Mushroom hunting is cool and fun, but you know what’s not cool and fun? Make slugs or other mushroom hunters discover your secret place. Or, worst of all, accidentally picking the wrong type of mushroom that could make you very sick or worse.

Ideally, you should be able to grow your favorite type of mushroom safely in your own home or garden, whether shiitakes, morels or lion’s mane, just as you would with vegetables. But like many gardening-related activities, it’s not that simple. Mushrooms, like all fungi, need only three things to grow: spores, a food source, and a moist environment.

However, because mushrooms are incredibly sensitive to light, heat, and pollution, it doesn’t take much to create a prohibitive growing environment. And then there is the question of whether it is possible to simulate the critical symbiotic relationships that many fungi, especially the most sought-after ones like porcinis and chanterelles, must maintain with tree roots to thrive.

I’m far from an expert on mycology, but over the past year, I, a busy full-time working dad, have been involved in five different attempts to grow mushrooms in my home and backyard: shiitakes on an inoculated log, oysters on a cardboard-enclosed fruiting block, wine caps on roe buried in bark chips in my garden, oysters from grain roe in a bucket, and oysters and lion’s manes in a monotub.

I laughed, I cried, I made an epic mess of chopped straw in my bathroom, and only two of the five methods were successful. If you are also curious about mushrooms and want to grow your own, this is what I did and in some cases I wish I had done the opposite.

Also, be sure to check out our guides on mushroom supplements (the functional kind), mushroom gummies, indoor gardening systems, and mushroom gifts.

Which will prevail?

Method 1: mushroom registration

Williams Sonoma Mushroom Record Kit

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Method 2: Spray and Grow Box

Back to the Roots Organic Mini Mushroom Grow Kit

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Method 3: Spawn in the Garden

North Spore Organic Wine Cap Mushroom Sawdust Spawn

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Method 4: Fruiting blocks in a monotub

North Spore Boomr Bin Automated Mushroom Monotub

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Method 1: mushroom registration

Williams Sonoma

Mushroom Log Kit

There is nothing more natural, simple and economical than a log of mushrooms. Many mushroom logs available for purchase are intended exclusively for outdoor use, as they are simply old logs with sealed holes filled with colonized mushroom spawn. But this 12-inch-tall option from Williams Sonoma is designed to be displayed indoors (though you can also place it outdoors if you prefer), with smooth waxed ends and a rustic metal tag printed with its creation date.

Let it soak for 24 hours and, in theory, you’ll have spiked mushrooms in about 30 days. Although oyster mushrooms are the easiest variety to grow, for reasons known only to me at the time, I chose a shiitake log, which came with a sheet of paper identifying it as a “younger log.” This means that the seed was still in the process of colonizing and should bear fruit within seven to nine months from the date stamped on its label, which was December 2025. I soaked the trunk in mid-May and again in early July, but I’m still waiting to see the pins. Williams Sonoma says the log is guaranteed to bear fruit, so it continues to sit on my dining room table, in a saucer full of water, covered with a plastic produce bag. Some green mold has started to appear on the top, but I remain optimistic, although this is not my first failure on a shiitake mushroom log (I tried growing one from a different brand a few years ago, outside under a bush).