How Big Can Mushrooms Get? ( Huge Mushroom Is A Possibility )

As we learned in school, mushrooms belong to the kingdom Fungi, commonly known as “fungus.” Fungi contain both microorganisms and macroorganisms. The mushrooms can be seen with the naked eye. That means the mushrooms grow up to at least a few centimeters. But do you know how big can mushrooms get?

Actually the size of the mushrooms depend specially on the environmental conditions and variety. When the conditions and nutrients get in the correct way, some mushrooms grow up to about 30 – 35 inches size. We can take ‘’giant puffball mushrooms’’ as an example.

Let’s find more about big mushrooms in this article.

How big can mushrooms get?

Large mushrooms are nearly 20 kg in weight. But all mushroom varieties can’t grow as giant puffball mushrooms whether they get the suitable environmental conditions.

There are so many mushroom size ranges and these sizes can vary from 

•  4 – 8 inches
• 10 – 18 inches

And we can calculate the average size as 2 -12 inches

How big can puffball mushrooms get?

The Giant puffball mushrooms can grow up to 4 – 20 inches in size and the diameter can vary from 35 inches to 60 inches large. The fully grown puffball mushroom can be about 20 kg in weight. 

How big can morel mushrooms get?

Morel mushrooms (Morchella esculenta) are edible, wild, and rare mushrooms. These mushrooms are rich with iron, manganese, zinc, phosphorus, copper, calcium, and some vitamins like vitamin D, K, E, and B. They have a distinct cone shape with a honeycomb appearance, giving the mushroom a spongey appearance. They grow under slightly cool and moist environmental conditions. 

These mushrooms have a color range like light brown, dark brown, gray and blond. It has white stem. They have nutty, earthy, meaty flavors. The Morel mushrooms are hard to cultivate and tend to grow naturally in the wild. Therefore commercial purposes have very high demand and highest prices for this mushroom. 

Morel mushrooms are grown in the spring season. At the beginning of spring, Morel mushrooms are not large in size. But they grow up to 4 -5 inches tall in late spring. The cap size is about 2 to 7 cm in diameter. 

How big can oyster mushrooms get?

Oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus) are one of the most famous and easily cultivated edible mushroom types worldwide. They can also easily be cultivated using straw-like substances. Oyster mushrooms consist of a stem and a fan-shaped fruiting body (cap). The cap color ranges are white, gray, dark brown, or tan. The oysters can grow up to about 3/4 to 11 3/4 inches in size. 

What makes a mushroom grow bigger?

The size of the mushroom depends on some internal and external factors. They are:

The substrate that used to grow mushrooms

When the substrate is full of nutrients, it can support mushrooms to grow. Studies show that Compost is the best fertilizer for best mushroom growth.

Cell enlargement ability of mushrooms 

Mushroom cells can absorb water and store energy, then it can force the mushrooms to get larger. Normally mushrooms are pin headed size and when cell enlargement happens, they become larger. 

Favorable environmental conditions

The environmental conditions are  like temperature, humidity, darkness/ Sunlight,  Soil type, Soil moisture, Soil pH and Distance between mushrooms. The temperature should be about 55℉ to 70℉. The humidity should be higher than 85%. 

Mushrooms do not explode to direct sunlight for a long period of time, because this can be harmful to mushrooms. The most suitable soil type is Loamy soil and this soil can keep moisture in favorable levels and also soil should drain excess water well. 

The soil pH should be in neutral ranges. 

Some studies show that the above factors can have a big effect on the growth rate of mushrooms. 

Are there really huge mushrooms that grow as tall as a human?

There are some bigger mushrooms and normally they love to grow in tropical regions in the world. From that, they mostly grow around South America and Central America. Especially in Florida and Mexico. The biggest mushrooms can grow up to about 1 ½ feet to 3 feets taller. These mushrooms are about 3kg / 8 pounds in weight. These mushrooms are known as Mycrocybe Titans. 

How long can a mushroom grow?

There are various mushroom types distributed worldwide. So the different factors affect the growth time of the mushrooms. The main factors are mushroom type, air quality and substrate that mushrooms grow. When mushrooms grow as indoor methods, temperature, humidity and darkness affect the mushroom growth. When mushrooms grow outside, the time that mushrooms fully grow depends on the size of the mushroom and type of the mushroom. 

The larger mushrooms take  about 3 or 4 months. When larger the mushroom, the time also increased. Small mushrooms can grow within one day. Studies show that various mushroom types take different time periods. Within famous edible mushrooms, Shitake, Maitake, Button and Oyster mushroom takes 1 to 12 months to fully mature with indoor methods. 

Portobello, Reishi, Pink Oyster, King Oyster, and Brown Oyster mushrooms take several weeks to reach maturity, but the Pearls, Black Oyster, and Lion’s Mane mushrooms only take a few days. The substrate on which mushrooms grow can have a huge effect on mushroom growth time. If the substrate is rich with nutrients, the mushrooms will grow quickly. The nutrient-rich substrates should include starch, lignin, fat, and protein. Sugar and nitrogen. 

Straw or manure consisting of compost are the best for better growth of mushrooms. As an example, a hundred percent corncob and sugarcane consisting of substrates gives the best action for Oyster mushrooms. The carbon dioxide level is one of the most important factors that affect the growth time of mushrooms. Mushrooms also exhale carbon dioxide and the air must not concentrate with carbon dioxide and air circulation is important. 

Humidity level should be around 85% and temperature should be 55℉ to 70℉. To form the pinhead of mushrooms the temperature should not be too low. 

Are large white mushrooms edible?

In the mushroom world the large white mushrooms are also introduced as Giant Puffball mushrooms (Calvatia gigantia). It gets the name of white mushroom because it is pure white color when it is immature. It has a greenish brown color in its mature stage.

This mushroom is called a ‘Giant’ because it can grow up to about 4 – 20 inches and the weight can be about 20 kilograms. The maximum diameter of the mushroom can be 35 or 60 inches too. Giant puffballs are mostly distributed in North America and Europe. Their season is late summer and autumn.  

Yes, large white mushrooms are edible when they are in immature stage and fresh . But when consuming this mushroom you should be careful to observe whether the mushroom gets older and rot. Because rotten mushrooms can cause severe health issues as well as death too.

Giant puffballs are commercially cultivated worldwide. They are used when preparing foods like pizza, used as medication to keep your immune system and cardiovascular system stronger, used as medication for some health issues like skin health problems and bleeding nose condition. Another advantage of these mushrooms is that they contain low calories and high proteins. This will help people to reduce their body weight. 

Do mushrooms double in size every day?

The “pinning stage” of mushroom growth is when mushroom “pins” start to emerge from the peat moss. The “pins” will double in size every 24 hours till harvest once this starts to happen.

Do mushrooms grow exponentially?

Growing mushrooms is an amazing process since the mycelium may expand exponentially and multiply thousands of times its initial size.

Do mushrooms explode?

Yes, some mushroom types are exploding. Some mushroom types are now bearing their spores. The puffball mushroom group is expelling their spores into the air. These mushrooms are pear- or ball-shaped, and the spores appear like powder or dust. 

Stump Puffball (Lycoperdon pyriforme) mushrooms explode and distribute their spores through the air. When the mushroom exploded the spores mixed with air as a ‘dust’ appearance. But the spores release by an external force like touching or bumping of small animals or raindrops. Most of these puffball spores are not poisonous. But when someone is exposed to these released spores, lung irritation like damages can be occured.

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