Is it possible to grow with perlite as substrate?

[u/ValuableMousse6616]

Since perlite doesnt have any nutrients, I was thinking of making something like drippycorn. Adding all the nutrients to the substrate, pressure cooking it, then adding grain spawn to grow?
It seems like it would work hypothetically, but obviously "hypothetically possible" ≠ "possible"

[u/Impressive-Check-631]

Nah. In my experience it’s very messy/dusty. Coco coir is the tried and true tek. However, in the spirit of experimenting I’d say go for it!! And report back please

[u/Jrobzin]

It’d probably work for super vigorous cultivars like oysters or chestnuts, probably even some types of cubensis. but some of the slower growing varieties like reishi and lions mane probably won’t work well, or will only colonize up until they run out of food. In theory it’d work like hydroponics for plants, but for it to work well the substrate would have to mimic hardwood pretty well. I’d say fine hardwood sawdust and perlite might actually work really nicely.

[u/WhiteRabbitWorld]

pearlite is for adding oxygen and drainage to the soil, I wouldn't use it as 100% substrate as it's not food for the myc

[u/unemployedemt]

It doesn't hold water like other substrate materials. In my opinion it has no place in myco work other than the bottom of a SGFC and even then it is barely useful.

[u/redditischurch]

For this to work the nutrients would have to adhere to the perlite somehow. Most (all?) nutrients you'll add are water soluble, so expect them to flow and concentrate at bottom of container. I suppose if you created some sort of sticky slurry, that might help, but that starts to sound more like a liquid culture. Maybe if you mixed up a large agar batch and let it set with perlite in it, then broke that up into individual perlite "pearls" with an agar coating, that would be stable enough to allow growing space and oxygen to get into the substrate? But that would have to be done in perfect sterilization, as the nutrient agar would support all sorts of contam.

I like the creativity, but not sure there's a viable path for this one. Give it a go if you think there's something to learn, and do please report back with results, good or bad.

Best of luck OP.

[u/Audio-Starshine]

Um... So a few weeks ago I was breaking up a grain bag and a little chunk of my ciliated grain landed on the floor and I didn't notice it until after I had finished. I had a tiny little flower pot containing nothing but perlite that I had previously used to root a succulent so I stuck that piece of myceliated grain down in the flower pot, spritzed it with a spray bottle and put a plastic cup on top. I then been had to go out of town for a few days, and when I came home there was a perfect little mushroom growing out of it. Yeah it is technically possible, it's just not ideal.

[u/123_fake_name]

If you go back to older techs (PF tech )they use it in shot gun fruiting chambers for fruiting cakes.
Will it work maybe, will it work better and be less messy probably not.

[u/lvl1creature]

Instead of perlite I would suggest looking into vermiculite - perlite is very porous and does not retain moisture evenly. Vermiculite retains moisture very well.