Best Mushroom Growing Kit for Beginners
Growing mushrooms sound very easy to amateur growers. Just putting in some spores onto a piece of wood in a moist and darkroom and expecting them to be blooming the next time you open the door. But it is not! Things can get very tricky. That is where I come to give you my best solution for growing mushrooms: get the best mushroom growing kit for beginners and enjoy your little winter project.
For starters, managing the substrate quality can be a big hurdle. Not using the proper substrate for your mushrooms can result in very low yield and hinder the growth of taste of your mushrooms drastically.
Then there’s proper moisture. Making things too moist with the thought that fungi like a moist environment is a wrong notion. The same goes for the opposite narration. Things needn’t be too dry as well. Having the right amount of moisture is a must.
The best mushroom growing kit for beginners takes care of all these things and many other than just moisture and substrate for you. All you have to do is start the growing kit and enjoy the growth and harvest of the mushrooms.
Let’s see some of my favorites in the best mushroom growing kit for beginners.
Five Best Mushroom Growing Kit for Beginners
Back to the Roots Organic Mini Mushroom Grow Kit
⦁ 1 unit count
⦁ Year-round blooming period
⦁ 100% Organic
⦁ 100% growth guarantee
Features:
Convenient and easy
If you’re a beginner and looking for one of the easiest ways to grow your mushrooms right at your kitchen countertop, then Back to the Roots Organic Mini Mushroom Grow Kit is just the perfect fit for you.
All you have to do is start the package. You do it by cutting along the market edges on the box and exposing the substrate within protected by a plastic wrap. Then cut the plastic wrap in an X shape creating four flaps. Do not remove the flaps; just let them hang out there.
Soak the package (without the box, of course) for six hours, then re-box it and keep it in diffused sunlight. Spray some moisture every twice a day. In less than two weeks, you’ll have plenty of mushrooms ready to be harvested.
Year-round blooming
While this is nothing rare for the best mushroom growing kits for beginners, I still think it makes up for a good feature because, as a beginner, you want as much harvest as you possibly can get from a single Kit.
However, the year-round blooming can be interrupted if you live in an area with drastic changes in the weather. Mushrooms (especially oyster mushrooms) don’t like it too hot and neither too cold. A temperature of around 40-50 degrees Fahrenheit is Optimal in diffused sunlight.
Fully organic
You’ll come across many products that feature added fertilizers, growth factors, and promoters in the market. The market is no stranger to approaches like these.
While having a growth factor in the substrate can account for some exponential growth and better yields year-round, to some people, they’re still an addition that must not be present in the first place because that’s not how it is in the natural world.
If you prefer your mushrooms to be fully organic without any externally added growth factor, these are among the most organic ones I could hunt down. These are Certified Organic and NON-GMO by Quality Assurance International
Pink Oyster Mushroom Grow Kit by Forest Origins
Pink Oyster Mushroom Grow Kit by Forest Origins
⦁ Pink Oyster, aesthetically pleasing
⦁ 100% growth guarantee
⦁ Flush in a week
⦁ All-natural
Features:
They’re Pink
The fact remains that your mushrooms will always be complimented for their beautiful shades and color. It’s not every day you see a pink Oyster mushroom blooming over a kitchen countertop.
But besides their aesthetically pleasing looks and shades, Pink Oyster mushrooms provide a pretty good nutritional value. They’re rich in vitamin B5, B6, and B9, they’ve tons of potassium, fibers, and copper packed inside, and most of all, they’re rich sources of ergothioneine, a potent antioxidant. The kind that you wouldn’t want to miss in your diet, and the kind that leaves your skin fresh and shiny all week long.
100% growth guarantee
Another reason why I think they’re the best mushroom growing kit for beginners. They have a 100% growth guarantee. And I say this after thoroughly testing and researching myself
Beginners tend to give up on a new task easily. That’s what keeps them a beginner. Hopefully, though, the 100% growth guarantee ensures that even the most beginner of all can grow some pink flushes. All you have to do is make some slits through the package and keep it moist all day long.
Do note that when the mushrooms are ready to be harvested, they’ll soak up moisture like a sponge, making it necessary to spray them with water over ten times a day.
Year-round yield
If you provide all the right conditions to the mushrooms, i-e, moisture, temperature, and adequately diffused sunlight, then you should expect to see them bloom at least once a week.
The first few flushes will be huge, beautiful, and unique, and the rest that follows will have a little smaller mushrooms and a slightly lower yield. But they will flush nonetheless.
They will keep on blooming to such a point that it becomes almost addictive. Do keep in mind that as the mushrooms grow readier to be harvested, they will start to lose the pink hue to some extent.
Root Mushroom Farm- Shiitake Mushroom Growing Kit
Root Mushroom Farm- Shiitake Mushroom Growing Kit
⦁ Year-round blooming
⦁ 1 unit count
⦁ Flush in 4 days only
Features:
Shiitake mushrooms
Shiitake mushrooms are not as easily available as other types of mushrooms in many of the non-Asian nations. Yet, they are very delicious and are used frequently in many Asian and especially Japanese dishes.
While having a long history of being used as medicinal mushrooms, Shiitake mushrooms still hold a ton of health benefits that are useful for today.
They contain Eratedinine and Beta-glucans, both of which are super important if you want to lower your body and blood cholesterol levels. The polysaccharides in shitake mushrooms are very helpful in boosting the immune system, and the lentinans, along with several other compounds, have shown dramatic anti-cancer activity.
Easiest of them all
The package includes a big block of substrate that you need to take out, place in a water bath for over 4 hours, and then keep in an area with indirect, diffused sunlight.
That’s it. That is all you have to do to get your first flush and bloom in 4 days. By the 5th or 6th day, the shiitakes will be ready to harvest.
This is one of the reasons why I like to recommend this as the best mushroom growing kit for beginners. It’s just so easy to get things started. There is no need to cut boxes and place them upside down in the water, no need to cut flaps in the plastic wrap. No need to retain moisture and no need to keep everything in check.
With this growing kit, all you have to do is keep the block moist, and by four days, there’ll be mushrooms growing from every single angle of the block.
Quick blooms
Like I said before, it only takes four days for the mushrooms to bloom and be ready for harvesting.
However, the flush will still depend upon the moisture, weather, and temperature since shitake mushrooms are a little sensitive to temperature changes. So keep that in mind when expecting a flush in 4 days.
Root Mushroom Farm—Golden Oyster Mushroom
⦁ Flush in 7 days only
⦁ Aesthetically pleasing
⦁ It comes alive. It doesn’t need soaking
⦁ 10cm expected mushroom height
Features:
Golden Oysters
Golden Oysters are not only a trendy mushroom choice out there, but they also tend to be one of the tastiest edible mushrooms out there.
Besides squirting some great splashes of taste on your taste buds, Golden oysters tend to be very rich in antioxidants as well. This means that not only are they going to make your skin feel fresher and your body younger, but they are also perfect when it comes to fatigue of the muscles and toxicity from pollutants all around.
Plus, this study shows that taking oyster mushrooms dramatically enhances the blood sugar-regulating capability of the body, making sure that the tissues use the sugars in the blood properly and inhibiting proteins that tend to increase blood sugar levels. In short, it’s suitable for people with diabetes.
Alive
One reason why it’s the best mushroom growing kit for beginners is that it comes alive. This means that the mushroom spores in the substances are not dormant and will sprout as soon as certain environmental conditions are met.
This also means that you don’t have to soak the mushrooms as you usually do for standard mushroom growing kits.
All you have to do is take it out of the packaging, spray some moisture onto it, keep it in indirect sunlight and enjoy it as they grow as long as 10cm.
Pleasant on the eyes
I mean, mushrooms are cute to look at as is, but they become especially more pleasing to the eyes when they’ve got some bright colors like pink, or in this case, Yellow, associated with them.
Not only do they introduce a whole new level of vibrance to the kitchen countertop or the table they’re put on, but they also create a whole new air of positivity and freshness. It’s something I can never resist.
Virgenu Mushroom Growing Kit
⦁ Equipment Type: Automatic cultivation
⦁ Design Type: Modular dual
⦁ Built-in hydrometer and thermometer
Features:
12 jars
While the other kits feature single entity mushroom substrates only, this package includes substrate jars for growing mushrooms.
This most probably means that you wouldn’t have to shop for mushrooms, at least for a whole year.
At first, the package might seem a little too intimidating, but you do not have to worry about it. The package comes with detailed instructions on how to set up your mushroom growing plant with pictures.
Growing chamber
That is right. I was equally surprised to know that this kit comes with a growing chamber at this price. It is astonishing and super convenient at the same time.
Included accessories
As if the chamber alone was not enough, the package also includes a built-in thermometer so you can keep a thorough check of the growing climate’s temperature because if you didn’t know already, do know now that mushrooms are very sensitive to temperatures.
Along with a thermometer, you also get a hydrometer and a gauge heater so you can provide the best possible environment for your mushrooms while continuously monitoring them.
Product | Flush duration | Mushroom type | Item weight |
Back to the Roots Organic Mini Mushroom Grow Kit | 11-12 days | Oyster | 1.8 lbs |
Pink Oyster Mushroom Grow Kit by Forest Origins | 2 weeks | Pink Oyster | 2.3 lbs |
Root Mushroom Farm- Shiitake Mushroom Growing Kit | 10-14 days | Shitake | 3.5 lbs |
Root Mushroom Farm—Golden Oyster Mushroom | ~7 days | Golden Oyster | 2.5 lbs |
Virgenu Mushroom Growing Kit | ~4 weeks | Depends on the spore syringe | — |
Read this buying guide to get a better understanding of what you need to buy.
Organic or not?
While I do not recommend you to either buy organic or don’t buy at all, I recommend checking if the growing kit you’re buying is organic or not since there are so many people who would prefer 100% organic over anything else.
There are several other choices if you decide not to go organic. Some substrates have additional fertilizers added to them to boost growth and flush. In contrast, others have added substances that help mushrooms taste better or be more resistant to pests/dehydration, overexposure to sunlight.
Whatever you choose, make sure to analyze what your mushroom growing kit contains constantly.
Mushroom of choice
Though it shouldn’t be in a buying guide since most people buy mushroom growing kits just because they’re mushrooms, I also decided to include this in a buying guide.
Mushroom of choice matters. Always ask yourself what mushrooms do you want? Are you more interested in Japanese-style dishes? Perhaps you should get a shiitake mushroom growing kit. Or maybe for more of a western taste, go for oyster mushrooms.
Still, there are various other options to explore. You ought to constantly ask yourself what you want.
Aesthetics
If looks are important to you as taste is, then might I suggest getting the best mushroom growing kit for beginners that is most aesthetically pleasing.
Besides looking for visually appealing packaging, you could also look for visually appealing mushrooms, such as those that come in pink or yellow, for instance.
The best mushroom growing kit for beginners can be a significant gift for someone who likes to cook with mushrooms or someone who likes to plant and garden. Plus, there is always some amount of satisfaction in watching your mushrooms grow.
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