Growing Mushrooms in Coffee Grounds

Mushrooms are a remarkably healthy food. They have been used for thousands of years in traditional and holistic folk medications due to their healing and cleansing properties. All variants of edible mushrooms are brimming with polysaccharides, carotenoids, polyphenols, and polysaccharides. They are a powerful antioxidant with strong anti-inflammatory and anticancer effects. Best of all, you can easily cultivate them indoors year-round for use in all of your favorite recipes. Growing mushrooms in coffee grounds is a sustainable and environmentally friendly practice that is fun for young and old alike. 

Using Coffee Grounds to Grow Mushrooms 

If you are like most Americans, you start your day out with a piping hot cup of coffee. Do you normally throw away your used coffee grounds? After you have enjoyed your pot of java, you probably discard the coffee grounds without a second thought. Instead of tossing the sodden grounds, save them to grow mushrooms!  

Use five pounds of used coffee grounds (used coffee grounds will not produce harmful mold during the growth process).

• Boil a pot of water and add 4-inch pre-cut straw to the water. Boil it for about an hour and fifteen minutes. Maintain the water temperature at 170 degrees Fahrenheit.  Strain the water from the straw.  
• Mix 70 percent coffee grounds with 20 percent boiled straw and 10 percent mushroom spawns. 
• Place the mixture in a clear, sanitized plastic bag
• Seal the bag closed with a twist tie
• Turn the bag upside down and make two or three ½ inch holes in the plastic using a knife.  Poke several smaller holes on the front and rear of the bag. 
• Place the bag in a dark place
• Maintain the temperature around the bag at 65 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit.  
• Keep the bag in the dark for two to three weeks. 
• Regularly check the bag for mycelium growth which looks like white fluff in the bag. 
• Make the holes larger when you detect the pinhead growth of the mushroom in the soil. The holes should be about two inches in length. 
• Move the bag to a windowsill with indirect sunlight. 
• Spray the bag daily with water
• Harvest your mushrooms for use when the mushroom tops start to flatten in shape. The growth process usually takes about ten days once you place the bag in the indirect sunlight. 

Growing mushrooms is a wonderful year-round hobby. Many people opt to grow mushrooms in their home to earn extra money. They can sell the mushrooms to restaurants that sell farm fresh to table foods. Also, mushrooms are always a hit at farmer’s markets. 

The ideal things about growing mushrooms are that they require truly little space to flourish. You can easily grow them in an apartment setting. 

At Humboldts, we are passionate about gardening, hydroponics, and other interesting cultivation methods. We sell a variety of nutrient formulas to help you grow crops indoors or outdoors. Please contact us to learn more.