Contents
Growing mushrooms in the country is becoming an increasingly popular activity. In addition to the ecological cleanliness of self-grown mushrooms, you can get a lot of pleasure from the harvest and great nutritional benefits. Usually summer residents decide to grow champignons, considering them to be unpretentious and the most tender among mushrooms grown under artificial conditions. The yield of champignons is amazing. If you compare the number of vegetables and mushrooms obtained from one area, then you will collect 4 times more champignons. It is convenient and profitable to grow champignons in the country.
The fungus does not require active sunlight, so you can safely use shady spaces unsuitable for other crops. This species grows equally well in basements, greenhouses and in open ground. The only factor that you need to pay close attention to is the substrate for growing champignons. How to grow champignons in the country on your own and without mistakes?
We study the process of growing in a summer cottage
Before starting a new lesson, you need to remember that champignon mushrooms cannot stand sunlight. Growing this type of mushroom requires good ventilation and humidity. Therefore, you will have to choose a place for planting mushrooms taking into account these nuances. We find a suitable site. Many summer residents grow their champignons in the near-stem circles of an orchard or just in a vegetable garden. In the summer heat, it is difficult to provide the necessary conditions for growing mushrooms. Fruit bodies of mushrooms grow massively in a narrow temperature range from +15°C to +18°C and a high percentage of humidity (90%). Therefore, a good harvest can only be expected before the onset of heat at the beginning of summer or after its decline – in autumn. But growing champignons in the country in a greenhouse allows you to pick mushrooms regardless of external weather conditions and at any time of the year.
On the selected site, we place small trenches with the following parameters – the length and width are 1 meter each, and the depth is 30 cm. Dimensions are given for ridges planned in open ground. We fill the dug trenches with mullein or manure, but be sure to lay a layer of soddy soil on top, then the substrate.
We are preparing a substrate or soil mixture for planting champignons in a summer cottage. Preparation takes a month and a half.
- The most optimal composition for champignons is horse manure. In second place is cow straw. First, the manure is shaken with a pitchfork, and then enriched with urea or ammonium sulfate in the proportion of 25 g of the substance per 10 kg of manure.
- In this composition, the manure is kept for 10 days, shoveled again and chalk is added. Its amount is taken at the rate of 65 g per 10 kg of substrate. The mixed mushroom mixture must be folded into a pile and compacted from the sides.
- The next time the composition is shoveled after 8 days, at the same time adding 10 g of superphosphate and 10 g of gypsum for every 60 kg.
- Now it remains to wait for the composition for champignons to acquire a light brown hue and begin to disintegrate without releasing the smell of ammonia. The ripened substrate is laid out very tightly on a dug-up bed 1,2 m wide.
The mature substrate for mushrooms is laid on trenches. This moment is the most convenient in order to provide mushrooms with protection from drafts. On the north side of the trench, it is good to strengthen the glass that protects from the icy wind. By the way, there will be a canopy over the garden bed, which will save the champignons from the downpour and the active sun. It can be made from ordinary polyethylene film. After equipping the beds, the substrate is left on it for a week, periodically compacting.
Preparing mushrooms for planting
While the substrate is going through the maturation stage, let’s start acquiring mushroom mycelium.
Mycelium can be bought in specialized stores and communities of gardeners involved in the cultivation of champignons. The purchased material must be used strictly following the instructions.
The suitability of the purchased raw materials is difficult to determine, because it is stored exclusively in the cold. The best guide will be the time indicated on the package. At home, you also need to place mushroom mycelium in a room with a temperature not higher than + 10 ° C. Only a couple of days before the intended landing, the package is taken out and transferred to heat (22 ° C).
If the spores of the mushrooms are alive, then after 2 days the first signs of the growth of champignons in the package will appear:
- characteristic mushroom aroma;
- web on content;
- increasing the moisture content of the mycelium.
When the listed signs are absent, then you can try to “revive” the mycelium.
It is transferred to a container, covered with a newspaper sheet and moistened with a spray bottle, trying not to wet the mycelium. The newspaper is kept moist all the time, and the container is placed in heat. This creates ideal moisture conditions for the fungus.
If, after the procedures performed, signs of the life of the fungus do not appear, then such a mycelium is unsuitable for planting.
Another nuance – we prepare the soil mixture in advance to cover the mycelium. This stage takes 20-25 days. For the mixture, we prepare 1 part of sand and soddy land and twice as much peat (2 parts). Stir and leave until mushrooms emerge.
The crucial moment – we sow mushrooms and harvest
The bed is ready, the substrate too, the mycelium is checked for suitability, we proceed to planting. Mushroom spores are placed at a depth of 5 cm. In each well, you will need to put 20 g of mycelium. The sowing of champignons is carried out in a checkerboard pattern, the planting pattern is 20×20 cm. We immediately water the garden bed and cover it with paper, cloth or other improvised materials.
After 2-3 weeks, mycelium threads appear on the surface, we cover them with a soil layer of a pre-prepared mixture 4 cm thick, and remove the covering material.
If at this time very few filaments (hyphae) of fungi appeared, then the reason is insufficient moisture content of the substrate or its temperature is below acceptable. The substrate is moistened through a layer of paper, and heated by compaction.
Now we have to wait at least 25 days before picking the first mushrooms. As soon as the diameter of the caps is 3-4 cm, you can harvest the first crop.
The yield of champignons in the country is 5 kg per 1 sq. m beds. The fruiting process of champignons will continue for 2-3 months.
There is a way to grow champignons in the country without buying mycelium.
- You will need to find mature forest mushrooms and extract them from the soil with a twisting movement.
- Dig a trench in advance on the site and fill it with a mixture of manure and straw. The depth of the trench is 25 cm. Sprinkle everything on top with good garden soil.
- Finely chop the mushroom caps and spread over the surface of the substrate.
- On top, once again, a layer of earth 3 cm thick.
A month later, we collect the first harvest of champignons. You can leave a few mushrooms for later planting.
Greenhouse growing method
To increase the duration of mushroom picking, many gardeners grow champignons in a greenhouse. With this method of growing, it is important to ensure reliable control of humidity, lighting and temperature conditions in the greenhouse. Substrate for closed ground also has its own requirements. Mushrooms grow well in the soil:
- saturated with nutrients;
- well-drained and permeable to air and moisture;
- without excess carbon dioxide.
If it is possible to place the mycelium in the forest soil, then this is excellent. In another case, you will need to add sawdust to the soil in a small amount. For planting, take mycelium or caps of mature mushrooms.
If you decide to grow champignons in a greenhouse in winter, then leave free space between the beds and the wall. This will ensure that the mushrooms do not get cold during the cold season.
Don’t forget to ventilate the greenhouse! Mushrooms do not respond well to heat. As soon as the first shoots of small mushrooms appear, you can move from watering to spraying. It is carried out twice a day, and the beds are watered once a week from a garden watering can to prevent rotting of the roots. Be sure to monitor the temperature, humidity and ventilation.
The first harvest of champignons may not be so big, but in the future you will be able to collect a decent harvest of tender and tasty mushrooms. If you have decided to start growing mushrooms in the country, then start from the preparatory stage in advance. Most of the time is spent on preparing the substrate, and caring for the beds is easy.
Useful video for summer residents:
