Getting Started

Set up your SH-Room controller and start your first mushroom grow.

What Is SH-Room?

SH-Room is an automated mushroom growing controller built by Simply Horticulture. It monitors temperature, humidity, CO2, and light inside your monotub and automatically adjusts fans, heaters, coolers, humidifiers, and lighting to maintain the perfect environment for each growth phase. You configure it once through a web dashboard, and it handles the rest.

The controller ships with 24 built-in strain profiles covering psychoactive, gourmet, and medicinal species. Each profile contains optimised parameters for every growth phase so you do not need to research ideal conditions yourself.

Connecting to WiFi

When the controller powers on for the first time (or cannot find a known network), it creates its own WiFi hotspot so you can configure it.

Power on the controller. Plug in the 12 V power supply. The status LED will flash to indicate it is starting up.
Connect to the hotspot. On your phone or laptop, look for a WiFi network named MushRoom-XXXX (where XXXX is a unique identifier). Connect to it. There is no password by default.
Open the configuration portal. Your device should automatically open a captive portal. If it does not, open a browser and navigate to 192.168.4.1.
Enter your home WiFi details. Select your home WiFi network from the scanned list and enter the password. Click Save.
Controller restarts. The controller will reboot and connect to your home WiFi. The status LED will turn solid when connected.

Tip: If the controller fails to connect to your WiFi, it will fall back to access point mode after 30 seconds. You can try again by reconnecting to the MushRoom-XXXX network.

Opening the Dashboard

Once the controller is on your home network, open a browser and navigate to:

http://mushroom.local

If mDNS does not work on your network (common on some Android devices or corporate networks), check your router's DHCP client list for the controller's IP address and navigate to that directly.

The dashboard is fully responsive and works on phones, tablets, and desktops. Bookmark it for quick access.

Running the Setup Wizard

The Setup Wizard launches automatically on first boot. It walks you through the essential configuration in a few steps:

Name your tub. Give it a descriptive name like "Monotub 1" or "Golden Teacher Grow".
Pick your strain. Choose from the 24 built-in strain profiles. Each profile comes with pre-configured temperature, humidity, CO2, and FAE settings for every growth phase. If you are unsure, start with Golden Teacher or B+.
Pick your phase. Select the growth phase you are starting from. If you are spawning fresh substrate, choose Colonisation. If you are picking up a grow mid-way, select the appropriate phase.
Confirm sensor detection. The wizard checks that your sensors are connected and reading correctly. You should see live temperature and humidity values.
Configure smart plugs (optional). If you are using a smart socket for a humidifier or heater, enter its IP address here.
Review and save. The wizard shows a summary of your configuration. Click Save to apply.

Smart Socket Scanning

The dashboard can scan your local network to find compatible smart sockets automatically, so you do not need to know their IP addresses in advance.

Open Settings. Navigate to the Settings page on the dashboard.
Click "Scan Network for Smart Plugs". The controller will scan your network for any compatible smart sockets.
Select from the dropdown. Found devices appear in a dropdown list. Select the device you want to configure.
Assign a role. Assign each smart socket to one of the supported roles: Substrate Heater, Humidifier, or Room Cooler.

Tip: Make sure your smart sockets are powered on and connected to the same WiFi network as the controller before scanning.

Light Spectrum Sensor (Optional)

The light spectrum sensor is an optional add-on that measures the wavelength distribution of light in your grow environment. It requires no manual configuration — simply connect it to the I2C bus and the controller detects it automatically.

Automatic blue light adjustment. The sensor measures the blue light ratio and automatically adjusts it to the optimal range for mushroom pinning (25–35%).
Spectrum breakdown on the dashboard. When connected, the dashboard displays a colour spectrum breakdown showing the distribution of light wavelengths.
Auto-Tune calibration. If the spectrum sensor is connected during Auto-Tune, it is calibrated during Phase 3 of the process.
Plug and play. Connect the sensor to the same SDA/SCL bus as your other I2C sensors. The controller detects it on the next boot or sensor scan — no additional configuration needed.

Running Auto-Tune

Auto-Tune calibrates the controller's PID loops to your specific setup. Every monotub is slightly different — the volume, the fan configuration, the ambient room conditions — so Auto-Tune adapts the control algorithms to work optimally for your environment.

Start Auto-Tune from the dashboard. Navigate to Settings > Auto-Tune.
Ensure stable conditions. Close the tub, make sure the room temperature is relatively stable, and do not open the tub during the process.
Wait for completion. Auto-Tune typically takes 30 to 60 minutes. The controller will cycle fans and heaters on and off to measure how your tub responds. You will see the progress on the dashboard.
Review results. Once complete, the controller displays the tuned PID values. Click Apply to use them.

Warning: Do not run Auto-Tune with an empty tub. The thermal mass of the substrate affects the tuning. Run Auto-Tune after you have spawned your substrate, or at minimum, with a tub full of substrate at field capacity.

Choosing Your First Strain

For your first grow, start with a forgiving, well-documented strain. The two best choices for beginners are:

Golden Teacher

The most popular beginner strain worldwide.
Very forgiving of minor temperature and humidity fluctuations.
Colonises grain quickly (typically 2 to 3 weeks).
Fruits reliably across a wide range of conditions.
Produces large, easy-to-harvest mushrooms.
Multiple flushes with good yields.

B+

Another excellent beginner strain, very similar to Golden Teacher in terms of ease.
Known for producing large individual fruits.
Tolerates a wider temperature range than most strains (21 to 27 °C for fruiting).
Strong coloniser that resists contamination well.
Consistent results even with imperfect technique.

Tip: Both Golden Teacher and B+ have built-in strain profiles on the controller. Select one during the Setup Wizard and the controller will automatically configure optimal settings for each growth phase. See the full Strain Guide for all 24 profiles.

Growth Phases Overview

The controller manages six distinct growth phases. It automatically adjusts all environmental parameters as you transition between them.

Phase	What Happens	Typical Duration
Colonisation	Mycelium spreads through the substrate. The tub stays closed with high humidity, warm temps, elevated CO2, and no light.	7 to 21 days
Cold Shock	A brief temperature drop that triggers the mycelium to shift from growth mode to fruiting mode. The controller lowers the temperature by 5 to 10 °C for 12 to 24 hours.	12 to 24 hours
Pinning	Tiny mushroom pins form on the surface. The controller increases FAE, introduces a 12/12 light cycle, and maintains high humidity with lower CO2.	3 to 7 days
Fruiting	Pins grow into full mushrooms. High FAE, moderate humidity, and consistent lighting continue. The controller fine-tunes conditions to support rapid growth.	5 to 10 days
Harvest	Mushrooms are ready to pick. The controller can pause active climate control during harvesting to avoid unnecessary fan cycling while the lid is open.	1 to 2 days
Rest	After harvesting, the substrate is rehydrated (dunked or heavily misted). The controller returns to colonisation-like conditions to prepare for the next flush.	1 to 3 days

Tip: The controller will notify you when it detects conditions are right to move to the next phase. You can also manually advance phases from the dashboard at any time.

Dashboard Overview

The main dashboard shows real-time data from your grow. Here is what each card displays:

Card	What It Shows
Temperature	Current substrate and air temperature, target temperature for the active phase, and a 24-hour graph showing trends.
Humidity	Current relative humidity percentage, target for the active phase, and a 24-hour trend graph.
CO2	Current CO2 level in ppm, target range for the active phase, and trend graph. Higher CO2 is desired during colonisation, lower during fruiting.
FAE (Fresh Air Exchange)	Current fan speed percentages for intake and exhaust fans. Shows whether the controller is actively ventilating.
Light	Current light status (on/off), the active light schedule (e.g., 12h on / 12h off), and an Inspect button for safe viewing during dark phases.
Phase	The active growth phase, time spent in the current phase, and a button to manually advance to the next phase.
Spectrum	Blue ratio percentage, a colour spectrum bar showing the wavelength distribution, and whether the blue light level is optimal for the current strain. Only visible when the optional light spectrum sensor is connected.
Alerts	Any active warnings or errors such as sensor disconnections, temperature out of range, or contamination risk indicators.

Inspect Mode — Safe Light for Dark Phases

During dark phases (Colonisation, Cold Shock, Rest), the lights are off to match the natural conditions your mushrooms need. But sometimes you want to check on your grow without disrupting the light cycle.

The Inspect button on the Light card activates a green-only safe light. Mushrooms do not respond to green wavelengths, so this light lets you visually check your tub without affecting pinning or fruiting. The green light turns on immediately when you press the button and turns off when you press it again or when the phase changes.

Tip: Use Inspect mode to check for contamination during colonisation without opening the tub or disrupting the dark phase. The green light illuminates the substrate surface clearly enough to spot any discolouration or mould growth through the tub walls.

Transport Controls — Stop, Pause, Run

The dashboard includes three transport control buttons for quick access:

Button	What It Does	When to Use
STOP	Turns off all outputs — heaters, coolers, humidifier, fans, and lights. Timers are paused.	Emergency stop, maintenance, or when you need everything off immediately.
PAUSE	Enters manual override — current output states are held, timers are paused. You can manually adjust individual controls.	Opening the tub for inspection, harvesting, or making adjustments.
RUN	Resumes normal automation. Timers resume from where they were paused.	After any stop or pause, press RUN to resume the grow.

Tip: You will receive a push notification (if configured) when you press any transport control, confirming the system state change.

Push Notifications — Get Alerts on Your Phone

The SH-Room controller can send push notifications directly to your phone when important events happen — faults, phase changes, sensor disconnections, and more. This means you do not need to constantly check the dashboard.

Setting Up Notifications

The controller uses ntfy — a free, open-source push notification service. No account required.

Install the ntfy app on your phone — free on both iOS (App Store) and Android (Google Play). Search for "ntfy".
Subscribe to a topic in the app. Choose a unique name that only you know, for example my-mushroom-grow-abc123. This is like a private channel — anyone who knows the topic name can see the notifications, so make it unique.
Enter the same topic on the controller dashboard. Go to Settings > Push Notifications, enable the toggle, type the exact same topic name, and click Save.
Click Send Test to verify. You should receive a test notification on your phone within seconds.

Tip: You can subscribe to the same topic on multiple devices — your phone, tablet, and partner's phone can all receive the same alerts.

What Alerts Will You Receive?

Alert Type	When It Fires	Priority
Air sensor fault	Temperature/humidity/CO2 sensor stops responding	High
Fan fault	Fresh air fan not spinning when it should be	High
Temperature critical	Chamber temperature exceeds 30°C	Urgent
CO2 critical	CO2 exceeds 5000 ppm	High
Contamination warning	Substrate temperature significantly above air temperature	Urgent
Cold shock warning	Chamber cooler cannot reach cold shock target	Normal
Light fault	Lights on but no light detected, or lights off but light leaking in	High
Smart socket offline	A smart socket stops responding to health checks	High
Sensor disconnected	Light sensor, substrate probe, or spectrum sensor disconnects	High
Phase transition	Controller transitions between growth phases	Normal
Fault cleared	A previously faulted sensor or device recovers	Normal
Auto-Tune complete	Auto-Tune finishes with results summary	Normal
System stop/pause/run	Transport controls pressed	Normal

Warning: If you do not set up notifications, you will only see alerts on the dashboard when you are actively viewing it. For unattended grows (overnight, while at work), push notifications are strongly recommended so you know immediately if something goes wrong.

Alert Banner on Dashboard

In addition to push notifications, the dashboard displays a red alert banner at the top of the screen whenever a fault is active. The banner shows all current faults and clears automatically when the issue is resolved. An audio beep also plays when a new fault appears (requires tapping the dashboard once to enable audio on mobile browsers).

Next Steps

With your controller configured and Auto-Tune complete, you are ready to start growing. Follow the guides in order:

Strain Guide — Browse all 24 strain profiles with detailed growing parameters.
Spore Syringes — Learn how to inoculate grain jars with spores, or skip to Liquid Culture if you already have LC.
Grain Spawn — Prepare and colonise your grain.
Substrate Preparation — Mix your substrate.
Spawning to Monotub — Combine grain spawn and substrate in your tub and start the controller.
Harvesting & Drying — Pick and preserve your mushrooms.
Multi-Flush Guide — Get multiple harvests from the same substrate.

If you run into any issues along the way, check the Troubleshooting guide for solutions to common problems.