Rating: 
Summary: Part of the ideal amatuer mycology library!
Review: I have read this and several other mushroom cultivation books. This book, coupled with Stamet's Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms, makes for the absolute best reference materials for growing your own mushrooms.That said, I'll mention the only thing that may disappoint a reader. His treatment of agar techniques in either of his cultivation books leaves a little to be desired. If you feel uncomfortable working with petri dishes after reading his sections on it, you may wish to check out "Laboratory Excercises in Microbiology" (ISBN 0-697-35443-1) by Harley and Prescott. It is a little more than a fellow needs to know about microbiology, but it is an excellent reference for aquainting on with aseptic agar techniques. Aside from this, Stamets has certainly beaten the competion with this book!
Rating:
Summary: It's the Mushroom Cultivation Bible
Review: I often refer to this book at the "bible", also. And it's writen by the "Cultivation God" himself. I already knew how to cultivate before i bought this book, and had a fairly wide knowledge of the subject. The amount of information in this book is unbelievable. I was just shocked. And, in a sort of response to the person who said there's too much info - if you're going to cultivate mushrooms, the more information the better. You can get buy with just a step-by-step guide, but you won't be very successful, and if you run into problems, or want to do more, then you're not going to know what to do. If you really want to cultivate mushrooms, and you really want to enjoy it, then you've got to get this book. It's easy to understand, and gives some basic information on the life cycle and properties of mushrooms. Ask anyone that cultivates, and knows a lot about cultivating, and they'll tell you that this is a must have book. It's probably my favorite book i've ever bought. Get it!
Rating:
Summary: It's the Mushroom Cultivation Bible
Review: I often refer to this book at the "bible", also. And it's writen by the "Cultivation God" himself. I already knew how to cultivate before i bought this book, and had a fairly wide knowledge of the subject. The amount of information in this book is unbelievable. I was just shocked. And, in a sort of response to the person who said there's too much info - if you're going to cultivate mushrooms, the more information the better. You can get buy with just a step-by-step guide, but you won't be very successful, and if you run into problems, or want to do more, then you're not going to know what to do. If you really want to cultivate mushrooms, and you really want to enjoy it, then you've got to get this book. It's easy to understand, and gives some basic information on the life cycle and properties of mushrooms. Ask anyone that cultivates, and knows a lot about cultivating, and they'll tell you that this is a must have book. It's probably my favorite book i've ever bought. Get it!
Rating: 
Summary: "Practical" is VERY misleading
Review: I purchased this booking hoping to find basic information on growing mushrooms for culinary use. Instead I was overloaded with technical confusing information on the SCIENCE of growing fungus, NOT practical if all you want to know is how to grow your own ediable mushrooms. I was very disappointed.
Rating: 
Summary: The ABC's of mushroom cultivation!
Review: There's a very good reason that Paul Stamets is such a respected authority on mushrooms-- the man knows his stuff! Amateur mycologists are lucky to have a trustworthy source of information, especially one who doesn't shy away from controversy (witness the several pages devoted to Psilocybes in this book!).
This is a comprehensive "how to" manual targeted at the amateur enthusiast. Stamets uses clinical and scientific terminology throughout most of the text, which can be frustrating if you don't speak his language, but which is also very precise. Some of the techniques described in this book are a little expensive for the amateur, which disappointed me just a bit since there are numerous inexpensive work-arounds available, but there's also little doubt that the methods presented in this book are the best available means to grow and harvest decent quantities of mushrooms with a minimal amount spoilage or contamination. Even if you're like me-- living on a budget, placing Stamet's methods beyond your means-- the principles in this book are 100% applicable to any mushroom operation, no matter how small.
If you're even thinking about cultivating mushrooms, this is the one book that you probably can't do without.
Rating:
Summary: Practical is exactly right
Review: This book excellently describes exact details for mushroom cultivation in a very understandable fashion. It gives precise parameters for several commonly cultivated mushrooms and a lengthy list of common contaminants and their cure. The book gives methods for small time cultivation as well as professional large-scale production. In general, it is a great primer on the subject of mushroom cultivation.
Rating:
Summary: This is the best book I have found.
Review: This book is a excellent reference and guide for the intermediate to advanced mushroom grower. The emphasis is not necessarily on growing at home because the techniques described in the book require a pretty sophisticated lab. To grow mushrooms in the average kitchen with the dog walking by and shaking would be difficult using the info from this book. Of course if you buy the laminar flow hood from the author then things will be much easier for 800 dollars. The book is weak on sterile technique methods needed to sucessfully cultivate without laminar flow hoods.
Overall the book is a very comprehensive outline for successful cultivation indoors and outdoors. I reccommend it
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Reference
Review: This book is a excellent reference and guide for the intermediate to advanced mushroom grower. The emphasis is not necessarily on growing at home because the techniques described in the book require a pretty sophisticated lab. To grow mushrooms in the average kitchen with the dog walking by and shaking would be difficult using the info from this book. Of course if you buy the laminar flow hood from the author then things will be much easier for 800 dollars. The book is weak on sterile technique methods needed to sucessfully cultivate without laminar flow hoods.
Overall the book is a very comprehensive outline for successful cultivation indoors and outdoors. I reccommend it
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