Raincoats are a group of mushrooms that unites about 60 species. They form spores not on the plates and tubes, but inside the fruiting bodies under the shell. Hence their second name – nutreviki. In a mature mushroom, many spores are formed, which are sprayed when the shell is broken. If you step on a mature mushroom, it explodes with a small bomb and sprays dark brown spore powder. For this, it is also called a duster.
The most common forms are the pear-shaped puffball, the common puffball, and the prickly puffball. They grow both in coniferous and deciduous forests, in meadows, on the forest floor, on rotten stumps.
The fungus grows on conspicuous cords of mycelium. Its shell is cream or white with spikes. The pulp of young mushrooms is dense, white or grayish, with a strong odor, in mature mushrooms it is dark. Spore powder dark olive color.
The pulp of a young raincoat is so dense that it can be replaced with a band-aid. Under the shell, it remains completely sterile.
The fruit body is pear-shaped, ovoid, round-shaped. The mushroom grows up to 10 cm long and 6 cm in diameter. There may or may not be a false foot.
This mushroom is edible only at a young age, when spores have not yet formed, and the flesh is white. It can be used in various dishes without pre-boiling.
Site selection and preparation
For growing mushrooms, you should choose a plot with sparse grass, slightly shaded by trees.
It should correspond to the natural habitat of mushrooms.
At the selected site, they dig a trench 30 cm deep, 2 m long. Leaves of aspen, poplar, birch, and willow are poured into it.
Then they put the branches of the same trees. The branches should be laid with a thickness of no more than 2 cm. They are well tamped and filled with water. Then a layer of soddy soil 5 cm thick is poured in. Moreover, the earth should be taken from the place where raincoats grow.
Sow mycelium
The spores of the fungus can simply be dispersed onto moist, prepared soil. Then water and cover with branches.
Growing and harvesting
The bed should be watered regularly, not allowing it to dry out. Waterlogging does not threaten the mycelium. It is better to water with rain or well water. The mushroom picker overgrows a month after sowing the spores. Thin white threads become visible in the soil. After the formation of the mycelium, the bed should be mulched with last year’s foliage.
The first mushrooms appear the next year after planting. When collecting, they should be carefully removed from the mycelium. Raincoat spores should be sown periodically so that they bear fruit constantly.
