How To Grow Mushrooms in a Bucket

Welcome, mushroom-munching fungi fanatics! Don't you just wish that you could have a supply of marvelous mushrooms, ready to pick whenever you fancy a fungi fix? With Ben's magical mushroom mixture you can start your gourmet treats off once and pick them continually to your heart's content. Not only that, but they grow so fast that in only a few weeks, you can be picking your own immune sytem-boosting gourmet treats with this easy-to-grow method. This really does put the FUN in fungi!!

Oyster mushrooms not only cost a fortune to buy fresh, but are also incredibly good for your health and are absolutely delicious. Add them to your cooking for texture like no other. All the more reason to get growing your own organic shrooms at home. We think you'll agree, Ben is a real fun guy.

DISCLAIMER:
Caution! Do not eat any mushrooms or other fungi which you are not certain to be edible. Certain fungi can be extremely dangerous if ingested. Please buy mushroom spores and kits from reputable sources only.

Want more mushroom magic? Watch this next:

Fancy growing your own mushrooms from kits? Here are a few suppliers of easy-to-grow kits.

UK-based suppliers:

US-based suppliers:

If you love growing your own food, why not take a look at our online Garden Planner which is available from several major websites and seed suppliers:
and many more...

[ellenlittle]

Thanks for warning against boiling the straw! I appreciate that you explain WHY you do everything, not just HOW to do it.

[jasonburningham]

I like how he emphasizes cleanliness and sterilization but then uses his teeth to tear the surgical tape.

[jayefoster]

I like your style! You simplify it without all kinds of gadgets, and greenhouses and fans… Humidity monitors…
The list goes on. You just cut to the chase and get it done. So I appreciate your video. I appreciate you. This is something I wanna teach my grandchildren how to do this? It’s a science project that they can eat so thank you.

[punkrock]

You're a fungi! Sorry, I mean a fun guy!
This is the first video of yours I watched and I loved it.
Subscribed!

[dee]

Mushrooms are incredibly good for you, especially medicinal mushrooms varieties like Turkey tail, Lions mane, Reishi, shiitake, cordyceps, etc and if you put them in the sun they absorb Vit D, giving you extra Vit D in your diet. There was recently a discussion about them from a mushroom expert and Prof Tim Spector on the ZOE channel on YouTube. They’re amazing and you have now inspired me to try and grow them.

[coptotermes]

Thanks for the video, interesting!
Quick tip, for drilling large holes in plastic like these buckets try running the drill in reverse. You get a much neater round hole and the bit will not “grab” and make a mess.

[patriciakali]

I love how you use both metric and imperial units and explain everything not just the how to, but the why do <3

[tmontero]

Ben! Thank you for breaking down the actual process of growing mushrooms into bite-sized pieces that are easy to digest. Other videos seem to offer too much science that is not required to grow mushrooms. At 69 years of age, starting a mushroom farm is not my life's goal. I always enjoy and appreciate your videos as they are easy for me to understand. Greetings from the San Francisco bay area!

[Veritasket]

I was absolutely captivated by this video and I am so happy it showed up on my feed! I absolutely love mushrooms on my plate and while I'm used to foraging them in my home country, that's not commonly practiced where I'm at now. I never considered growing them instead, this looks super fun and doable!
Thank you, fellow 'shroom enthusiast! :)

[jeffengel]

With a little luck and a little looking, you may be able to find oyster mushrooms in a grocery or farmer's market to try out for your own use at home before committing to home cultivation. They're not perfectly interchangeable with the common white button mushrooms, although you would not go far wrong acting as if they are.

Some ice cream tubs (in the U.S. market at least) are of similar volume and shape to the buckets used here, and so "free" with the purchase of the ice cream and a vigorous cleaning after.

Oyster mushrooms do not keep all that well fresh, but you can dry them (and then optionally powder them) for much longer preservation. It can be handy when home cultivation provides them at a schedule that awkwardly suits your use of them.

[ng]

Thank you for being an awesome person who’s making wholesome, helpful content!

[Hathathorne]

I got a automatic mister and 30 free buckets in an old tent I got from facebook marketplace for 30 bucks. I used dried grass clippings and mulched leaves instead of straw and it works fine, giving me 2-4 harvests each time. I pasteurize it in a steel trash can, I use the juice to water my garden, can't let all those nutrients go to waste. My neighbors started giving me their grass clippings and I've been just laying it out to dry, they don't use chemicals on their grass either.

[kittenwithagun]

I just did one of the mushroom grow kits and was thrilled watching them double in size each day! I’ve never been able to successfully grow anything before but now I want to try my hand at gardening.

[faithsrvtrip]

In the US make sure the straw you buy isn't sprayed with an herbicide! I grew potatoes in resin tubs and it went fabulous. Those tubs were $20 at Home Depot but using these smaller buckets would be even cheaper and not too heavy to move after watering.

[joshmayich]

Just a random post. Really love your page. Im a father of three kids and as it turns out a hazelnut and hops farmer. Theres always so much to learn. Youve helped our home garden take on a whole new life and really really appreciate the time effort and attention to detail that you have. Thanks so much and cant wait to keep watching! cheers mate! 👏👏🍻🍻

[Aliestor]

I think it is worth mentioning that it is no advised to take off the lid as much as he does in the videos. Oysters are generally resilient but there is always a risk of contamination. Also the tape should stay on the bucket until the mushroom starts pinning, the bucket acts as a hard tree trunk and the holes with tape acts as a weak point for the mushroom to 'fruit' The mycelium is strong enough to push the tape aside.

It is also worth mentioning that the mycelium is actual 'plant' growing and that the mushrooms are the fruits of the mycelium.

Spraying water directly onto the fruit is also not advised but getting the right balance between moisture and oxygen can be hard.

[MD-wkgj]

I’ve never felt so confident that this is something I can grow.

My overall gardening experience is filled with only tiny successes but I have a feeling I might see a big win with mushrooms.

Thank you for showing so many of the stages to the process.

[mikaeelmalik]

That water ypu poured off of the straw is a great liquid fertilizer for the garden

[teardrop]

Please do a playlist on growing different types of mushrooms!

[SketchybrainD]

I get excited seeing mushrooms do their thing. Seeing pins pop up gives me a joy I can’t explain. Just makes me happy