Comments on: Growing Oyster Mushrooms in a Worm Bin?

By: SK

SK — Thu, 21 Nov 2013 20:55:48 +0000

I’ve had worm bins for a while (relatively small, indoors) and just learned that it was possible to grow mushrooms in the vermicompost and cardboard. Where can I get spores? (To Don Dillon I’m in the US if you want to give some more oyster spawn away and I can keep you posted on how it works in smaller, indoor bins). I don’t need much to get started. Any ideas from those who have some experience are welcome!

By: Adam

Adam — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 02:18:17 +0000

I would agree that they are ink caps. I know nothing about mushrooms, but the pictures I have seen online seem to match pretty close to what I have. I don’t know if spores are airborne and thus could affect people.

My uncle had a flood in his house. His family lived in it during clean up and remodeling and now his daughter is so sensitive to mold that she has constant flu symptoms if she eats fermented food. I have no idea how much molds/fungi affect people who live in close proximity.

Thanks for the reply.

By: Paul from Winnipeg

Paul from Winnipeg — Sat, 09 Mar 2013 15:44:01 +0000

Adam,
Sounds like ink cap mushrooms to me from the description. I used to have them sprout in the front yard after wet weather. I learned not to kick them with white sneakers after they were mature. No way to get that black goo off. I don’t imagine it’d be harmful, it’s just spores.

I could be wrong on the identification, there’s so many different mushrooms. I have a mushroom book for going out and harvesting naturally occurring mushrooms in the forest, but I wouldn’t actually eat anything I find out there myself. So many that’ll kill you quick (or slow but sure) that I’ll just stick to what I know for sure.

By: Adam

Adam — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 03:27:49 +0000

@GA

I have had the mushrooms in the bin for 4 months. They seem to be just under the top layer and the deeper I dig, the more I find.
I have taken the approach you mention thus far.
The concern that I have is that, when the mushrooms are mature, they “explode” and send out black goo over everything. Concerned as well that they may have a negative effect on my family. The bins are inside and I would guess that having actively exploding mushrooms would cause the air to contain stuff that is not good to breathe.

The worms are always around the clump that the mushrooms grow out of, so I am not concerned for the worms.

By: GA

GA — Tue, 05 Mar 2013 10:26:53 +0000

@Adam – what’s the problem with the mushrooms growing? Do they cause some issue?

Knock ’em over, worms will eat them too eventually. The short form is that the fungi (mushrooms) of various types are always in your bin, the mushrooms that grow out of your top layer are the fruiting bodies. The ones down below are breaking your cardboard and everything down, the ones on the top are popping up when the conditions are right for reproduction. Neither should really be an issue.

By: The Garbage Guru

The Garbage Guru — Sat, 02 Mar 2013 20:51:49 +0000

That’s one of the neatest things i’ve ever seen!
John Duffy,i have some friends in Indiana who hunt Morel mushrooms.They’re like gold to those guys.One has a lucky stick he’s been carrying for years.Don’t know what he uses the stick for? Getting older.Maybe to kneel down? Lol!

By: Adam

Adam — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 20:17:02 +0000

Bentley,

I have been meaning to write for a while about persistent mushrooms in my worm bin. I made a bin that is essentially 4 home made worm inn’s in a row with a common lid. Since I found a way to shred cardboard with a paper shredder I have had mushrooms growing in my bin that I cannot get rid of. I feed the worms then top with a 6 inch layer of dry shredded cardboard. I don’t know if the spores came with the cardboard or what, but they keep on thriving in multiple layers of the bin.

Any ideas on how to curb their growth? I can send you a picture of the mushrooms if you’d like.
Thanks!
Adam

By: Don

Don — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 16:19:06 +0000

Bentley,
Don’t know what the rates are to Canada, of if we will run into customs issues, but those are just issues that can be resolved. Email me your address and we can figure out the details and see if it is economically feasible to send it there. Otherwise, we could just meet at the border and I will just fling the stuff over the fence 😉

By: Bentley

Bentley — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 15:20:33 +0000

RUTH & JEFF – Oyster mushrooms seem to be pretty aggressive (based on what I’ve read), but I’m not sure that they would take over the microbial ecosystem in the bin or anything like that. Will be interesting to see!
——-
DON – thanks so much for the generous offer! I’d love to take you up on that, assuming you are OK with shipping to Canada (I’ll understand if that’s a deal-breaker). I’ll be interested to learn more about what you are doing with fungi (and worms).
——
JOHN D. – I hear ya! Sadly, the machine seems to have stopped working for Joe (he mentioned this in a recent email) . He’s hoping to get it fixed as soon as possible.

By: Don Dillon

Don Dillon — Tue, 26 Feb 2013 12:07:30 +0000

I meant to put links in the last comment to show you what were doing with the worms and mushrooms.

Our mushroom site is :
https://www.facebook.com/FantasticFungi

A picture of a couple of our wormbins. We haven’t tried to cover or winterize these, but come march, the worms are back up in the mulch by the gazillions… and hungry. We will be feeding them lots of mushroom compost now.
http://vermicomposters.ning.com/photo/horse-manure-load-1?context=album&albumId=2094123%3AAlbum%3A124702