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Growing Mushrooms in a Cave

While most people think of mushrooms as vegetables--as that's the section you buy them in at the supermarket--mushrooms are actually fungi. This means that they don't grow like other plants and vegetables, as their tissues consist of mycellium, which are long-branched fungal threads as opposed to chloroplasts, which supply the energy to plants by converting light into water and oxygen. As mushrooms don't have this, they can grow in the dark, or in the dimness of a cave. If you have access to a cave, you can grow them there yourself.

  1. Mushroom Compost

    • While mushrooms can grow in moist, nutrient-rich environments, you can make your own fine mushroom compost from straw, animal manure and gypsum. There are other ingredients that can be added to help the composting process but those are the main ingredients. Warm the compost pile to 160 degrees F--by placing it in your oven, steaming it in a shower or finding another clean way to heat it up in some form or fashion. As soon as it's warmed up, plant it around where you plan to grow your mushrooms in the cave. The cave's natural darkness and dampness will help retain the heat that has been put into the compost and the peat moss you add on top of it will also help this process, as the peat will give and take its own nutrients from and to the compost (and your fledgling mushrooms).

    Types of Mushrooms to Grow

    • As mentioned, mushrooms can grow in any damp, dark environment, so the type of mushrooms are really up to you. The most common mushroom, or at least the one that people eat the most, is the white mushroom, which is tasty on salads and pizzas, with a small white cap and the brown gills (or pellicle) underneath its firm structure. The chestnut mushroom is also regularly consumed, but is brown and shrinks less then the white mushroom when cooked. Shiitake, portobello and cave mushrooms are also good types to grow in this type of cave environment with the proper care and right type of nutrients. Only the oyster mushroom may give you some difficulties as it is usually grown on prepared beds of straw in very controlled environments.

    Build Your Own Cave

    • If a natural cave is not available to you to properly grow your own mushrooms, build your own in the comfort of your own home. Mushroom growing cave conditions basically consist of a damp, humid environment with temperatures ranging from 55 to 75 degrees F and nutrient-rich soil or compost. This you can easily do with an aquarium, a thermometer, the composting techniques mentioned earlier and the proper care. Companies even sell these kits, such as Choice Edibles' Mushroom Cave System, which is a completely self-contained mushroom growing kit that allows the proper humidity and airflow to allow your mushrooms to grow year-round. They specialize in shiitake mushrooms, but kits can be found and built for any type of mushroom you may desire.

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Growing Mushrooms
  1. Mushroom Growing Methods
  2. White Mushrooms Growing in Potted Plants
  3. Mushroom Growing Problems
  4. Mushroom Growing Temperature
  5. Mushrooms Growing From Dead Leaves
  6. Pearl Oyster Mushroom Growing Habitats
  7. Compost Used in Growing Mushrooms
  8. A Guide to Growing Morel Mushrooms
  9. Conditions for Growing Mushrooms
  10. Supplies to Buy for Mushroom Growing
  11. Supplies for Growing Mushrooms
  12. Growing Mushrooms in Florida

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