Although not the best introduction into growing mushrooms per-se this book still ranks highly for me, the first book that I bought is called ‘Introduction To Modern Mycology’ by J.W. Deacon.
This book goes over the basic biological principles and lifecycle of the Kingdom, Fungi. It covers everything from reproduction, growth stages, cycles, metabolization and just about everything you would need to know to get started in mycology. However, I’m not a mycologist, I’m a mushroom grower.
Half way through reading this book I was about ready to stop when I came across some great parts. There were a few about how mushrooms eat, reproduce and what happens through various stages of their life.
However, there were many parts of this book that were simply irrelevant to growing mushrooms but I’m glad I picked up this book because it gave me a more scientific comprehension about the reasons we do what we do in mushroom growing. Re-reading after having had some problems described in the book made them far easier to resolve.
I perhaps wouldn’t start out with this book, but I certainly would pick it up afterwards. It may make you wish you’d listened more in biology at school and you’ll probably need to brush up on some terminology, but it’s a great (and short) book. The section I would recommend most is ‘Section 5 – Nutrition’. Since this is an older, more under the radar book, you may struggle to find the latest edition.
However, all of the information is still available within the book and it is only the formatting that has changed.
See it on Amazon – https://amzn.to/2OGvIjV
However, if you were to only buy one book about growing mushrooms it must be this. ‘How To Grow Gourmet And Medicinal Mushrooms’ By Paul Stamets. This is, essentially, the bible for mushroom growers. It clearly walks you through each step of growing mushrooms, a bit of the history and methodology behind it as well as the medical benefits of mushrooms.
With clear instructions and detailed pictures, this really is the first and last book you’ll need for growing them. It isn’t cheap at around £30 but it will be the only book you will truly refer to 20 times over. Stamets is a world-renowned mycologist, author and up and coming celebrity and very much knows what he is talking about.
View on Amazon – https://amzn.to/2NsTTWF
View on eBay – https://ebay.us/6m1568
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Do you know if this Stamets book is much different from mycelium running? I have Mycelium Running, kinda presumed that it was a newer version of the book you’ve mentioned. If not I’ll probs buy it 🙂
Hi chap! I’ve not read Mycelium running! I may have a look at it in the future but I have found that GG&MM is perfectly adequate for most beginners/intermediate growers!
Let me know how you fin the difference!
Cheers,
Gareth