Grain Spawn

Using spawn to grow mushrooms is a method of propagation similar to growing potatoes or garlic, because it involves expanding the living tissue of a particular individual, so that you are producing genetic clones of the original specimen. 

What is spawn?
Spawn is a vehicle of transfer for the mushroom mycelium as it is dispersed into a substrate (logs, wood chips, sawdust, straw, etc.)  by the cultivator. Depending on the substrate to be inoculated, the vehicle can be grain, sawdust, wood chips, dowels, burlap, or rope.
Why is grain spawn superior?
Unlike the other types of spawn, grain spawn is also a yield-enhancing nutritional supplement for the mycelium.
What is mycelium?
Mycelium is the base and bulk of the fungal organism; mushrooms are the fruit, or the reproductive (spore-producing) part.  Just as you must grow a tree to produce an apple, you must grow mycelium to produce a mushroom. In nature, mycelium is seldom seen, as it will dehydrate if exposed to sun or wind. It spends its life within the earth, inside a log, or under some other kind of protective mulch.

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How to make it

1. Buy feed-grade oats, spelt or barley. You want unprocessed grains that still have a protective hull; not stuff that's ready for human consumption.
2. Soak the grain in plenty of water for 48 hours.
3. Drain excess water out of the grain.  Leave it until it stops dripping.
4. For plain grain spawn:  Fill filter-patch bags with 6-7 lbs. (depends on grain density) of the grain.
5. For supplemented grain spawn:  Fill bags with 5-6 lbs. of grain.  Then add a mix of 0.5 lb. moist sawdust,  0.25 lb. gypsum, and 0.5 lb. pulverized dolomite limestone.  I pre-mix the sawdust and minerals in a cement mixer beforehand.  The sawdust keeps the mineral powders dispersed, so that they don't clump together. 
   
6. Carefully fold the bags closed and pack 6 into the autoclave.
7. Cook for 3.5 hours at 15 psi (250 F), let cool, then unload in front of your laminar flow hood.
8. Open bags and inoculate with a petri dish culture, or colonized grain spawn, then seal bags with an impulse sealer, while inflating the bag in the air-stream of the flow hood.
9. Label, thoroughly mix, and place on shelf for 5-10 days.

Click for grain spawn album.

You can buy spawn from many people throughout the world.   You can also grow your own once you buy the right equipment.  I will be publishing more information about that here.