Growing Mushrooms the Easy Way
Home Mushroom Cultivation with Hydrogen Peroxide

Elm oyster mushrooms growing on sawdust blocks prepared by the peroxide method

An instruction manual in two volumes based on the use of peroxide in mushroom cultivation,
by R.R. Wayne, Ph.D.

Now joined by a third volume:
Non-Sterile Mushroom Cultivation


Mushroom growing - a great pastime, but...
Mushroom growing has the potential to be a fun and fascinating pastime. Our forests have provided many species of fungi that are both beautiful and delicious, and learning to cultivate them can revive our connection to nature and the earth. But if we have to buy a lot of equipment to sterilize substrate and clean the air of contaminants, growing mushrooms can lose its romance. And it can get absurdly complicated when cultures keep spoiling, despite our most elaborate precautions.

Simplify!
So why use hydrogen peroxide in mushroom growing? Hydrogen peroxide simplifies the whole process of growing fungi. There's no need to build a sterile laboratory, buy a special giant pressure cooker, or even construct a glove box. A low concentration of peroxide keeps out the contaminants, while allowing healthy growth of mushroom tissue. And as the mushroom tissue grows, it converts the peroxide to water and oxygen, leaving a clean, vigorous mushroom culture.

Growing Mushrooms the Easy Way
I performed my first experiments to test the peroxide idea in 1993, and it worked. Although the invention was patentable, I decided instead to offer the information to the public in the form of an instruction manual. The manual, now in two parts, is entitled Growing Mushrooms the Easy Way, Home Mushroom Cultivation with Hydrogen Peroxide. It is the product of nearly seven years' experimentation to perfect the procedures and find new applications for the peroxide method. The manual in all editions is now in the hands of mushroom growers in 90 countries around the world. In stepwise directions, the peroxide manual explains how to:

  • Grow mushroom cultures in an ordinary room.
  • Handle cultures in the open air in a kitchen or non-sterile workshop.
  • Protect cultures from bacteria, yeast, mold, and mushroom spores.
  • Prepare mushroom cultures without an autoclave.
  • Prepare bulk fruiting substrate at room temperature, without heating and cooling.
  • Do away with costly filter-patch culture bags; use ordinary trashbags instead.
  • Prepare sawdust-based mushroom spawn medium with just a ten minute steaming.
  • Grow mushroom spawn and agar cultures on a bookshelf or in a closet.
  • Contents

  • Slideshow
  • Video clip of the peroxide method in action at a site in Mexico

  • What's in Volume I of the peroxide manual?
  • What's in Volume II of the peroxide manual?
  • What's this about Non-Sterile Mushroom Cultivation?

  • How do I order the manuals?
  • Growers comment on the Peroxide Method
  • FAQs on peroxide in mushroom growing
  • Try it yourself!

  • List of countries where growers have obtained the Peroxide Manual

  • FAQs on mushroom cultivation
  • Basics of mushroom cultivation
  • Mushroom links, books, and vendors of cultures

  • Updates for users of the peroxide manual
  • Sources of supplies for the peroxide method
  • About the Author
  • Found a link that's not working? Please e-mail me.

    You may freely copy and distribute the information on this webpage to friends or colleagues, as long as you include the following notice:

    This document is Copyright: ©2010 by Randall R. Wayne, Ph.D. All commercial rights are reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or used for sale in any form or by any means without permission of the author.