Mycology is a fascinating field. Our fungal friends are more complicated than most of us imagine. They are closer to us in DNA than previously expected, and they even have entire communication networks. If you’re looking to switch from a mushroom admirer to a grower, how do you start? Having the right tools is a crucial part of starting this exciting process. Read on to explore everything you should know about mushroom spawn bags.
A Few Definitions Before We Start
- Mycelium is the body of the mushroom that you’ll typically find underground.
- Sterility is crucial to the growing process. Keeping the mycelium and fruiting body sterile is the key to mitigating mushroom contamination like unwanted fungi.
- A mushroom substrate is the bulk material that mycelium uses for energy to grow. It can contain anything from coffee grounds to manure and banana leaves.
- Mushroom liquid culture is a mixture of water and sugar that helps grow mycelium.
- Grain spawn consists of sterilized grains injected with mycelium culture. Producers make it by hydrating grains overnight and sterilizing them in a pressure cooker.
- A fruiting block helps the process of forming mushrooms.
- A fruiting chamber is a small space mimicking the environment in which mushrooms would typically grow.
What Is a Mushroom Spawn Bag?
Defining a spawn bag is a solid first step toward learning everything you should know about mushroom spawn bags. Mushroom spawn bags—also known as mushroom grow bags—help grow large numbers of mushrooms compactly. They’re sterile plastic bags that typically have a filter port to exchange clean air with mycelium. Some grow bags come with pure forms of growing substrate already included. You’ll generally want your spawn bag to be breathable and capable of culture injection.
What Are a Spawn Bag’s Different Features?
Spawn bags are gusseted, which means the sides of the bag fold inward. A spawn bag is also autoclavable, which means it can withstand the high temperatures of an autoclave or sterilizer. Growers place spawn bags in a pressure cooker, which makes heat resistance crucial. Most spawn bags utilize polypropylene to avoid issues with melting.
The spawn bag is also useful for holding your grain during the sterilization process. There’s always a filter patch at the front of the bag. This patch ensures that the culture can get fresh air without encountering contaminants.
What Can You Use a Spawn Bag For?
Spawn bags can serve many purposes. They allow you to create plenty of first-generation grain spawn in test batches. They’re also good for making sawdust fruiting blocks. Your bag lets you mix your spawn after inoculating it, while the filter patch gives the mushroom culture the ability to breathe as it grows within the sawdust substrate.
You can even use the grow bag as a fruiting chamber since it creates a humid dome for the mushroom fruiting process. Make sure you open the top of the bag for fresh air exchange! And finally, you can reuse the bag if you haven’t cut it open during the fruiting process.
Necessary Supplies
When you begin growing your mushrooms, you’ll need a few supplies. As mentioned, gloves and a breathing mask are both key to warding off contamination. Syringes make inoculating your culture much easier. You’ll need your mushroom spawn bag and any form of substrate you choose. Make sure you have a spray bottle as well to keep your substrate moist. Lastly, a pressure cooker is necessary for sterilization.
What’s the Process of Using a Spawn Bag?
When handling your mushroom spawn bags, latex gloves and a breathing mask are necessary to keep the mycelium and substrate clean. Spray a disinfectant in the air to ensure no errant bacteria is present and wipe your gloves with anti-bacterial wipes. After prepping, you can begin the process.
- Open your spawn bags and fill them with your chosen substrate.
- Place them in a pressure cooker, taking care not to pack them too tightly, and heat them for three hours so that the heat can infuse properly.
- Allow the pressure cooker to cool to room temperature.
- Seal the bags immediately after opening the pressure cooker to limit contamination.
- Wait 12 hours for it to cool and put a piece of packing tape on the bag opposite the filter port.
- Inject your spawn with a syringe by pushing your needle into the substrate from outside the bag. You can do this several times in several different places.
- Put the grow bag in indirect lighting within five degrees of the mushroom’s temperature range.
- Monitor the bag. You want to make sure the substrate doesn’t dry out. If it does dry out, inject filtered water with a syringe and reseal the hole.
- Harvest the mushrooms at whatever size you want. You can eat them whenever you please. Make sure you pick them by the time they ripen to avoid rot.
How Much Does a Spawn Bag Yield?
Mushroom yield is the number of fresh mushrooms you can harvest, which depends on your space, substrate, and bag size. You can determine yield using fresh mushrooms from all your flushes until the substrate block is no longer viable. Yield could fluctuate depending on flushes.
Mushroom grow bags can hold a four-to-eight-pound fruiting block. The bag allows you to mix your spawn after inoculation. The filter patch lets your mushroom culture breathe while it grows throughout the sawdust. At the end of the process, you’ll end up with an average of 8 ounces in one spawn bag—though yield does vary widely depending on care and other factors.
Differences Between Mushroom Jars and Spawn Bags
Growing in jars is excellent for beginners. Jars tend to colonize and produce mushrooms at a quicker rate. Spawn bags take longer to colonize, but in exchange for a longer commitment, spawn bags can produce larger flushes and growth cycles. You can also experiment and use different kinds of soil.
Jars hold less spawn and weigh 9–10 pounds. They are fragile and require care when shipping to another location. Bags are typically 12 pounds and hold more spawn. They’re inexpensive and easy to sterilize and monitor for changes.
In short, mushroom spawn bags are a key part of the mushroom growing process. While there are other mediums to grow your mushroom—such as jars—the mushroom spawn bag yields the most mushrooms after flush and can be a more efficient and easy way to grow your first batch. It requires some skill, but once you grow your mushrooms in a spawn bag, you’ll want to do the process again and again. Luckily, here at Midwest Grow Kits, we have all the supplies you need to grow your mushrooms. Shop our selection today!
