While there are a lot of different ways to grow mushrooms few are as reusable and convenient as mushroom grow bottles. Mushroom grow bottles are either glass or plastic, fully autocalvable, and have a filter cap that reduces contamination. If you’re new to growing your own mushrooms and don’t want a lot of excess waste, these bottles might be right for you.
Best Mushrooms for Growing in Bottles
Not every mushroom is perfectly suited for bottles, but you can grow most common varieties in them easily. Due to their restricted grow area they work best for mushrooms that can clump and grow in clusters. Most commonly enoki, common oyster, and king oyster mushrooms all grow well in bottles. Some species such as Shiitake simply will not grow in bottles well enough to return consistent results.
Using Mushroom Growing Bottles
The bottles don’t have any difficult steps for preparation. Simply fill the bottle to the base of the neck with your growth medium. Press a hole into the center of the medium where you will add your grain spawn. Close the bottle and sterile the whole thing in a pressure pot or autoclave. From there you can add your grain spawn and close the bottle up for colonization. Once the mycelium has fully colonized the growth medium you can open the bottles and place them in a growth chamber to start getting mushroom pinning and development.
Where to Buy Mushroom Growing Bottles
The bottles can easily be purchased online and are fairly inexpensive considering they are completely reusable. However, you won’t just find these on amazon and will need to look for a manufacturer who sells small quantities. Once you have some, if you want to scale up your production you just add more bottles to your setup.
Making Your Own Grow Bottles
It’s surprising easy to make your own grow bottles. You can start with standard mason jars that are rated for canning. To convert the lid you’ll drill or punch a small hole in the lid and stuff the hole with poly stuffing or cover with a synthetic filter disc. Once this is done the jars are ready and reusable able. Just make sure to clean and sterilize your jars between uses and you’ll be on your way to sustainable mushroom production!
