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Hardwood Sawdust
Hardwood sawdust is used to grow wood loving mushrooms such as Shitake, King Oyster, Wine Cap, Chicken of the woods, Turkey Tail, Lions Mane, Maitake and Reishi mushrooms.
Our hardwood sawdust is from meranti.
Paul Stamets Sawdust Recipe:
73 % Hardwood Sawdust
24.6 % Bran
2.4 % Gypsum
65% water added to the above mix.This mixture is added to a mushroom grow bag and steralized at 15psi for at least 2 hours ( depending on the size and amount of bags being steralized.Once cooled grain spawn is added, the bag is sealed for sterile colonization.
73 % Hardwood Sawdust
24.6 % Bran
2.4 % Gypsum
65% water added to the above mix.This mixture is added to a mushroom grow bag and steralized at 15psi for at least 2 hours ( depending on the size and amount of bags being steralized.Once cooled grain spawn is added, the bag is sealed for sterile colonization.
Red Sorghum
Red Sorghum is a great grain to make grain spawn with. It hold moisture well without being damp on the outside.
Barley Malt Extract
Barley Malt Extract is combined with Agar Agar and yeast, sterilized and used to make agar plates which allows you to save and propagate cultures
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R19.00 – R35.00
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Sphagnum Peat Moss
If you’ve ever seen pictures of a button-mushroom farm, you might be asking yourself … why does it look like all the mushrooms are growing out of the soil? Aren’t mushrooms supposed to grow from a substrate, different from the way that plants grow?
Many moons ago, button mushroom growers discovered that adding a layer of organic material on top of the compost could have a huge impact on yield. This layer of “soil” on top of the mushroom beds is referred to as a “casing layer” and has a number of important benefits.
In fact, some mushrooms won’t fruit at all without the application of a casing.
What is a casing layer?
In basic terms, a casing layer is a layer of moist material – either organic, inorganic, or a combination of the two – placed on top of a colonized substrate prior to fruiting. The main function of the casing layer is to aid with moisture retention in the substrate. Some casings also contain biological components, microorganisms that are necessary for fruitbody formation in some species.
Benefits of A Casing Layer
Colonized substrates exposed to the environment have a tendency to dry out rapidly if the humidity falls below a certain threshold. Even small fluctuations in humidity can prevent a fruiting block from achieving a full and even pinset.
A casing layer is able to provide a consistently humid environment at the interface of the substrate and the environment (where pins form), which can often make up for less than ideal environmental conditions. Once the mushrooms pin completely- and start to develop into more defined fruitbodies that protrude through the casing- they are less susceptible to fluctuations in humidity.
A a good casing is one that is excellent at holding moisture and slow to contaminate.
Downfalls of A Casing Layer
Casing layers do involve an extra step in the growing process, which means more time and resources to get the job done. Since not all mushrooms really benefit from a casing layer, using one can sometimes be counterproductive.
They can also be susceptible to contamination, especially in fruiting environments with limited amounts of fresh air. Typically, casing layers used for moisture retention should be either pasteurized or treated with hydrated lime in order to ward off contamination.
For certain species, such as Wine Caps (Stropharia rugosoannulata) the casing layer should only be lightly pasteurized- in order to retain the beneficial bacteria that is necessary to initiate fruiting.
Eventually, any casing layer will contaminate if it remains moist for long enough – but the grower should be able to get a number of flushes before this happens in most situations.
Types of Casing Layers for Home Growers
Many different materials can be used for a casing layer- including garden soil, sphagnum moss, coco coir- but the most commonly used is material for casing is peat moss. Peat moss is cheap and widely available, and is excellent at retaining moisture.
Another excellent casing material is vermiculite. Vermiculite is an inorganic material typically added to soil to help potted plants retain moisture. It’s also very resistant to contamination, meaning it can be added directly to the top of the substrate without any consideration for sterilization or pasteurization.
Our personal favorite casing layer is a 50-50 mixture of peat moss and vermiculite, moistened to “field capacity” and pasteurized for 30-40 minutes.
Peat moss is naturally acidic, so growers often add calcium carbonate to the mixture in order to buffer the pH. This helps to mitigate the chances of contaminates flourishing in the moist casing layer. A typical ratio of calcium carbonate would be 2-3% calcium carbonate by wet weight of the casing layer.
Perlite
Used for creating and maintaining humidity in growing chambers.
Bran Flour
Wheat bran flour is commonly used as an ingredient in substrates of wood-loving mushroom species. It is very nutritious and needs to be sterilised when added to fruiting blocks.
Generally bran is added as 30% of the total fruiting block.
Brown Rice Flour
The product of powdering brown rice is a popular substrate for growing mushrooms. Its use as a substrate was made popular by the use of cake spawns in the PF Tek method of growing. It is most often powdered into a flour and combined with vermiculite.
500g
Horse Manure
Horse manure is an excellent substrate that can be used simply as an added nutrient to straw, grain and other substrate mixtures. Dried and crumbled for your convenience.