Oyster mushroom from coffee grounds

[sofusryge]

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.

[shotski]

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?

[Tomer1]

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.

[mgasparotto]

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.

[Schnecken Slayer]

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.

[shotski]

Do you have a link, is there a precise thickness of coffee grounds and moisture required?

[Schnecken Slayer]

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

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.

[sofusryge]

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/, i'm sort of ripping off their idea  ::)

[george]

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!

[sofusryge]

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.

[sofusryge]

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

[sofusryge]

7 days worth of mycelia growth.

[Tomer1]

Cool!
Are you keeping them in the dark? cold?  whats their optimum growth conditions?

[shotski]

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.

[Schnecken Slayer]

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.