This question has been pondered on the Nexus and the chat: why do we have to be so sterile in in vitro culture, while these mushrooms grow easily in nature, which is the opposite of sterile?

And I've had some thoughts on this.

Firstly, fungi are different from plants (FYI plants is where I'm coming from); they're low-level. They compete for the same nutrients as bacteria and molds, which are prevalent in every cubic inch of air (which plants are not). They compete with things that permeate the biosphere in a more or less homogenous way.

Secondly, nature is a numbers game, and because of the above, it's big numbers in this case. A billion spores may land on a substrate and only one of them will germinate and colonize its slice. And then we look at the lovely mushrooms and wonder how come they grow so easily, ignorant of the 10^9-1 that didn't. Extreme selection bias!

In cultivation we don't want only a billionth of our efforts to be successful; we want all of them to be successful.

As a hunter, not a cultivater, my thinking has been similar although you put it really well in a way that sent my mind to places.

I see how the mycelial system is so interwoven into the nature of it's environment that I think though it's a little more than just luck. The nature of mycelium to "symbiotically overwhelm" it's environment's in order to spread hints to me at another, far stranger mechanism.

I mean maybe all of nature is like those poor wasps?

The small humid ecosystem with low air exchange created to grow them inside typically favors contaminants. Dump a moldy sub in a hole outside with good air exchange and daily variable temperatures and the fungi have the upper hand. Fungal Darwinism I guess ✨

Call it synchronicity , i was thinking of the same thing today

planning on growing mushrooms and was thinking if i could do it outdoors or something easier compared to the whole process of jars , colonisation and all that

I started some azure mycelium in a grain jar and transferred bits into pots with lots of fresh wood chunks placed in the soil. Put Big Medicine Phalaris clones in the soil as well.

I'm excited to see what happens this autumn

Please, do share some pics of the progress

I've also started azure jars, but my substrate is roughly 1:1 grain to wood chips. Wood chips are slower to colonize, so once fully colonized, it should be more of a result and potentially more resistant to contamination once spawned to an outdoor bed.

The lack of a need for sterility has gotten me onto outdoor mushrooms (for my temperate climate). I'm also getting P. cyanescens and I'm looking to get P. serbica and ovoids to extend my picking season. I'm going to make beds in my yard as well as guerilla-spread the spores (spray bottle?) or spawn in the parks, forests etc.

So theoretically, in hot and humid weather, cubes should also colonize outdoor beds easily? Too bad my climate doesn't experience hot and humid weather, it's either cool and humid, or (rarely) hot and dry. But humidity can be improved by planting under mulch etc.

I bet they will love the grass. My best honey holes all have tall sedge grasses, and there seems to be a relationship with the roots and mycelium, along with the creation of a perfect microclime for fruits.

Ah, this must be why I've been actively encouraging the sedge plants in my garden!