I've been trying to work out a subterranean culture. This may be abundantly clear from some of my previous posts. Well, you've got to feed those folks somehow. I'm trying to figure out ways for them to exist without too much interaction with the outside world. What do they eat? Well, I've got a couple somewhat creative ideas on that, but a simple addition to that menu is mushrooms. Damn do I love those things. However, having never grown them, I thought it might be a good idea to see if this is feasible, since all of the mushrooms I know do grow above ground. Well, without further ado...
As might be obvious to everyone out there, growing conditions for mushrooms vary from species to species. One of the joys of this is that I can feel free to invent growing conditions for whatever I want to use and go with it as long as I stick within certain parameters. The essential elements you need to manipulate when growing mushrooms are: growing medium, temperature, and humidity.
Most varieties of mushroom require consistent cool temperatures to fruit. Lack of chlorophyll means that they do not require sunlight for growth, but for heat alone. These temperatures can be mimicked in an underground (or indoor) environment fairly simply with either the simple heat of the planet, or a nearby chimney (dwarven forges are always burning, right?). Other mushrooms require changes in temperature for optimal fruiting. White button mushrooms (the most popular in the world) seem to grow best (when cultivated from spawn) when they have a few weeks of 70 degree temperatures to grow in before being cooled to 55 degree temperatures for fruiting. This would seem to mimic autumnal changes. When you aren't dependent upon the weather, you can produce many seasons of fruiting within the calendar year.
Not all mushrooms like to grow in shit, if you hadn't noticed. Some like to grow on (read: eat) sawdust, straw, or wood. Whether you want to make these other mediums available to your subterranean creatures is up to you. I guess it depends partly on how deep your creations live beneath the surface. The trick is that you need to be careful of competing microorganisms. Your carefully regulated moist cool environment is a perfect breeding ground for all sorts of nastiness. Care to recreate the Potato Famine in your fantasy world? Using multiple mediums in your mushroom production is a simple way to demonstrate that you grow multiple varieties, though requires a certain level of sophistication. However, if you have the wherewithal, why limit your diet?
Mushrooms have all kinds of fun properties that you can use in your stories. We all know how good they are for the eating, providing a good food source for the otherwise nutrient-poor subterranean world. Obviously, you could use "magic" mushrooms either for recreational or religious purposes. One man's meat is another man's poison. Maybe your creatures are like poison dart frogs, using the poisons they ingest for self defense. They are also used for their curative properties in some traditions. They're your mushrooms, do what you want with them. Happy growing.
ps: Remember to harvest your mushrooms with a knife. A good straight cut across the base, above the soil, is the best way to protect the underground structures that'll produce more mushrooms.
http://www.wikihow.com/Grow-Mushrooms-Indoors
http://www.garden.org/ediblelandscaping/?page=december_shroom
http://www.bhg.com/gardening/vegetable/vegetables/how-to-grow-mushrooms/
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