"Silent hunting at home": how to grow mushrooms in a home mycelium

What mushrooms can be grown at home

We recommend choosing mushrooms of simple varieties for cultivation.

Even beginner mushroom pickers can grow oyster mushrooms. In the forest, these mushrooms grow on stumps and deciduous trees. The size of their gray cap 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.

The mushroom can be grown in a multi-tiered way, which saves space if the myceliums are placed in the basement. These mushrooms are obtained in various ways - by sprouting in bags, containers, briquettes, peat, sawdust, vermicompost.

Honey mushroom is also popular. It can be planted in tubs made of wood or logs, and large troughs made of hardwood will do.

The cep develops well exclusively on deciduous trees; direct sunlight is contraindicated for it. To obtain a high-quality harvest, they use ready-made myceliums found in the forest and transferred to their site, as well as mushroom particles.

With a little effort, chanterelles can also be grown at home. Their planting is carried out using pieces of mycelium, as well as spore infusion or seed.

Shiitake mushrooms are also in high demand among consumers. They are simple to cultivate, tasty and useful 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 myceliums.

Where to get mycelium

The mycelium is obtained from the substrate. It should be as similar as possible to the natural, habitual for forest mushrooms, to match in chemical and mineral composition. Oyster mushrooms are more fond of straw, for champignon compost is preferable, for shiitake - wood. Mushrooms grow well in dry wheat, rye or barley straw, as well as in dry sawdust. Oyster mushrooms reproduce normally in a nutrient medium such as sunflower husks.

The mycelium is the base with mushroom spores. After moving it into the substrate, the growth and development of fungi of various types begins. You can easily find woody planting material in a specialist store that also sells mushroom spores. Purchased mycelium must be treated with steam or hot water before use. Growing a low-calorie delicacy from seeds is not easy, so beginners are advised to try other methods.

If you decide to make your own mycelium, 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 myceliums.

How to grow

To grow high-quality mushrooms with your own hands, you need to purchase or grow mycelium, prepare a room with ventilation holes and a sensor that will regulate the temperature, select a suitable room where the harvested crop will be stored and processed. If you are serious about maintaining the mushroom complex, get ready-made myceliums.

Next, we will give detailed instructions for germinating mushrooms in various ways.

In bags

Champignons 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 volumetric 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: mushrooms emerging from the holes are simply pruned. All varieties bear fruit in waves, 2 weeks after the first harvest, a second harvest wave 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 the husk of sunflower seeds, blocks of a special substrate, sawdust, as well as tree leaves or straw, which is pre-crushed, for the land for sowing mycelium. Any of these herbal ingredients must be poured with boiling water.

12 hours after the disinfection procedure, the mycelium is added there, everything is mixed well, the finished mixture is packed in bags with a volume of 5-50 kg. They are hung in the basement or placed on shelves. When 3 days have passed, small holes should be made in the plastic bags. The crop 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 mushroom as oyster mushroom. A mixture of sunflower husks, fine straw and sawdust can serve as a substrate for mushrooms. The latter need to be boiled, the substrate is dried before use. Oyster mushroom grows well in basements with sufficient lighting, hoods and heating appliances.

The substrate is placed at the bottom of a dense large polyethylene bag, followed by a layer of mycelium broken into pieces, then a layer of substrate, then a layer of mycelium, etc. The bag is tightly tied and small holes are made in different places. All bags are placed strictly vertically, observing the distance between them so that the mushrooms have room to grow. You can arrange mushroom blocks in comfortable tiers. Watch the temperature - the optimal values ​​are in the range of 19-25 ° C heat. Fruiting of mushrooms lasts about 5 weeks and occurs at a temperature of 14-16 ° C.

On the stump

We recommend planting mycelium on stumps in the warm season. Parts of myceliums with a piece of bark found in the forest on a stump or tree trunk are suitable. To place the planting material, a small recess is made in each stump, where pieces of myceliums are placed. They must be covered with sawdust or moistened moss. The land around the stump must be watered in moderation; both waterlogging and drying out are harmful for the normal growth of mushrooms.

In containers

To grow porcini mushrooms, you will need not only an insulated basement, but also a heating system to maintain a temperature of 15-18 ° C. You also need to take care of hoods and fluorescent lamps. We recommend taking lamps with diffused lighting intended for greenhouses.

Containers or boxes with substrate purchased from a store or made from dry field grass, oak leaves, acorns, birches, small branches of conifers and dried moss, sifted sand and dry clay are placed on shelves. It is permissible to place them on the floor, but then it will not be possible to save space, and the containers will fit less. A 6 liter plastic bottle, a plastic pot or a felt bag can act as a container.

Use mycelium purchased from 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 in a layer up to 35 cm; drainage must be placed on the bottom. The planting material is also covered with a substrate. For germination, the optimum temperature is 27 ° C, which should be maintained indoors.

Seedlings appear after 1 week. Tanks with water are placed near heating devices, wet towels or rags are hung up, sprayers are still used to humidify the air. Mushrooms must be illuminated with special fluorescent lamps, turning on the devices every day 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 economically unprofitable, since it requires the purchase of equipment for servicing the 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 with the greenhouse, grow mushrooms in one of the above ways, you can purchase a miniature mushroom farm. For example, the ready-made set "Oyster mushrooms" contains boxes with a substrate, a spray that promotes the growth of mushrooms, as well as simple instructions.

The advantages of using ready-made myceliums are obvious: unlike traditional methods, they do not require large rooms with ventilation and lighting fixtures, where temperature and humidity levels must be observed. There is also no need for a greenhouse with electricity, water supply and draft protection.

Using ready-made myceliums, the harvest from boxes placed on the windowsill or elsewhere can be harvested within 7-10 days. Up to 5 kg of mushrooms are obtained from the box. It should also be said about the absence in the room of a specific smell and toxic components in the composition. The only drawback 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 because of my workload, I rarely manage to go with my family to the forest to pick mushrooms. On the advice of a friend, I bought a set of mushroom farm, 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 harvest, the mushrooms are delicious, we will continue to grow them. "

Judging by the rave reviews from consumers, mushroom farms are in demand for a reason. 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.