient way to enjoy a homegrown harvest, regardless of your living situation. This method offers several advantages, including easier monitoring, reduced competition, precise watering, mobility, and a degree of protection from outdoor pests. What’s more, containers offer faster fruiting times compared to in-ground cultivation. From utilizing simple 5-gallon buckets to repurposing items like laundry baskets, container mushroom gardening provides a convenient way to add unique and nutritious foods to your diet while encouraging biodiversity, particularly in shadier, underused areas of outdoor spaces like backyards, patios, or even stairwells. Some mushrooms can even grow in the same container as your plants or vegetables (think potato grow bags and planter pots)!
Which mushrooms are best for growing in containers?
For container growing, Oyster mushrooms are an excellent choice, particularly side-fruiting varieties like Blue, Golden, Italian, and Pink Oysters. They are easy to cultivate, grow quickly, and can be grown on a variety of substrates. Other good options for containers include Lion's Mane, Chestnut, and Nameko, which all prefer hardwood sawdust, and Wine Cap, which prefers a mixture of hardwood chips, leaf litter and compost.
What are the best containers for growing mushrooms?
5-Gallon Buckets: North Spore began as an urban mushroom farm growing oysters from buckets. Easily sourced from local hardware stores or repurposed from restaurants and food processors, food-grade, stackable containers are simple to modify with holes for ventilation and fruiting, making them an ideal starting point for beginners. North Spore’s MushBucket is the perfect container for growing mushrooms outdoors in a compact and efficient way, and comes with everything you need to get growing!
Raised Garden Beds: Growing mushrooms in and among your vegetables and flowers in a raised garden bed provides numerous benefits to both plants and fungi. As the mushrooms decompose organic matter, they release valuable nutrients that benefit your vegetables and flowers. In turn, the consistently moist and shady environment provided by the plants in a raised bed can create an ideal habitat for your mushroom crop. This method provides a convenient and space-efficient way to harvest fresh fungi right alongside your other garden favorites, enhancing both your yield and your soil health.
Stackable Garden Planters: Utilizing stackable garden planters for mushroom cultivation offers a fantastic vertical growing solution, maximizing yield in a small footprint. The tiered design allows for cultivating different mushroom varieties with slightly varying microclimates, while the individual levels simplify harvesting and monitoring. This method provides an efficient and organized way for gardeners to integrate edible fungi into their existing setups, adding a unique and space-conscious dimension to their urban or limited-space gardening efforts.
Laundry Baskets & Milk Crates: Providing an airy and space-efficient growing environment, growing in sturdy baskets promotes excellent airflow, crucial for healthy mushroom development, while their portability allows you to easily move your fungal crops to the most ideal shaded and humid spots. This unconventional method provides a simple and accessible way to cultivate delicious mushrooms without needing specialized equipment, turning an everyday item into a mini fungal farm.
Thinking Outside the Box (or Bucket!): At North Spore, we've learned that when it comes to growing mushrooms, a little creativity can go a long way (we even made a whole video about it!). Don't feel limited by traditional containers – everyday household items can be surprisingly effective vessels for cultivating fungi! Something as simple as a milk jug, old tupperware, or other food containers, with a little modification, can become a mini mushroom farm. So, take a look around your home – you might be surprised at the untapped potential for your next delicious harvest!
Chestnut mushrooms in a milk crate @withcarrington
What is the best substrate for growing mushrooms in containers?
Substrates, the fungal food critical for growth and development, is made of dead and decaying plant materials. The ideal substrate for container mushroom growing is species-dependent, as different fungi have varying nutritional needs. Oyster mushrooms thrive on readily available materials like straw or coffee grounds, while wood-loving varieties like Lion's Mane prefer wood-based materials such as hardwood pellets or chips. Wine cap prefers more variety, and will grow in woodchips, leaf mulch and compost. Key factors in choosing a substrate include nutrient content, water retention, aeration, ease of preparation, and availability. For beginners, straw is often recommended for oyster mushrooms due to its simplicity and success.
What is pasteurization and why is it important?
Just as you would prepare soil for your favorite plants by removing competing weeds, a clean growing environment is crucial for a bountiful harvest of mushrooms. Substrates, while nutritious, often harbor a host of competing molds and bacteria that make it difficult for many edible fungi to establish themselves. Some species, including Wine Cap, thrive in non-sterile environments, while many others are less able to overcome the competition. Pasteurization, a gentle heat treatment process, reduces these unwanted guests and gives the fungi the upper hand in colonizing a substrate. Cold water pasteurization with hydrated lime, a reliable technique, especially for straw, involves soaking the substrate in a high-pH water solution. For substrates like hardwood chips, hot water pasteurization is ideal. In this method, the chips are submerged in hot (though not boiling) water for an extended period to partially sterilize and fully hydrate them. By employing these simple pasteurization techniques, you create a less competitive environment, allowing your chosen mushroom to colonize the substrate vigorously and pave the way for a healthy and larger yield.
Final thoughts
Container cultivation offers a practical solution for growing a diverse range of mushrooms outdoors, regardless of space limitations. By utilizing readily available containers and understanding basic fungal needs, both novice and experienced gardeners can achieve successful harvests. Experimentation with various containers and substrates will optimize yields for specific environments and desired mushroom varieties, providing a rewarding and efficient way to cultivate edible fungi close to home.