Best Mushroom Growing Kit for Beginners

If you love eating mushrooms and want to know more about how they grow, it’s time to get a mushroom growing kit and try your hand at growing mushrooms. Foraging for wild mushrooms may be exciting, fun, and a great way to get a little exercise, but it’s nice to be able to pick them closer to home. Like, right in your own kitchen or backyard. With this kit, you can grow a broad range of different types of mushrooms, learn about the perfect growing environment, and watch them germinate and grow right before your eyes. When they’re ready, you can have fresh mushrooms to add to your favorite foods. 

It’s also great to know exactly which types of mushrooms have for safety’s sake, and you can control the chemical exposure and growing practice. This is why I picked out the 10 best mushroom growing kits available on the current market, and they offer different varieties of mushrooms. We’ll take a look at each one, you can compare reviews, and then you can use the short buyer’s guide to make your final choice, pick your product, and start growing mushrooms right in the comfort of your own home. 

Mushroom Kit 1 Start
Mushroom growing kits are a nice way to enjoy fresh mushrooms all year-round. They’re versatile, and mushrooms add welcome flavor notes to your food.

Virgenu 12 Jars Mushroom Growing Kit – Top Pick 

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The top pick for the best mushroom growing kit comes from Virgenu. You get 12 jars in this kit with a very quick automated growing process that will help you have successful growth, even as a beginner. This kit comes with 12 ultra substrate jars, a growing chamber, digital thermometer to measure humidity, water, and temperature, electric air pump, HEPA air filter, heavy-duty hose, timer and lights. It’s very easy to set up once you get it, and you can easily look inside the translucent growing chamber to see how your mushrooms are growing once you plant them. 

The gallon of ultra-fine perlite ensures that your mushrooms have enough moisture to grow without getting waterlogged, and the LED grow light gives your mushrooms the correct amount of light to thrive. The alcohol prep swabs ensure you don’t have any contamination, and you get hospital-grade gloves to protect your hands during the planting process. The extremely detailed guide will show you step-by-step instructions to plant and maintain your mushrooms, and there is also an illustrated guide included for those that are visual learners. You’ll get between four to six-ounces for a dry average with this kit. 

PROS

  • 12 jars included 
  • Ultra-fine perlite
  • Thermometer is very exact 
  • LED grow light 
  • Very detailed guide 
  • Translucent grow chamber 
  • Larger yield 

 CONS

  • Jars are very fragile 

Specialty Trio Mushroom Grow Kit – Step-Up Pick 

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You’ll get everything you need in a single box with this mushroom growing kit in a single box, and you’ll get organic mushrooms that you can mix into your food. This is a beginner-friendly kit that is perfect to use with your kids to help them understand how to cultivate and grow their own food, and you can easily monitor your mushroom’s growth from the time they germinate. This mushroom kit will last for months if you get it and aren’t ready to open it, and this makes it a great gift option for the gardener in your life. It’s also very lightweight, so it’s easy to store and ship. This product comes with all-natural ingredients, and you won’t find any heavy chemicals to get your mushrooms to grow. 

You’ll get everything you need to grow brown, pink, and white Oyster mushrooms with this mushroom growing kit. The three small straw bales don’t take a lot of room on your counter, and there is a 100% grow guarantee with this product. If they don’t grow, you’ll get a full refund, and this makes it a fantastic kit for beginners. All you have to do is lightly mist the mushrooms to kick start their growth, and you’ll have several types available in a few weeks. You can also watch the video tutorial that shows you how to get multiple harvests out of each kit to make them go much further. 

PROS

  • Get three mushroom types
  • Very beginner-friendly 
  • Great gift option
  • Just mist and watch them grow
  • Can get more than one harvest from each kit
  • 100% grow guarantee 
  • Video tutorial available 

 CONS

  • Has a ⅔ growth rate

Mixed Substrate Mushroom Grow Bags – Mid-End Budget Pick

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Anyone who has ever started a herb garden can try this mushroom grow kit. This mid-end budget pick is very affordable for almost any budget, and it comes in a grow bag that is packed with a unique grow mix featuring corn, rye, milo, brown rice, white rice, cow compost, horse compost,  and golden wheat straw to feed the mushrooms and encourage healthy growth. All you have to do with this product is add your spores, seal the bag, store it in a dark place like a drawer or closet, and wait for it to grow so you can harvest it. This product comes with a very high success rate, and you can get a lot of mushrooms for the price, especially if you get more than one harvest out of the bag. 

Even if you’re a brand new grower, there is a 94% chance you will see growth on this product, and this is very encouraging. There is also a quality guarantee with this mushroom growing kit, and the company will refund you if there is a problem. This is a one-pound mushroom grow bag, and you can choose from a pack of 3 or 10 when you order. This will give you more than enough mushrooms to cook with, dry, and store for another time. It also works well with different mushroom varieties. 

PROS

  • Unique mix of growing medium
  • Available in two sizes
  • One pound of mushrooms 
  • Easy to store 
  • Beginner-friendly 
  • 94% success rate 
  • Conceals in a small space

CONS

  • Complicated design

Back to the Roots Mushroom Growing Kit – Bargain Budget Pick 

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You’ll be able to grow gourmet oyster mushrooms with this bargain budget mushroom growing kit in as little as 10 days with very little hassle. All you have to do when you get this kit is add water. Once you do, you should be able to watch your mushrooms grow double the size in a very few days, and this product has neat packaging that makes it an excellent gift for novice or expert gardeners alike. You get everything you need to grow your mushrooms in this kit, and you’ll start to see results in as little as 10 days. It has a spray bottle and a mushroom discovery book, but you also get a STEM curriculum online you can take to improve your chances of having a nice mushroom harvest. 

This product comes from companies in the United States that use very high standards, and it has a 100% guarantee rate for growing. This mushroom growing kit will either come with a refund or a new kit if your first one doesn’t grow. This kit also works all year round in a broad range of environments, and all you have to do is sit it by light and mist it twice a day. It’s very low maintenance, and there are three kits available that allow you to grow mini mushrooms, pink mushrooms, or oyster mushrooms. 

PROS

  • Results in 10 days 
  • Easy to maintain 
  • Available in 3 types 
  • STEM curriculum access
  • Neat packaging 
  • Makes a great gift 
  • Easy for beginners 

CONS

  • Lower yield 

Maximumstore Mushroom Growing Kit – Best for Quick Results 

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For small gardens with raised planter boxes, this mushroom growing kit can be the perfect complement to help broaden your gardening experience and growing expertise. This is a slightly smaller kit that comes with six substrate jars and a ½ of a pint of premixed and pressure-sterilized growing medium that ensures your mushrooms get off to a strong start. Once you get everything in the jars, the jars slip into a growing or fruiting chamber, and this chamber seals closed while having translucent sides that allow you to easily monitor how your mushrooms are doing. 

The ultra-fine perlite in this mushroom growing kit helps to keep a good moisture balance while preventing the mushrooms from getting too much moisture. You get a humidity gauge with a free digital gauge upgrade, and this tool also works as a hydrometer and a thermometer to measure the temperature and moisture levels. The LED 500k grow light ensures your mushrooms get the right amount of light, and this can result in very fast results once you get it correctly set up. You’ll get Mushroom Cultivation 101 and a very detailed guide that outlines how to set this kit up to ensure success. 

PROS

  • Easy to set up
  • Translucent grow chamber for high visibility 
  • 500k grow light
  • Mushroom Cultivation 101 included 
  • Slightly smaller size 
  • Humidity gauge 
  • Comes with growing medium 

CONS

  • Easy to contaminate 

 Golden Oyster Mushroom Grow Kit  – Best for Hobbyist Growers

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Any hobbyist grower will appreciate being able to grow the golden oyster mushroom. It’s very popular for the bright yellow coloring, but it also has a very nice cashew-like flavoring that goes with many dishes. You can get huge crops in a short amount of time, and this species is very hardy and easy to propagate. You can harvest any time of the year, and each mushroom growing kit comes with a block of growing substrate that has mushroom mycelium pre-populated and a sprayer to mist it. You also get easy-to-follow instructions that detail how you should grow, monitor, and harvest your mushrooms for the biggest yield. 

No matter if you’re a beginner or expert, this mushroom growing kit will give you gorgeously-colored mushrooms with a light and nutty flavoring. These mushrooms come from Maine, and the company follows strict quality control standards with each batch to make sure you get a decent crop with this product. All you have to do is open the kit, cut a shallow X in the packaging, lightly mist it, set it by a sunny area, and let it grow. When the mushrooms grow visible teeth, it’s time to harvest them. 

PROS

  • Excellent for a hobbyist grower 
  • Growing substrate is pre-populated 
  • Quick growing process 
  • Has a detailed guide 
  • Comes from a Maine facility 
  • Bright yellow coloring 
  • Very popular in Asian dishes 

CONS

  • Has a stronger smell 

Root Mushroom Farm Kit – Best for Beginners

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Shiitake mushrooms do wonderfully in smoker recipes, and this mushroom growing kit will allow you to have a bountiful amount of them in a very short amount of time with a small amount of effort, and this kit comes ready to go as soon as you get it. You can start straight away or keep them for up to a week in the refrigerator, and the kit comes with a ready to fruit Shiitake mushroom log. You also get a humidity tent, small spray bottle, and a detailed instruction booklet that gives you step-by-step instructions on how to set up your kit, where the best growing conditions are, and how to monitor the kit for growth. You won’t need any additional tools to get started, and the mushrooms should sprout quickly. 

This mushroom growing kit will start to sprout and grow in just four short days as long as you have the correct growing environment and follow the instructions. You can harvest the mushrooms around 10 days, and a single product will last for up to 16 consecutive weeks to give you several different crops of mushrooms without having to buy another kit. This kit uses 100% plant-based soil with wheat bran and sawdust, and this ensures you get healthy, organic mushrooms. 

PROS

  • Starts growing right away
  • Spouts in four days 
  • Grows for 16 weeks 
  • 100% plant-based growing medium 
  • Very detailed instructions 
  • Lasts for a week in the refrigerator 
  • No additional tools needed

CONS

  • Second harvest is small 

Morel Mushroom Spore Growing Kit – Best for Home Cooks

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Home cooks will be able to easily grow their own mushrooms with this mushroom growing kit, and you don’t need any experience to jump in and get started. This step-by-step guide and beginner-friendly kit will work to ensure you get a bountiful harvest of Morel mushrooms, and they start growing immediately after you set up the kit to make it easy to monitor their progress. When they get large enough, you can harvest them and use them to liven up your dishes. It does take 7 to 10 days after they start growing for the mushrooms to get large enough for you to harvest them. 

This mushroom growing kit comes with a satisfaction guarantee attached to it. If you’re not 100% satisfied with the results, you’ll get a no-questions-asked refund. There is a very high propagation success rate with this kit, and it has a price point most people can fit into their budgets. You get a three pack of Morel spores that allow you to have multiple harvests out of the same kit, and the product is both vegan and cruelty-free to give you a greater peace of mind. 

PROS

  • Germinates in 7 to 10 days 
  • Get several harvests 
  • Satisfaction guarantee
  • Ready to go out of the box
  • High success rate 
  • Vegan
  • Cruelty-free

CONS

  • Instructions are unclear 

Grow Your Own Mushrooms Kit – Best for Gourmet Food Use

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This mushroom growing kit easily puts mushrooms as one of the easiest vegetables to grow. It allows you to grow Lion’s Mane mushrooms. You’ll get up to an impressive four pounds of mushrooms with each kit, and this is more than enough to add to your food or dry for usage later on. This product comes cultivated, grown, and shipped straight from The Michigan Mushroom Farm located in South Lyon, Michigan, and this helps to ensure that you’re going to get a quality product that produces a high yield at every harvest. This makes it a good choice for first-time mushroom growers, and you get very simple instructions.

You can choose from a 4 or 10-pound bag when you order this mushroom growing kit, and this gives you more than enough mushrooms, even if some don’t germinate. All you have to do is fold down the flap, push out the excess air, put the kit inside a cellophane bag, put it in a sunny spot, mist it twice, and harvest your mushrooms when the tips start to turn yellow and dry out. This kit keeps the mushrooms contained until you’re ready to harvest them. 

PROS

  • Available in two sizes
  • Easy to set up
  • Lion’s Mane mushrooms 
  • From Michigan 
  • Doesn’t need a lot of care 
  • Compact design 
  • Beginner-friendly 

CONS

  • Bag is very thin 

Organic King Oyster Growing Kit – Best for Family Projects

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The final mushroom growing kit on the list makes a great gardening project for the whole family. It grows Oyster mushrooms as long as you keep it at room temperature on your counter or by a sunny window. You get a humidity tent to help retain the moisture and mimic the mushroom’s natural growing environment, and all you have to do is lightly mist it twice a day to encourage strong growth. You have to keep it between 62 and 70°F, and it comes in a compact design that sits nicely in your space without taking over or taking up too much room. 

You can eat both the caps and stems with these mushrooms, and they both have a flavorful porcini-like texture associated with them. You can use this kit yourself or give it as a nice gift, and it’s suitable for adults and children to use. This mushroom growing kit comes certified organic to make it a healthier choice, and every part of the process helps maximize resources and promote ecological balance. You can usually get between one and two pounds of mushrooms with every log, and they have a quick germination process under the right growing conditions. 

PROS

  • Humidity tent included
  • Easy to encourage growth 
  • Get one or two pounds of mushrooms 
  • Certified organic 
  • Great for families 
  • Grows best at room temperature 
  • Can ship all year-round 

CONS

  • Takes slightly longer to grow 

Mushroom Growing Kit Buyer’s Guide

Picking out a mushroom growing kit doesn’t have to be a big deal, even if it’s the first time you’ve ever bought one. Since the whole point of getting one of these kits ensures you have everything you need to start growing your mushrooms straight away, it’s easy to pick out a few products and compare them. The following guide will help you make your final choice. 

Mushroom Kit 2 Guide
A growing kit allows you to harvest mushrooms in the comfort of your own home, and  you can grow several different varieties at the same time with minimal effort on your part. 

Growing Conditions 

Just like your perennial vegetables need specific growing conditions, your mushroom growing kits also require them. However, they use the indoor temperature and humidity levels to create the best growing conditions possible. They like damp spaces that are between 60 and 75°F. If you don’t mimic the correct growing conditions for  your mushroom growing kit, you won’t have proper growth. Consider putting your kit in a closet or basement and monitoring them frequently. 

Log vs Hay Block 

An inoculated log is one of the most popular ways to grow mushrooms. They’re easy to maintain, and they allow you to grow your mushrooms indoors or outdoors. Since the log is easy to maintain, it takes the worry away about external factors stunting the mushroom’s growth. A sawdust hay block is another popular option if you want to grow mushrooms indoors. All you have to do is lightly mist the block and make sure it stays well sterilized from start to finish to encourage healthy growth. 

Type of Mushroom 

Every mushroom growing kit can offer different types of mushrooms, and each mushroom comes with a distinct smell and taste. You want to pick out the type of mushroom you like before you purchase a kit to make sure it doesn’t go to waste. Some have a nutty taste that goes well in many cheap meals, and others have a very strong taste that can easily overpower more delicate dishes. Take time to research different mushroom species and pair it with your personal taste. 

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Some mushrooms complement different dishes better than others, so it’s a good idea to know which types of mushrooms you prefer before you pick out the wrong kit. You don’t want to do all that work and be disappointed with the taste.

Growth Period

Many mushrooms don’t sprout overnight, and it can easily take 7 to 10 days for your mushrooms to start growing. Double-check the growth period with your mushrooms so you know whether or not you were successful with your mushroom growing kit. It’s very easy to contaminate some of the kits, and this can stop the mushrooms from growing. 

Care Requirements 

How much time do you have to dedicate to growing your mushrooms? Some kits are far more labor intensive than others, and it’s important that you get a good understanding of each kit’s requirements before you settle on one. For example, you have to be around to mist some kits two times a day to keep the moisture and humidity levels up while others are less demanding. If it’s a family project, you can easily split the care requirements up amongst yourselves to lighten the load. 

Bottom Line 

Whether you want to try your hand at straw bale gardening with your mushroom kit or you’re an expert at all things gardening, my 10 picks for the best mushroom kit will give you a solid place to start. You can compare the various products to narrow down your initial choices, and then you can use the buying guide to pick the one that best suits your wants and needs. Follow the instructions carefully, and  you’ll have enough fresh mushrooms to add to all of your favorite dishes in no time. 

Best Mushroom Growing Kit for Beginners 1 Best Mushroom Growing Kit for Beginners