How to Plant Mushrooms in Minecraft: A Complete Guide to Growing Fungi in Your World

If you're a Minecraft player looking to explore the unusually scenic and surreal world of mushroom farming, planting mushrooms can add charm, functionality, and beauty to your virtual landscape. While mushrooms don’t grow like traditional crops, with the right approach, you can cultivate these delightful organisms in your garden, beneath forests, or even inside igloo structures. In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about planting mushrooms in Minecraft—how to find them, prepare the right environment, encourage growth, and use them creatively in your builds.


Understanding the Context

Why Plant Mushrooms in Minecraft?

Mushrooms in Minecraft are more than just decorative—they add ambiance to bedrooms, note blocks for directional cues, and contribute to hidden farms beyond basic crops. More importantly, mushrooms emit light when placed near null blocks, creating a natural, eerie glow perfect for ambiance or stealthy bases. With modern updates adding new varieties like Glowstarter and medicinal fungi, mushroom farming is growing increasingly rewarding.


Step 1: Finding Mushrooms in the Wild

Key Insights

Before planting, you’ll need to collect mushrooms from your Minecraft world:

  • Mushroom Growth Zones: Mushrooms thrive naturally in damp, shaded areas like forests, swampy biomes, and near water sources.
  • Mushroom Blocks: Use a one-click command (requires console access) or manually break randomly generated mushroom spawns under trees, mossy blocks, or soil-rich zones.
  • Breeding & Spawning: While mature mushrooms don’t regrow instantly, you can encourage new growth by placing infected logs or native saplings around fresh spawn spots.

Step 2: Preparing the Ideal Growing Environment

Mushrooms in Minecraft require specific conditions to thrive. Replicating their natural habitat in your world is key:

Final Thoughts

Essential Preparation Steps:

  • Moisture: Mushrooms grow best on moist soil or decaying logs. Use irrigation systems or place blocks over underground water springs to keep the area damp.
  • Shade: Plant near tall grass, ferns, moss, or fungi subsets. Use light levels ≥ 5 and restrict direct sunlight.
  • Seed Ferns/Mushroom Seeds: To spread mushrooms naturally, “plant” Seed Ferns near mushroom spawns—these grow into clusters of mushrooms over time, like farmland but with fungi.

Step 3: Planting Your Mushrooms

Once ready, planting mushrooms is simple:

  1. Place the mushroom directly onto soil, moss, or decayed wood.
  2. Optional Step: Surround with infected logs for decorative forested mushroom biomes (rare in vanilla but possible with mods).
  3. Automatic Growth: Mushrooms spawn automatically near fertile, shaded ground, so placing one seed near fully grown clusters in safe zones helps expand growth organically.

Step 4: Encouraging Growth & Expansion

Mushrooms multiply via spore dispersal, though true breeding isn’t present in vanilla Minecraft—growth relies on replication:

  • Use Crafting Recipes: Combine multiple mushrooms with seed substrates or spores in a crafting table to create new clusters.
  • Environmental Boosts: Spray water with a watering can, or grow near organic decay piles for faster regeneration.
  • Lighting Adjustments: Keep light levels low but stable—too dark stunts growth; too bright prevents optimal full development.