Mushrooms are an essential component for the creation of healthy soil. We cultivate various species for medicine, food, and soil creation.

A fungal relationship with plants and trees is critical to plant and mycelium health and nutrition.

We also cultivate mushrooms in our closed loop aquaponics system.

Lions mane mushrooms fruited in the clay media of our aquaponics system. It was just a hasty experiment and we were shocked when they actually fruited on a very humid day in July last year.

We grew oyster mushrooms in inoculated nylon bags filled with barley. The key after some mistakes, was to get the mycelium running on the barley first under ideal conditions before introducing it to the system.

The mushrooms were cultivated in our wheatgrass/fodder system. It drips nitrogen rich water from the aquaponics system into a trough containing the inoculated barley. It then drains into a biofilter and is returned to the fish tank. Barley has long been used as an aquaculture water clarifier. Hay and straw is a well-known mushroom substrate. It just made common sense to combine the two.

Barley straw is an effective organic algae control. It takes about 6 weeks to begin working depending on temperature and waterflow. Once activated it should continue working for an additional 6 months. We experienced anaerobic conditions in early experiments which we attribute to improper water flow (too slow and deep). Newer versions of the experiment are using air stones and faster moving water.  

The current phase of the experiment involves the inoculation of small pieces of wood. We drill and insert inoculated dowels into the wood and seal the opening using bees wax. The wood is placed in troughs.

Trametes versicolor - Turkey Tail Mushroom is found in nature in our area of North America. It is a medicinal mushroom used in tea. The fruiting temperature is in the 65-75 degree range making it a perfect addition to an aquaponics system for Tilapia. The mushroom spawn is cultivated on dowels indoors before using it to inoculate the wood. 

Ganoderma lucidum s.l. - Reishi  (Also known as Ling Chi) 

Reishi is medicinal and used in teas. It prefers temperatures in the 70–80 ° range for fruiting so we anticipate it will work well in the aquaponics system.

Maitake - Grifola frondosa also commonly called "Hen of the woods" fruit in temperatures of 55–70 °F. This makes them a good choice for aquaponics research. Maitake are one of the best tasting mushrooms. They also are said to have immune system supporting properties making them an excellent fruit to cultivate.

Shiitake mushrooms (Lentinula edodes) are being grown from spawn covered dowels/plugs in the aquaponics system. They are a very popular mushroom because they are both delicious and a great plant for your health.

We are growing Wine Cap mushroom spawn (Stropharia rugosoannulata - king stropharia) in sawdust. We will be adding wooden dowels to colonize them and anticipate we will be inoculating wood blocks in the aquaponics this year.

The newest phase of the experiment is the inoculation of small pieces of wood. We have drilled, inserted inoculated dowels, and sealed the opening using bees wax. They were then placed in troughs.

We are continuing our testing in 2016 and 2017.

We will be reporting back our success or failures. In theory, the logs should protect the mycelium which is growing inside the log (wood) wicking the nitrogen rich water. Using timers allows the log to remain drier in some zones and the mycelium can self-select the habitat it prefers. The fruit should appear through the dowel holes where we inoculated the logs.

The issues we had in previous years were mostly pest related. Fruit flies were regularly invading our constant flow experiments. We are refining the process to avoid pests and also working with timers to maximize production.

If you are growing mushrooms in aquaponics I would love to hear about your successes.

Information about barley straw can be found here:

http://www.water-land.co.uk/barley-straw/4583013097

The best books on mycology can be found here:

http://www.fungi.com/

Please share YOUR mushroom cultivation experiences with us. Thank you.