Rules for growing mushrooms at home
The mushroom season does not always bring a good harvest, and soil pollution and poor ecology in a number of regions make even delicious mushrooms inedible. Recently, growing mushrooms at home is gaining popularity. If you follow the basic rules of care, you will be able to grow mushrooms in your garden or at home in a short time.
Rules for growing mushrooms at home
Site selection
To successfully grow mushrooms at home, you should decide on a planting site. Conditions and habitat should be as close to natural as possible.
Crop plants located nearby can significantly reduce the yield and quality of the mushrooms. Neighborhood with mulberry (mulberry tree) will be unfavorable. The interaction of fungal spores with the soil causes its oxidation, which is harmful to the root system of the plant. It is better to place plantings near walnut trees or to plant a spruce on the site. Mushroom plantings are placed at a distance of 50 cm from the tree trunk.
If there is no suitable place on the site, mushrooms can be planted on the north side of the farm building. In such conditions, it is easy to grow oyster mushrooms in a garden plot or in a vegetable garden, they adapt the fastest to new places.
Site preparation
A plot is prepared for growing mushrooms in the fall. The top layer of the soil is removed. Deep beds are formed so that the mycelium can fully develop. The beds are ditches 40 cm wide and 30 cm deep, the distance between them is usually at least 50 cm, the length is determined by the volume of harvested raw materials.
The bottom is filled with expanded clay or broken brick drainage. Green succulent grass is placed on top of the drainage layer, they are poured with slurry and covered with sod soil. In this state, the ditches are left until spring.
To prepare the slurry, mix 20 liters of manure, 1 kg of wood ash and 10 liters of water. The prepared solution is insisted for 10 days, stirring completely (from top to bottom in the container where you made the workpiece) from time to time. The last 3 days insist without stirring.
Basic breeding techniques
Growing mushrooms in the country can be done in several ways:
- contamination of the soil with spores;
- transplanting a wild-growing mycelium;
- planting purchased mycelium.
It is better to plant mushrooms on the site between May and September. The predominant method of reproduction is mycelium. It is sold as seeds or mixed with a substrate. The packages indicate the scale of the area for sowing and the features of cultivating the variety, which allows you to quickly start breeding Basidiomycetes, even without special skills.
Controversy
Mushroom seeds are in caps
The most suitable technique if the cultivation of forest mushrooms has been planned. This method involves preparing and mixing planting material with your own hands. Overripe specimens of the desired species should be found in the forest. Wormy mushrooms are also good.Spores are in hats, in spore pouches.
Add 2-3 tbsp to a container with river or rain water. l. sugar or leaven for kvass. This will start the fermentation process. Knead the hats with your hands until they are mushy and immerse them in the liquid. Mix everything until smooth. The mixture is insisted for a day, stirring regularly.
The starter caps are used 10 hours after collection. Before planting, the mixture is filtered through cheesecloth, then it is squeezed out and the resulting solution is diluted with water in a ratio of 1:10. The concentrate is applied to a previously prepared area and mulched with compost. To quickly grow edible mushrooms in your summer cottage, you need to mix and stand the compost correctly:
- 30 kg of straw;
- 30 kg of horse manure;
- 1.2 kg of ammonium nitrate;
- 3 kg of plaster;
- 50 g superphosphate.
The straw is soaked in water for 2 days. Then stack the straw with manure alternately in 4 layers. Saltpeter is distributed on each layer of straw. After 6 days, mix the substrate and add ¼ of gypsum and watered. After 5 days, add the remainder of the gypsum, 1/3 of the superphosphate. After 4 days, add the remainder of the superphosphate, pour over and mix thoroughly.
Compost is used to mulch the soil immediately after planting and before the onset of cold weather. The second mulching involves increasing the compost layer to 10 cm.
Wild growing mycelium
Another way to grow forest mushrooms in the country is to transplant mycelium. Boletus, boletus, boletus and ringlet (stropharia wrinkled-annular) take root best of all. Mushroom glades are located next to pines on soils fertilized with lime.
The mycelium is carefully dug out in square or rectangular layers and transported to its destination. Each mycelium is wrapped in a separate plastic bag (so as not to be confused, it is advisable to sign each piece). In pre-prepared beds, the raw materials are buried to a depth of 10 cm. With this method of reproduction, the first mushrooms will appear in 5 years, but then they can be harvested every 3 months, starting in May.
Purchased mycelium
A method that allows you to grow mushrooms at home and in the country without any problems. If you use mycelium mixed with the substrate, it is enough to remove the topsoil and cover it with a layer of raw materials. Then the substrate is watered with water (but not to the state of a swamp) and covered with fallen leaves mixed with humus. When buying ready-made substrates, carefully study the foreign trade activities of the TN, containing information about the places from where the mycelium is imported.
Planting cultivated mushrooms on the site can be carried out using raw materials prepared by yourself. To obtain the "seeds", you will need several ripe mushrooms, crushed into gruel and mixed with the substrate. 2-3 full-fledged mushrooms grow from one mycelium.
For beginners, a lot of all kinds of kits in the form of boxes and bags have been created containing ready-made mixtures with mushroom mycelium. The disadvantage of the kit for a beginner is its low yield: 800-1000 g of products are obtained from one kit. But on the other hand, this may suit people who are going to grow mushrooms in a city apartment. And among other things, you will have on hand already tested, properly prepared myceliums, which give a guaranteed result.
Care
Moisture is important for mushrooms
Cultivation of cultivated mushrooms in a personal plot requires a special approach. The first nuance is temperature regime - within 25-29 ℃. While maintaining the optimal regimen, the development of spores will take place in 2-3 weeks.
The determining factor for the successful development of myceliums is humidity... Watering the beds is permissible immediately after planting, and in the future it is necessary to maintain dampness in other ways. The poured compost is covered with straw and damp rags.
After 10-15 days, a thin silvery coating will appear on the surface of the compost. This is a sure sign of mycelium going out. At this point, the substrate is covered with wet loam or sand mixed with peat.
Harvest
The ripening of the crop occurs in waves. During the day, a large number of mushrooms appear, then growth stops and the next family comes out after a week. The first young specimens appear on the soil surface after 1.5-12 months, depending on the variety you purchased.
The technology of growing edible mushrooms requires the right approach to harvesting in order to preserve the mycelium. Collect specimens with caps, from 2 cm in size. Grasping the cap of the mushroom, carefully twist it out of the soil.
Waste from the harvest (the tips of the legs, skins) is not thrown away, but crushed and placed in the holes formed after harvesting and covered with compost. It is important to harvest the entire crop at once in order to prevent the development of diseases. The faster the bed is removed, the faster new mushrooms will appear.
Place equipment in the house
Basements are suitable for growing mushrooms. You can also build beds on the balcony or in the garage. The main thing is that the room is equipped with a temperature control system. This will require ventilation with a water spray system.
Blocks with containers for the nutrient substrate are placed in the room. The blocks are made of metal, because wooden structures in high humidity conditions quickly rot and become unusable. Oyster mushrooms and mushrooms are usually grown in bags with sawdust. To grow mushrooms on an industrial scale or in an apartment, sterility must be observed. Each box is located separately. If possible, it is better to equip a separate cellar for mixing the substrate and for preparing the mycelium.
For beginners, a method of growing artificial mushroom plantings in onion husks or sawdust is suitable. Prepare vents or bags. Mix sawdust or husks with the substrate containing mycelium and place in containers. Carefully cover the boxes on top with foil to create a greenhouse effect, and tie the bags tightly and leave for 10-14 days, periodically checking the soil moisture. A similar method makes it easy to grow edible mushrooms at home in a jar and keep them right in the kitchen.
For people who grow mushrooms on an industrial scale, a ready-made "growbox" is suitable - a special climatic chamber. The chamber contains hydroponics - a special additive for forest mushrooms, which includes the whole range of nutrients necessary for the full development of mycelium.
Irina Selyutina (Biologist):
When growing mushrooms in a summer cottage, it is important:
- The site is best located near old trees or rotten logs.
- The mycelium cannot be planted directly in the ground, it needs a nutritious substrate (straw, sawdust).
- The mycelium can be planted not only in the soil, but also on a part of a log or a stump. It is desirable that the tree is of the same species as in the forest.
When growing in a basement, remember:
- The substrate must be treated with hot water or steam to prevent the development of parasite larvae or pathogens.
- Mushroom blocks should be loose and breathable, therefore, they should not be filled too tightly.
- The development of the mycelium must be monitored constantly in order to be able to control the quality.
You can try to build a special room for growing mushrooms with your own hands right in the yard. The equipment will not take long. A hydroponics box or several bags of sawdust mixed with turf soil is installed indoors.
Conclusion
The idea of growing mushrooms in a garden or summer cottage is interesting and profitable, because you can eat mushrooms at any time all year round. To start growing mushrooms from spores, it's best to follow our outdoor care tips.
