1. More blocks in one space makes less mushrooms after a certain tipping point. Use proper ventilation so c02 levels do not get too high 2. Colder temperatures produce higher quality but slower growing mushrooms. 3. The more people who grow mushrooms the higher the demand 4. The longer you grow and study mushrooms the less you know. 5. The more you fail the more likely you are to succeed.
As I went to university, one of our professors stated:"You are here to learn that you know nothing. First I did not understand, but now this is a fact of life.
More people that know about mushrooms, the more demand. I wish more growers understood this idea in my local area, I understand people get busy, but we all need to be more connected like mycelial networks. Mush love 🤙
I'd say 95% of my first year grows were lost to molds. I had enough success to keep me going, and I learned a ton about moisture levels, humidity, substrates and how to keep contamination down. So yes, failure is a great learning tool and best done on a small scale. I think Edison said that he hadn't failed, just found hundreds of ways that didn't work.
Thank you Thank you Thank you!!! I started out the gate with 10 bags and 6 half pint jars. 2 bags died, 2 other bags I killed trying to rush or increase yield, all bags eventually got some degree of the green monster, I cut one jar/cake in half to get rid of the green, and ultimately, I yielded about an ounce of cracker dry, potent, wonderful mushrooms!! I’ve been micro dosing for about 4 months and haven’t felt this well in over 40 years! Failures teach you so much. I’m learning more now than I did in college! Super hobby!! Excellent video!
I had a small scale mushroom farm for a few years and one of the issues I ran into is one that people do not often talk about. Basically storing your harvested mushrooms. I made most of my sales at local farmers markets, although sometimes weather would cancel them or other variables. Since my setup was indoor and I live in the desert, this was extremely difficult after a while to store the mushrooms. I did not have the space for an extra refrigerator for when I needed to store them nor could I justify the cost to get one.
yes cold storage is critical - we sell at farmers markets and juggle retail shops to keep the rest constantly cold and ready to be sold 👍😎 Also, CSAs help distribute them right as they are picked. The fresher the better 🍄❤️
The more you learn about mushrooms and mycology, the more you realize how little you know. You are absolutely right on that one. That's one of the things I love about this hobby though, there is always so much more to learn.
Another great video, man. You keep improving and learning and are so steady - really respect that. This video here is super interesting and helpful. I've been interested in mycology all my life & like a lot of us took a deep dive and started growing during quarantine. I'm an artist and worked part-time as a fabricator. It was tough work and everyone was 20-30 years younger than me. I'm 59 and it was definitely time to pivot. I grew up farming and missed that. My wife wanted me to start in a Martha tent. Like your wife, she encourages me to be more frugal and do smaller runs. I've had a blast turning our guest room into a grow room and a closet into a incubation closet. into a grow in a 5'x5' grow tent. I had TONS of beautiful delicious blue oyster, lions mane and chestnut last year. I had to shut down due to my mother's getting ill and I had to go back to Georgia. I deep a clean and I'm starting fresh and it feels great to begin again with more knowledge and better equipment. My mother passed in December and she left me a small inheritance that she wanted me to put into the farm. It will be about 30K so I plan to build a mushroom farm in our backyard. I think it will be about 200sqft which is enough for me. I want to keep it small. I have plenty of folks loving my mushrooms and they will buy whatever I can produce. I had planned to go big and and move into a small warehouse, but my wife had the idea of building here and not paying rent. Gosh, I love my wife. Don't know what I'd do without her. Fail bigger that's for sure lol
I'm a novice up here in Canada (southern Ontario) I'm definitely going to start one up in a shipping container I will build myself being an electronic engineer and machinist. This is information that is priceless to me... I'm subscribed and eager to learn more.
awesome! I have seen many successful grows in shipping containers just make sure with your local regulators that they can permit that type of structure. here in Denver they will not allow shipping containers (probably because of the cannabis industry woes) But we decided to go with a quonset and are very pleased with it!
its really comforting and encouraging to hear that you have had some of the same struggles that I have had developing my understanding of mushrooms thank you for posting this
you've been a great inspiration Gary. I just took the plunge and started first semester studying biology in the hope of branch into study mycology later. was chatting with my professor and he also thinks the fungi kingdom is vastly unknown mystery to modern science.
You innoculated the mycelium in me! I'm obsessed and you're my favorite YT grower. I've purchased from your etsy and couldn't be any happier with your products. Thank you! Mush Love.
I want to give you some information gained from my work in the Swiss Radon Project. In a normal house the whole volume of air is exchanged in 30 minutes!!!!!!!! In energy saving houses it is around 45 minutes, above that it starts to smell bad and the air can become unhealthy. For this reason I have a bit of a problem with the forced air exchange in mushroom growing, but I know that you are right. I would love to have some CO2 data from grow tents and from within the blocks. That mushrooms can grow through the tiniest holes, through asphalt etc. brought me to the conclusion that the mycelium grows the fruiting bodies along the gradient of the CO2 concentration, somehow explaining the need for fresh air. A similar problem I have with humidification, here in Thailand the mushrooms are grown in open places and instead of humidification of the air, they periodically, with the help of a needle, pump some water into the blocks. Therefore I believe that mushrooms do not need humid air to grow, they just need it not to dry out, but the mycelium needs water to prosper. In a flush a lot of water is lost and I am sure that it should be replaced for a second flush. Some growers succeede by making big holes in the bags and this is probably so because the big holes allow the blocks to obtain humidity from the air. I hope that my comment is not too long for you to read! Best Regards Ueli
Dude I don’t leave many comments on videos but I have to let you know you are awesome. Your boldness and dedication is encouraging and I love the microscopes.
Great info. I'm in Denver considering some entry in to the business. I thought there would be a lot of new or established companies. I didn't imagine 20, but its encouraging there's increasing demand.
Thanks for the motivation. I live in littleton and was wondering why my oysters took so long. I was sure it's something I was doing wrong. Keep making these videos. Thanks man!
Ty I do enjoy I have an autistic nephew who.loves them he has forage ld two species that I didn't even know we're Texas natives one being a warm weather mushroom lions mane picked locally on cedar creek lake .... I love sharing my culinary skills with fungus haters so far I have enjoyed making and giving away my grow blocks and mushrooms to churches and people sustain the world I say feed the hungry it's fresh food that produces in small spaces to feed the masses 4x4 is enough to grow for our family ... From not an ounce a yr of fungi to 3 to 7 lbs a week my mother hates despises the thought .... Asks for the pink mushrooms in a hot blt and other meat free cruelty free foods ...recently they meaning my mother and nephew were sick with strep and other bugs so I fruited lions mane that I cleaned my first plates and decontaminated and made a vegetable based no meat even the stock was made using veg stack and seasoning and some other vegetables that help with immune breathing etc within ten minutes of finishing and feeding them my mom calls me and says omg son I Love u (history ...she quit smoking after 3 packs of cigarettes or more a day for 48 years layed them down and doesn't have a craving most times ....2 years this may ). That was last week this week no problems she has been in a better more cognitive spirits and man ur part of that biggest praise though is to my friend my professor Vadd the inhaler... Man that guy believes find out how much dirty u can get Way with then work ur way clean ... Things grow better when they compete
@@FreshfromtheFarmFungi yes sir I was tattooing for 25 years and it lost it's luster I still love art and expression but in meeting life and the eccentricity of microbiological life is interesting has my full onset attention ... I'm ADHD as well sooo ... I'm still learning these things I call little girls cause they are fickle it's like everything is great til it's not
@@FreshfromtheFarmFungi and on this there is no failed attempts just new learning ops and the more the contam happens the more I learning how to curve it to an advantage and my nephew says hi and he loves your channel
My loving wife pushes back too. She’s usually got a reasonable perspective on things, and it’s one that I miss due to passion. Good point. Maybe I should listen more. 😂
hi Gary Rob from New Hampshire, dont forget the 2 most important tools in mycology ..... Patience and Perseverance . i want to thank you for producing this content. mycology is a never ending quest for information lol
Great video and some good insight, thanks! I've just started into "mushroom farming" in the past few months (I use quotes because its just for my wife and I right now) but I'm seriously considering ramping things up a bit.
i really like the last one, i have just started, maybe put 1000 into it, was looking to scale up... maybe i should just calm down and continue until i manage to correct any mistakes that may come up
Thanks Gary. I am at my early stages of research in this game of growing mushrooms. I live at over 5000ft altitude in the Sierras and I have concluded that keeping my fruiting tent well originated is absolutely essential for good fruiting. I checked your altitude and was pleased to see that we are about at the same altitudes as you are. Your comments regarding altitude would be most welcome.
I think it can be done - genetics will be very important, and sterilization can be difficult at higher altitudes but I think 5,000 ft you can still get away with atmospheric sterilization with the bubba barrels, it starts to teeter around 6500ft.
I started out trying to grow inside a tent but failed. So I turned my attention to growing outside and also inside of with tubs. After about a year of that I put the tent back up and am having better results. I just wish I could figure out how to grow the giant bright white lion's mane like I see others doing
Summarized by ChatGPT: The speaker, who has been growing mushrooms for over five years in Colorado, discusses five paradoxes he has encountered when cultivating mushrooms. Paradox 1: the more blocks in one space, the less mushrooms after a certain point due to CO2 output. Paradox 2: colder temperatures produce higher quality, but slower mushrooms. Paradox 3: more people growing mushrooms leads to more competition and higher demand. Paradox 4: some mushrooms are harder to grow than others, but are more valuable. Paradox 5: mushrooms can be difficult to grow, but the satisfaction of harvesting them is worth the effort.
I love your content, thanks so much for sharing your experience and thoughts on so many things. I have a question (not a paradox really): you mentioned using Bubbas Barrels for sterilization, but the company themselves don’t recommend it for sterilizing grain, because the barrels don’t build up pressure. How do you use the barrel and what are your experiences? Just cook the substrate longer to make up for the lower pressure?
Btw, definitely looking forward to more on breeding. Bought a breeding kit from magic myco. Waiting for delivery still but will probably sit on it a while until I understand more. Maybe you can get one a do a video on it.. won't hold my breath, but it sure would be nice
Great video, right to the point and I definitely agree! I dappled in growing several years ago, but started getting serious this fall. I'm looking to sell them eventually, but I'm not sure how successful I'll be, partially because my social skills are weak, but also because demand is confusing here. suspiciously, there's only 2 growers for our area with around 700k+, and one is pretty small and the other I've never seen at market (he's very successful though, just focuses more on selling supplies online. he mentioned demand is low in the area but I'm not sure I believe it). There's not a huge foodie scene, but also even vegan restaurants only seem to offer ports? So surely there's gotta be a gap in supply here, but at the same time, if there IS a gap, why isn't there more growers? it's very odd But as you said, I think demand only SEEMS low. people around here don't really KNOW about them like they might in bigger cities. We don't get the variety you see on the coasts, so 80%+ of people are only familiar with buttons/ports and have no clue about the other kinds. Buyers just aren't as familiar with them as they are with other crops, and they are very perishable reducing their availability and transport. And even people who WANT fancier mushrooms can't seem to find them, and not everyone has the space/time/wherewithal/desire to grow their own. There is a TON of room for the market to expand here, and it's a difficult product for a big business to monopolize and meet "true" demand, and less barriers to entry for little growers. The more people grow, the more accessible they are. The more people see them, the more open they are to trying them, and the more people try them, the more people fall in love and want more! You can't buy what you can't find! Although more and more people are starting to grow, I'm pretty convinced that it won't be enough to match pace with rising demand. especially since it's so easy for a small operation to fail. I may be naive, but I believe it'd be a good 10 years before the market really steadies and starts to saturate. That may be dependent on location, though. bigger cities will probably saturate faster. Vegan friendly, keto friendly, and so many different kinds to try. And not only is it a food, which is more resilient during economic hardship, but it's a pretty cheap way to "splurge" and indulge in something special and fun when money is tight. I think "demand" isn't the issue at all with mushrooms. Supply is the hard part! They can be so easy and cheap to grow, but also super finicky and delicate at the same time. It seems like mushroom growers have to walk a VERY tight line balancing everything and they have to truck along very consistently. it's deceptive, very easy to get success but also very difficult to find the necessary balance to CONTINUE that success. ha!
RE #1, Are you saying that the mushrooms can sense the presense of more blocks? And thus resuting in less output per block. Or is it only a matter of more blocks means higher CO2. Which of course if a farm had good control of air exchange then that becomes a non-issue. #2" what do you mean by "good quality" or "magnificent" mushrooms? Where they bigger, firmer, better tasting? What exactly do you mean? #3 Totally agree with you. In fact I have used the exact same phrase, "a risingtide...." But that is hard to get other shroom farmers to buy into in this capitalistic "make money for me, screw everyone else" mindset in the USA. I spoke with a guy, had a several hour meeting, and toured his farm. When he realized i was serious about starting a shroom business he will not even return calls or reply to texts now. And he lives 5 miles away. #4 totally normal. learn more, realize how much more there is to learn. #5 learn from you failures, but keep going. Really like you vids, please keep up the nice work.
How much does it cost for you to run your farm in a year and how much profit does that make just to have numbers to understand. Do you have any videos that go into the finances of a mushroom farm?
Gary, Thank you so much for this video. You have validated many of my experience in mushroom farming thus far. I'm new to mushroom farming as a business (1 and 1 half years) , but I love it. I sale mushrooms at the GA Green Market at Piedmont Park. I'm hooked on the entire process from the lab to the customer. I use greenhouse heaters in my tents. I try to keep it around 60 ish. I'm not sure this is a paradox, I believed that mushrooms like pink oyster could not grow below 70 degrees because the mycelium would die off. I have been growing them in the lower 60s. They grow very slowly, but super bright bright and beautiful. I wonder how many other misconceptions are not true in practice? Time will tell.
I'm up to "paradox" #3 now and although the points are valuable as lessons, none qualify as a paradoxes. About #5 - go big or go home kind of favors the latter when you don't know what you're doing...
Another paradox: Mushrooms are are a clean-up crew of nature, but their cultivation often produces a lot of waste. I mostly think of plastic... There are ways around this, and with the mushroom growing community growing as it does we will probably have more discoveries of different practical ways of doing things with less or no plastics.
I also had concerns about this when I had an indoor mushroom farm. The methods that use the least amount of plastic are using logs and in an outdoor cultivation setup or some kind of bucket or basket.. For indoor setups, it can be tricky not to use grow bags and even though there are ones now that are "biodegradable", I dont feel they are truly good for the environment and make your cost of growing mushrooms increase a lot more. The main issue is that indoor cultivation has increases of contamination which is why the grow bags work the best. I have also experimented with monotubs for gourmet mushrooms, but they are not that convenient either since you have to manually do a fresh air exchange many times during the day. There are some cool videos out there that show how they grow mushrooms in places like Thailand where they do not have access to the growbags.
I have had so many problems but I have put them to hard and come.back through t the yard low it was deathe to contam mushrooms and I always use drmycos
just poor technique and learning - there is a learning curve. Even with a flow hood it is hard to be perfect all the time. Also, I was moving the blocks from outside in my backyard to the lab which was a big source for contamination at the time. Now I sterilize indoors
Most of the air inside my grow room is recycled through the flowhood. I haven't been opening a window to let air in. How much CO2 is too much? My Lions Mane keep coming out pink and pom pom shaped. Not developing teeth or coming out pure white as I expected
Not the best iidea as it will affect the quality, speed of your mushrooms. They need fresh air and that is what makes them fruit and have large caps. Otherwise your mushrooms will be long and stemmy, which are not the best for gourmet types because people want the big caps for their cooking.
You cant just start a giant business and expect to be successful in the long run. Start small. Keep at it and master it then scale up slowly. I have a normal martha atm that will turn into a 30x 30 version. Small medium then the start of the business comes
Off-topic but, when making a liquid culture is it normal for it to be a bit cloudy for the first few days? But then clear up as the mycelium starts to develop consuming the nutrition in the water? I've tossed out a lot of liquid culture because it looked cloudy at first. It's only been recently that I discovered often the cloudiness disappears after day 4 or 5
it may be because the honey or pre-mix is not "filtered" or lab grade. These sediments can be normal if they dissipate and fall to the bottom. If they are contaminants they would persist and it would start to smell funky - hope that helps! MUSHLOVE
Usually the mycelium will start eating the cloudiness. If it is still cloudy after about 12 days, then most likely your mycelium will look more like pond scum and you should probably toss it out.
I find it paradoxical that something so beneficial to humans should have attached to it a certain stigma that keeps it shrouded. Paradoxical but not surprising when one considers it was, indeed, the "forbidden fruit" alluded to in the Christian bible.
I have a jar almost fully colonized however one of the agar wedges I put in there (no food coloring) is turning a dark color. Is this normal? The agar was very thick due to me overfilling the dishes
I can recommend you to where I get my stuff from an online store his got his got Shrooms, psychedelics, alongside other products well Refined ships to anywhere discreetly.
if you are looking for good value, I really like amscope - I just got this one a couple months ago Ill be doing some videos. It’s not the top tier but it will last a long time with good maintenance- think “honda civic”’of microscopes amzn.to/3JbYHeP
I need help.... I shit you not.... Me and my friend have crossed two trains of cubes..... I dare say something like the world has never seen was born... I'm talking these will blow anyone's out of there.... I need help. The last jar of mycelium of this strain is fighting a bacteria or something to colonize a cake I have thrown together. Pray for my strain brethren....
I don't really think these are paradoxes. They seem more like common sense issues to me. For instance your first point. Needing more air exchange the more you are trying to grow. It's like one scuba diver breathing on one tank for an hour and then adding five more divers to that same tank. Of course they can all breath but you need more air to support 6 divers for that same hour. Duh. It's the same with green plants. The more you grow in an area, the more fresh air they need for proper photosynthesis. It should be obvious, not paradoxical... Or like your point of more people knowing about mushrooms so the demand goes up. If you had a supply of any item and suddenly that item became popular, of course the demand for that item is going to increase while the supply decreases for a period until the market can adjust and level out again. Again, should be common sense and not paradoxical. Also dunning kruger is having limited knowledge but thinking you are an expert. Again not a paradox. I think you might want to look up the word paradox. I don't think it means what you think it does. A paradox is something unexplainable that occurs when the opposite should be true. All of these issues are easily explained by common sense and logic, so again not a paradox.
Ehh, weed farmers add c20 in compact environment. Add o. Not paradox. Nothing you said is a paradox. Paul statement is a wierdo. He never shuts up. Knows so many facts, but just doesn't shut up.
Just found your channel, I love this! Thanks for sharing. Im also from colorado, I live Denver and have been growing mushrooms for around 2 years now. Im starting to get deep into it. Do you have an Instagram I can follow you on?
1. More blocks in one space makes less mushrooms after a certain tipping point. Use proper ventilation so c02 levels do not get too high
2. Colder temperatures produce higher quality but slower growing mushrooms.
3. The more people who grow mushrooms the higher the demand
4. The longer you grow and study mushrooms the less you know.
5. The more you fail the more likely you are to succeed.
As I went to university, one of our professors stated:"You are here to learn that you know nothing. First I did not understand, but now this is a fact of life.
Was that a Philosophy class? I love Socrates' line of thinking! "I know only one thing and that is that I know nothing."🤓
@@alanwilliams9959 lmao socrates was such a nerd
@@alanwilliams9959 might be as well something took from Buddhism philosophy
@@alejandrovelasquez1710 I like Buddhism as well. It is good to ponder these concepts while gardening
@@anthonyg7623 I'm a proud part of the "Nerd Herd!" I'm glad being a nerd has finally become cool.
More people that know about mushrooms, the more demand. I wish more growers understood this idea in my local area, I understand people get busy, but we all need to be more connected like mycelial networks. Mush love 🤙
I'd say 95% of my first year grows were lost to molds. I had enough success to keep me going, and I learned a ton about moisture levels, humidity, substrates and how to keep contamination down. So yes, failure is a great learning tool and best done on a small scale. I think Edison said that he hadn't failed, just found hundreds of ways that didn't work.
I'm about 6 months in and have failed to produce my first mushroom. It's nice to know i'm not the only one that has problems.
Wow... 95% is very impressive in its own way.
Thank you
Thank you
Thank you!!!
I started out the gate with 10 bags and 6 half pint jars. 2 bags died, 2 other bags I killed trying to rush or increase yield, all bags eventually got some degree of the green monster, I cut one jar/cake in half to get rid of the green, and ultimately, I yielded about an ounce of cracker dry, potent, wonderful mushrooms!!
I’ve been micro dosing for about 4 months and haven’t felt this well in over 40 years!
Failures teach you so much. I’m learning more now than I did in college!
Super hobby!!
Excellent video!
I had a small scale mushroom farm for a few years and one of the issues I ran into is one that people do not often talk about. Basically storing your harvested mushrooms. I made most of my sales at local farmers markets, although sometimes weather would cancel them or other variables. Since my setup was indoor and I live in the desert, this was extremely difficult after a while to store the mushrooms. I did not have the space for an extra refrigerator for when I needed to store them nor could I justify the cost to get one.
yes cold storage is critical - we sell at farmers markets and juggle retail shops to keep the rest constantly cold and ready to be sold 👍😎 Also, CSAs help distribute them right as they are picked. The fresher the better 🍄❤️
Is there a market for dried mushroom?
The more you learn about mushrooms and mycology, the more you realize how little you know. You are absolutely right on that one. That's one of the things I love about this hobby though, there is always so much more to learn.
This is one rabbit hole that just keeps going
Another great video, man. You keep improving and learning and are so steady - really respect that. This video here is super interesting and helpful. I've been interested in mycology all my life & like a lot of us took a deep dive and started growing during quarantine. I'm an artist and worked part-time as a fabricator. It was tough work and everyone was 20-30 years younger than me. I'm 59 and it was definitely time to pivot. I grew up farming and missed that. My wife wanted me to start in a Martha tent. Like your wife, she encourages me to be more frugal and do smaller runs. I've had a blast turning our guest room into a grow room and a closet into a incubation closet. into a grow in a 5'x5' grow tent. I had TONS of beautiful delicious blue oyster, lions mane and chestnut last year.
I had to shut down due to my mother's getting ill and I had to go back to Georgia. I deep a clean and I'm starting fresh and it feels great to begin again with more knowledge and better equipment. My mother passed in December and she left me a small inheritance that she wanted me to put into the farm. It will be about 30K so I plan to build a mushroom farm in our backyard. I think it will be about 200sqft which is enough for me. I want to keep it small. I have plenty of folks loving my mushrooms and they will buy whatever I can produce. I had planned to go big and and move into a small warehouse, but my wife had the idea of building here and not paying rent. Gosh, I love my wife. Don't know what I'd do without her. Fail bigger that's for sure lol
Awesome story! Yes, I think owning the space is more important than size sounds like you have a solid plan! Happy growing and MUSHLOVE
I'm a novice up here in Canada (southern Ontario) I'm definitely going to start one up in a shipping container I will build myself being an electronic engineer and machinist. This is information that is priceless to me... I'm subscribed and eager to learn more.
awesome! I have seen many successful grows in shipping containers just make sure with your local regulators that they can permit that type of structure. here in Denver they will not allow shipping containers (probably because of the cannabis industry woes) But we decided to go with a quonset and are very pleased with it!
I'm riding that rising tide too. #MushroomFantasies
its really comforting and encouraging to hear that you have had some of the same struggles that I have had developing my understanding of mushrooms
thank you for posting this
You’re a very nice person with such insight, freely shared with everyone. Well done for braving the harsh exposure of social media. Sound advice too!
you've been a great inspiration Gary. I just took the plunge and started first semester studying biology in the hope of branch into study mycology later. was chatting with my professor and he also thinks the fungi kingdom is vastly unknown mystery to modern science.
awesome! Enjoy your studies glad that you caught the mycology itch!
Paul Stamets blew my mind a couple months ago and now I can't stop. Good luck on your path!!
You innoculated the mycelium in me! I'm obsessed and you're my favorite YT grower. I've purchased from your etsy and couldn't be any happier with your products. Thank you! Mush Love.
I've always said, the smarter I get, the summer I feel. Great video. Love your content.
I want to give you some information gained from my work in the Swiss Radon Project. In a normal house the whole volume of air is exchanged in 30 minutes!!!!!!!! In energy saving houses it is around 45 minutes, above that it starts to smell bad and the air can become unhealthy.
For this reason I have a bit of a problem with the forced air exchange in mushroom growing, but I know that you are right.
I would love to have some CO2 data from grow tents and from within the blocks.
That mushrooms can grow through the tiniest holes, through asphalt etc. brought me to the conclusion that the mycelium grows the fruiting bodies along the gradient of the CO2 concentration, somehow explaining the need for fresh air.
A similar problem I have with humidification, here in Thailand the mushrooms are grown in open places and instead of humidification of the air, they periodically, with the help of a needle, pump some water into the blocks. Therefore I believe that mushrooms do not need humid air to grow, they just need it not to dry out, but the mycelium needs water to prosper.
In a flush a lot of water is lost and I am sure that it should be replaced for a second flush. Some growers succeede by making big holes in the bags and this is probably so because the big holes allow the blocks to obtain humidity from the air.
I hope that my comment is not too long for you to read!
Best Regards
Ueli
Give it up for Garry. Cheers for the vids
Thank you for this educational and encouraging video.
Dude I don’t leave many comments on videos but I have to let you know you are awesome. Your boldness and dedication is encouraging and I love the microscopes.
Absolute mad lad. Much respect.
I agree with you Gary appreciate you keeping it real
Great info. I'm in Denver considering some entry in to the business. I thought there would be a lot of new or established companies. I didn't imagine 20, but its encouraging there's increasing demand.
Thanks for the motivation. I live in littleton and was wondering why my oysters took so long. I was sure it's something I was doing wrong. Keep making these videos. Thanks man!
Thank you so much for the thoughtful advice!
Great video, love your perspective Gary!
Ty I do enjoy I have an autistic nephew who.loves them he has forage ld two species that I didn't even know we're Texas natives one being a warm weather mushroom lions mane picked locally on cedar creek lake .... I love sharing my culinary skills with fungus haters so far I have enjoyed making and giving away my grow blocks and mushrooms to churches and people sustain the world I say feed the hungry it's fresh food that produces in small spaces to feed the masses 4x4 is enough to grow for our family ... From not an ounce a yr of fungi to 3 to 7 lbs a week my mother hates despises the thought .... Asks for the pink mushrooms in a hot blt and other meat free cruelty free foods ...recently they meaning my mother and nephew were sick with strep and other bugs so I fruited lions mane that I cleaned my first plates and decontaminated and made a vegetable based no meat even the stock was made using veg stack and seasoning and some other vegetables that help with immune breathing etc within ten minutes of finishing and feeding them my mom calls me and says omg son I Love u (history ...she quit smoking after 3 packs of cigarettes or more a day for 48 years layed them down and doesn't have a craving most times ....2 years this may ). That was last week this week no problems she has been in a better more cognitive spirits and man ur part of that biggest praise though is to my friend my professor Vadd the inhaler... Man that guy believes find out how much dirty u can get Way with then work ur way clean ... Things grow better when they compete
awesome Im glad mycology found you and you found mycology 🙏🏻🍄❤️
@@FreshfromtheFarmFungi yes sir I was tattooing for 25 years and it lost it's luster I still love art and expression but in meeting life and the eccentricity of microbiological life is interesting has my full onset attention ... I'm ADHD as well sooo ... I'm still learning these things I call little girls cause they are fickle it's like everything is great til it's not
@@FreshfromtheFarmFungi and on this there is no failed attempts just new learning ops and the more the contam happens the more I learning how to curve it to an advantage and my nephew says hi and he loves your channel
Congrats keep it pushing
Very nice advices from you buddy,I really apreciate your words. It makes me rethink everything once again
Great points Gary, experienced many of these working on the farm years back
Excellent information, thank you!
great video Gary
Props to anyone with the humility and self awareness to recognize the Dunnin-Kruger Effect in themselves.
My loving wife pushes back too. She’s usually got a reasonable perspective on things, and it’s one that I miss due to passion. Good point. Maybe I should listen more. 😂
exactly thanks
hi Gary Rob from New Hampshire, dont forget the 2 most important tools in mycology ..... Patience and Perseverance . i want to thank you for producing this content. mycology is a never ending quest for information lol
Great video and some good insight, thanks! I've just started into "mushroom farming" in the past few months (I use quotes because its just for my wife and I right now) but I'm seriously considering ramping things up a bit.
Inspirational
It's pretty cool to watch you grow. I wish you lots of success!
Great video!
Love it. Keep on keeping on.
Nice. I’m just north of you about to start my own gig.
i really like the last one, i have just started, maybe put 1000 into it, was looking to scale up... maybe i should just calm down and continue until i manage to correct any mistakes that may come up
yes when you scale up your problems and inefficiencies also scale up
Thanks Gary. I am at my early stages of research in this game of growing mushrooms. I live at over 5000ft altitude in the Sierras and I have concluded that keeping my fruiting tent well originated is absolutely essential for good fruiting. I checked your altitude and was pleased to see that we are about at the same altitudes as you are. Your comments regarding altitude would be most welcome.
I think it can be done - genetics will be very important, and sterilization can be difficult at higher altitudes but I think 5,000 ft you can still get away with atmospheric sterilization with the bubba barrels, it starts to teeter around 6500ft.
8:35 “I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.” ― Thomas A. Edison
Thank you
Great video!)
Thanks for the info and for sharing your valuable experience.
This one is gold!!!!
Keep the information coming. Loving the videos.
Great video, thank you Gary.
I started out trying to grow inside a tent but failed. So I turned my attention to growing outside and also inside of with tubs. After about a year of that I put the tent back up and am having better results. I just wish I could figure out how to grow the giant bright white lion's mane like I see others doing
We have a video on lions mane trouble shooting, check that one out! It usually comes down to FAE czcams.com/video/BFEGb6EKP8k/video.html
Thank you for this valuable lesson. ❤
Summarized by ChatGPT:
The speaker, who has been growing mushrooms for over five years in Colorado, discusses five paradoxes he has encountered when cultivating mushrooms.
Paradox 1: the more blocks in one space, the less mushrooms after a certain point due to CO2 output.
Paradox 2: colder temperatures produce higher quality, but slower mushrooms.
Paradox 3: more people growing mushrooms leads to more competition and higher demand.
Paradox 4: some mushrooms are harder to grow than others, but are more valuable.
Paradox 5: mushrooms can be difficult to grow, but the satisfaction of harvesting them is worth the effort.
Great video Gary, appreciate the perspective 👍
Excellente video Gary ! thx a lot for the knowledge !!
Thank you. Great advice!
Youre living my dream man. The only space I have is a two car garage, could that be profitable? I've had some success with clean LC and monotub grows.
you could make it profitable it depends on so many factors check out our EBook it’s a good starting guide www.etsy.com/listing/1189456792/
Just like the avocado industry. When they became available year round, people were accustomed to eating them and demand exploded.
Great video, congratulations!
I love your content, thanks so much for sharing your experience and thoughts on so many things.
I have a question (not a paradox really):
you mentioned using Bubbas Barrels for sterilization, but the company themselves don’t recommend it for sterilizing grain, because the barrels don’t build up pressure. How do you use the barrel and what are your experiences? Just cook the substrate longer to make up for the lower pressure?
Btw, definitely looking forward to more on breeding. Bought a breeding kit from magic myco. Waiting for delivery still but will probably sit on it a while until I understand more. Maybe you can get one a do a video on it.. won't hold my breath, but it sure would be nice
Cool! Ill look into it - I am going to be doing another breeding video soon with a new process so maybe it will help - MUSHLOVE
Great video, right to the point and I definitely agree! I dappled in growing several years ago, but started getting serious this fall. I'm looking to sell them eventually, but I'm not sure how successful I'll be, partially because my social skills are weak, but also because demand is confusing here. suspiciously, there's only 2 growers for our area with around 700k+, and one is pretty small and the other I've never seen at market (he's very successful though, just focuses more on selling supplies online. he mentioned demand is low in the area but I'm not sure I believe it). There's not a huge foodie scene, but also even vegan restaurants only seem to offer ports? So surely there's gotta be a gap in supply here, but at the same time, if there IS a gap, why isn't there more growers? it's very odd
But as you said, I think demand only SEEMS low. people around here don't really KNOW about them like they might in bigger cities. We don't get the variety you see on the coasts, so 80%+ of people are only familiar with buttons/ports and have no clue about the other kinds. Buyers just aren't as familiar with them as they are with other crops, and they are very perishable reducing their availability and transport. And even people who WANT fancier mushrooms can't seem to find them, and not everyone has the space/time/wherewithal/desire to grow their own.
There is a TON of room for the market to expand here, and it's a difficult product for a big business to monopolize and meet "true" demand, and less barriers to entry for little growers. The more people grow, the more accessible they are. The more people see them, the more open they are to trying them, and the more people try them, the more people fall in love and want more! You can't buy what you can't find! Although more and more people are starting to grow, I'm pretty convinced that it won't be enough to match pace with rising demand. especially since it's so easy for a small operation to fail. I may be naive, but I believe it'd be a good 10 years before the market really steadies and starts to saturate. That may be dependent on location, though. bigger cities will probably saturate faster.
Vegan friendly, keto friendly, and so many different kinds to try. And not only is it a food, which is more resilient during economic hardship, but it's a pretty cheap way to "splurge" and indulge in something special and fun when money is tight. I think "demand" isn't the issue at all with mushrooms. Supply is the hard part! They can be so easy and cheap to grow, but also super finicky and delicate at the same time. It seems like mushroom growers have to walk a VERY tight line balancing everything and they have to truck along very consistently. it's deceptive, very easy to get success but also very difficult to find the necessary balance to CONTINUE that success. ha!
RE #1, Are you saying that the mushrooms can sense the presense of more blocks? And thus resuting in less output per block. Or is it only a matter of more blocks means higher CO2. Which of course if a farm had good control of air exchange then that becomes a non-issue. #2" what do you mean by "good quality" or "magnificent" mushrooms? Where they bigger, firmer, better tasting? What exactly do you mean? #3 Totally agree with you. In fact I have used the exact same phrase, "a risingtide...." But that is hard to get other shroom farmers to buy into in this capitalistic "make money for me, screw everyone else" mindset in the USA. I spoke with a guy, had a several hour meeting, and toured his farm. When he realized i was serious about starting a shroom business he will not even return calls or reply to texts now. And he lives 5 miles away. #4 totally normal. learn more, realize how much more there is to learn. #5 learn from you failures, but keep going. Really like you vids, please keep up the nice work.
How much does it cost for you to run your farm in a year and how much profit does that make just to have numbers to understand. Do you have any videos that go into the finances of a mushroom farm?
Thanks.
Gary, Thank you so much for this video. You have validated many of my experience in mushroom farming thus far. I'm new to mushroom farming as a business (1 and 1 half years) , but I love it. I sale mushrooms at the GA Green Market at Piedmont Park. I'm hooked on the entire process from the lab to the customer. I use greenhouse heaters in my tents. I try to keep it around 60 ish.
I'm not sure this is a paradox, I believed that mushrooms like pink oyster could not grow below 70 degrees because the mycelium would die off. I have been growing them in the lower 60s. They grow very slowly, but super bright bright and beautiful. I wonder how many other misconceptions are not true in practice? Time will tell.
yes we love getting the deeper pinks I feel like they have a shortly longer shelf life as well! Keep up the growing and MUSHLOVE
Great video I really enjoyed
I'm up to "paradox" #3 now and although the points are valuable as lessons, none qualify as a paradoxes.
About #5 - go big or go home kind of favors the latter when you don't know what you're doing...
Another paradox: Mushrooms are are a clean-up crew of nature, but their cultivation often produces a lot of waste. I mostly think of plastic... There are ways around this, and with the mushroom growing community growing as it does we will probably have more discoveries of different practical ways of doing things with less or no plastics.
THIS.
I also had concerns about this when I had an indoor mushroom farm. The methods that use the least amount of plastic are using logs and in an outdoor cultivation setup or some kind of bucket or basket.. For indoor setups, it can be tricky not to use grow bags and even though there are ones now that are "biodegradable", I dont feel they are truly good for the environment and make your cost of growing mushrooms increase a lot more. The main issue is that indoor cultivation has increases of contamination which is why the grow bags work the best. I have also experimented with monotubs for gourmet mushrooms, but they are not that convenient either since you have to manually do a fresh air exchange many times during the day. There are some cool videos out there that show how they grow mushrooms in places like Thailand where they do not have access to the growbags.
This is one rabbit while that just keeps going
I have had so many problems but I have put them to hard and come.back through t the yard low it was deathe to contam mushrooms and I always use drmycos
What were your main causes of contamination in the beginning? Were you using a flow hood in the beginning when 400 bags were contaminated?
just poor technique and learning - there is a learning curve. Even with a flow hood it is hard to be perfect all the time. Also, I was moving the blocks from outside in my backyard to the lab which was a big source for contamination at the time. Now I sterilize indoors
🍄❤🍄❤🍄❤🍄❤🍄❤🍄❤🍄❤
Im dealing with the help issue im dealing with tricoderma on 80% of blocks. I need a flow hood
Failing is just part of the game.
I would add that its more profitable to sell fewer high quality items than more items at a lower margin.
Yes I agree with this philosophy
That must have been a very humbling experience when the mycologist identified ur mushrooms at the market
"Title text here"
- Gary, 2023
Consume knowledge the way mycelium Consume media.
Just about any successful endeavor is built on a foundation of failure. Embrace failure as part of the process and grow from it.
Most of the air inside my grow room is recycled through the flowhood. I haven't been opening a window to let air in. How much CO2 is too much? My Lions Mane keep coming out pink and pom pom shaped. Not developing teeth or coming out pure white as I expected
keep it below 1000ppm
Also the pink can be caused by it being a little too cool. But yeah with the pom pom, that's definitely because of too much CO2
have you tried adding co2 to your grow area since more boxes takes away and produces smaller size mushrooms?
no but this is the principal of Fresh Air Exchange - maybe adding exogenous oxygen would help make them bulky
Not the best iidea as it will affect the quality, speed of your mushrooms. They need fresh air and that is what makes them fruit and have large caps. Otherwise your mushrooms will be long and stemmy, which are not the best for gourmet types because people want the big caps for their cooking.
You cant just start a giant business and expect to be successful in the long run. Start small. Keep at it and master it then scale up slowly.
I have a normal martha atm that will turn into a 30x 30 version. Small medium then the start of the business comes
Slow and steady wins the mushrooms
You have Terry energy from reno 911
Very funny
Lol
Is there any way to legally sell p. cubensis mushrooms in Colorado
Not yet
Off-topic but, when making a liquid culture is it normal for it to be a bit cloudy for the first few days? But then clear up as the mycelium starts to develop consuming the nutrition in the water? I've tossed out a lot of liquid culture because it looked cloudy at first. It's only been recently that I discovered often the cloudiness disappears after day 4 or 5
it may be because the honey or pre-mix is not "filtered" or lab grade. These sediments can be normal if they dissipate and fall to the bottom. If they are contaminants they would persist and it would start to smell funky - hope that helps! MUSHLOVE
Usually the mycelium will start eating the cloudiness. If it is still cloudy after about 12 days, then most likely your mycelium will look more like pond scum and you should probably toss it out.
I find it paradoxical that something so beneficial to humans should have attached to it a certain stigma that keeps it shrouded. Paradoxical but not surprising when one considers it was, indeed, the "forbidden fruit" alluded to in the Christian bible.
Do monotub oysters work?
they work but they tend to be leggy and not that good
I have a jar almost fully colonized however one of the agar wedges I put in there (no food coloring) is turning a dark color. Is this normal? The agar was very thick due to me overfilling the dishes
I can recommend you to where I get my stuff from an online store his got his got Shrooms, psychedelics, alongside other products well Refined ships to anywhere discreetly.
He's on Instagrams also on Telegram with the below handle as...
Mycopete..
Hi man! Can I ask for a little help?
What microscope do your recommend for mycology?
this is the one I got - it’s not super fancy but affordable- think “the honda civic” of microscopes amzn.to/3HlWzzx
@@FreshfromtheFarmFungi perfect, thank you brother
Can u recommend a good microscope
if you are looking for good value, I really like amscope - I just got this one a couple months ago Ill be doing some videos. It’s not the top tier but it will last a long time with good maintenance- think “honda civic”’of microscopes amzn.to/3JbYHeP
I need help.... I shit you not.... Me and my friend have crossed two trains of cubes..... I dare say something like the world has never seen was born... I'm talking these will blow anyone's out of there.... I need help. The last jar of mycelium of this strain is fighting a bacteria or something to colonize a cake I have thrown together. Pray for my strain brethren....
look into water agar or antibiotic agar
Learn how to grow before you even think about starting a farm...that's my mind set. Your always gonna have failure. Thanks for the great info Gary
I don't really think these are paradoxes. They seem more like common sense issues to me.
For instance your first point. Needing more air exchange the more you are trying to grow.
It's like one scuba diver breathing on one tank for an hour and then adding five more divers to that same tank. Of course they can all breath but you need more air to support 6 divers for that same hour.
Duh.
It's the same with green plants. The more you grow in an area, the more fresh air they need for proper photosynthesis.
It should be obvious, not paradoxical...
Or like your point of more people knowing about mushrooms so the demand goes up.
If you had a supply of any item and suddenly that item became popular, of course the demand for that item is going to increase while the supply decreases for a period until the market can adjust and level out again.
Again, should be common sense and not paradoxical.
Also dunning kruger is having limited knowledge but thinking you are an expert. Again not a paradox.
I think you might want to look up the word paradox. I don't think it means what you think it does.
A paradox is something unexplainable that occurs when the opposite should be true. All of these issues are easily explained by common sense and logic, so again not a paradox.
Ehh, weed farmers add c20 in compact environment. Add o.
Not paradox.
Nothing you said is a paradox.
Paul statement is a wierdo. He never shuts up. Knows so many facts, but just doesn't shut up.
Just found your channel, I love this! Thanks for sharing. Im also from colorado, I live Denver and have been growing mushrooms for around 2 years now. Im starting to get deep into it. Do you have an Instagram I can follow you on?
Awesome! we are @freshfromthefarmfungi
Anyone have a TLDW? Thanks.
Really good vid! But when you talk about "fresh air" do you mean lack oxygen, or is there something else?
it’s the exchange of air so replacing CO2 concentrated air with Oxygenated air
@@FreshfromtheFarmFungi understood, but this could be done without changing the air