Cultivation grain

For growing mycelium for spawn production and/or fruiting many types of grain can be used; rice, rye, milo, wheat, rye grass seed. One spawn recipe uses bran and perlite as a base. Again, many types of bran are acceptable. Rye grain is one the most preferred grains for spawn production because it does not tend to cake together as easily as does rice or wheat berries. It is also one of the least expensive grains and is quite suitable to mycelial growth. Rice tends to form solid cakes when sterilized. These "patties" are excellent as fruiting tests for many varieties of mushrooms. Caking can be avoided to some degree by the addition of gypsum (calcium sulfate) (1-4 grams per 1/2-3/4 cup of grain) to the rice prior to sterilization. Another method used to avoid caking is to precook the grain, mix in the gypsum and then sterilize the blend.