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Growing mushrooms at home is gaining more and more popularity every year. Home mycelium is no longer considered something fantastic. Many grow mushrooms not only for their own needs, but also for profit. Today we will talk about the technologies for self-cultivation of different types of mushrooms.
What mushrooms can be grown at home
We recommend choosing simple varieties of mushrooms for cultivation.
Even novice mushroom pickers can grow oyster mushrooms. In the forest, these mushrooms grow on stumps and deciduous trees. The size of their gray hat varies from 5 to 30 cm. In a self-made mycelium, they can grow at a temperature of +25 ° C. The resulting mushrooms are not only fried, added to soups and other dishes, housewives also like to preserve them for the winter.
Champignon can be grown in a multi-tiered way, which saves space if the mycelium is placed in the basement. These mushrooms are obtained in various ways – by sprouting in bags, containers, briquettes, peat, sawdust, biohumus.
Also popular is honey agaric. It can be bred in tubs made of wood, or decks, and large troughs made of hardwood will do.
White fungus develops well exclusively on deciduous trees; direct sunlight is contraindicated for it. To obtain a high-quality harvest, ready-made myceliums found in the forest and transferred to their site, as well as mushroom particles, are used.
With a little effort, you can also grow chanterelles at home. Their planting is carried out with the help of pieces of mycelium, as well as spore infusion or seed material.
Mushrooms called shiitake are also in high demand among consumers. They are easy to cultivate, tasty and healthy for the human body, have tonic properties, and have a beneficial effect on the nervous system.
Video “Growing mushrooms at home”
In this video, experts tell you how to propagate mushrooms in home mycelium.
Where to get mycelium
Mycelium is obtained from the substrate. It should be as similar as possible to the natural, familiar to wild mushrooms, match the chemical and mineral composition. Oyster mushroom loves straw more, compost is preferable for champignon, wood is preferable for shiitake. Mushrooms grow well in dry wheat, rye or barley straw, and also in dry sawdust. Oyster mushroom normally reproduces in such a nutrient medium as sunflower husks.
Mycelium is the base with fungal spores. After moving it into the substrate, the growth and development of fungi of different species begins. Woody material for planting can be easily found in a specialized store, which also sells fungal spores. Purchased mycelium must be treated with steam or hot water before use. Growing a low-calorie delicacy from seeds is not easy, so we advise beginners to try other methods.
If you decide to make mycelium yourself, place the plantings in a well-heated room, the base must be thoroughly mixed with compost. Heat is needed only during the incubation period; a special electric pillow is used to obtain it. When the mushrooms begin to grow actively, they need coolness. A glazed and well-insulated balcony is suitable for keeping mycelium.
How to grow
To grow high-quality mushrooms with your own hands, you need to purchase or grow mycelium, prepare a room with holes for ventilation and a sensor that will regulate the temperature, allocate a suitable room where it will be stored, and the harvested crop will be processed. If you are serious about maintaining a mushroom complex, purchase ready-made myceliums.
Next, we will give detailed instructions for germinating mushrooms in various ways.
The bags
Mushrooms grow well in bags made of polyethylene and filled with a special nutrient substrate. A cross-section is made along the entire length of each such voluminous package, where a purchased or hand-made mycelium is placed. The blocks are kept indoors suspended from the ceiling surface or on special racks. It is important to monitor the temperature. Harvesting is easy: the mushrooms emerging from the holes are simply cut off. All varieties bear fruit in waves, 2 weeks after the first harvest, a second wave of harvest follows.
Honey mushrooms are successfully grown both in jars of a suitable size, and on logs or stumps. Many mushroom pickers prefer planting mushrooms in bags, using sunflower seed husks, blocks of a special substrate, sawdust, as well as tree leaves or straw, which is pre-crushed, for sowing mycelium. Any of these herbal ingredients must be poured with boiling water.
12 hours after the disinfection procedure, mycelium is added there, everything is mixed well, the finished mixture is packed in bags of 5–50 kg. They are hung in the basement or placed on racks. When 3 days have passed, small holes should be made in plastic bags. Harvest can be harvested 2-3 weeks after planting. The most difficult thing is to grow mushrooms of this variety in a special greenhouse.
The home environment is also suitable for the cultivation of such a fungus as oyster mushroom. The substrate for mushrooms can be a mixture consisting of sunflower husks, small straw and sawdust. The latter must be boiled, the substrate is dried before use. Oyster mushroom grows well in basements with sufficient lighting, exhaust and heating appliances.
The substrate is placed at the bottom of a dense large plastic bag, followed by a layer of mycelium broken into pieces, then a layer of the substrate, after that – a layer of mycelium, etc. The bag is tightly tied and small holes are made in different places. All bags are placed strictly vertically, keeping a distance between them so that the mushrooms have room to grow. You can arrange mushroom blocks with convenient tiers. Keep an eye on the temperature – indicators within the range of 19–25 ° C are considered optimal. Fruiting of mushrooms lasts about 5 weeks and occurs at a temperature of 14-16 ° C.
On BC
We recommend planting mycelium on stumps in the warm season. Suitable parts of mycelium found in the forest on a stump or tree trunk with a piece of bark. To accommodate planting material, a small recess is made in each stump, where pieces of mycelium are placed. They must be covered with sawdust or moistened moss. The earth around the stump must be watered in moderation; for the normal growth of mushrooms, both waterlogging and drying are harmful.
In containers
To grow porcini mushrooms, you will need not only an isolated basement, but also a temperature regime of 15–18 ° C using a heating system. You also need to take care of hoods and fluorescent lamps. We recommend taking lamps with diffused lighting designed for greenhouses.
Containers or boxes with a substrate purchased at a store or made from dry field grass, oak foliage, acorn, birch, small branches of coniferous crops and dried moss, sifted sand and dry clay are placed on racks. It is permissible to place them on the floor, but then it will not be possible to save space, and fewer containers will fit. A 6 liter plastic bottle, a plastic pot or a felt bag can act as a container.
Use mycelium purchased in specialized stores. Mushroom seedlings of different varieties can also be obtained independently from crushed mushroom caps, placed for 4 hours in a solution of potassium permanganate and sugar. The finished substrate is poured into the container with a layer of up to 35 cm, drainage should be placed at the bottom. Planting material is also covered with a substrate. For germination, the optimum temperature is 27 ° C, which should be maintained indoors.
Seedlings appear within 1 week. Containers with water are placed near the heaters, wet towels or rags are hung, sprayers are also used to humidify the air. Mushrooms must be illuminated with special fluorescent lamps, turning on appliances daily for 5-6 hours. The crop is harvested 22–25 days after planting. The fruiting period lasts up to 45 days, the collection of mushrooms is usually carried out every 10 days.
The popularly beloved champignon mushroom is also successfully grown in containers. But using this method at home is not economically viable, since it requires the purchase of equipment for servicing mushroom blocks. The method is more practiced by mushroom pickers in foreign countries. Wooden containers are pre-treated with antiseptics to prevent mold.
Advantages of the method – the substrate is located in separate containers, which, in the event of the appearance of pests or diseases, allows you to quickly eliminate the negative consequences. Also mushroom blocks are easy to maintain and disinfect.
Pros and cons of ready-made mycelium
If you don’t want to mess around with a greenhouse, grow mushrooms using one of the methods described above, you can purchase a miniature mushroom farm. For example, the Oyster mushroom ready-made kit contains boxes of substrate, a spray that promotes mushroom growth, and simple instructions.
The advantages of using ready-made myceliums are obvious: unlike traditional methods, they do not require large rooms with ventilation and lighting, where it is necessary to observe the temperature and humidity levels. Also, a greenhouse with electricity, a water supply system and draft protection is not required.
Using ready-made myceliums, the harvest from boxes placed on the windowsill or elsewhere can be harvested after 7–10 days. Up to 5 kg of mushrooms are received from the box. It should also be said about the absence of a specific smell in the room and toxic components in the composition. The only negative is that ready-made myceliums cannot be bought at the market, gardening fair or in a specialty store.
Reviews
Valery, 43 years old (Ufa): “I am a mushroom picker with many years of experience, but due to my workload, it is rarely possible to go with my family to the forest to pick mushrooms. On the advice of a friend, I bought a mushroom farm kit, I really like the ease of use and the quality of the mushrooms.
Marina, 31 years old (Volgograd): “My husband learned from a colleague how convenient it is to get mushrooms from special farms at home. I decided to try it, we have already harvested the third crop, the mushrooms are delicious, we will continue to grow them.”
Judging by the enthusiastic reviews of consumers, mushroom farms are not in vain in demand. And all thanks to the opportunity to get mushrooms without leaving home. However, the growing process is so interesting that we recommend all mushroom pickers – amateurs and professionals – to plant mushrooms using the methods described in the article.