Can i make money growing oyster mushrooms

The popularity of gourmet mushrooms is growing fast, as more and more folks discover growint great taste and health benefits. In fact, almost ten million pounds of oyster and shiitake mushrooms were sold in the U. In Europe and Asia, mushrooms are much more widely grown and eaten, but Americans are catching up. In addition to the high demand, both oyster and shiitake mushrooms are among the easiest gourmet mushrooms to grow, and can be can i make money growing oyster mushrooms on a variety of waste products, such as oysteer and sawdust, amke coffee grounds. New growing techniques allow growers to grow both varieties indoors in plastic bags. You can still have a full-time job. If you just have a few hours every week, even as little as ten hours, then you have enough time to be a successful mushroom grower. Growing oyster and shiitake mushrooms indoors for profit is a great way to make a solid extra income. So how much can you make growing gourmet mushrooms? In a square foot growing area, growers are averaging around harvested pounds per year, with six growing cycles, or about one harvest every eight weeks. You can count on people looking for tasty gourmet mushrooms. So set up a booth or pitch your tent and start selling. If spots are all full, ask another grower, such as a vegetable grower, if you can share a stand with. How about selling direct to local grocery stores? Due to the increased popularity of oyster and shiitake mushrooms, more and more stores are now selling .

Quick & Easy To Grow…

Business Ideas Tool. You have found the perfect business idea, and now you are ready to take the next step. There is more to starting a business than just registering it with the state. We have put together this simple step guide to starting your mushroom farm. These steps will ensure that your new business is well planned out, registered properly and legally compliant. A clear plan is essential for success as an entrepreneur. It will help you map out the specifics of your business and discover some unknowns. A few important topics to consider are:. Business owners need a space for growing mushrooms. Business owners should be able to control the temperature, humidity, and light in the space, though. Many business owners already have a space in their home that meets these requirements. The other main upfront costs are buying growing medium and spores, but these are both inexpensive. Straw, cardboard used coffee grounds and many other cheap materials can serve as growing mediums. Mushroom spores can be purchased for just a few dollars. The ongoing expenses for a mushroom farm business are minimal. They include new growing material, additional spores, and utility costs. A restaurant will have regular orders that provide stable income. A mushroom farm makes money by selling harvested mushrooms. Mushrooms might be sold by the pint, quart, or pound. Wholesale transactions normally are by the pound. Since the ongoing expenses are minimal, most of this revenue would be profit.

Mushroom Musts

Did you know you can make good money growing oyster mushrooms for profit? Oyster mushrooms, a type of exotic mushroom, are enjoying a high level of demand. Last year in the United States, almost two million pounds of exotic mushrooms were grown. In addition to the high demand, oyster mushrooms are fairly easy to grow. An oyster mushroom takes about six weeks from start to harvest. You can work a full-time job or have other commitments. If you can spare a few hours a week, then you have enough time to be a successful mushroom grower. So what kind of money can you make as a mushroom grower? Restaurants love using fresh mushrooms. Visit some local restaurants and hand out free samples to their chefs. If they like what you have, you might see a lot of business come your way. Set up a stand or booth and get ready to sell a lot of mushrooms. Spots often fill up fast, so if that happens, consider asking another grower if you can share a stand or booth with them. Grocery stores frequently stock exotic mushrooms. Many get their mushrooms from out-of-state distributors. Because oyster mushrooms taste much better when fresh picked, stores prefer to buy local whenever possible. Oyster mushrooms are fairly easy to grow, and are in high demand. There are several places you can sell your mushrooms too.

5 Useful Lessons

Please let us know a convenient time to call you on. Thank you for choosing this service. Our experts will call you on your preferred time. There is error while submitting your request. Please try again. Think of oyster mushrooms as the first step for farmers who want to cultivate fungi for fun and profit. In nature, oyster mushrooms grow on dead and dying trees in the woods, so you could spend a lot of time searching to find enough to sell. Oysters are easy to grow on almost any cheap, available plant waste: peanut hulls, cottonseed hulls, sawdust and wheat straw. Mycologist Tradd Cotter, author of Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation , even grows them on spent coffee grounds, cardboard and tattered cotton blue jeans, on his Mushroom Mountain farm in Easley, South Carolina. Get Growing I learned the ease of growing oysters by filling a 5-gallon bucket with spent coffee grounds in our kitchen. By sprinkling a bit of mushroom spawn—you can start your own or buy the spawn online—as I added coffee grounds, I created a miniature garden of growing mushrooms. I merely left the bucket lid ajar for ventilation and let a little light in. It took less than a month to harvest a couple of pounds of mushrooms without leaving the house or doing anything that resembled work. Making coffee essentially pasteurizes the grounds with wet heat—an important first step in mushroom cultivation.

Reader Interactions

Are you considering growing oyster mushrooms? Or perhaps you want to dip your toe into the world of mushroom cultivation. Oyster mushrooms are ideal for beginners because they are relatively easy, quick and low-maintenance to grow. Way back in the day inI purchased my first farm. To support my own farming endeavors, I took a job managing a gourmet mushroom farm where I began a passionate affair with oyster mushrooms. They just naturally appeal to the senses with a variety of colors and shapes.

Not to mention the money you can save on your food bill in the process. Oyster mushrooms are somewhat labor intensive to get started because you need to prepare the growing material.

This guide will focus on growing oyster mushrooms using substrates of straw or sawdust. This method ensures a more controlled environment which means greater production and a better return on your investment. Ready to get started? Sometimes referred to as blue pearl oysters, these mushrooms are popular because they grow rapidly. Blue oyster mushrooms appreciate good air circulation and do better outside, but you can grow them indoors.

This mushroom is a delightfully rich yellow color. It has a stronger flavor than some other types. In the wild in Japan and northern China, it grows rampantly on decaying wood. They grow well in bags with substrates of sawdust and straw. Yellow oysters have a high conversion rate which means that they make good use of nutrients and are prolific. This is my favorite oyster mushroom! They grow quickly and fruit at 21 to 28 days.

You can grow them on straw or sawdust. In straw, they tend to produce lots of small mushrooms. In sawdust, they grow fewer but larger mushrooms. This variety grows with a round cap and sizeable stem, and they can get quite large — up to a pound in weight.

They grow a bit slower than other varieties and do best in sawdust. They benefit from a casing layer. King oysters can be susceptible to blotch. Also known as the Indian oyster mushroom, this brown type is a cinch to grow and can mature in under a week. It does well in straw, and fruits in warmer conditions than other varieties, making it ideal as a summer mushroom. When growing oyster mushrooms, you can choose from several different mediums.

The most popular and reliable substrates are straw and sawdust, though some people use cardboard or cotton waste. You can also purchase pre-made substrates. This may seem like a lot of work — and it is — but studies show that a sterile environment maximizes production. If you plan to do multiple bags, it can help to set up an assembly line. Professional mushroom growers often invest in an autoclave to speed up the process. On the other hand, if you want to experiment with just one or two bags, you can microwave the straw to sterilize it.

Sawdust is an equally good medium for growing oyster mushrooms. The sawdust needs to be from hardwoods such as oak or hickory. You can call your local sawmill and see if you can work out a deal. Sawdust must be sterilized at a higher temperature than the straw because it can contain mold spores which interfere with growth. Purchase spawn online from your favorite mushroom provider. You can get grain spawn in different sizes and suitable for sawdust or straw substrates.

Grain spawn is generally shipped on rye grain and is actively growing mycelium. Let your substrate cool and check to make sure it has the right moisture level. You want it to bind together if you squeeze it in your hand, and some water should slowly drip. Use about three pounds of spawn per twenty-pounds of the substrate.

Mix it in thoroughly, breaking up the clumps. After everything is mixed well, place it in your bags. You can purchase bags from mushroom supply companies or use the larger 2-gallon plastic bags from any big box store.

The mushroom bags often have holes already in. Mushrooms need to incubate so that they can grow. Dark can mean a large closet, garage or shed. Growing oyster mushrooms in a greenhouse is also possible with a shade cloth covering. Mushrooms need good air circulation, so set up a fan or two if necessary. The fan should not be blowing right on the bag but moving the air throughout the space. If your greenhouse has large fans, place the bags at least feet away.

After 3 to 4 weeks, depending on the variety, the mycelium will have established a good colony. At this point, your colony will start to fruit. The pins fruit buds will begin to come out of the holes in your bag. You can entice your mushrooms to produce fruit by misting the bag with warm water. Also, now is the time to let your bags have indirect light. A north facing window works.

You can cut a slit into the bag to improve air circulation, which replicates the conditions a mushroom would experience as it grows out of a log in the wild. It takes about 5 or 6 days for them to reach harvest size, so keep an eye on the mushrooms during this stage. Once you pluck a mushroom, the pins will be very small and continue to grow outside of the bag.

They will continually produce fruit over several months before the mycelium exhausts its energy. One way to continue growing oyster mushrooms after the bags are spent is to add it to your compost pile when you are.

Mycelium is nourished and warmed by the composting process. A sunny day might make them grow too quickly and split, or dry. Rain can cause them to get soggy and degrade. The big advantage of kits is that they are simple to use. They come sterilized with pre-inoculated and colonizing mushrooms. The downside is that they can be expensive, especially the quality kits, and there are fewer variety options.

Read reviews and buy from a reputable company. The biggest challenge to growing oyster mushrooms in bags is avoiding mold. After can i make money growing oyster mushrooms, you have created a warm, moist environment, something both fungi and molds seek. Molds are everywhere in our world. If you have a small patch of mold, you can simply cut it out and remove it.

If your whole bag turns green, it is time to send it to the compost pile. Blotch is a bacterial disease that causes lesions to form on the cap and stem of mushrooms. Chlorinate your water and allow mushrooms to dry between spraying if you struggle with blotch.

Insects can damage growing oyster mushrooms, though this is less common than mold. Cecidomyiidae is a small fly called gall gnats that eat the underside of the mushroom.

Keeping your growing area clean is the best prevention. You can use sticky traps to control flying insects. Scatopsidae is known as the black scavenger fly. It feeds on decaying plants and dung. Control them in the same way as gall gnats.

Harvest your mushrooms before they begin dropping their spores. Oyster mushrooms, due to their thicker walls, fare a little bit better. Store in a paper bag in the refrigerator. Oyster mushrooms tend to come in groups. If you get too many at once preserve them by drying. Oyster mushrooms are best cooked. Eating many of them fresh can cause you to feel sick. They contain a protein called ostreolysin which can be toxic if eaten raw in large quantities.

Let us know how it goes, and be sure to share your favorite recipes in the comments. This article contains incorrect information. This article does not have the information I am looking .

2 Car Garage Gourmet Mushroom Farm at Home, Grow 300 Lbs $2000 per month

Getting Started

First of all, we should point out that Mushrooms, in general, are slightly finicky, and will not grow in all climates. It should also be noted that you can still grow Oyster Mushrooms anywhere on Earth, simply by farming them indoors, in a controlled environment. Still, I would want to roll with local lead generation for some part-time labor that yields maximum, full-time, passive income through the internet. Our lead generation coaching program was there to help me. The guidance provided led me toward developing a team of 5 that I manage so I can be even more hands-off with my company. Getting started with mushroom mushrolms boils down to two things: Substrate and Spawn. Interestingly, you can create a profitable business outsourcing, producing, and selling substrate alone — without ever growing a single mushroom. Mushrooms do not grow in the same way as plants they are a completely different family of an organismbut the general concept remains the same as seeds. If you are creating your own substrate, you can do this by chopping up straw or wood chips into small pieces, wetting it, and mushrrooms boiling the straw in water. One cheap, quick and easy method of growing the mushrooms involves packing the substrate into plastic bags, sprinkling the spawn on top, and then tying the bags closed with small holes poked in the sides. This process requires higher humidity, slightly lower temperatures, and much more light — about 12 hours a day. First, we should ask ourselves why growing Oyster Mushrooms is a good idea. Well, Oyster Mushrooms are well-known by almost grkwing, and they have proven to be great sellers in virtually every market.