Growing mushrooms is an easy and fulfilling hobby to take up as an environmental practice, repurposing household waste to grow tasty mushrooms with rich flavors. Mycorrhizal action plays an essential part in giving mushrooms their deep and complex flavors, giving it great depth.

Utilizing coffee grounds as mushroom substrate is an ideal option for home cultivation as the brewing process already sterilizes them and adds essential nutrients like nitrogen and potassium that mushrooms thrive off of. Free coffee grounds may be found at local cafes or through family or household members – though refrigeration might also work; just use them within 24 hours so as to maintain their pasteurized state!

Start by filling a 3-5L bucket with lid with approximately one third of its contents, and adding 50-100g of oyster mushroom spawn (mycelium). Next, mix this into the coffee grounds evenly so it colonizes quickly; breaking any clumps of mycelium may speed this process along further. Afterwards, give the container a good shake to ensure all mycelium has spread across its substrate evenly.

Mist the substrate daily to keep humidity high, using a hygrometer as necessary to adjust and manage its level. You may also benefit from adding small handfuls of straw or sawdust into the mix to enhance aeration and prevent overcompressing which could otherwise inhibit mycelial growth.

Once the mycelium has colonized your substrate, small mushrooms should appear from beneath it. Please keep in mind that fruiting may take up to several months; that’s just part of its natural cycle of development.

Once your mushrooms have reached a desirable size, you can start expanding their colony using a box that allows for proper air circulation. A Filter Spawn Bag is an excellent choice as its filter removes contaminants while giving mycelium enough oxygen. Once they start fruiting it’s also wise to divide up a full box in half before splitting each half with fresh coffee grounds and spawn for faster colony maturity and quicker harvests! Unlike other fungi species however, mushrooms take much longer to fruit than other forms but with proper conditions you can do successfully grow them from coffee grounds!