Hi, I am here to document my progress attempting to grow shiitake (turns out they were Oyster mushrooms as the supply store mixed up my order), mushrooms as cheaply as I can. I have now inoculated some substrate with Shiitake dowel plugs, which is colony 7.

I started with 2 buckets, which I put some boiling water in before the substrate.

The substrate growing medium is coffee grounds with 20% straw (the straw helps the mycelium proliferate)

The coffee grounds was oven sterilized at 150 degrees C, the straw was boiled in a pot.

I brought wooden dowels as shiitake (which were oyster's) spawn (off the internet) and rather than inoculate hardwood logs, I thought I might try and grow in coffee grounds.

Apparently it takes 90 days for shiitake mycelium to colonize substrate before it can be shocked to fruit and produce mushrooms.

Update after 5 weeks, opening up occasionally 1 bucket has failed and the other is doing well. I am not sure why 1 bucket failed, it could have been too damp, or because it didn't have a breather on the top like the other one.

9 Weeks later and the Oyster seem to be doing well..

The other bucket was converted to oyster mushrooms but it is still early days..

I have fruited Oyster mushrooms and have split one colony to make 2 more bigger colonies 5 and 6

I have started a shiitake strain from a different source.on the 27th of November, which is now colony 7.