Some answers to frequently asked questions! We will continually update this list to answer questions that frequently come up. Q: What species tolerate the high pH growing medium, can I grow x species with this method? A: Any of the various oyster species work well (Pleurotus ostreatus, P. citrinopileatus, P. djamor, P. pulmonarious) as do Chestnut mushrooms (Pholiota adiposa). Lion's Mane (Hericium) does not tolerate a high pH growing media, but can be grown on buckets if you are using hot water pasteurization instead of the lime method. Shiitakes are not suitable to bucket growing and should be grown either on logs (outdoors using plug or sawdust spawn) or indoors utilizing filter patch mushroom bags Q: Can I use the spent straw substrate from the buckets to inoculate more buckets? A: Maybe, though it's not best practice. You can use the spent substrate to inoculate more substrate, however, the more times that you expand a mushroom culture to continue growing mushrooms, the more it will lose vitality and vigor. The process of the mushroom losing its vigor is called 'strain senescence'. You can't continue expanding spent substrate indefinitely, and it's probably best practice to inoculate bucket substrate with high quality spawn. That said, you can get another flush or two from old bucket straw by inoculating an outdoor bed or simply composting the mushroom straw and allowing it to fruit in your compost area Q: What do you do with your lime bath water? A: Lime water is not toxic, but will change the pH of the area where you dump it. We chose a grassy area we didn't mind altering the pH, diluted the lime water with fresh water, and dumped the straw water out. When we do the technique indoors, we dump our water directly into a floor drain. Q: Can the lime water be reused for subsequent batches of straw? A: In our production we always started with fresh water, but I see no reason you couldn't reuse your water bath one or two times as long as you check and adjust the pH (I imagine adding straw affects the pH of the water) and you make sure the water hasn't been sitting around so long that other pH tolerant microbes start to grow. If anybody has attempted this and has insight, feel free to chime in!
wanna know a secret? If you rehabilitate your land back into a productive patch of ecosystem, mushrooms like these will start to grow everywhere. And wildlife will return. And the ecosystem you rely on for every millisecond of your gift of Life will thrive instead of being digested by machines in a far off land that you can't see and don't care about. Separating and isolating organisms from ecosystems is dangerous to the survival of the species, carries diminishing returns in production/nutrient density/soil degradation, and creates an escalating rehabilitation cost vs output value that eventually overwhelms the business model/nutrient requirements of any system you attach it to. Buckets are fun. But ecosystems are cheaper, more efficient, abundantly productive, and are the least we as humans can do to thank whatever we sprang from for the Life we've been gifted. Unanimous scientific consensus says we evolved from fungi. So at the very least, you, me, and every human being on this planet should be responsible for feeding and growing as much fungi as it took for our Life to exist. And really, once you've gone that far why not put enough back to exchange for your children's lives, and the lives of friends and neighbors that you know maybe can't do it for themselves. I mean depending entirely what motivates someone to grow mushrooms like this in the first place. Maybe you don't concern yourself with the equivalent exchange Life demands. That's entirely your right. But that's just another reason for those who aren't sentient piles of human shaped fertilizer to put more Life back than it cost to support them. Because Life costs one equal portion of Life. Your Life, my Life, every microbe, every invertebrate, every bird, bee, and fish. Each Life costs exactly one Life. That's the deal. There is no escaping this reality no matter how many layers of industrialization and consumerism we line the bubble we surround ourselves with. Every Life owns a Life. Are you paid up?
@@ZennExile "Gift of life"? Life is just chemistry, it's not a gift. Take a science class (if you think you'll be able to pass one) before you spew nonsense on TH-cam.
How long does it take to mix the lime and get a consistent pH reading in the big tank? The reason I ask is just because stirring with a big stick looks slow af. Assuming the extra aeration didn't hurt anything, I'd get monster air pump from a hydro store and chuck like 20 airstones in there. You get constant vertical mixing that way.
I'm Brazilian and I love mushrooms, everything about them. in my mother tongue it's very difficult to see something so detailed about it, in other languages too, but I've NEVER SEEN SOMETHING LIKE THIS, so detailed, simple and for free !! I can't say anything more than thank you so much for this amazing video. I'm trying to start a mushroom business, and this has helped me a lot. Thanks again 💕💕💕
22:22 with all due respect to these two gentlemen who are teaching me so much i didnt know but just one idea that came up: if you packed the straw bags into the container and secured them down first with a metal grid and then added the lime solution on top you wouldnt have to surf on them to submerge them. Also you could take the guessing work out of the creation of your lime solution and just measure the water and the lime to get it right quickly everytime. This would also tell you how much water, lime and straw you need which could make your cost calculations more predictable.
Great idea! I think that would work well, it will just involve more planning and infrastructure. The nice thing about weighing down the lid with the cut off top of the IBC tote is the simplicity and ease of sourcing and working with the IBC totes.
Subscribed. Two cool mushroom nerds making a great video on growing mushrooms. The music was pretty chill to listen to. Good set. You guys are great so it's a win/win for everybody.
This is one of THE most informative and actionable videos I've ever seen, and that's across all kinds of subject matter, not just mushrooms. Thank you so much for your generosity in sharing such valuable information! Liked, sub'd, and will def be purchasing my first spores from NS! Dumb question: Seems like inoculating the whole substrate would lead to wasting the spore in the center of the bucket - 1. Am I way off on that? 2. If not, would there be any benefit to say, placing a vertical 4" pipe (or some other space-taking material) down the center of the bucket to make the inoculated substrate go a little further?
Thank you so much for watching the video and the kind words about it! We put a lot of effort, energy, and time into our videos. To answer your question- mushroom biology works differently from plants in this regard. The mushroom mycelium will colonize the entire bucket all the while consuming the substrate as food. When the mycelium reaches the ends of the bucket and no longer encounters fresh uncolonized substrate, it triggers the fungus to produce mushrooms. In a way, it realizes that there is no more food for it to consume which means it's time to reproduce, spread spores, and hopefully find some more food for the next generation. All of that food in the middle of your bucket that may seem useless, is all converted into fruiting (i.e. mushroom producing) energy by the fungus. The more food, the bigger the flushes and the longer the buckets will produce. Minimizing the substrate held within the buckets would only diminish your yields and the longevity of your buckets. The inverse consideration is that the larger your substrate vessel, the longer it will take for the mycelium to fully colonize it and have that fruiting event triggered and the more likely that other competing fungi or bacteria are able to make their home in the substrate before your preferred species has been able to fully colonize it. There is something of a sweet spot with the size of a 5-gallon bucket. Just enough food for great flushes, but not too much for super slow colonization or risk of contaminants. Hope this helps!
@@NorthSpore Wow! Thank you for that detailed answer. I figured there was a good reason you do things the way you do. Will be bingeing the rest of your content! 😁
Wicked man, been wanting to grow in a while and this definitely pushes me to start sooner than later. I’ll have an insulated shed soon. With a work bench and a closet size tent, I should be good to go. And now i know where to buy my spawn locally.
Thank you North Spore for the outstanding video. Time now I am going to attempt with a farmer to utilize their space and can't wait. Hope to show you folks my results soon. Take care, God bless, and safe travels. Shroom on!
WE GROW OUR POP-CORN IN EXACTLY THE SAME MANNER - HIGHER YIELD, MORE KERNELS POP, HAVE ENOUGH LEFT OVER TO SELL TO THE LOCAL MOVIE PALACE - WONDERFUL VIDEO!!!!!!!!
Nice video. I would consider putting the blocks on the top of that IBC tote and then using ratchet straps to push the bags down so you don't have to stand on top of it.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge. I got some kits from your company (blue oyster and lion’s mane) and tried scaling then up in 5-gal buckets but used 1/4” holes and they didn’t do much. Been having a problem where they grow well then stall and fizzle out. Growing in bathroom. Going to increase them to 1/2” and try again. Been using aspen shavings but going to give the straw a try for the oysters.
I just started my first Boomr Box w/ Blue Oyster Spawn and Cherry sawdust substrate this afternoon. I have just enough spawn left over to chop some straw and start a 5-gallon bucket. Great info.
2 questions: - I share my trade secrets with anyone interested as well, because I believe in nature and people, why do YOU do it? - What are you going to do with the plenty of water (minute 22:25) after removing and draining the straws?
We're committed to making mushroom growing accessible and open sourcing what we've learned. We keep our business going by selling spawn and helping people find success! As for lime water, we diluted it with more water until the pH dropped and dumped it in a field. It's not toxic, but will sweeten the soil wherever you dispose of it
That's so cool I'm going to buy some north spore , those shrooms looked so delicious. I'm sure a lot of restaurants owners around here would buy from me if I could grow them pretty as those are
could newspaper and pine wood shavings work in combination? I'm just beginning to think about how to grow mushrooms, I've heard pine and other conifer woods have anti-fungal properties them, would using pine wood shavings be counter-intuitive? The newspaper I'm thinking of using uses food-grade ink, but again how food safe or viable is that, since I've heard mushrooms absorb whatever substrate they grow from.
I think you'd be likely to grow mushrooms, but I would also be hesitant about eating anything grown off of treated materials like newspaper. Pine shavings can be tolerated by some species, but usually only when they are mixed with some type of hardwood substrate
@@NorthSpore Do you know what species would grow well with pine shavings, with minimal light? I have a hot water tank room in my house that's pretty warm, no windows.
living trees have pretty strong defense mechanisms to prevent fungal parasites. However, you could probably do the process you describe on cut hardwood logs or dead trees or stumps. No guarantees on the success rate!
I currently have pink oyster growing in straw in garden. And waiting on winecaps in another area of yard. I want to start maybe blue oyster in buckets. Is there a bad time to begin this? I am in zone 6, and have a good 2-3 months of warm weather left. I also have a good garage or basement if needed. Thank you
For sometime now I was planning for something to do by myself, to earn extra cash coz as I'm struggling for too long...as soon as I have some cash saved I'm going to give this a try & hopefully it works out. Thank you 'North Spore' for your detailed video.
Very informative and a very easy method over the traditional pressure cooker method for pasteurization. I am going to give it a try and see if i can succeed in growing some tasty treats for myself.
Great question! Unfortunately that method works best with oyster species. Others can work to some degree, but often experience higher contamination rates.
@@NorthSpore Thanks, thats good to know! Any advice regarding different oyster species and strains? Ie will Blue oyster, pink oyster, yellow oyster, king oyster etc... all tolerate the high pH equally well or are there some that do better than others?
Hello guys. cool mushroom farm!!!! Subscribed to your channel. I watch it regularly!!! Very good technology!!! I will try this spring, since boiling is very expensive and is not applicable everywhere!!! Thank you for the cool analysis of technology!!! Good luck to you
I always thought you had to put the Hydrated Lime into water first, then add that to the substrate. Mixing the lime right in provides the same outcome? Thanks!
Wow!! I thought I was being clever with the pellets. I've just recently gotten in to mushroom culturing, and my first thought was smoker pellets. Glad to see I wasn't entirely on the wrong track lol
I'm unsure. I imagine it would move more towards neutral pH but probably still be pretty basic. You may be able to use the water bath another time if you check its pH and amend with more lime if needed, though I will say the straw water gets pretty gross quickly. After one 'bath' the water will look like dark tea.
When you add hydrated lime to the hardwood mix...do you have to have to rinse before adding the grain spawn? Will the hydrated lime in the hardwood mix kill the oyster mushroom grain spawn?
Great video. I've got a sawmill and will have tons of sawdust. I'm hoping to grow lionsmane and TT right now. I'll be using totem for most but hope to use bucket method for the lionsmane. I look forward to more of your videos.
awesome that you've got your own source of sawdust. We always worked with the pelletized sawdust because the process of turning the sawdust into pellets involves heat which helps pasteurize the substrate before inoculation
@@NorthSpore Yeah , for you guys it probably is essential. I've been thinking steam pasturizing. I'm out in the sticks and have the room. I like the idea of the lime pasturization too and I'm going to do a little more research on if it will work for the medicinals I'm trying to grow. I bet it'd work for TT. I'm also trying to get some ganoderma tsugae to start. I'm new to the culturing and trying to do it on the cheap. I love your barn in the begining of the video. Any videos of that? I'm a timber framer by trade.
What do you do with all of that water that you have added the lime to after you soak your bags? Do you filter and reuse any of it or do you allow it to evaporate and reuse the lime?
Lime water is not toxic, but will change the pH of the area where you dump it. We chose a grassy area we didn't mind altering the pH, diluted the lime water with fresh water, and dumped the straw water out. When we do the technique indoors, we dump our water directly into a floor drain. You probably could evaporate it and reuse the lime if you are patient!
good question, and unfortunately we never weighed the buckets we produced for the video. If I had to guess I'd say the straw buckets were from 35lb to 40lb and a little heavier when we used the sawdust substrate
Excellent work on this video! Legit step-by-step. This could not come at a better time as I am just getting started. For the the pellet method: 40ltrs water, 40lbs of wood pellets, 16lbs of soy hull, 6 lbs of spawn will fill how many buckets? Do you have a preference on pellets vs straw? Do you have any best practices for cleaning your buckets? I am trying to target restaurants as I feel I could scale easily as I add customers -- do you recommend sticking with a single type of oyster at first or diversify from the beginning? Is there a type of oyster you saw as the most sought after for restaurants?
We definitely prefer straw! I'm not sure exactly how many buckets that recipe will fill. Starting with a mix of oysters is fine, but blue oyster as the bedrock is the way to go.
I don't see why it couldn't be reused one or two times. You'd just want to recheck the pH before every use to make sure the straw wasn't pushing it towards a more neutral pH. After a single use it will look like black tea, I image after more consecutive uses it will get quite dark
@@NorthSpore one more question how do you dispose of the water? And is there any way to reuse the water or because of the high PH level is that even possible?
In your area, what are typical prices for mushrooms? How much do they wholesale for? How many pounds can you grow on a bucket? Are the prices seasonal or stable year round?
We don't produce fresh mushrooms anymore, so we're out of the loop on prices, sorry. Prices should stay pretty stable. You might be able to harvest 25-35% of the weight of the bucket in mushrooms if you're really killing it.
Hello, I'm from Brazil, it's a pleasure to meet your work, I watch it with subtitles but you explain it very well, thank you I learned a lot watching, I hope one day I can pay for the teachings, success for you there!
I guess someone has to be the unlucky S.O.B., but I started my buckets with your blue oyster spawn literally the day before this video came out 😂looking forward to hopefully some success soon!
Excellent tutorial!! Also, love that barn. Please send a link to the plans if you can. I have a portable saw mill and looking to make a barn with all native lumber from the land. Thanks!
@@NorthSpore Thanks for the reply. I've no idea, to be honest. I have 4 buckets so thinking of growing a selection and seeing which ones a) I prefer the taste of, and b) grow well. I was in a Chinese supermarket the other day and saw mushrooms that had obviously been grown in the same way as yours. It made me smile to see them in real life. 😁
That can be a tough one. I would say to focus on getting very big initial flushes and only do a couple. the longer stuff hangs out the more it becomes infested. Also, cooler temps, being kept off the ground and agricultural cloth can be utilized.
Hey guys. Im watching this vid right now. Ideas for you. For the ibc. You can put eye bolts on top of the frame. Then use 2x12 to make a square about 4-5 inches smaller than the ibc top. All u got to do is use fast tow straps to submerge the bags of straw! For the spawn mixing you can get a giant compost that spins and has large door with a drain. Just ideas. If you use them i like magic mushrooms and xxl shirts lol
Hello! I’m new to this.. couple of questions please if I may. Is the oyster the best for monetising commercially? Does this also work for shittake? Once you’ve picked the mushrooms from the bucket does it carry on producing any further mushrooms or is one harvest your lot? Do the harvest each hole at different times? Lastly how much weight of sellable mushrooms on average are you getting from one 5ltr bucket once completed and what’s the start to finished length of time? THANK YOU VERY MUCH BORG
Hi Borg, oyster mushrooms are definitely the best species to grow using the bucket technique. We also had success with chestnut mushrooms (P. adiposa) and lion's mane mushrooms (using hot water instead of lime for pasteurization). Shiitake is not well suited to the bucket technique, best to grow shiitake on logs outdoors or in bags indoors. The mushrooms tend to grow in flushes from all the holes at once. Subsequent fruiting will take a few weeks and tends to produce lower yields. Your total yield will depend greatly on the strain and species of oyster mushroom you're deciding to grow and the growing conditions and will vary, but we would average 2-5lbs of oysters per bucket.
@@NorthSpore thank you for your information 😎 I’ve now a couple more questions please For commercial harvesting purposes is it best to take the first yield and then start the process again or wait until the second and then start it again ? How long does it take from start to finish per harvest? Which oyster would you say is best for yield/and or the most desired? Thank you Borg
In my country soy hull pallets are banned and hardwood fuel pallets hard hard to find in the region im in, so is there any other recipe you can give with softwood fuel pallets(pine) and somethingni can combine with ?
You could try oysters on supplemented pine. A There are lots of agricultural wastes that oysters can grow on. Look for different types of straw, beet pulp (or other pulps), coffee grounds, stuff like that.
Bom dia! Obrigado! Pelo conhecimentos de vocês,adoramos o vídeo,somos do Brasil e vamos colocar em prática o que vocês ensinaram,poderia passar relação do material usado no composto! abraços
I have a mulcher and an abundance of hardwood trees. Do you think this bucket method would work well with oak wood chips maybe with some straw mixed in?
We sell a great tent that's perfect for smaller, perhaps 2 gallon buckets: northspore.com/collections/martha-tents-supplies Otherwise, there are any many different types: www.google.com/search?q=grow+tent&oq=grow+tent&aqs=chrome.0.0i433i512j0i131i433i512j0i512l3j69i60l3.1871j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
thank you! this is a very interesting and well made video. to the point and entertaining, Im actually starting growing my own mushrooms at home with reused materials so im going to take some tips from here!
Why not use the used substrate after fruiting to colonize new, fresh substrate? Shouldn’t it be possible to reuse it over and over again so you only need buy initial starter colony once?
You can use the spent substrate to inoculate more substrate, but with a caveat. The more times that you expand a mushroom culture to continue growing mushrooms, the more it will lose vitality and vigor. The process of the mushroom losing its vigor is called 'strain senescence'. You can't continue expanding spent substrate indefinitely, but you can probably get away with another flush or two by inoculating an outdoor bed or simply composting the mushroom straw and allowing it to fruit in your compost area
Like anything I try to do from scratch I’m looking at cost. Wood pellets seem expensive is there a better way using readily found like local hay or straw and just pasturing it?
Yes!!! Use the cheapest or better yet, free materials that you can find. Most woody materials will work with this method and oysters, but you wanna make sure the nitrogen isn't too high (ie hay).
Some answers to frequently asked questions! We will continually update this list to answer questions that frequently come up.
Q: What species tolerate the high pH growing medium, can I grow x species with this method?
A: Any of the various oyster species work well (Pleurotus ostreatus, P. citrinopileatus, P. djamor, P. pulmonarious) as do Chestnut mushrooms (Pholiota adiposa). Lion's Mane (Hericium) does not tolerate a high pH growing media, but can be grown on buckets if you are using hot water pasteurization instead of the lime method. Shiitakes are not suitable to bucket growing and should be grown either on logs (outdoors using plug or sawdust spawn) or indoors utilizing filter patch mushroom bags
Q: Can I use the spent straw substrate from the buckets to inoculate more buckets?
A: Maybe, though it's not best practice. You can use the spent substrate to inoculate more substrate, however, the more times that you expand a mushroom culture to continue growing mushrooms, the more it will lose vitality and vigor. The process of the mushroom losing its vigor is called 'strain senescence'. You can't continue expanding spent substrate indefinitely, and it's probably best practice to inoculate bucket substrate with high quality spawn. That said, you can get another flush or two from old bucket straw by inoculating an outdoor bed or simply composting the mushroom straw and allowing it to fruit in your compost area
Q: What do you do with your lime bath water?
A: Lime water is not toxic, but will change the pH of the area where you dump it. We chose a grassy area we didn't mind altering the pH, diluted the lime water with fresh water, and dumped the straw water out. When we do the technique indoors, we dump our water directly into a floor drain.
Q: Can the lime water be reused for subsequent batches of straw?
A: In our production we always started with fresh water, but I see no reason you couldn't reuse your water bath one or two times as long as you check and adjust the pH (I imagine adding straw affects the pH of the water) and you make sure the water hasn't been sitting around so long that other pH tolerant microbes start to grow. If anybody has attempted this and has insight, feel free to chime in!
Might be a good idea to pin this so more people see it.
wanna know a secret? If you rehabilitate your land back into a productive patch of ecosystem, mushrooms like these will start to grow everywhere. And wildlife will return. And the ecosystem you rely on for every millisecond of your gift of Life will thrive instead of being digested by machines in a far off land that you can't see and don't care about.
Separating and isolating organisms from ecosystems is dangerous to the survival of the species, carries diminishing returns in production/nutrient density/soil degradation, and creates an escalating rehabilitation cost vs output value that eventually overwhelms the business model/nutrient requirements of any system you attach it to.
Buckets are fun. But ecosystems are cheaper, more efficient, abundantly productive, and are the least we as humans can do to thank whatever we sprang from for the Life we've been gifted. Unanimous scientific consensus says we evolved from fungi.
So at the very least, you, me, and every human being on this planet should be responsible for feeding and growing as much fungi as it took for our Life to exist. And really, once you've gone that far why not put enough back to exchange for your children's lives, and the lives of friends and neighbors that you know maybe can't do it for themselves.
I mean depending entirely what motivates someone to grow mushrooms like this in the first place. Maybe you don't concern yourself with the equivalent exchange Life demands. That's entirely your right. But that's just another reason for those who aren't sentient piles of human shaped fertilizer to put more Life back than it cost to support them.
Because Life costs one equal portion of Life. Your Life, my Life, every microbe, every invertebrate, every bird, bee, and fish. Each Life costs exactly one Life. That's the deal. There is no escaping this reality no matter how many layers of industrialization and consumerism we line the bubble we surround ourselves with.
Every Life owns a Life. Are you paid up?
How many times mushrooms can be harvested from one bucket?
@@ZennExile "Gift of life"? Life is just chemistry, it's not a gift. Take a science class (if you think you'll be able to pass one) before you spew nonsense on TH-cam.
How long does it take to mix the lime and get a consistent pH reading in the big tank? The reason I ask is just because stirring with a big stick looks slow af. Assuming the extra aeration didn't hurt anything, I'd get monster air pump from a hydro store and chuck like 20 airstones in there. You get constant vertical mixing that way.
I love that you don't only sell stuff, but also educate. Makes all the difference!
this joke XD
I'm Brazilian and I love mushrooms, everything about them. in my mother tongue it's very difficult to see something so detailed about it, in other languages too, but I've NEVER SEEN SOMETHING LIKE THIS, so detailed, simple and for free !! I can't say anything more than thank you so much for this amazing video. I'm trying to start a mushroom business, and this has helped me a lot. Thanks again 💕💕💕
Work towards a Brazilian specific guide 🤩
This is what I like. Low-tech pioneering in a slow-tv format. Thanks guys. This is the channel I've been looking for.
this whole comment section is a Q&A gold mine! I love the fact that you guys are replying to almost every single question👌
Ya, we don't just claim to be the best. We back it up!
@@NorthSpore😊😁👍
I've started my myco journey with material/culture/knowledge delivered by NorthSpore. Thanks NS team
Glad that you're on that journey!
@@NorthSpore how are your organic pills on your site I wonder if they are worth it
Hi would be great to know the progress so far, how are you doing with your myco journey
One of the most informative videos on growing mushrooms in buckets. Than you, guys!
thanks for watching the video. Think you'll give it a try?
Easily the best mushroom growing video on the internet.
Not sure why youtube recommended this to me, but it was a pleasure to watch!
glad you enjoyed it!
I'm waiting on my first buckets to start fruiting. Pretty excited about that! Thanks for the great content and resources.
thank you for watching the video!
Good luck
Have they fruited yet??
How'd it go?
Great video. To stop your buckets toppling try putting a long plank of wood under every row of buckets. This will make them more stable.
Really appreciate your generosity in sharing this knowledge. Great production as well! Subscribed
Our pleasure! Let us know if you grow any mushrooms on buckets
Once again North Spore & Team hit's a homer !
Thanks so much for the great info.
Thanks for the kind words!
Excellent video , I love how you guys simplify and show the diy home scale level of growing and then commercial scale ….. very informative great job 👍
I did this a couple of years ago using cardboard boxes. It was awesome!! Need to do it again.
You should get back at it!
22:22 with all due respect to these two gentlemen who are teaching me so much i didnt know but just one idea that came up: if you packed the straw bags into the container and secured them down first with a metal grid and then added the lime solution on top you wouldnt have to surf on them to submerge them.
Also you could take the guessing work out of the creation of your lime solution and just measure the water and the lime to get it right quickly everytime. This would also tell you how much water, lime and straw you need which could make your cost calculations more predictable.
Great idea! I think that would work well, it will just involve more planning and infrastructure. The nice thing about weighing down the lid with the cut off top of the IBC tote is the simplicity and ease of sourcing and working with the IBC totes.
Subscribed. Two cool mushroom nerds making a great video on growing mushrooms. The music was pretty chill to listen to. Good set. You guys are great so it's a win/win for everybody.
This is one of THE most informative and actionable videos I've ever seen, and that's across all kinds of subject matter, not just mushrooms. Thank you so much for your generosity in sharing such valuable information! Liked, sub'd, and will def be purchasing my first spores from NS!
Dumb question: Seems like inoculating the whole substrate would lead to wasting the spore in the center of the bucket - 1. Am I way off on that? 2. If not, would there be any benefit to say, placing a vertical 4" pipe (or some other space-taking material) down the center of the bucket to make the inoculated substrate go a little further?
Thank you so much for watching the video and the kind words about it! We put a lot of effort, energy, and time into our videos. To answer your question- mushroom biology works differently from plants in this regard. The mushroom mycelium will colonize the entire bucket all the while consuming the substrate as food. When the mycelium reaches the ends of the bucket and no longer encounters fresh uncolonized substrate, it triggers the fungus to produce mushrooms. In a way, it realizes that there is no more food for it to consume which means it's time to reproduce, spread spores, and hopefully find some more food for the next generation. All of that food in the middle of your bucket that may seem useless, is all converted into fruiting (i.e. mushroom producing) energy by the fungus. The more food, the bigger the flushes and the longer the buckets will produce. Minimizing the substrate held within the buckets would only diminish your yields and the longevity of your buckets. The inverse consideration is that the larger your substrate vessel, the longer it will take for the mycelium to fully colonize it and have that fruiting event triggered and the more likely that other competing fungi or bacteria are able to make their home in the substrate before your preferred species has been able to fully colonize it. There is something of a sweet spot with the size of a 5-gallon bucket. Just enough food for great flushes, but not too much for super slow colonization or risk of contaminants. Hope this helps!
@@NorthSpore Wow! Thank you for that detailed answer. I figured there was a good reason you do things the way you do. Will be bingeing the rest of your content! 😁
@@NorthSpore Such a clear, helpful and easy-to-visualize explanation ! ! !
Y’all really know how to TEACH
as well as GROW mushrooms !!!
👍
Wicked man, been wanting to grow in a while and this definitely pushes me to start sooner than later. I’ll have an insulated shed soon. With a work bench and a closet size tent, I should be good to go. And now i know where to buy my spawn locally.
Thank you North Spore for the outstanding video. Time now I am going to attempt with a farmer to utilize their space and can't wait. Hope to show you folks my results soon. Take care, God bless, and safe travels. Shroom on!
😢 this was my exact plan 7 months ago. Great minds think alike. It was interesting seeing the lime with the saw dust and the bungie cords.
im growing oyster mushrooms in my closet and lions mane using this method in Baltimore. so worth it!
awesome! great to have fresh mushrooms available
When they're on the sofa talking, it looks like an apology video for a "failed" kickstarter.😂
I found for drilling the buckets, the best bit to use is a step it and it will leave no burrs that need to be removed afterwards
Using a 'step bit' is a great idea. We never used them, but I imagine it would make the process easier
@@NorthSporeWhat do you use?
WE GROW OUR POP-CORN IN EXACTLY THE SAME MANNER - HIGHER YIELD, MORE KERNELS POP, HAVE ENOUGH LEFT OVER TO SELL TO THE LOCAL MOVIE PALACE - WONDERFUL VIDEO!!!!!!!!
Nice video. I would consider putting the blocks on the top of that IBC tote and then using ratchet straps to push the bags down so you don't have to stand on top of it.
Thanks for sharing your knowledge. I got some kits from your company (blue oyster and lion’s mane) and tried scaling then up in 5-gal buckets but used 1/4” holes and they didn’t do much. Been having a problem where they grow well then stall and fizzle out. Growing in bathroom. Going to increase them to 1/2” and try again. Been using aspen shavings but going to give the straw a try for the oysters.
I just started my first Boomr Box w/ Blue Oyster Spawn and Cherry sawdust substrate this afternoon. I have just enough spawn left over to chop some straw and start a 5-gallon bucket. Great info.
Ty for this brilliant intro for beginner mushroom growers.
Maine mushrooms for the win! Great video and super informative.
The mushroom growing community is so helpful, we only succeed together.
2 questions:
- I share my trade secrets with anyone interested as well, because I believe in nature and people, why do YOU do it?
- What are you going to do with the plenty of water (minute 22:25) after removing and draining the straws?
We're committed to making mushroom growing accessible and open sourcing what we've learned. We keep our business going by selling spawn and helping people find success! As for lime water, we diluted it with more water until the pH dropped and dumped it in a field. It's not toxic, but will sweeten the soil wherever you dispose of it
That's so cool I'm going to buy some north spore , those shrooms looked so delicious. I'm sure a lot of restaurants owners around here would buy from me if I could grow them pretty as those are
One of the best videos I have seen on the subject. Thanks for the practical tips!
could newspaper and pine wood shavings work in combination? I'm just beginning to think about how to grow mushrooms, I've heard pine and other conifer woods have anti-fungal properties them, would using pine wood shavings be counter-intuitive? The newspaper I'm thinking of using uses food-grade ink, but again how food safe or viable is that, since I've heard mushrooms absorb whatever substrate they grow from.
I think you'd be likely to grow mushrooms, but I would also be hesitant about eating anything grown off of treated materials like newspaper. Pine shavings can be tolerated by some species, but usually only when they are mixed with some type of hardwood substrate
@@NorthSpore Do you know what species would grow well with pine shavings, with minimal light? I have a hot water tank room in my house that's pretty warm, no windows.
Do you test to find out if the kiln dried straw you're using contains persistent herbicides like Grazon?
We don't
After adding hydrated lime to the substrate, should I wait some time before adding the mushroom spawn?
Yes, it might be overkill, but we recommend soaking the straw overnight, draining and then adding spawn as soon as the bags are drained.
Could you tie the retired bucket contents like a collar around a tree and let it attach and grow naturally? Just a thought
living trees have pretty strong defense mechanisms to prevent fungal parasites. However, you could probably do the process you describe on cut hardwood logs or dead trees or stumps. No guarantees on the success rate!
I currently have pink oyster growing in straw in garden. And waiting on winecaps in another area of yard. I want to start maybe blue oyster in buckets. Is there a bad time to begin this? I am in zone 6, and have a good 2-3 months of warm weather left. I also have a good garage or basement if needed. Thank you
Never a bad time for blues!
For sometime now I was planning for something to do by myself, to earn extra cash coz as I'm struggling for too long...as soon as I have some cash saved I'm going to give this a try & hopefully it works out. Thank you 'North Spore' for your detailed video.
Very informative and a very easy method over the traditional pressure cooker method for pasteurization. I am going to give it a try and see if i can succeed in growing some tasty treats for myself.
What other types of mushrooms besides oysters could you grow with the same hydrated lime pasteurization method?
We only recommend oyster mushrooms for this method - other species don't seem to fare well this way
Do you be video on grain spawn production
We don't have one yet, but more grain spawn content is on the list.
Thanks gentlemen for your advice on how to do a grow I think it's great of you to share with all of us customers it was great video thanks
Hydrated lime is a class 1 carcinogen due to the silica in it, your recommendation to use a respirator is a good idea.
I am curious, how much does the hydrated lime method restrict you in your species/strain selection. Ie what can and cant you grow using this tek?
Great question! Unfortunately that method works best with oyster species. Others can work to some degree, but often experience higher contamination rates.
@@NorthSpore Thanks, thats good to know! Any advice regarding different oyster species and strains? Ie will Blue oyster, pink oyster, yellow oyster, king oyster etc... all tolerate the high pH equally well or are there some that do better than others?
Thank you for the very informative video! Wondering what the reason for placing the rocks on a bucket lid, rather than placing directly on the bags?
The rocks are to help hold the lids in place.
Best video on the subject I’ve seen so far. Thanks for sharing 🤩🤩
Thank you, we're so glad it was helpful!
Hello guys. cool mushroom farm!!!! Subscribed to your channel. I watch it regularly!!! Very good technology!!! I will try this spring, since boiling is very expensive and is not applicable everywhere!!! Thank you for the cool analysis of technology!!! Good luck to you
Beautiful guide, bravo guys.
I always thought you had to put the Hydrated Lime into water first, then add that to the substrate. Mixing the lime right in provides the same outcome? Thanks!
Brilliant video chaps. Will be trying this method myself.
This was one topic, that was REALLY COOL!
This looks like the most practical small scale or hobby grow. No autoclaves, no laminar flow hoods, no PHDs.
it is incredibly easy to do on a small scale without technical knowledge or equipment
Wow!! I thought I was being clever with the pellets. I've just recently gotten in to mushroom culturing, and my first thought was smoker pellets. Glad to see I wasn't entirely on the wrong track lol
Out of curiosity do you know the pH of the water after the straw was removed? Could the water be used for more than one set?
I'm unsure. I imagine it would move more towards neutral pH but probably still be pretty basic. You may be able to use the water bath another time if you check its pH and amend with more lime if needed, though I will say the straw water gets pretty gross quickly. After one 'bath' the water will look like dark tea.
@@NorthSpore I'd expect it to be a nutrient-rich solution which once ph balanced should be amendable to hydroponic application.
When you add hydrated lime to the hardwood mix...do you have to have to rinse before adding the grain spawn? Will the hydrated lime in the hardwood mix kill the oyster mushroom grain spawn?
No need to rinse. The oysters love it.
Great information, thank you all.
thjanks for watching!
Great video. I've got a sawmill and will have tons of sawdust. I'm hoping to grow lionsmane and TT right now. I'll be using totem for most but hope to use bucket method for the lionsmane. I look forward to more of your videos.
awesome that you've got your own source of sawdust. We always worked with the pelletized sawdust because the process of turning the sawdust into pellets involves heat which helps pasteurize the substrate before inoculation
@@NorthSpore Yeah , for you guys it probably is essential. I've been thinking steam pasturizing. I'm out in the sticks and have the room. I like the idea of the lime pasturization too and I'm going to do a little more research on if it will work for the medicinals I'm trying to grow. I bet it'd work for TT. I'm also trying to get some ganoderma tsugae to start. I'm new to the culturing and trying to do it on the cheap. I love your barn in the begining of the video. Any videos of that? I'm a timber framer by trade.
What do you do with all of that water that you have added the lime to after you soak your bags? Do you filter and reuse any of it or do you allow it to evaporate and reuse the lime?
Lime water is not toxic, but will change the pH of the area where you dump it. We chose a grassy area we didn't mind altering the pH, diluted the lime water with fresh water, and dumped the straw water out. When we do the technique indoors, we dump our water directly into a floor drain. You probably could evaporate it and reuse the lime if you are patient!
Every educational video, thank you so very much for sharing your knowledge to us all 👍👍👍
thanks for watching! we put a lot of energy and time into these videos. Think you'll try the technique?
I will definitely try later down the road using your idea and technique of course 😊👍
Thanks again
Were do. U buy seeds
We sell everything you need at northspore.com!
I have a question! How many Lbs of dry/wet substrate/straw/hardwood do you use Per 5gallon bucket? Thanks!
good question, and unfortunately we never weighed the buckets we produced for the video. If I had to guess I'd say the straw buckets were from 35lb to 40lb and a little heavier when we used the sawdust substrate
Excellent work on this video! Legit step-by-step. This could not come at a better time as I am just getting started. For the the pellet method: 40ltrs water, 40lbs of wood pellets, 16lbs of soy hull, 6 lbs of spawn will fill how many buckets? Do you have a preference on pellets vs straw? Do you have any best practices for cleaning your buckets? I am trying to target restaurants as I feel I could scale easily as I add customers -- do you recommend sticking with a single type of oyster at first or diversify from the beginning? Is there a type of oyster you saw as the most sought after for restaurants?
We definitely prefer straw! I'm not sure exactly how many buckets that recipe will fill. Starting with a mix of oysters is fine, but blue oyster as the bedrock is the way to go.
With the hydratedlime bath the left over water solution is that reusable to a certain degree or does it have to be completely fresh every time?
I don't see why it couldn't be reused one or two times. You'd just want to recheck the pH before every use to make sure the straw wasn't pushing it towards a more neutral pH. After a single use it will look like black tea, I image after more consecutive uses it will get quite dark
@@NorthSpore one more question how do you dispose of the water? And is there any way to reuse the water or because of the high PH level is that even possible?
In your area, what are typical prices for mushrooms? How much do they wholesale for? How many pounds can you grow on a bucket? Are the prices seasonal or stable year round?
We don't produce fresh mushrooms anymore, so we're out of the loop on prices, sorry. Prices should stay pretty stable. You might be able to harvest 25-35% of the weight of the bucket in mushrooms if you're really killing it.
Hello, I'm from Brazil, it's a pleasure to meet your work, I watch it with subtitles but you explain it very well, thank you I learned a lot watching, I hope one day I can pay for the teachings, success for you there!
Loved your way of growing mushroom.. will definitely try it . From Darjeeling, India
Thank you!
So cool! How did I just find your channel? Subscribed. This video is excellent, beginning to end.
Awesome, thank you!
I guess someone has to be the unlucky S.O.B., but I started my buckets with your blue oyster spawn literally the day before this video came out 😂looking forward to hopefully some success soon!
I hope you're not unlucky! I imagine you'll have success growing your blue oysters! Let us know if you have any questions
For mixing your water pH step use a paint mixing drill bit (start slow, but way easier than paddles I'd guess)
Great stuff thanks for the video
Can you use burlap if you could come up with onion sacks?
Yes, I worked at a farm that used burlap!
Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience
couldent you take the almost spent bucket sppores and add them to a new ready to use bucket with fresh feed in it?
Excellent tutorial!! Also, love that barn. Please send a link to the plans if you can. I have a portable saw mill and looking to make a barn with all native lumber from the land. Thanks!
It seem it would be beneficial to try using concrete mixer to mix and tumble your substrate and spawn
Excellent video. Now I know what I'm going to do with my 22 litre wine buckets.
nice that you have buckets available! think you'll grow oysters?
@@NorthSpore Thanks for the reply. I've no idea, to be honest. I have 4 buckets so thinking of growing a selection and seeing which ones a) I prefer the taste of, and b) grow well.
I was in a Chinese supermarket the other day and saw mushrooms that had obviously been grown in the same way as yours. It made me smile to see them in real life. 😁
This is awesome definitely gonna get stuff from y’all
thanks! let us know if you have any questions!
Awesome video. Basically doing this same setup, just in the tropics. How did you deal with pests (gnats/fruit flies)?
That can be a tough one. I would say to focus on getting very big initial flushes and only do a couple. the longer stuff hangs out the more it becomes infested. Also, cooler temps, being kept off the ground and agricultural cloth can be utilized.
Hey guys. Im watching this vid right now. Ideas for you. For the ibc. You can put eye bolts on top of the frame. Then use 2x12 to make a square about 4-5 inches smaller than the ibc top. All u got to do is use fast tow straps to submerge the bags of straw! For the spawn mixing you can get a giant compost that spins and has large door with a drain. Just ideas. If you use them i like magic mushrooms and xxl shirts lol
great idea! we no longer produce mushrooms commercially on buckets, but glad to hear innovative ideas for how to make the process smoother!
could you use plastic bottles for this ?
Yes
Hello! I’m new to this.. couple of questions please if I may.
Is the oyster the best for monetising commercially? Does this also work for shittake?
Once you’ve picked the mushrooms from the bucket does it carry on producing any further mushrooms or is one harvest your lot?
Do the harvest each hole at different times?
Lastly how much weight of sellable mushrooms on average are you getting from one 5ltr bucket once completed and what’s the start to finished length of time?
THANK YOU VERY MUCH
BORG
Hi Borg, oyster mushrooms are definitely the best species to grow using the bucket technique. We also had success with chestnut mushrooms (P. adiposa) and lion's mane mushrooms (using hot water instead of lime for pasteurization). Shiitake is not well suited to the bucket technique, best to grow shiitake on logs outdoors or in bags indoors. The mushrooms tend to grow in flushes from all the holes at once. Subsequent fruiting will take a few weeks and tends to produce lower yields. Your total yield will depend greatly on the strain and species of oyster mushroom you're deciding to grow and the growing conditions and will vary, but we would average 2-5lbs of oysters per bucket.
@@NorthSpore thank you for your information 😎
I’ve now a couple more questions please
For commercial harvesting purposes is it best to take the first yield and then start the process again or wait until the second and then start it again ?
How long does it take from start to finish per harvest?
Which oyster would you say is best for yield/and or the most desired?
Thank you
Borg
Incredible video with great information. Thank you!
You guys are great. I'm trying to grow some morels right now. Is your operation still in the mill in 'brook? Does tim from Walter's still work there.
In my country soy hull pallets are banned and hardwood fuel pallets hard hard to find in the region im in, so is there any other recipe you can give with softwood fuel pallets(pine) and somethingni can combine with ?
You could try oysters on supplemented pine. A There are lots of agricultural wastes that oysters can grow on. Look for different types of straw, beet pulp (or other pulps), coffee grounds, stuff like that.
Bom dia! Obrigado! Pelo conhecimentos de vocês,adoramos o vídeo,somos do Brasil e vamos colocar em prática o que vocês ensinaram,poderia passar relação do material usado no composto! abraços
This video is gonna help me a lot, I never thought hydrated lime could also work on wood pellets, I was like this method only works on straw..😅😅
I'm glad this video will help you with your growing!
I have a mulcher and an abundance of hardwood trees. Do you think this bucket method would work well with oak wood chips maybe with some straw mixed in?
Yes, it can!
What is the tent thing you've used during the inoculation phase?
Oh, a Stealth Tent ⛺
Where do I get such a thing?
We sell a great tent that's perfect for smaller, perhaps 2 gallon buckets: northspore.com/collections/martha-tents-supplies
Otherwise, there are any many different types: www.google.com/search?q=grow+tent&oq=grow+tent&aqs=chrome.0.0i433i512j0i131i433i512j0i512l3j69i60l3.1871j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
thank you! this is a very interesting and well made video. to the point and entertaining, Im actually starting growing my own mushrooms at home with reused materials so im going to take some tips from here!
Thank you very much! Happy growing! :)
as the straw reduces afyer several harvests cam you use it to innoculate future grows?
You can try to use it to inoculate something outdoors, but it's not ideal due to the chance of contamination and degradation.
@@NorthSpore ok so its completely wasted at that point?
Thank you very much for the great video! Much appreciated!
thank you for watching it!
Why not use the used substrate after fruiting to colonize new, fresh substrate? Shouldn’t it be possible to reuse it over and over again so you only need buy initial starter colony once?
You can use the spent substrate to inoculate more substrate, but with a caveat. The more times that you expand a mushroom culture to continue growing mushrooms, the more it will lose vitality and vigor. The process of the mushroom losing its vigor is called 'strain senescence'. You can't continue expanding spent substrate indefinitely, but you can probably get away with another flush or two by inoculating an outdoor bed or simply composting the mushroom straw and allowing it to fruit in your compost area
Oh well, thank you very much!!
So is a next step for you to make your own spore prints?
Or is the bought spawn cheap/economical enough?
What extra precautions should I take if I were to use straw from a bale instead of that packed straw?
Chopped straw can work better because it can pack down better and offers more surface area. Otherwise, straw from a bale is fine.
This is awesome information guys. Thank you! I'm starting out with dung lovers, but I'm gathering info on wood lovers.
good luck on your mushroom growing journey! thanks for watching the video
i’ve been taking food safe buckets that my workplace was throwing away and this would be an amazing opportunity for them!
Is it possible to grow pinoppino with the lime pasteurisation method?
we haven't experimented with pioppino using this technique, but I'd be curious to know how it works
this looks like a lot of fun, i like making things and gardening so i might hit you up when i'm out of the military if you'll have me
Hi, thank you for the great video. I have a question. Do I have to incubate buckets indoors? Or it is still ok to incubate them outdoors?
I would recommend incubating them covered (maybe in a plastic bag) and indoors if you can.
Very cool! These guys know the craft well. Really fascinating
Like anything I try to do from scratch I’m looking at cost. Wood pellets seem expensive is there a better way using readily found like local hay or straw and just pasturing it?
Yes!!! Use the cheapest or better yet, free materials that you can find. Most woody materials will work with this method and oysters, but you wanna make sure the nitrogen isn't too high (ie hay).