- Coffee grounds for mushroom growing
- What is the structure of a mushroom?
- Buy Mushroom Spawn: Recommended Sources
- Grow your own edible mushrooms
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With a little patience and some coffee grounds, you can grow your own mushrooms at home. We show everything about the procurement, care and harvesting of the forest dwellers.
In many places, coffee grounds end up in the trash or at least in the compost every day. It is still relatively unknown that the nutrient-rich leftovers from the daily cup of coffee are also ideal for growing a wide variety of edible mushrooms. In the following you will learn everything about growing mushrooms on coffee grounds.
As strange as it may sound: You can also breed the funny forest dwellers in the kitchen. We show below how to grow mushrooms on coffee grounds.
Coffee grounds for mushroom growing
The nutrient-rich coffee grounds are increasingly being used as a substrate for edible mushrooms, and for good reason. When we drink a cup of coffee, we consume just under one percent of the biomass of the original coffee bean. The rest remains as a fine, warm-smelling substrate. But instead of going to the garbage, it should rather end up in the bed and in the pots. Coffee grounds contain a particularly large amount of nitrogen and can therefore be used as fertilizer not only for fungi but also for plants. The organic matter is also readily and quickly decomposed by microorganisms in the soil and is then available to the plants. You can find an article specifically about using coffee grounds as plant fertilizer here.
It is also advantageous for mushroom cultivation that the hot brewing removes harmful microorganisms such as mold and bacteria from the coffee grounds. The coffee grounds from filter machines are particularly suitable for mushroom cultivation. There are hardly any antifungal substances left here, as is often the case with fresh beans. The leftovers from the self-grinding espresso machine are less suitable as a habitat for the fungi. The coffee grounds should not be more than two to three days old, otherwise the risk of mold growth increases again. Freezing the fresh set largely prevents this, so you can build up a small supply.
What is the structure of a mushroom?
The fungus itself is invisible to us most of the time because it lives underground and rarely dares to surface. In beautifully moist and nutrient-rich forest soils, a real network of fungal cells, the so-called hyphae, forms under and between the roots of the trees. All cells together resemble a dense network of the finest roots and are called mycelium. The mycelium of the fungus communicates underground with neighbors and trees, digesting organic matter and releasing nutrients from the soil. When the conditions then become wetter, colder and darker - in our case, for example, in autumn - the fungus forms fruiting bodies. They then literally shoot out of the ground like mushrooms and delight many animals and human collectors.
The umbrella-shaped or spherical fruit bodies are only used by the mushroom mycelium for reproduction. Thousands and thousands of spores are thus released above ground for the next generation, and after a few weeks nothing more can be seen of the fungus itself. The mycelium networks can grow into real giants and sometimes weigh several tons and spread many square kilometers. For growing mushrooms at home, the mycelium of the edible mushroom must be encouraged to form fruiting bodies.
Buy Mushroom Spawn: Recommended Sources
At the beginning of your own mushroom cultivation you need a little mycelium, which is usually on a small piece of wood or substrate. This dried, handy unit is also called mushroom spawn or inoculum spawn, as it is used to “inoculate” the substrate with the fungus and allow it to grow through. The starter mycelia are sold in various online shops, sometimes as streaky wooden dowels or loose in plastic bags. Mushroom growing sets with ready-made substrate can of course also be fed with coffee grounds.
There are many different offers for growing your own mushrooms circulating on the internet. But also in some garden centers there are now growing kits for the most diverse types of mushrooms. We have selected some German sources for you.
Pilzpaket has been sending various types of oyster mushrooms from Nuremberg for a number of years, also as spawn for breeding on coffee grounds. Additionally, the mycelia can be purchased locally in town.
Mushrooms & Equipment Shop based in Münsterland has been offering a wide variety of species for hobby growers and commercial growers since 2013.
Mushroom Man offSaxony sends organically certified mushroom substrates - also specially designed for growing on coffee grounds. Propagation packages are now also available in the Dehner Garden Center.
Grow your own edible mushrooms
Anyone who now wants to try growing mushrooms should be informed about the following aspects.
Which types are suitable?
There are many different types of fungi, some of which feed on wood, leaves or semi-decomposed organic matter. Here you can find out which species also thrive on coffee grounds in your home.
'Oyster Mushroom' (Pleurotus ostreatus): These tree-dwelling edible mushrooms grow in clusters from the substrate and form flat, depressed caps that are curled up at the edges when young. They are available in the colors dove blue, grey, white and light brown. They are also called veal mushrooms because of their consistency. Their taste is very fine and mild and is therefore very suitable for soups, sauces and meat dishes
Lemon Oyster Mushroom/Lemon Yellow Oyster Mushroom (Pleurotus citrinopileatus): Pale yellow edible mushroom that is closely related to the oyster mushrooms, which can also be seen in the shape of the fruiting bodies. The taste is strongly reminiscent of lemon, which makes it very interesting as an accompaniment to fish or salads.
'Rosary Oyster' (Pleurotus djamor): Also called Flamingo Oyster because of its delicate pink colour. The mushroom is related to the oyster mushrooms and has a fan-like fruiting body covered with lamellae with a velvety surface and a fine mushroom taste. Versatile.
'Shiitake' (Lentinula edodes): A fawn-colored edible mushroom with light-colored flakes on the round cap and a light-brown-whitish stem, which is very popular in Asian cuisine because of its umami taste is popular. Suitable for all kinds of dishes.
'Pioppino'/'Southern Harlequin' (Agrocybe cylindracea): Brown-capped, medium-sized edible mushroom with a white stem, naturally occurring on poplars. It has a nutty, chestnut-like flavor with firm flesh and can be used in a similar way to wild mushrooms.
Harvest mushrooms
As soon as the first mushrooms shoot out of the ground, you can start thinking about the harvest. In some species, such as the oyster mushrooms, it unrollsdownward curved edge slowly increases in size and then tears. Now is the perfect time to scoop out the mushrooms, either with a sharp knife or simply by hand with a slight twisting motion. It must be harvested at the latest when the spores of the fruiting bodies have fallen out and are visible as a brownish-grey coating under the caps. Because now the fungus has fulfilled its purpose and dies off within a short time.
Once all the fruiting bodies have been harvested, the substrate should be allowed to soak up plenty of water. After a while, it will bear fruit again. After about one or two harvest waves, depending on the amount, the nutrients in the coffee grounds are largely used up and have to be refilled. The leached substrate can now be used as mushroom spawn and mixed with fresh coffee grounds, fill several vessels. So you not only get your own edible mushrooms, you can also easily multiply and pass them on.
Use of Fresh Mushrooms
The probably freshest mushrooms you can get unfortunately don't keep very long and should therefore be stored in the fridge and eaten within three days. Of course you can freeze, dry or pickle your own harvest to enjoy it for longer. However, the taste lasts best if the extraordinary plants go directly into the cooking pot. However, edible mushrooms can also be eaten raw, providing a unique taste experience.
Find out how to grow mushrooms on tree trunks as an alternative in our special article here.