5 Steps For Growing Mushrooms In Coffee Grounds

Coffee grounds are one of the best and readily available mediums for growing mushrooms. Mushrooms will get all the nutrients they require from the coffee grounds. Let us dive in and learn the best tips for growing mushrooms in coffee grounds at home.

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Learn how to grow mushrooms at home with our recommended Best Mushroom Starter Kits.

Why Grow Mushrooms In Coffee Grinds

Coffee and mushrooms are a perfect match made in heaven. Coffee mushroom growing is very easy and can be done either indoors or outdoors. Growing mushrooms in coffee grounds allow anybody to grow delicious mushrooms using easily accessible and free materials.

Using coffee grounds to grow mushrooms is easier than traditional mushroom growing. You simply take coffee grind waste and use it as the medium for growing your delicious mushrooms. A medium is what a plant or vegetable grows in. It is typical soil. For hydroponic systems, it can be water, sand, or slate. For mushrooms, yes it can be coffee!

When making coffee, only a small percent of the coffee biomass is used. A large percentage goes to waste. This huge amount of coffee waste is still packed with lots of nutrients, which mushrooms love to grow on.

Learn more about Growing Mushrooms At Home

Benefits Of Growing Mushrooms In Coffee Grounds

There are many benefits of growing mushrooms In coffee grounds. One of the major benefits is that you use nutrients in the coffee that would have normally gone to waste. Other benefits include:

No Need For Sterilization

It is very important to sterilize the medium you are using to grow your mushrooms. It would be best if you pasteurized straw or sawdust before you use it. This makes growing mushrooms at home a bit complicated and is why often people start with mushroom growing kits.

The most common way of sterilizing this medium is using steam or hot water. The sterilization process is messy and very costly when done on a large scale. It’s not costly on a small scale, but can be a pain.

The best thing about coffee grounds is that you do not need to sterilize them. Coffee grounds are already sterilized during the brewing process. You, therefore, do away with this costly and messy step.

It Is Simple To Start Growing Mushrooms On Coffee Grounds

Doing away with the sterilization process means that it is very simple to get started. You also don’t need expensive equipment. 

All you need is to collect used coffee grounds, mix them with the mushroom pawn, bag it, and watch as it grows. Mushroom spawns are like seedlings in plants. 

Easy To Find The Medium

Coffee grounds are often thrown into the bin. Most coffee cafes will easily give you their used coffee grind if you don’t have any collected at home. Ground coffee is a great and free medium for growing mushrooms. 

No Equipment Is Needed

Growing mushrooms in coffee grounds do not need a lot of expensive equipment. All you will need are growing bags and a container where you can mix mushroom spawn and the coffee grounds.

Best Mushrooms Varieties To Grow In Coffee Grounds

There are a lot of mushroom varieties that will grow well on coffee grounds. However, it is very important to take care of the mushrooms during the growing process. 

If your coffee grounds start forming mold, spray less water. You may also move them to a cooler environment. Growing mushrooms in coffee grounds are ideal in temperatures of between 60 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. 

The following mushroom varieties will do well on coffee grounds.

Growing Oyster Mushrooms In Coffee Grounds

Oyster mushrooms are the fastest and easiest edible mushrooms to grow on coffee grounds. They are delicious and nutritious.

Oyster mushrooms love to grow on coffee grounds, which are easily and freely available. Use clean equipment and rubber gloves to mix used coffee ground and mushroom spawn. Add enough clean water to make the coffee grounds damp.

Oyster mushrooms are the best for beginners.

Growing Button Mushrooms In Coffee Grounds

Button mushrooms are becoming popular for growing at home. Button mushrooms are among the easiest varieties of mushrooms to grow at home. 

They do not need sunlight to grow. You can easily grow button mushrooms on coffee grounds. It is easy to find button mushrooms spawn and used coffee grounds.

Growing Shiitake Mushrooms In Coffee Grounds

Shiitake mushrooms are not easy to grow because they are not aggressive and require a longer incubation period. However, shiitake mushrooms will produce more fresh mushrooms, which pays for the extra time and energy spent growing them.

Shiitake mushrooms are a good variety for growing on coffee grounds. Coffee grounds are freely available and do not require sterilization, making them a suitable medium for shiitake mushrooms.

Growing Portobello Mushrooms In Coffee Grounds

Portobello mushrooms are large and delicious. They are largely used as substitutes for beef in vegetarian burgers.  

Portobello mushrooms are large and will therefore need more coffee grounds. They are the full-grown stage of button mushrooms.

5 Steps For Growing Mushrooms In Coffee Grounds

Step 1: Collecting Coffee Grounds

Coffee grounds are easily and freely available. The best coffee grounds should be fresh, collected within 24 hours of brewing. 

It is easier to collect ground coffee in the city because the population is high; hence coffee cafes sell more.

Step 2: Mix The Coffee Grounds With Mushroom Spawn

Ensure you have the right ratio of all the ingredients. Use 10 percent of mushroom spawn to the coffee weight.  Ensure that sterilized straw or sawdust is 20 percent the weight of the coffee ground.

Mix the ingredients and place them in growing bags. Make sure you break pucks of coffee grounds as you mix. 

Adding straw or sawdust ensures that there is better air circulation. It also helps prevent coffee grounds from becoming compact because of their small particles.

Check out these mushroom growing bags to get you started.

Step 3: Incubation

Incubate the mixture for two to three weeks. Leave the growing bags in a warm dark place.  Check regularly to see white mycelium grow in the coffee.

Mycelium is a white network of roots and the main organism from which mushrooms grow. After two to three weeks, the bags should be full of bright white mycelium.

Step 4: Place The Growing Bags In Fruiting Conditions

Cut a small hole in your growing bag. Place the bag where it can get some indirect sunlight and spray with water every day.

Mushrooms will start growing in five to ten days. Mushrooms grow very fast and should double their size each day. 

Spray with water twice a day for the next five to seven days.

Step 5: Harvest

Harvest your mushrooms when the cap starts to flatten out. You can cut with a knife or twist the cluster.

Submerge the growing bag in water overnight after two days to rehydrate the medium. Encourage the second crop to grow by spraying daily.

Growing mushrooms in coffee grounds are one of the most economical ways to grow mushrooms. Coffee grounds and mushrooms create a perfect combination. Mushrooms will get all the nutrients they need from the coffee grounds.

There is no expensive equipment required, and coffee grounds are easily and freely available. Visit your coffee café and start using coffee grounds to grow mushrooms.

FAQs – Growing Mushrooms In Coffee Grounds