growing & understanding gourmet fungi's - General Gardening - International Cannagraphic Magazine Forums

WaxyTaxi · 10-28-2016, 05:25 PM

alrighty, times are changing!

always thought I'd be in the cannabiz my whole life but this might be better...

Downscaled the current cannabis grow and learning everything I can this winter to produce enough mushrooms to pay the bills and eat next year.

the new MI laws are so ridiculous, I am through playing their game. Time to move onto something that has not been regulated so heavy(yet).

SHIITAKES! I love eating them and think they are some of the coolest looking of the commercial available varieties. I want to focus on these mainly but want to grow reishis,maitakes,oysters,turke y tail & many more.

I ordered some pre inoculated bags from Asheville fungi and hope to get an idea of the process soon and maybe even make some spore prints and get the ball rolling.

----

please post pics of your mushroom grow area/rooms! Unless your doing the whole hallucinating route, stay safe and keep to yourself lol

Betterhaff · 10-28-2016, 05:41 PM

Look into plugs if you have the means and suitable environment for growing outdoors.

https://www.gmushrooms.com/Plugs/index.htm

ronbo51 · 10-29-2016, 02:33 PM

I grew gourmet and medicinal mushrooms for 7 years commercially. I built a cleanroom lab to do the tissue culture and spawn production. I had large pressure vessels to sterilize tons of media. My grow building had all environmental controls. It was an efficient setup and I cranked out 200 pounds a week of mostly shiitake, but also oysters, lion's mane, reishi, and several others. Just like any ag or manufacturing business you have two aspects that determine your destiny. Firstly, actually producing the product, and secondly selling the product. There are many ways for things to go wrong on the production side. But even if you overcome them and become skilled you still face the second hurdle, which for me, was harder to beat. Mushrooms are a commodity. Every kitchen manager and owner orders produce from a company that brings in truckloads of gear from all over the world the next day after an order is placed. The prices are set by the lowest cost producer. Economies of scale and access to capital allow prices to constantly drift lower for producers. Most restaurants and produce companies don't care about the details of your story. They want dependable high quality products to be delivered on time and at the best prices. Some white tablecloth restaurants will deal with local stuff as long as it is convenient to do so. You will never sell anything to an oriental establishment ever, so don't count on that. I also grew produce and did the farmers market circuit which allowed me to get the highest price with no middleman. But farmers markets suck for the most part. They have catty members who look after themselves and resent newcomers for the most part. Many markets are good for the one or two large scale vegetable farmers that become the "anchors" and the niche and boutique vendors harvest the scraps and generally don't make much money. It is ironic that my production facility is now being used to grow weed, now that I am long ago moved. I always wanted to do a few crops but never had the guts to do it. Now that state is legal and that building is being used to its full potential.

WaxyTaxi · 10-29-2016, 03:06 PM

plugs are cool, but I will do those later when I buy land and have time, I want to focus on continuous indoor production with bags for now.

damn ronbo, excellent points and tips, especially with oriental places as I was thinking they would be an easy customer haha

unregistered190 · 10-29-2016, 03:19 PM

Good luck on your adventure Waxy

raven44 · 10-31-2016, 05:29 PM

What part of the continent were u running ur gourmet farm ronbo51?

Good info

ronbo51 · 11-01-2016, 12:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by raven44

What part of the continent were u running ur gourmet farm ronbo51?

Good info

I was in Maine

raven44 · 11-01-2016, 03:58 PM

Interesting, I wonder how the markets differ from city to city or state to state...

raven44 · 11-02-2016, 03:17 AM

The Maine market prices are higher I'm sure but I wonder if competition is higher as well..??

Washington state has a fair bit of competition but maybe less competition in the smaller niches...

superglue · 11-02-2016, 06:45 AM

thx ronbo for the readers digest version of the life of a mushroom farmer
have been looking at turkeytails and reishi's and thought about converting a greenhouse over to them but finding and dealing with a market is waay more work then i'd want to expend as your experience sounds par to mine for other ventures
maybe i'll stick trying to grow a few for myself first
thx again for the real life version

10-28-2016, 05:25 PM	#1
WaxyTaxi Psychonaut Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Axis Mundi Posts: 2,846	growing & understanding gourmet fungi's alrighty, times are changing! always thought I'd be in the cannabiz my whole life but this might be better... Downscaled the current cannabis grow and learning everything I can this winter to produce enough mushrooms to pay the bills and eat next year. the new MI laws are so ridiculous, I am through playing their game. Time to move onto something that has not been regulated so heavy(yet). SHIITAKES! I love eating them and think they are some of the coolest looking of the commercial available varieties. I want to focus on these mainly but want to grow reishis,maitakes,oysters,turke y tail & many more. I ordered some pre inoculated bags from Asheville fungi and hope to get an idea of the process soon and maybe even make some spore prints and get the ball rolling. ---- please post pics of your mushroom grow area/rooms! Unless your doing the whole hallucinating route, stay safe and keep to yourself lol
	Quote 1 members found this post helpful.

10-28-2016, 05:41 PM	#2
Betterhaff Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2013 Posts: 2,568	Look into plugs if you have the means and suitable environment for growing outdoors. https://www.gmushrooms.com/Plugs/index.htm
	Quote 2 members found this post helpful.

10-29-2016, 02:33 PM	#3
ronbo51 Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 696	I grew gourmet and medicinal mushrooms for 7 years commercially. I built a cleanroom lab to do the tissue culture and spawn production. I had large pressure vessels to sterilize tons of media. My grow building had all environmental controls. It was an efficient setup and I cranked out 200 pounds a week of mostly shiitake, but also oysters, lion's mane, reishi, and several others. Just like any ag or manufacturing business you have two aspects that determine your destiny. Firstly, actually producing the product, and secondly selling the product. There are many ways for things to go wrong on the production side. But even if you overcome them and become skilled you still face the second hurdle, which for me, was harder to beat. Mushrooms are a commodity. Every kitchen manager and owner orders produce from a company that brings in truckloads of gear from all over the world the next day after an order is placed. The prices are set by the lowest cost producer. Economies of scale and access to capital allow prices to constantly drift lower for producers. Most restaurants and produce companies don't care about the details of your story. They want dependable high quality products to be delivered on time and at the best prices. Some white tablecloth restaurants will deal with local stuff as long as it is convenient to do so. You will never sell anything to an oriental establishment ever, so don't count on that. I also grew produce and did the farmers market circuit which allowed me to get the highest price with no middleman. But farmers markets suck for the most part. They have catty members who look after themselves and resent newcomers for the most part. Many markets are good for the one or two large scale vegetable farmers that become the "anchors" and the niche and boutique vendors harvest the scraps and generally don't make much money. It is ironic that my production facility is now being used to grow weed, now that I am long ago moved. I always wanted to do a few crops but never had the guts to do it. Now that state is legal and that building is being used to its full potential.
	Quote 9 members found this post helpful.

10-29-2016, 03:19 PM	#5
unregistered190 Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 6,631	Good luck on your adventure Waxy __________________
	Quote 1 members found this post helpful.

11-02-2016, 06:45 AM	#10
superglue Member Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 67	thx ronbo for the readers digest version of the life of a mushroom farmer have been looking at turkeytails and reishi's and thought about converting a greenhouse over to them but finding and dealing with a market is waay more work then i'd want to expend as your experience sounds par to mine for other ventures maybe i'll stick trying to grow a few for myself first thx again for the real life version
	Quote 1 members found this post helpful.

10-29-2016, 03:06 PM	#4
WaxyTaxi Psychonaut Join Date: Dec 2014 Location: Axis Mundi Posts: 2,846	plugs are cool, but I will do those later when I buy land and have time, I want to focus on continuous indoor production with bags for now. damn ronbo, excellent points and tips, especially with oriental places as I was thinking they would be an easy customer haha
	Quote

10-31-2016, 05:29 PM	#6
raven44 Member Join Date: Oct 2016 Location: Washington Posts: 166	What part of the continent were u running ur gourmet farm ronbo51? Good info
	Quote

11-01-2016, 03:58 PM	#8
raven44 Member Join Date: Oct 2016 Location: Washington Posts: 166	Interesting, I wonder how the markets differ from city to city or state to state...
	Quote

11-02-2016, 03:17 AM	#9
raven44 Member Join Date: Oct 2016 Location: Washington Posts: 166	The Maine market prices are higher I'm sure but I wonder if competition is higher as well..?? Washington state has a fair bit of competition but maybe less competition in the smaller niches...
	Quote