The Essential Guide to Cultivating Mushrooms: Simple and Advanced Techniques for Growing Shiitake, Oyster, Lion's Mane, and Maitake Mushrooms at Home Kindle Edition

Two books on mushroom cultivation have just hit the market and they are both excellent. They have many similarities but some key differences as well; in a nutshell, one book is an absolutely thorough and yet very easy to understand guide to everything you need to know about how to cultivate mushrooms, with great photos. The second is all that, plus several other sections thrown in that at first glance you may say, “nah, I don’t need to know about that,” but once you start reading you think “wow, I think I’m going to try that!” So, which book is for you? Read on. I’m just going to come right out and say it now: The Essential Guide to Cultivating Mushrooms and Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation are the best books on the topic currently available. It’s ironic that, not one, but two excellent cultivation books should come out at the same time, as up to now there were not many choices to those of us interested in home cultivation of mushrooms. (Indeed, the paucity of information out there on cultivation was a big impetus for us at FUNGI magazine to start up such a regular feature several years ago.) Probably everyone from beginner to commercially-successful grower has a copy of Paul Stamets’s book Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms (1993, 2000). I turn to it often at my home, but it’s in need of an update and makeover; swapping out the black and white photos for color would be nice too. Stamets’s more recent Mycelium Running does offer a section on cultivation, but the strength of that book lies in several other unrelated topics. Besides Stamets, some general books on mycology or wild mushrooms might have a single chapter on cultivation but without a whole lot of information that a beginner might need on how to make growth media or make sterile cultures from wild harvested mushrooms. One such example is the quirky and out of date Mushrooms in the Garden published in 1981 by Hellmut Steineck. Enter Stephen Russell and Tradd Cotter. Stephen Russell owns The Hoosier Mushroom Company, a retail outlet for his mushroom farm. Russell (who resides in Bloomington, Indiana) founded the Hoosier Mushroom Society and travels throughout the year speaking at clubs, festivals, and conferences. Tradd Cotter is a microbiologist, professional mycologist, and organic gardener. Cotter owns Mushroom Mountain, a company that develops applications for mushrooms in various industries and currently maintains over 200 species of fungi for food production, mycoremediation of environmental pollutants, and natural alternatives to chemical pesticides. Cotter (who resides in Liberty, South Carolina) is a founding member of the South Carolina Upstate Mycological Society. Russell’s Essential Guide to Cultivating Mushrooms is very easy to read, has excellent large (and abundant) photos, and is very affordably priced. The main strengths of the book are in learning techniques. The book progresses from beginner doing very basic cultivation through more advanced chapters focusing on how to make all sorts of growth and incubation media at your own home and with pretty basic or easy to obtain equipment. Additionally, Russell does a good job at instructing how you can make some of your own equipment, for example a sterile glove box for performing sterile transfers and inoculations of cultures (and also gives prudent advice on how not to blow up your glovebox—with your arms inside—during routine sterilization!). Cotter’s Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation also gives excellent instruction on basic and advanced techniques, and progresses from beginner to more advanced inoculation and culturing skills. Cotter also emphasizes low-tech (and even no-tech) equipment you can easily source or make yourself; the color photos are equally excellent, large-sized, and abundant. Where Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation gets some extra stars are in some additional chapters on things you can do with fungi to further your fun with fungi cultivation; e.g. making food products like tempeh and beer, using fungi for mycoremediation, making extracts from culinary or medicinal mushrooms, and fun projects for school students to try in their classrooms. There’s something for everyone: natural mushroom dyes, paper making, even how to make your own cultures from just about any mushroom and long-term storage techniques. In the final of four sections, called “Meet the Cultivated Mushrooms” (Cotter emulates a similar final section in Mycelium Running), we get a really nice synopsis of many wild mushrooms that can be cultivated, species by species, and a brief overview for each, considering cultivation notes, substrate, mushroom development, preservation of fruitbodies, uses including notes on nutrition and purported medicinal properties, and even market potential.I recommend that anyone interested in mushroom cultivation should pick up a copy of both books. You cannot go wrong. The cultivation techniques favored by each author are not the same and you may find yourself more comfortable with one style over another. And you may not find this out until you have been at it for a while. A major theme of both Russell’s and Cotter’s books are that you can do this at home using low tech. The Essential Guide to Cultivating Mushrooms and Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation emphasize that you should start small and gain proficiency. Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation goes a step further, showing how you can continue to scale up … and up, if you want to, becoming a full scale mushroom farmer. I say go for it! Mushroom growing is a fun and rewarding experience. It’s not difficult (once you learn a few basic techniques). And it’s sustainable and good for the environment. And the world needs more mushroom farmers.-Britt A. Bunyard(Review originally published in FUNGI, 2014, vol 7 no.5.)

If you want to save yourself frustration, look elsewhere for instruction!This book is thorough. It however tells you to buy some redundant materials, when after all is said and done you can make due with one or the other, not needing both (strong glue AND silicon...?). If you are looking to be frugal, pay attention to detail and save your money before following his steps verbatim.Also, the glove box technique is good, but you can find other, less labor intensive methods online (for free!).He tells you to re-cover the holes with tape in the PF Tek technique, then a few pages later in the FAQ section he says if you are having issues with 100% colonization, make sure all the tape is removed from the holes! I am a newbie, I am following his instructions to the letter, and these are severely lacking!Save your money , go to the online forums, there is a ton of info for FREE!

This book is well written and informative, but is too advanced and complex for beginning and/or amateur mushroom growers. Many of the techniques described for cultivation, for instance, require fairly complex tools and dedicated space that hobbyists growing for themselves and friends would ever have or want to acquire. Those intending to cultivate professionally will, though, be well-advised to buy this book.

This book was the inspiration for growing some lions mane mushrooms in my home. Two weeks for a pretty nice meal :)

Pretty good reference overall for the beginner. Does miss covering species that are coprophilous, and some oversights that an attentive reader will note. In an FAQ section it asks the hypothetical questioner for example "were the lids upside down the whole time?", which is a common practice, but it's not mentioned anywhere in the instructions or why you would do so.

This is simply the best book on cultivating mushrooms that I have ever read.The book does a fine job of providing enough science and horticulture to answer the "why" questions the reader has, but it is also fun to read.The tone of the book is conversational, and it is full of useful diagrams and illustrations.The book takes you from the complete novice stage up through a thriving industrial partner.Well done!

This book covers the basics of mushroom cultivation in a clear and accessible way, with thorough photographic illustrations. It's a great starter volume for anyone who might be interested in advancing beyond the prepared kits (or is wondering what to do with the leftover spawn after the kit has finished fruiting). The printing and paper quality feel good, the book is a nice intermediate size. For a book of technical instructions I actually found it quite enjoyable to read.

This is an excellent book to start. For beginners and beyond. You get right away a good picture of what is involved in cultivating mushroom. I confess I was just curious but, at the end of this book, I got hooked. Thank you Stephen Russel. I really suggest you read this one before any other. Then, make room and time for others, of course. This is a fascinating field to explore.

This is great book to learn how to cultivate mushrooms. I have purchased Tradd Cotter's book before. Tradd Cotter does great job describing various mushrooms and methods of cultivation. Stephen Russell starts where Tradd Cotter stops. He focus on indoor growth and explain all procedures in deepth. For example, if one wants to cultivate mushrooms in wooden logs and is willing to purchase wooden plugs from local supplier, that Tradd Cotter's book is perfect. However, if one wants to inocculate wooden plugs (or grain) by himself, Stephen Russel's book is great manual. For example, it describes how to create laminar hood system. This book may not be the first book that you want to buy to learn more regarding mushroom cultivation. But it is great second book (or the first one if you have done your internet research before).

Clear and with good photos. The organisation of the book is a bit odd, but once you get your head around it, it's really a trove of good information.

Excelent book, gives confidence that you can attain success because the information given is sound.

This book is very practical with a lot of useful information

a reat book