The Best Mushroom Growing Kits UK Home Grown Mushrooms (2024)

I’ve gone from being a mushroom hater and pushing them around the plate or disguising them in dishes, to having them as the star of the show. And now I just love raw mushrooms. The biggest problem that I’ve always had is buying mushrooms. Because once they’re picked they don’t last very long at all, and this means that shopping for mushrooms and then meal planning with mushrooms becomes a military operation. No more. Now that I’ve discovered mushroom growing kits. Now I get a regular supply of fresh mushrooms from my favourite mushroom growing kits. Even better the best mushroom growing kits can be used throughout the year, which means I get to add to my fresh vegetable intake too! As we started our mushroom growing experience as complete beginners, we’ve looked specifically at the best mushroom growing kits for beginners as well as some exotic edible mushrooms that will seriously enhance your home cooking experience.

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The Best Mushroom Growing Kits At A Glance

When you’re getting started growing anything you should go for simple. Keeping it simple and easy has the best chance of success and when you have success growing your own vegetables, herbs and fruit then it gives you the confidence to try something new. That’s why home grown mushroom kits are perfect. Using a mushroom growing kit for beginners will get you started with ready to grow mushrooms quickly and easily. Here are our highlights of the best mushroom growing kits – and you can read more about growing mushrooms further down this article.

Want to read more about how to grow Mushrooms? Here’s our in-depth guide to the best of growing mushrooms at home and the best home mushroom growing kits.

What are Mushroom Growing Kits

A mushroom kit can vary from simply something that mushrooms grow on – like a piece of wood or even some sawdust to specific material that mushroom spores have been embedded in. Many of the best mushroom growing kits – like our beginner mushroom grow kit favourite here from Merryhill Mushrooms – come with full instructions and help for if and when you get stuck or have problems (we did when we first started and got a same-day reply to our query). Mushroom growing kits come with the material on which your mushrooms are going to grow – wood, soil etc. – as well as the spores for the mushrooms and details on what you’ll need to do in terms of watering, temperature requirements and also the best location for your mushroom growing kit. Different types of mushrooms grow on different materials, so you may find that different kits provide different growing materials.

What Types of Mushroom Growing Kits are there?

You can buy mushroom growing kits for indoors and outdoors. There are oyster mushroom growing kits, shiitake mushroom growing kits, chestnut mushroom growing kits and plain ordinary white button mushroom growing kits. You can buy mushroom growing kits that come in boxes, kits to grow mushrooms in bags, on logs, in sawdust. The best place to start is with the type of mushroom that you want to grow.

Types of Mushrooms You Can Grow in a Mushroom Growing Kit

The most common types of mushrooms that are provided and can be grown in a mushroom growing kit are the main types that you’ll want to include in your mushroom recipes.

In the UK, you can grow the following types of mushrooms with a grow mushroom kit

• Button Mushrooms > Best Button Mushroom Kits
• White Mushrooms > Best White Mushroom Kits
• Chestnut Mushrooms > Best Chestnut Mushroom Kits
• Shiitake Mushrooms > Best Shiitake Mushroom Kits
• Yellow-Gold Oyster Mushrooms > Best Yellow Oyster Mushroom Kits
• Blue-Grey Oyster Mushrooms > Best Blue-Grey Oyster Mushroom Kits
• Pink Oyster Mushrooms > Best Pink Oyster Mushroom Kits

While we would love to grow enoki mushrooms, we haven’t found an enoki mushroom growing kit in the UK yet. The best way to grow enoki mushrooms is to buy some enoki mushroom spawn, some medium to grow it in – aged hardwood sawdust will work and a container. This is a great mushroom growing book to get started on growing mushrooms without a mushroom growing kit.

Some mushrooms, however, can only be grown outdoors, so check carefully on the instructions before buying.

The Best Home Mushroom Growing Kits Reviews

Here are the best mushroom growing kits for beginners in the UK. We cover these excellent home mushroom kits and how to grow mushrooms at home.

The Best White Button Mushrooms Kits

We’ll start with the simplest and easiest mushroom growing kit. Growing white button mushrooms kits. If you’re a beginner this is the perfect place to start and one of the best mushroom growing kits for beginners. These are the easiest and best mushrooms to grow to get started and it makes them an excellent gift for vegetable gardeners.

This mushroom growing kit comes with everything you need for growing mushrooms – and the instructions are really easy to follow too. Check other reviews of our best mushroom grow kit and buy now!

Key features of this white mushroom growing kit

• Simple to use provides several crops
• Quick and Easy to Use
• All you need to add is water
• Easy to follow instructions
• Support by email or phone if you have problems! (we know, we tested it!)

Buy now – a great starter fresh mushroom grow kit or a fabulous gift for friends and family.

The Best Chestnut Mushrooms Growing Kits

Chestnut mushrooms are the same as white button mushrooms, but they’re a strain that grows somewhat browner. They have a better – deeper – flavour and texture than plain white mushrooms and if you know your mushrooms they can be a little like cremini mushrooms. Chestnut mushrooms are easy to grow, similar to growing white mushrooms, so a chestnut mushroom grow kit is a good starter kit for mushroom growers. While you can grow chestnut mushrooms by buying chestnut mushroom spores and putting it all together yourself, we believe that if you want to grow your own chestnut mushrooms then a home mushroom growing kit is the best way to start.

This chestnut mushroom growing kit comes with simple instructions, and everything you need for growing chestnut mushrooms – apart from the water you’ll need to add to it. Check other reviews and buy the best chestnut mushroom growing kit UK market now!

Key benefits of this chestnut mushroom growing kit

• Simple to use provides several crops
• Quick and Easy to Use
• All you need to add is water
• Easy to follow instructions
• Support by email or phone if you have problems! (we know, we used this one too!)

Buy this chestnut mushroom growing kit now – a great mushroom growing starter kit or a fabulous grow your own mushrooms kit gift for friends and family.

Save by buying both a white mushroom kit and a chestnut mushroom kit together!

The Best Oyster Mushrooms Growing Kit

Oyster mushrooms are one of the most common types of mushrooms cultivated in the world. You might also see them described as tree oyster mushrooms or pearl oyster mushrooms. They grow naturally in or on trees and are particularly popular in Japanese, Korean and Chinese cooking. They can be dried (check out our guide to Food Dehydrators here) and you’ll generally eat these mushrooms cooked – i.e. not raw.

Oyster mushrooms have a mild, but savoury flavour and a delicate texture. Oyster mushrooms have oyster shaped caps and have gills underneath. They often grow in clusters. They’re more expensive than white button mushrooms, which makes for a great reason to grow your own! If you’re cooking with dried oyster mushrooms you don’t need to rehydrate them, just pop them in your dish and they will soak up the liquid.

Oyster mushrooms come in different colours. If you start with the basics, the standard pearl oyster mushroom is your basic. Then the golden oyster mushroom tends to have a more aromatic flavour than the regular oyster mushroom. Pink oyster mushrooms colour fades when cooked, but has a more pungent smell and a slightly tougher texture.

You can buy oyster mushroom kits for each of these colours, but you will need to decide on the colour before buying your oyster mushroom grow kit. So decide what colour you want your homegrown oyster mushrooms before you order your oyster mushrooms grow kit.

Your kit for oyster mushrooms comes with everything that you need and when it comes to oyster mushroom growing kits we think this is a great option, giving you both yellow and pink oysters. Check other reviews of this oyster mushroom starter kit and buy now!

Key benefits of this combined yellow and pink oyster mushroom growing kit

• This mixed bundle oyster mushroom box gives you gold and pink oyster mushrooms – it makes a fabulous aesthetic in your home too!
• Everything you need is in the box.
• The pack gives you up to 8 flushes of mushrooms in total

Buy this oyster mushroom kit now – a great combined starter kit or a fabulous gift for friends and family.

Check out these other great options for oyster mushroom growing kits here.

The Best Grow Shiitake Mushrooms Growing Kit

Shiitake mushrooms are the most widely known and used oriental mushrooms. Shiitake mushrooms have a mild smell and taste when fresh, but if you dry them (try our food dehydrators here ) then the flavour intensifies. Shiitake mushrooms usually grow on a mushroom log kit. If you’re growing shiitake mushrooms at home then using a grow your own shiitake mushroom kit will give you the best chance of great success.

Homegrown shiitake mushrooms not only taste good they also look fabulous and you can grow shiitake mushrooms indoors year-round. Our recommended shiitake mushroom growing kit here is organic, uses organic plant-based soil and can be grown in a small space!

Key benefits of this shiitake mushroom growing kit

• Organic mushroom growing kit
• Quick and Easy to Use
• You need to 12.5 cm x 13 cm space – so growing shiitake indoors is easy
• Easy to follow instructions for growing shiitake indoors

Buy this great shiitake mushroom growing kit now – it’s a good shiitake mushroom log kit to start with and as this one looks so pretty it’s also a fabulous shiitake mushroom grow kit for friends and family gifts too!

What Variety of Mushroom Should you Grow?

We say start simple. Look at your regular shopping list – if you have a specific type of mushroom on there, then go for that. If you’re like us and you most often use a plain white button mushroom, then go for that. It’s a great option to start with and will help you build up the confidence to try different varieties.

Don’t forget that if you’re starting to grow something that you normally buy, then you’ll be using your gardening and growing skills to save money and the sooner you do that the sooner you save more and the more you have to spend experimenting!.

Different varieties of mushrooms use different materials on which to grow, so it might be that a kit for growing Shiitake mushrooms will use a log or sawdust, but regular white mushrooms grow best on compost and manure. Don’t worry about the material, buying a mushroom growing kit means that you don’t have to worry at all – pick your kit, choose your growing spot and off you go!

The most common types of mushrooms that can be grown at home (and inside) are: (and the links will take you to our favourite mushroom growing kits

• White Button Mushrooms Growing Kits
• Chestnut Mushroom Growing Kits
• Shiitake Mushrooms Log Kits
• Oyster Mushrooms Growing Kits

What to Look for in a Mushroom Growing Kit

To select the right mushroom growing kit for your needs start with the type of mushroom that you want to grow. It’s best if you pick a variety that you generally use in your kitchen already, as you already have demand for it. Then look for how it is grown – is it inside or outside? Is that going to work out with your home? Check that you have the space available for your mushroom growing kit – and that the conditions are going to be right for the mushroom kit that you’re going to buy.

Why use Mushroom Growing Kits?

Here at Let’s Grow Cook, we like to make it easy. Mushroom growing kits make growing mushrooms easy, and using a mushroom growing kit enables you to grow different varieties of mushrooms with ease, without a huge investment and quickly. Because growing things quickly and seeing success will give you the impetus to grow more! (here are some other recommendations on what you can grow to eat quickly.)

How Do Mushrooms Grow?

Each different type of mushroom has different and specific requirements as to how it needs and what it needs to grow, but here are the basics of growing mushrooms.

Mushroom Growing Basics – How it works

While vegetables and plants grow from seeds that germinate, a mushroom grows from a spore, which you can’t see with the naked eye. Mushroom spores combine with whatever growth material that you’re using and form a spawn. The growth material can be a treated form of soil, sawdust, straw, grain or even wood chips.

Mushroom spawn is like a starter – if you’ve ever made sourdough bread, think of it as like your sourdough starter.

After the mushroom spawn comes a threadlike pre-mushroom material called the mycelium. Mycelium grows within the soil or growth material and then the mushroom grows up out of that.

What Conditions do Mushrooms Need to Grow in?

While each variety of mushroom will need slight differences in conditions the general rule of thumb is that mushrooms grow best in the following conditions

• Cool
• Dark
• Humid

What’s the Best Place to Grow Mushrooms?

You can grow mushrooms outside in the garden as well as indoors. Mushrooms tend to grow the best in locations that are cool, humid and dark. The majority of mushroom growing kits are best used inside and they will stipulate the conditions required for the specific variety that you’re growing. You’ll find locations such as the basem*nt, or under the stairs. Read the specific instructions carefully before choosing your location and if it doesn’t like it’s working, move them. We’ve had mushroom growing kits under the stairs, in a wardrobe with the door open in a spare bedroom and behind several sofas.

What temperature does it need to be to grow mushrooms?

The temperature and airflow needed for growing mushrooms depend on the variety that you’re growing, but usually between 18 and 20 degrees centigrade. Some, like the Enoki mushroom, grow better when it’s slightly colder, about (7 degrees). You should also check the temperature of locations in your home at different times of the year – it might be cool and temperatures under the stairs in the winter, but summer temperatures might be WAY too hot for your mushrooms to grow effectively.

FAQs on Mushroom Growing and Mushroom Growing Kits

Got a question about growing mushrooms and mushroom growing kits? If we haven’t answered your questions in this article, why not add a comment and we’ll answer and also include our answer in these most frequently asked questions about mushroom growing kits.

Can you Grow Mushrooms Outside?

Yes, mushrooms can be grown outside. Mushrooms that are grown in the garden take much longer to grow – as they’ll be getting a lot more light than inside, where you can more effectively control light sources. Outdoor grown mushrooms can take from 6 months to THREE years to grow.

Do Mushrooms Grow in the Dark?

Mushrooms grow better and faster in the dark, but they also grow in the light, just a lot slower. Notice when you see mushrooms growing in the wild (don’t be picking and eating them unless you’ve done a lot of research as to which ones are edible and not dangerous) the type of location that they’re in – they’re usually in shady, or dark woodland, where there is a high degree of humidity.

How much Water do Mushrooms Need to Grow?

Mushrooms need a humid environment, and usually, you need to keep the material in which they are growing “moist”. Too much water and you’re likely to end up with fungus gnats and believe me, those little things will drive you nuts. Check your growth material twice a day – morning and evening and spray the surface rather than pouring water on. Don’t give them too much, but ensure they don’t dry out.

What’s the best way to store mushrooms?

Fresh mushrooms don’t keep for a long time, so if you’re wanting to preserve them and use them to use in the future – dehydrating mushrooms is a great way to store them for the long term. Read about dehydrating mushrooms and other vegetables here.

Is it easy to grow mushrooms at home?

In a word, yes. The first time we grew mushrooms using a fresh mushrooms grow kit we carried them around as we moved house 6 times in 3 months (we were house-sitting, so moving quite a lot on short term house sits). Our button mushroom kit did really well – it found a great place in each house and provided us with fresh mushrooms in all our houses!

What is Mushroom Spawn?

Mushroom spawn is the equivalent of seeds for growing mushrooms. It’s a living culture called mycelium that is the basis for growing mushrooms.

Read more about Mushroom Growing

Want to read more about growing mushrooms and expand your knowledge? We love these guides to mushroom growing. There’s more on books that we recommend for vegetable gardeners here.

All our guides to the best growing kits

• The bestherb starter kits
• The bestmushroom growing kits
• The bestchilli growing kits

Final Words on the Best Mushroom Growing Kits

One of the best ways to have access to fresh edible mushrooms is to grow them yourself. And when you’re a beginner mushroom grower the best way is to use a mushroom growing kit. Edible mushroom grow kits provide ease of growing, and we find that using prepared materials means that there are a whole lot less mess and a whole lot more chance of success which will give you the confidence to try different varieties of mushroom. It doesn’t matter which varieties of mushrooms you choose to grow using home grown mushroom kit, they’re all good for you – full of minerals, vitamins – while not being high in fat or calories!

The best mushroom growing kits for beginners can be used year-round, and so they make great gifts for gardeners, plus, of course, they can ensure that you’re adding good fresh vegetables to your home cooking throughout the year too!

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