Bucket Method
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Reusable | Higher initial investment |
| Less Plastic Waste | Limited Species |
| Easy to scale | Time cleaning Buckets |
| Low operation cost |
Instructions
- Drill 1/2" - 3/4" holes
- Smaller holes result in small clusters
- Bigger holes leads to drying out
- Prep Substrate (Hardwood Pellets)
- Pasteurize (boil or hydrated lime)
- Recipe (Fills 5 buckets)
- 40 Liters of water
- 40 lbs of sawdust pellets
- 16 lbs of soy hull pellets (to add nitrogen)
- Ensure proper moisture content:
- Compress mixture with hands until you can barely squeeze out a couple droplets of water
- Inoculate
- 6lbs of grain spawn
- Sanitize bag with 70% isopropyl alcohol
- Break up spawn and add to mixture
- Incubate (Grain takes longer to incubate than straw) (straw: ~2 weeks)
- It doesn't need lots of fresh air, light, or humidity
- Don't put them get too close together, as they incubate they build heat and you want air to flow around them
- At home, cover buckets with a tarp or put them in a closet
- Once you see "little mushrooms" forming (pinning), this means the substrate is colonized
- Fruit
- Harvest
- Harvest before caps flatten out
- Retire Buckets
- Dump outside, use as compost, mulch
- (These can still produce mushrooms outside)
Starting Cost
| Item | Price | Amount / Type |
|---|---|---|
| Mini Greenhouse | $63.46 | 27" x 18" x 63" |
| Duct Ventilation Fan | $29.99 | |
| Humidity Controller | $42.99 | |
| 4" Duct Clamps | $4.92 | |
| Humidifier | $39.99 | Note: Powers on just by receiving power |
| Mushroom Grain Spawn | $30.00 | |
| Martha Tent Grow Rack Floor | $35.00 | |
| Fan Filters | $9.00 | 3 |
| Soy Hull Pellets | $15 | 10lbs |
| Oak Pellets | $34.49 | 20 lbs |