Fungi Propagation for DIY Domestic Mycologists

@Gil_Lopez, Cofounder Smiling Hogshead Ranch

Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Fall 2015

PRESENTATION OUTLINE

• Caution in Identification &

Harvesting

• Kingdoms

• Mushroom Anatomy & Lifecycle

• Three Classes of Fungi

• Cultivating Mushrooms at Home

• Cardboard Demo & Hands-on

• Supply List & Instructions

• Milk Crate Demonstration

THIS IS NOT A MUSHROOM IDENTIFICATION CLASS

There are lots of ways to ID Mushrooms

including:

Smell it

Touch it

Make a Spore Print

Look for a Cup, a Ring or Warts

Look at the Shape of the Cap

Look at How the Gills Attach to the Cap

Look at the Shape of the Stem

Look at How the Stem Emerges from the Cap

Look at the Colors and Markings

Look Through a Microscope

SOME MUSHROOMS ARE TOXICNever eat any wild fungi you cannot ID 100% correctly

Honey Mushroom = Delicious Death Cap = Deadly

FIVE KINGDOM CLASSIFICATION

Evidence strongly

suggests that animals &

fungi are sister groups

while plants evolutionary

lineage diverged over 1.1

billions years ago.

Fungi and Animals break

down and their own food

sources.

Animals and Fungi share

4 unique protein

sequences in their DNA.

MUSHROOM ANATOMYFungal Fruit & Mycelium

Fru

itin

g B

od

y

My

celi

um

Hyphae

Hyphae

Underground Hyphae

Stalk

Cap

Gills

MUSHROOM ANATOMYFungal Parts

Scale

Tubes

Pores

Stipe/Stalk

Scales

Cap

Gills

Ring

Volva

MUSHROOM LIFECYCLESexual & Asexual Reproduction

TYPES OF FUNGI

MutualistsParasites

Saprophytes

MUTUALISTICTypes of Fungi

Mycorrhizae grow on plant

roots, expanding surface area

and digesting nutrients. It can

also transfer photosynthesized

nutrients from plant to plant.

Lichens are a symbiotic relationship

between fungi and photosynthesizing

organisms (like algae).

PARASITICTypes of Fungi

Corn Smut Athlete’s FootCordyceps

SAPROTROPHYTICTypes of Fungi

Mold on bread

Mushrooms on wood

Mushrooms on

coffee grinds

MAKING CARDBOARD MUSHROOM SPAWN

Materials List:

Water

Scissors or knife

Corrugated cardboard

Mushroom stem butts

of: Oyster, Garden

Giants, Turkey Tails or

primary decomposers.

Small container with

fabric cover

http://www.mushroom-appreciation.com/mushroom-spawn-cardboard.html

MILK CRATE FUNGI PROPAGATIONUpcycling urban waste products to grow healthy mushrooms at home

SUPPLY LIST

Gloves & Rubbing alcohol

Starter Kit/Spawn

Spent Coffee Grinds

Sawdust/wood shavings

Milk Crate

Cardboard

Trash Bag

Knife

SUBSTRATE INOCULATION

Gather materials

Sterilize tools

Prepare your

workstation

Mix the materials

SPAWN RUN

Put your inoculated substrate in an environment with the recommended conditions for colonization (e.g., 75° F forPleurotus ostreatus)

Allow the substrate to become fully colonized by the mushroom mycelium. (called “the spawn run”)

When the little mushrooms (called “primoidia”) first appear (called pinning), put the substrate with primoidia in an environment with the recommended conditions to promote fruiting. This will mean controlling temperature, light, humidity, and air flow that your chosen species likes.

Harvest your mushrooms! Ideally, just before spores are released.