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GENERAL BOARDS => Other Artisan Crafts => Topic started by: sofusryge on January 23, 2013, 03:57:50 PM

Title: Oyster mushroom from coffee grounds
Post by: sofusryge on January 23, 2013, 03:57:50 PM
Anyone tried growing oyster mushrooms on coffee grounds? From the descriptions on various websites, it seems to be really easy. I have access to a steady supply of coffee ground from work, and i just ordered a bunch of large myco bags with filter patches, just need some spawn and i will be ready to go. Would be nice to get some pointers as to what and when i have to be carefull.
Title: Re: Oyster mushroom from coffee grounds
Post by: shotski on February 03, 2013, 09:48:07 PM
I have not but am very interested in seeing how this progresses. I have grown mushrooms before with good success. Do you have any links that you can share?
Title: Re: Oyster mushroom from coffee grounds
Post by: Tomer1 on February 03, 2013, 11:42:23 PM
Where can you buy spores?
Id imagine you need a humid dark place to let them incubate.  the coffee grounds should have plenty of nitrogen to alow for mycilium growth.
Title: Re: Oyster mushroom from coffee grounds
Post by: mgasparotto on February 04, 2013, 12:59:54 AM
I've grown oyster mushrooms and shiitakes on a combination of brown rice flour and vermiculite, but never coffee grounds. You can get multiple flushes if you use a nutritious substrate. I think coffee will give you fewer flushes unless mixed with something else, but I'd love to see how yours turn out. Re:ordering spores - you can culture the mycelium yourself using mushroom butts. I've also ordered spore syringes online and had great results.
Title: Re: Oyster mushroom from coffee grounds
Post by: Schnecken Slayer on February 04, 2013, 08:39:44 AM
Where can you buy spores?
Id imagine you need a humid dark place to let them incubate.  the coffee grounds should have plenty of nitrogen to alow for mycilium growth.

I saw a website that simply sliced some oyster mushrooms thinly and planted the slices directly in the coffee.
Six to nine weeks later you should have a crop that apparently will self spore from then on.

I have been saving my coffee grounds and will be trying it - Still a 6 week wait to find out though.
Title: Re: Oyster mushroom from coffee grounds
Post by: shotski on February 04, 2013, 11:20:31 AM
Do you have a link, is there a precise thickness of coffee grounds and moisture required?
Title: Re: Oyster mushroom from coffee grounds
Post by: Schnecken Slayer on February 04, 2013, 07:50:03 PM
Do you have a link, is there a precise thickness of coffee grounds and moisture required?


Point 3 from here http://www.lifestyle.com.au/outdoors/start-your-own-mushroom-farm.aspx (http://www.lifestyle.com.au/outdoors/start-your-own-mushroom-farm.aspx)

3. Growing Oyster Mushrooms
Coffee grounds are ideal to grow oyster mushrooms in as it has been sterilized from the process of making coffee and contains many nutrients, necessary for good growth. Half fill a Hessian sack with coffee grounds (requested from the local barrister) and ensure the grounds are moist. If you can squeeze liquid out of a handful, they’re too wet. If a handful, when squeezed into a ball, won’t hold together for a second, it is probably too dry. Gently tear fresh oyster mushrooms up into a few pieces first and bury in it about 5cm deep.

Maintenance of the Oyster colony is very simple. Cover the plantings with the Hessian or use some plastic, to assist in creating a humid environment. Keep the material inside moist by spraying with water, preferably every day. Oyster mushrooms will emerge after 6 weeks. Once the oyster mushroom colony is established, feed it coffee grounds from your kitchen anytime.
Title: Re: Oyster mushroom from coffee grounds
Post by: sofusryge on February 05, 2013, 07:09:49 AM
Thanks for the comments. I've just got a bag of oyster mushroom mycelium in the mail. There's a company in Denmark that is growing mushrooms, and where it's possible to buy mycelium in 250 grams bags. I will inoculate a couple of pounds of coffee grounds later today, and see how it works out. I got a bunch of mycobags from ebay, it's quite large bags with a filter patch that allows for some air exchange but keeps unwanted spores out. The plan is to mix the coffee grounds with mycelium, seal it in the mycobag and place it in a dark and warm place until the mycelium is covering all the grounds. I'll post pics of the proceedings later. There's a company selling a mushroom kit made with coffee grounds; http://www.backtotheroots.com/, (http://www.backtotheroots.com/,) i'm sort of ripping off their idea  ::)
Title: Re: Oyster mushroom from coffee grounds
Post by: george on February 05, 2013, 10:45:58 AM
Is it only oyster mushrooms that you can do with the coffee grounds?  Or could you do shitake or other types as well, in that medium? 
'Cause this sounds like a really cool idea!
Title: Re: Oyster mushroom from coffee grounds
Post by: sofusryge on February 05, 2013, 11:04:54 AM
I guess all mushrooms that utilize a wide range of cellulose could be grown on coffee grounds, but oyster mushroom is renowned for being easy to work with and having a very aggressive mycelium. The nifty thing about coffee grounds is that they are sterilized during the brewing, which make the inoculation process easier. Other substrates like cardboard, wood-pellets, sawdust, straw etc. has to be heat-treated in some way before use, to eliminate all the fungi spores in the materiel.
Title: Re: Oyster mushroom from coffee grounds
Post by: sofusryge on February 05, 2013, 09:07:04 PM
Prepared 2 bags of inoculated coffee grounds this evening. Now the bags have to sit in a dark an warm location (our bedroom cupboard - don't tell my wife  :-X ) for 3-4 weeks while the mycelium is growing and happily consuming the coffee grounds.

The pics:

2 days worth of coffee grounds from the office. Kept them in the freezer until yesterday.
The packet of mycelium - 250 grams
Mycelium broken up and ready to mix in with the grounds
The mycobags
Finally 2 mycobags filled with inoculated grounds

Title: Re: Oyster mushroom from coffee grounds
Post by: sofusryge on February 12, 2013, 07:59:08 PM
7 days worth of mycelia growth.
Title: Re: Oyster mushroom from coffee grounds
Post by: Tomer1 on February 13, 2013, 12:07:59 AM
Cool!
Are you keeping them in the dark? cold?  whats their optimum growth conditions?
Title: Re: Oyster mushroom from coffee grounds
Post by: shotski on February 13, 2013, 12:55:32 AM
Comming along nicely. Do you have to open it to the air at some point? As I remember that is what I did with the mushrooms I grew.
Title: Re: Oyster mushroom from coffee grounds
Post by: Schnecken Slayer on February 13, 2013, 05:24:42 AM
Comming along nicely. Do you have to open it to the air at some point? As I remember that is what I did with the mushrooms I grew.

I believe you need to let the CO2 out occasionally.
Title: Re: Oyster mushroom from coffee grounds
Post by: sofusryge on February 13, 2013, 07:31:09 AM
Tomer: They are kept in my bedroom cupboard. Dark and about 20 Celsius. As i understand, they need dark and warm conditions while colonizing the coffee grounds.

Shotski: the round thingy you see on the picture is a filter patch. It allows for air exchange without risking contamination by airborne spores.
Title: Re: Oyster mushroom from coffee grounds
Post by: shotski on February 13, 2013, 11:20:38 AM
where did you purchase the spores and were they expensive?
Title: Re: Oyster mushroom from coffee grounds
Post by: sofusryge on February 13, 2013, 04:31:06 PM
Shotski: You don't buy spores, you buy mycelium. Mycelium is the stringy underground part of the mushroom. I got mine from "Skyttegårdens Østershatte" a danish company producing oyster mushrooms. I paid something like 15 dollars for half a pound. Rather expensive, but it's possible to keep it going for quite some time, taking a bit of mycelium from one fully outgrown bag and use it to inoculate a new bag.

In the states, you could buy the mycelium from Fungi Perfecti, that is Paul Stamets company. He's quite the expert when it comes to mushrooms.
Title: Re: Oyster mushroom from coffee grounds
Post by: Tiarella on February 14, 2013, 03:00:53 AM
Shotski: You don't buy spores, you buy mycelium. Mycelium is the stringy underground part of the mushroom. I got mine from "Skyttegårdens Østershatte" a danish company producing oyster mushrooms. I paid something like 15 dollars for half a pound. Rather expensive, but it's possible to keep it going for quite some time, taking a bit of mycelium from one fully outgrown bag and use it to inoculate a new bag.

In the states, you could buy the mycelium from Fungi Perfecti, that is Paul Stamets company. He's quite the expert when it comes to mushrooms.

There's a wicked cool place in the Midwest US somewhere that has a huge selection od mushroom spawn also.  Something like Forest and Field?  Can't find my catalog at the moment.  I think it's in Wisconsin maybe? 
Title: Re: Oyster mushroom from coffee grounds
Post by: Al Lewis on February 14, 2013, 04:35:32 AM
Just jumping into this conversation but, it seems to me that if you built a large box without a bottom and planted your spores outside with the box over them,  I mean, wouldn't they grow great?  Mind you the temps here are pretty conducive to mushroom growth.  We get all of the good ones.  Well Chantrells anyway.
Title: Re: Oyster mushroom from coffee grounds
Post by: sofusryge on February 14, 2013, 09:38:06 AM
Al: It's perfectly possible to grow oyster mushrooms outside, they're happily growing on lots of tree stumps in Denmark. Two things though:

1. It's hard to control the growth and the time of fruiting when growing outside
2. it's impossible to control contaminants, which means that a lot of other mushrooms will act like competitors to the oysters.

If growing outside, it will probably be a better option to inoculated a tree stump or a bale of straw, than using coffee grounds.
Title: Re: Oyster mushroom from coffee grounds
Post by: shotski on March 02, 2013, 02:17:34 AM
Hey sofusryge, anything visible yet?