How to Become a Fungi… Guy

HOW TO GROW MUSHROOMS FROM SCRATCH FOR BEGINNERS

Montana Montez | 07-19-2022

How to Become a Fungi… Guy
Table of Contents
Introduction 1
Prepping Genetics 2-8
How to take a Viable spore print 2-5
Making a spore syringe 5-8
* Note: While the end purpose of this instruction manual is to be a comprehensive look
into at home mushroom cultivation, the entries here only represent one part of the larger
series. Past this point in the table of content, entries have yet to be added and therefore do
not have page numbers.

Crafting your lab materials

Making medias
How to knock up media
Fruiting
How to preserve genetics
Recipes

Introduction to At-Home Mycology

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The purpose of this beginners’ instruction guide is to demystify the magic of mushrooms. The contents of
this instruction manual are useful to the very beginner all the way up to professional microbiologist, as
the cultivation of fungi is a very specific feat that requires hands-on knowledge more so than random
scientific facts. Many of the techniques within this manual derive from those commonly found in a
laboratory yet are adjusted to work within the average kitchen without expensive equipment or materials.
This manual will teach the reader everything they will need to know in order to grow any mushroom they
could desire, with relatively few changes to the protocols. This guide will serve as the foundation for
anyone who wants to be a mushroom grower, as it will teach the basic techniques that most any every
professional mushroom grower also employs.

Prepping genetics
All living things come from living things, as this is the rule of life. This means that in order for you to
grow that mushroom you have your eyes, you will first need to acquire some of that mushroom’s DNA
from a living or once living mushrooms. Now there are multiple ways for mushrooms to reproduce. This
can occur sexually or asexually, and these will comprise the two main methods by which you can collect
the genetic material needed for you to begin your mushroom growing adventure.

Spores are the sexual form of reproduction which mushrooms are the organs for. The entire point of the
mushroom is to produce and disperse spores into the environment in order to continue that mushroom
genetic lineage. The first means of acquiring your mushrooms DNA is through the process of collecting
spores. Assuming you have a physical mushroom, this is quite simple. The process of collecting a
mushrooms spore is referred to as taking a “Spore print” and the instructions for this are found below.

HOW TO TAKE A VIABLE SPORE PRINT:

Required materials

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  A fresh mushroom with cap and stem
 One metal knife or scalpel
 One lighter
 One bottle of rubbing alcohol
 One roll of aluminum foil
 One clean glass cup (size must be able to surround your mushrooms cap)
 One pair of scissors
 Paper towels
 One clean eyedropper/plastic medicine syringe
 One clean plastic container with a lids (the glass will need to fit inside this container)

Instructions

1. Open your bottle of alcohol and generously pour some on to whatever surface you are planning
on using; let it sit for a minute, then wipe using the paper towel. Your surface is now clean.
Note: A countertop receiving minimal airflow such as a restroom vanity or dedicated
office space desk with the air conditioner turned off is perfect, as we want to limit the
exposure of outside contamination from particles in the air.
2. Place the plastic container on the counter and wipe it down with alcohol and a paper towel. Once
dry, put the accompanying lid on top of the container.
3. Get aluminum foil, remove approximately the first two inches from the box, and discard. Then
remove a piece bigger than your mushroom cap and cut it into two squares; then can easily be
done by folding a rectangular piece in half then cutting two squares with the scissors. Wipe these
two pieces of aluminum foil with alcohol and place both, one on top of the other in second plastic
container.

4. Wipe down the knife with alcohol and, once dry, use the lighter to heat the tip until it is red hot.
Once the metal of the blade is red hot at the tip, stop heating and allow the blade to cool for
around 30-40 seconds.

5. Once the blade is coo, place the mushroom on the lid of the box, then use the knife to as carefully
as possible cut the stem of the mushroom as close to gills of the mushroom as possible. Take care
as to not touch the gills of the mushroom with the knife. Once the stem is severed, carefully place

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 the cap of the mushroom inside the plastic container, on top of the first piece of aluminum foil.
Allow the mushroom cap to sit for around two hours.

6. Once the mushroom has had time to sit for two hours, carefully lift the cap, pull the first piece of
aluminum paper out of the box revealing the second piece, then replace the mushroom on top of
this new piece of aluminum paper. Discard the first piece as it is no longer useful.
Note: The first piece of aluminum paper serves as collection of all possible contaminants
that may have entered the gills of the mushroom upon transport from harvest. The two
hours waited allows almost all the foreign material in the gills to drop onto the first sheet
of aluminum foil.
7. Replace the mushroom cap on the new piece of aluminum paper, then use the clean eye dropper
to place a single droplet of sterile or bottled water on the top of the cap of the mushroom. Take
special care to make sure the water droplet does not fall off the top of the cap and on to the
aluminum foil as this could introduce contamination from the top of the mushroom; which would
require a new piece of aluminum foil to be placed under the mushroom.

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 8. Once the water droplet has been carefully placed on the cap of the mushroom cover it with the
glass cup and wait 24 hours for the spores to fall on to the aluminum foil. Once the 24 hours have
passed, remove the mushroom cap to reveal your newly formed spore print. Now place your
spore print in either a small plastic bag or envelope folded out of clean aluminum foil. Ensure that
you label your spore print with either the species name or the location and date found, so that it
won’t confuse you down the line with other spore prints.

HOW TO MAKE A SPORE SYRINGE:

Required materials

 One spore print

 One sterile syringe (10-20 ml)
 Distilled water
 One shot glass or small glass dish
 Pressure cooker
 One scalpel or metal knife
 One set of Tweezers
 One lighter or alcohol lamp
 One Ziplock bag
 Paper towels
 One bottle of alcohol
 One pair of gloves

Instructions

1. Begin by pouring approximately 10-20 ml of distilled water in your shot glass, depending on your
size of syringe. Once that water is in the shot glass, place it in the pressure cooker and operate
according to the instructions for your specific pressure cooker. You will need to sterilize the shot
glass and water at 15psi for 30 minutes. After this time, turn off the heat and let the pressure
cooker cool to room temperature.

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 Note: While the primary goal of this step is to sterilize your water and shot glass, it is very
important to allow the water and shot glass to cool. Temperatures too high could kill your
spore rendering the process ineffective. It is recommended to leave the pressure cooker
closed over night to cool down.
2. Once the pressure cooker is properly cooled, put your gloves on and open your bottle of alcohol.
Generously pour some on to whatever surface you are planning on using; let it sit for a minute,
then wipe using the paper towel. Your surface is now clean. You can now move your pressure
cooker to the surface.
3. Open the pressure cooker and retrieve the shot glass full of distilled water and place it on the
counter. If it is more filled then when you began, discard some of the water into the pressure
cooker before placing on the counter.
4. Now take your tweezers and heat with the lighter until the tips are red hot. Once the metal of
tweezers is red hot at the tips, stop heating, place the tweezers on the shot glass, and allow the
tweezers to cool for around 30-40 seconds.
5. While the tweezers are cooling repeat this heat step with the scalpel. Once you have heated the
blade of the scalpel to red hot the tweezers should be ready to use. Pick up the tweezers and place
the scalpel on top of the shot glass where the tweezers once were. Allow the scalpel to cool for
around 30-40 seconds.
6. While the scalpel is cooling, use the tweezers to remove the spore print from its storage. Ensure
that the spores are accessible and hold the spore print over the shot glass. Once the scalpel is
cooled, pick it up and use it to gently scape some spores into the water. Once sufficient spores are
in the water replace the spore print into storage.
Note: Spores are microscopic, and within any visible clump there are millions of
spores present. While it may be personal preference on how dense spore syringes are, the
general rule of thumb is the denser the better. This is due to two reasons. One is that even
though caution is taken to keep this process as clean as possible, there is truly no such
thing as a sterile spore syringe. This simply is due to the fact that air flow is needed for
spores to drop onto a surface, and by that very nature, spore prints are open to
contamination. Secondly, the more spores that are present in your spore syringe, the
higher the likelihood that the mushrooms will grow as well as the fast your mushrooms
will grow. This is due to mushrooms needing two compatible spores to germinate. These
two spores most be in close enough proximity to each other that they will grow into one
another. The more spores, the higher the likelihood that two compatible spores will meet
and germinate.

7. Now with your spores in solution, pick up your sterile syringe and remove it from packaging. As
quickly as possible put the tip of the needle in the water and fill the syringe. Once full, displace

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 the water back into the shot glass by pushing the plunger slowly and repeat this process 2-3 times.
This process will ensure that the spores are equally distributed throughout the solution.

9. Finally, once the spores are equally dispersed, fill the syringe one last time, then cap the syringe
and place into the Ziplock bag. Leave the syringe at room temperature for 2 days to allow the
spores to fully hydrate. After the two days storge in the fridge. They hydrated spores will stay
viable for up to 12 months under the conditions. Ensure that you label your spore print with either
the species name or the location and date found, so that it won’t confuse you down the line with
other spore prints.

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