Urban Mushrooming

Hello,

I live in Boston near the "Emerald Necklace" park. I've got me an apartment in a tall building with a lovely view of a brick wall. Not a lot of sunlight. But mushrooms don't really care about getting sun (anymore than I do), right?

So I have two questions for you, gentle reader:

1. Is it advisable to attempt to grow some edible mushrooms indoors or in a window planter?

2. How difficult would it be to get some edible mushrooms growing in the park, which has a lovely little river running through it. (https://maps.google.com/maps?q=Boston,+MA+02215&hl=en&ll=42.343781,-71.104809&spn=0.001228,0.001922&sll=42.036922,-71.683501&sspn=3.557512,7.871704&oq=02215&t=h&hnear=Boston,+Massachusetts+02215&z=20&layer=c&cbll=42.343781,-71.104809&panoid=waiAGRpS5_XFEsJSLX1Vaw&cbp=12,275.88,,0,2.39) and would they require large amounts of care, or could I fire and forget them and let them grow on their own?

Thank you in advance,
-William

Indoor mushrooming is good in a green house or a tool shed, but in your apartment can be problematic with all the spore load, especially of oyster mushrooms. Can you grow them on a balcony or couryard?

The park may or may not be ok. If they spray with toxins, they will probably kill all the mushrooms. Kids often like to kick or throw mushrooms, so you might lose them if you grow them.

Most people in apartments go hiking in the fall and spring and get good at mushroom ID, collect them from the wild, and then cook them.
John S
PDX OR

Join a local gardening club, and plant it in a members backyard.

William Jack wrote:Hello,
1. Is it advisable to attempt to grow some edible mushrooms indoors or in a window planter?

Last week I got some packages from suppliers here, one is a block of grown through substrate with shiitake, the other two are kits for growing king stropharia and pink oyster indoors.
From the shiitake I just had a first harvest, one week after removing the foil and I can definitely say, there is no danger from spores. Shiitake is big enough to be harvested, before the hats open completely and release spores. The substrate block has a nice size to be kept in a bathroom or so, doesn't look pretty, but is ok.
(Here you can look up some of these kits: http://www.shii-take.de/irw_list.4b41543439.html)
The oysters can be grown in a large flower pot between plants on a shelf and even look gorgeous, especially the pink and the yellow one. My pink oyster mycelium here has run through the whole pot of substrate (straw powder) in a week, found the air holes in the foil on top and is already forming mushrooms there. I'm so amazed about that speed...

I am in the same circumstances as you are, and I fruit oyster mushrooms at my apartment. I use a big plastic bin you can get at Wal-Mart for a couple of dollars as a sort of green house. Then I spray my straw bags with a squirt bottle a couple times a day to insure my fruit bodies do not dry out. If my bags are looking a little too moist I just set them in front of a window for a little air drying and light to induce fruiting. I have never had a problem with spore, but both Agaricus and Lentinula would be great to fruit in an apartment as well, especially in a planter with some cardboard. Some amazing strains are shitake 3872 and 75. The Agaricus bisporus strains that I prefer are 403 and 901. Aloha Medicinals sells all of these. Fruiting mushrooms does require a little light, but I’ve never had any problems just using the regular light from my kitchen as I go in and out throughout the day. I would not advise the park, as there are too many factors you cannot control. f