01/12/14: Different Types of Mushroom Substrate

          This past Wednesday, I spent my time again in the "dirty room" aka the room where Ecovative keeps all of their substrates. A substrate is basically any substance on which mycelium will grow on. There is an endless number of waste products mushrooms can decompose and when cultivating mushrooms, based on the particular substrate one can obtain different characteristics. Each time I come to Ecovative, I, time and time again, become amazed at the fact that mycologists can literally use almost anything we think of as "trash/waste" and turn it into a viable product that, in a nutshell, can help save the Earth!!

For instance, mycologists use most of the major debris that comes from farming or forestry.

       Of course one can not simply pick a batch of twigs from the forest floor and start cultivating. Mycelium grows best on substrates when they have been broken down into smaller pieces, 1/4 to 2 inches. 

Some of the different types of materials that can be processed by mycologists include:

• bambo
• brewery waste
• cacao shells
• cacti
• coconut/ coconut husk fiber
• coffee beans, grounds, hills, & debris
• corn, corncobs, cornstalks
• cotton & cotton waste
• fabrics
• garden waste, grass clippings, & yard debris
• hair
• hemp
• leaves
• manure
• nut casings & seed hulls
• oils (vegetable & petroleum)
• paper products (newspapers, cardboard, money, & books)
• soybean roughage
• straws (wheat, rye, rice, oats, barley, etc)
• sugarcane
• tea, tea waste, leaves, & trimmings
• textiles
• tobacco & tobacco stalks
• trees, shrubs, brush, & wooden construction waste

Stamets, Paul. Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help save the World. Berkeley, CA: Ten Speed, 2005. Print.

In spirit of Valentines Weekend, here's a cute image for you!

http://cheezburger.com/7485785344