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Growing mushrooms at home: main features and instructions for beginners. Growing mushrooms at home - business plan How to grow mushrooms at home in an apartment

There are more than enough mushroom lovers in our country! But to go into the forest for a “quiet hunt” you need the right weather and certain climatic conditions. Not everyone will think about growing mushrooms at home, and even on an almost industrial scale. Most people consider this to be science fiction. However, everything is real. And we will tell you further how to grow mushrooms in a greenhouse or at home.

The very thought of growing mushrooms at home poses a choice of a specific species. All varieties suitable for home breeding do not require special material costs or additional effort. The only exception is champignons, but an experienced gardener can cope with this problem. The choice must be made, first of all, based on the desired profit. All varieties of mushrooms suitable for growing at home can be classified into two main types:

• woody;
• soil

The first include the well-known shiitake, oyster mushrooms, and winter mushrooms. But the second one includes no less popular champignons and ring mushrooms. Even if there is no large areas The harvest can be excellent. That is why these varieties are recommended for cultivation on an industrial scale.

Growing technology for beginners

The bulk of the time needed to grow mushrooms is spent creating the mycelium. However, the advice of experienced mushroom growers suggests that it is better to grow this material yourself. After all, even the best and most trusted suppliers fail badly from time to time. Mycelium can be grown in two ways:

• in grain substrate;
• on wooden sticks.

The choice depends on what kind of mushrooms you plan to grow.

Growing mushrooms on nutrient substrate

Mycelium propagation

Mycelium is grown in a specific substrate. It is recommended to ensure that its chemical and mineral composition is as similar as possible to the one in which mushrooms grow in natural conditions. The composition of this medium must again be selected depending on the type of mushrooms being grown.

For example, shiitakes feel more comfortable in wood, champignons - in compost, but oyster mushrooms prefer straw. With proper care, chopped straw and sawdust can provide a harvest of any of the listed types of mushrooms. However, the substrate must be of high quality. This is ensured by its dryness, absence of mold, as well as unpleasant odors and foreign impurities.

Best suited for growing mushrooms wheat straw. You can also use rye or barley. Oyster mushrooms can be propagated in sunflower husks. However, you need to use only fresh material, since old material can multiply pathogenic bacteria.

The mycelium is the basis in which a large number of germinated mushroom spores are located. As soon as this base is placed in the substrate, the process of active growth begins. Initially, only the appearance of thin threads can be observed, which over time turn into edible mushrooms.

It is worth purchasing high-quality planting material only in specialized stores. Preference should be given to wood containing viable fungal spores. They will be more resistant to diseases. Than those planted from grain mycelium. You can also buy regular mushroom spores. Only in this case will it take more time and effort to grow your crop. The procedure will be similar to growing any crop from seeds. Beginners should avoid this method.

To obtain maximum yield, you need to ensure that the mycelium is distributed as thoroughly as possible in the compost. To do this, the plantings need to be kept warm. They can be heated using a special electric pad. Heat is needed only during the incubation period. Once the mushrooms enter the growth phase, it is best to keep them cool. A glazed and insulated balcony is well suited for this.

When growing mushrooms in residential premises, it is necessary to prevent their ripening phase. Otherwise, spores released into the air can trigger allergic reactions and even asthma.

As a rule, shoots appear in the third week after planting the mycelium. Readiness for harvest is determined by the cap. You need to cut off ready-made mushrooms exclusively with a knife, so as not to injure those that are still in the soil and are just getting ready to produce a harvest. The finished collection can be used either immediately or after preliminary freezing.

Other ways to grow mushrooms at home

In addition to the basic ones, there are also additional ways to grow mushrooms. True, they do not bring such large-scale results and are used mainly by children as experiments. For example, some types of mushrooms can be grown on log blanks. For this Logs up to half a meter long are cut from deciduous trees. This must be done at least 2 weeks before colonization with mycelium.

In the resulting workpiece, holes are made in a checkerboard pattern at a distance of 10 cm. After this, the sticks with mycelium must be compacted. A hammer can be used for this procedure.

Before starting work, you must disinfect your hands and make sure that there is no debris in the holes.

Logs filled with mycelium are placed in the basement and wait until it fills the entire space. The procedure is lengthy and can take up to 1 year. The key conditions are temperature and humidity.

There is a known method of growing mushrooms on coffee grounds. It contains many microelements:

• manganese;
• potassium;
• magnesium;
• nitrogen.

This environment is ideal for oyster mushrooms. In addition, coffee grounds do not need to be subjected to additional sterilization. The disadvantage of this method is that it is very difficult to get a large amount of freshly roasted cake at home. You'll have to ask for it at the nearest cafe. The growing container can be regular freezer bags or ice cream containers.

The mycelium must be mixed with the cake, and then close the container tightly. It can be stored under the sink. Germination time will be about 1 month. As soon as the surface turns white, you need to cut a small hole in the top of the bag. Through it you need to spray with water 2 times a day. After a week, you will notice how small mushrooms begin to grow.

Growing porcini mushrooms and other species at home for beginners is a very exciting and useful activity. The needs of your family can be fully satisfied, even without special skills and large areas. The main thing is patience and the desire to see the result. After all, you can grow them all year round!

If you decide to grow mushrooms yourself, it is better to start with oyster mushrooms. Growing these mushrooms at home does not require studying complex theoretical information or special skills. Oyster mushrooms are not as demanding as other species (for example, champignons). Another argument in their favor will be high productivity. You can make a lot of them delicious dishes, the taste of which will not leave anyone indifferent. Let’s figure out what methods there are for growing oyster mushrooms and how to cope with the difficulties that beginners encounter.

Growing methods, their pros and cons

There are two ways to grow oyster mushrooms at home - extensive and intensive.

Positive aspects of the first method:

• it does not require the creation of special conditions, since ripening requires a natural environment;
• for the same reason, the extensive method does not have to spend a lot of money;
• In addition, in this case the mushrooms do not need constant observation.

But there are also negative points:

• the appearance of the crop depends entirely on the time of year and suitable weather;
• the ripening period is quite long;
• due to the impossibility of control, it will not be possible to turn this hobby into a business and grow mushrooms at home for sale.

With intensive technology, the conditions for growing are created by the mushroom grower himself at home.

Advantages of the intensive method:

• the ability to control the time of harvest;
• You can also regulate the amount of harvest - when using this method there will be more of it;
• Thanks to this, it is possible to sell mushrooms and compensate for costs.

Some cons:

• you will have to put in more effort and spend a lot of time planting;
• Cash investments will also be required to create the necessary conditions for the house.

With the intensive method, the mushrooms ripen in the basement or other suitable room.

Selection of mycelium

First of all, you need to purchase “seeds” - in mushrooms they are called mycelium. Recently, this has been much easier to do - there are many online stores with delivery by mail throughout the country. But there are also local companies. For beginning mushroom growers who fear failure, it is enough to purchase one kilogram of mycelium. The result will be about three to four kilograms of mushrooms. You can purchase the material in advance. The mycelium can be stored in the refrigerator for up to two months, but should not be placed in the freezer. The mycelium is not allowed to come into contact with the skin, so when opening the package, do not forget to wear gloves.

When purchasing, pay attention to the following recommendations.

• Check reviews for a store or individual seller.
• Even if you are an experienced mushroom grower, purchase a small amount from a new supplier for the first time. planting material.
• Study all the information about the selected variety, the time of mycelium fouling, and resistance to mold.
• Check the expiration date on the packaging.
• Immediately after delivery, check the temperature of the mycelium - it should be about +20 degrees Celsius.
• There should be no black or green spots on the mycelium.
• The color of the “seeds” is bright orange, interspersed with yellow.

Growing on stumps

If you are a beginner and are not yet ready to invest a lot of effort and money in growing mushrooms, try the extensive method.

To plant oyster mushrooms this way, you don’t need a lot of materials.

• Stumps that are on the site of your house. But they can be sown only at the end of April or beginning of May, when a constant high temperature has established.
• Trimmings from deciduous trees such as beech or aspen. They should be no more than half a meter in height and fifteen centimeters in diameter.

Carefully check each stump - there should be no mold on them.

If the wood is dry, soak it in water for several days. Only in such conditions can the mycelium develop.

The technology is as follows:

• drill or cut out six-centimeter recesses in the stumps (they should be staggered);
• the mycelium is placed in these holes;
• then they need to be covered with moss;

There is another way - you need to saw off a two-centimeter thick disk from the top of the stump. Apply a layer of mycelium to the cut. Cover with disk. For strength, nail it down.

After sowing, stack the logs on top of each other in a room where the temperature is maintained at +15. Leave them there for three months, covered with film or thick cloth. By the end of the period, a white coating will appear on the stumps. This means it’s time to “plant” them. To do this, dig holes in the ground at a distance of half a meter and fill them with wet leaves. Hemp is placed in them - to a depth of fifteen centimeters. The soil around them should always be moist.

The harvest will appear at the end of summer. You can collect it throughout the fall. For the winter, the planting should be protected by covering it with straw.

Preparing to grow in the basement

To grow oyster mushrooms intensively at home, you will need to prepare a basement that meets the following requirements:

• it must maintain a temperature of +15 degrees;
• needed in the basement good system ventilation;
• its depth can reach five meters;
• you need to create bright lighting;
• there must be a source of clean water in the basement.

Other types of premises are also suitable:

• cellar;
• poultry house;
• greenhouse;
• garage;
• cowshed

The main condition is that this basement should not be adjacent to the living rooms of the house, as spores can cause allergies.

The next important condition for obtaining a harvest is a good substrate. This is a nutrient medium through which mushrooms will grow. To prepare it you can use:

• buckwheat husk;
• wheat straw;
• barley straw;
• corn cobs.

Grind one of these materials or a mixture of them. Fill it with warm (up to twenty-five degrees) water for twenty minutes. Stir the mixture periodically. Drain this water and fill the container hot water(but not boiling water). Cover with something heavy and leave for five hours. Drain the water, squeeze out the substrate (remaining liquid can cause mold) and add nutrients (urea and superphosphate).

Planting in the basement

In this growing technology, not only the place and basis for planting are important. The vessels also need to be prepared. Usually oyster mushrooms are grown in bags. At home, regular garbage bags of as large a volume as possible are also suitable.

Make holes in them at intervals of twenty centimeters. The mushrooms will come out through these holes.

The bags need to be filled with substrate and mycelium. The bottom layer should be the substrate - pour fifteen centimeters of the mixture. Sprinkle it with a layer of mycelium. Alternate them, filling the volume of the vessel by 2/3. The bags need to be moved to the basement and placed on top of each other or hung from the ceiling.

Planting care

In the first days of growing oyster mushrooms, it is most important to maintain suitable conditions.

• The temperature in the bags will increase, but it is important to ensure that it does not reach +30 degrees (when growing at home, in a small basement, it is enough to use a fan for this).
• Keep flies out of your basement.
• After three days you can turn on the lighting.
• The humidity in the basement should be about 95% (for this you need to spray the walls and floor with water, but not the oyster mushroom plantings themselves).

When collecting oyster mushrooms you also need to follow some rules.

• They should not be cut, but twisted out of the substrate.
• After harvesting the first harvest, it is important to maintain the same conditions in the basement for two weeks, then another batch will soon appear.

Conclusion

Oyster mushrooms are the most suitable mushrooms for growing at home. They do not need special care. Conditions for their development are easy to maintain even at home.

There are two ways to grow them. One of them requires less effort, but the result will be a long wait for the harvest. For the other, you need to prepare the room, but thanks to this you will quickly get a large number of mushrooms.

Choose the method that seems most successful to you and feel free to start planting. In this case, you will be satisfied with the result.

Growing mushrooms at home allows you to pamper yourself with this tasty and healthy product all year round, and can also be an excellent source of additional income. Oyster mushrooms are one of the most simple types mushrooms of their kind. Anyone who decides to try their hand at mushroom growing can feel like a master growing oyster mushrooms. This variety is very unpretentious and does not require special care. Where is the best place to grow oyster mushrooms at home and what is needed for this? Let's try to figure it out!

Features of growing oyster mushrooms: necessary conditions and premises

Oyster mushrooms or oyster mushrooms are a unique species that can germinate on any soil, be it dry grass, thyrsus, coffee grounds or even cotton fabric. This low-growing plant is able to extract nutrients from everything in its environment. Another advantage of the species is its rapid growth rate. Already two weeks after sowing, the first harvest can be harvested.

Growing oyster mushrooms does not require any special knowledge or skills. The optimal place for growing oyster mushrooms will be the basement or cellar of a private house. Oyster mushrooms are not heat-loving, and they do not need a lot of light. If you don't have a basement, they can be grown in a greenhouse at your dacha or barn. Despite the simplicity and lack of excessive care for mushrooms, the growing room must be properly prepared.

The following equipment must be installed in the room and special conditions must be created for growing oyster mushrooms:

Video: room for growing oyster mushrooms in the basement

Pay attention! If there is fungus in the room, it is better not to use it as a greenhouse. High humidity, which is necessary for growing mushrooms, will only worsen the situation; the disease will affect the crops, they will become inedible and poisonous.

How to grow oyster mushrooms at home: growing technology

Having decided on the location of the mushroom greenhouse, thoroughly disinfected the room and installed the necessary equipment, you can begin the process of growing mushrooms. The technology for growing oyster mushrooms involves several stages.

Video: step-by-step instructions for growing oyster mushrooms at home

Substrate preparation

The key to a rich harvest is a high-quality substrate. Although it is generally accepted that oyster mushrooms are indiscriminate in this regard, the soil must still be fertile.

The best substrate for growing oyster mushrooms are:

• dry straw of wheat, barley and buckwheat;
• hardwood sawdust;
• sunflower seed husks;
• dried corn stalks and cobs.

Select the amount of substrate according to the number of mushrooms you want to grow. Thus, one bag for growing oyster mushrooms is designed for 5 kg of substrate. All components of the substrate must be clean and dry, there should be no mold or rot on them, they should not be rotten. It is best to disinfect the selected base through heat treatment. Next, you need to grind these components to a fraction of 4-5 cm and mix. Repeat the heat treatment for two hours and squeeze.

Actually, the substrate for growing oyster mushrooms is ready.

Selection and purchase of mycelium

For growing oyster mushrooms at home, it is best to use grain mycelium. It is very convenient to sow and does not require additional processing.

When purchasing mycelium, pay attention to its appearance. The grains should be yellow with a slight orange tint. It is strictly forbidden to buy mycelium on which visible dark spots This is the first evidence of mold. You can also determine the quality of planting material by smell; it should be fresh and smell like mushrooms. If you smell a slight ammonia smell, it means the mycelium was not stored correctly and has spoiled.

Be sure to pay attention to the manufacturer’s company, it is better if it is a well-known and large manufacturer in the seed market, read reviews from gardeners on the Internet. Do not buy a large amount of mycelium at once, take a test batch. If the mycelium germinates without problems and forms good and healthy mycelium, you can purchase a large batch.

If you want to make oyster mushroom mycelium yourself, then read this article.

Landing

Before planting, the mycelium must be placed in the room where the oyster mushrooms will grow for a day. This is done in order to equalize the temperature and the mycelium does not die from shock.

To grow oyster mushrooms in bags, it must first be disinfected or thermally treated. An effective treatment method is washing with a bleach solution.

The optimal bag volume should be at least 5 kg.

1. The bag is filled layer by layer with substrate and mycelium. For every 5 centimeters of substrate there should be about 0.5 cm of mycelium. The top and bottom layer in the bag should be the substrate.
2. After filling the mushroom block, the bag is tied tightly at the neck.
3. Then small holes are cut at a distance of 10 cm from each other, with a diameter of no more than 2 cm. The cuts are best made in a checkerboard pattern.

Attention! Planting mycelium and growing oyster mushrooms are carried out in separate rooms, as there is a high risk of infection of mycelium.

Video: how to perforate a mushroom block

Further care

During the period from planting to the formation of myceliums, temperature indoor air should be 18°C ​​- 20°C. As soon as they are visible first formations of mushrooms, the temperature is reduced to 13°C - 15°C. This is the optimal temperature for growing all types of oyster mushrooms.

It is very important to support humidity air. Watering the substrate is strictly prohibited, as the mycelium begins to rot in wet soil. Even if the mycelium survives, all the mushrooms will become sick, rot and dark spots will begin to appear on them. To achieve optimal humidity You can hang wet sheets or any other wet fabric indoors. Open containers of water are left near heating appliances, in this way the moisture evaporates faster and saturates the air.

Harvest

The fruiting period of oyster mushroom is only 30–35 days, which is a very short period. The thing is that these mushrooms have a very high frequency of fruiting: every 7 - 9 days. That is, already 9 days after planting the mycelium, you can harvest the first full harvest.

It is customary to cut mushrooms carefully with a knife so as not to damage the main root attached to the mycelium. When picking mushrooms, you cannot cut off absolutely all the fruits from one mycelium. It is necessary to leave 2 - 3 of the smallest mushrooms on the stem, otherwise the mycelium may dry out and stop bearing fruit.

Video: how to properly harvest oyster mushrooms

Important! After the last mushroom harvest has been harvested, the substrate and bags must be disposed of. They are not suitable for reuse. The room is well cleaned, ventilated and disinfected. It will be possible to re-cultivate mushrooms only 2 weeks after all harvesting work.

Video: technology for growing oyster mushrooms

Diseases and pests of oyster mushroom: control measures and precautions

It happens that during the fruiting period the mushrooms begin to hurt. The cause of such diseases can be a variety of factors. If all disinfection work has been carried out in the room, diseases should not disturb the crop.

The main number of fungal diseases lies in the substrate. As a rule, bacteria enter along with wet and rotten straw.

Important! If you are not sure about the quality of the substrate, it subjected to heat treatment before planting mycelium. It is placed in a large container and poured with boiling water, after which it is boiled for 2 hours, then squeezed out and dried.

In a damp substrate, the mushrooms begin to rot, the stems darken and become soft. This disease is called dark rot. If, nevertheless, it overtakes the plantings, it is necessary to remove all diseased plants along with the substrate.

It is necessary to very carefully monitor the condition of the mushrooms from the formation of the mycelium until the last fruiting. If one of the myceliums is infected, you will have to throw away the entire package, and this will significantly reduce the yield increase.

Let's summarize. Based on all of the above, you can understand that this is a very simple but labor-intensive process. To do this, you will need to purchase special equipment, prepare a room and fertile soil, and also purchase high-quality mycelium. Next, it all depends on your patience and hard work. With proper care, you can collect up to 9 kg of mushrooms from one bag. Growing oyster mushrooms is excellent option to gain first experience in the field of mushroom growing.

Video: how to grow oyster mushrooms at home

Growing mushrooms on your own plot is not only exciting, but also profitable. If you're new to mushroom growing, try starting with oyster mushrooms. These are unpretentious, but very prolific mushrooms. Some people grow them for themselves, while others have been able to make a profitable business out of oyster mushrooms. After all, with 1 kg of mycelium you can get up to 4 kg of mushrooms!

Oyster Mushrooms

There are two ways to grow oyster mushrooms: intensive and extensive.

Growing oyster mushrooms intensively

This method involves growing mushrooms in artificially created conditions. The mushroom grower’s task is to provide a microclimate that will be most favorable for the growth of oyster mushrooms.

Mycelium preparation

Purchased mycelium for growing oyster mushrooms

Ready-made mycelium can be bought in the store. For your first growing experience, you don’t need to purchase a lot of material - 1 kg is enough.

Mycelium of oyster mushroom

Principles for choosing mycelium:

• buy from trusted sellers;
• look at the color: the mycelium should be white, interspersed with orange and yellow (there should be no green or black spots);
• carefully read the information on the packaging (variety, shelf life, fruiting speed);
• check the temperature of the bag with mycelium: it should not exceed 20ºС;
• take a sniff: the bag should not emit an ammonia smell.

After purchasing, the bags with mycelium need to be cooled slowly. Before planting, they are stored in the refrigerator at a temperature of 3–4ºС. The maximum shelf life is 2–3 months.

Before placing it in the substrate, the mycelium is removed from the refrigerator, warmed in a warm room to the temperature of the substrate (so that it does not die from thermal shock) and crushed.

Grinding mycelium

Important! All work with mycelium is carried out under sterile conditions. The room and work surface are disinfected, and the mushroom grower wears gloves.

Substrate preparation

The amount of substrate should be 10 kg of material per 1 kg of mycelium.

Substrate preparation

Any plant waste is suitable for the substrate:

• wheat or barley straw;
• chopped leaves, stalks and ears of corn;
• cleaning sunflower seeds;
• buckwheat husk;
• wood sawdust.

Important! The starting material must not be rotten or moldy!

To disinfect the substrate and saturate it with moisture, treat the material with water or steam. There are three processing options:

• boiling dry material in hot water;
• steam treatment of dry material;
• steam treatment of wet material.

Heat treatment of the substrate

The first method is used most often. The raw materials are placed in a tank, filled with water and boiled for 1.5–2 hours. Then the water is poured out, the substrate is put under pressure and cooled to 25ºC.

In order for the mycelium to develop comfortably, the humidity of the substrate must be optimal.

Advice! How to check the humidity level? You need to take a lump of material in your hand and squeeze it. If the material springs well, but no water flows out of it, the humidity is ideal. If it gets too wet, you need to let the excess moisture drain.

After cooling, the substrate is crushed into pieces 4–5 cm in size.

Laying mycelium

The mycelium and substrate are placed in bags in a sterile room: in a room intended for incubation.

Step 1. The room is treated with chlorine. Work is carried out with gloves, all tools are wiped with alcohol. Grow bags must also be sterile. To disinfect, place them in a bleach solution for a couple of minutes.

Step 2. If you are growing oyster mushrooms for the first time, take 2 small bags, each of which will hold 5 kg of material, and put the mycelium and substrate there. Fill the bags with substrate and mycelium

Fill the bags with substrate and mycelium

Advice! There are two ways to add mycelium to the substrate. The first option involves mixing the substrate and mycelium on any surface and then placing the material in bags. The second is laying in layers. You need to take a bag, pour 5–6 cm of substrate into it, then 0.5 cm of mycelium. And so on to the very top.

Convenient bag filling device

Step 3. Make holes in the bags through which the mushroom clumps will grow. The cuts are made in a checkerboard pattern every 10–15 cm. The length of the cut is 1–2 cm. You can make perforations in the form of holes, “crosses” or “checkmarks” to obtain more compact splices.

The photo shows the holes for oyster mushroom germination

The bags must have holes for mushroom germination

Step 4. The finished blocks are placed in the germination room in such a way that the cut sides have unlimited air access.

Bag arrangement option

Incubation

Incubation takes 10–20 days. At this time, provide the mushrooms with a favorable microclimate:

• indoor humidity – 70–80%;
• room temperature – no more than 25ºС;
• the temperature inside the bags is no more than 30ºС, otherwise the mushrooms will not sprout;
• reduce the temperature using fans, but never ventilate;
• Do wet cleaning daily.

If everything is done correctly, after 3-4 days you will see that white threads of mycelium begin to spread across the substrate. After 10–20 days, the mycelium will grow throughout the bag. It will acquire a whitish color and a characteristic mushroom aroma. Incubation is over and fruiting time begins.

Substrate germination

Video - Growing oyster mushrooms at home

Fruiting

After the end of the incubation period, transfer the bags with mycelium to the fruiting room.

Oyster mushroom fruiting

Important! The cultivation room should be located away from a residential building. Growing mushrooms release spores, which are a powerful allergen.

Mushrooms require a favorable microclimate:

• temperature – no more than 10–15ºС;
• humidity in the room – 90–95%;
• lighting with fluorescent lamps – 10–12 hours a day;
• place a humidifier in the room;
• irrigate the walls and floor with liquid, but in such a way that it does not fall on the mycelium;
• Ventilate the room every 6–8 hours.

Growing mushrooms

After the caps form, the mushrooms require daily irrigation. Spray water from above 1-2 times a day so that it flows down the oyster mushroom caps. During this period, pay special attention to the ventilation of the room: moisture may cause the mushrooms to rot.

Harvest

After 1.5 months, the mycelium will delight you with fruits. After removing the first mushrooms, new ones will appear in 2–3 weeks. The mycelium can bear fruit up to 4 times, but 75% of the harvest will come from the first 2 waves.

The first harvest can be collected

To prevent the mycelium from rotting, the mushroom clumps must be twisted out without leaving stems in the substrate. After harvesting, sort out the substrate, remove rotten elements from it and place it back in bags. With proper care, the mycelium bears fruit for up to six months.

The photo shows the harvest of oyster mushrooms

After the 4th harvest, dispose of the substrate or use it as garden fertilizer.

Growing oyster mushrooms extensively

Growing oyster mushrooms extensively

This method involves growing mushrooms in conditions close to natural.

1. Prepare stumps or logs on which mushrooms will grow. Oyster mushrooms love the wood of willow, poplar and linden, but a good harvest can also be obtained from aspen stump.

   Logs for growing oyster mushrooms

   Scheme of mycelium laying

2. Wet the logs, make several deep cuts on their surface with a knife and add mycelium purchased in advance. Cover the holes with tree bark or moss.
3. Place the finished logs in the garden. You should choose a shady but well-ventilated place. The main thing is that the stumps should not be exposed to direct sunlight, otherwise the mycelium will die. Place the logs in small depressions and cover them with earth for stability. You can put leaves or sawdust in the holes.
4. Water the logs thoroughly and cover with film. If the weather is dry, oyster mushrooms require daily watering.
5. After 1.5–2 months you can harvest the first harvest. In one season, logs bear fruit up to 3–4 times.

   Oyster mushroom harvest

On next year the logs will bear fruit again if you don’t forget to water them. The mycelium will retain fertility for 3–5 years.

The harvest can be harvested within 3-5 years

Both growing options have their own advantages and disadvantages. To make it easier for you to choose a method for growing oyster mushrooms, pay attention to the table.

The essence of the method	Growing takes place in natural conditions	Mushrooms are grown in artificially created conditions
Tools and materials	Mycelium, tree stumps, moss, film	Mycelium, substrate, bags, humidifier, fan
Room	Garden	Two rooms: for incubation and for cultivation
Target	Grow your own mushrooms	Grow mushrooms for sale
Advantages	Low costs	High yield, independent of season and weather; mushrooms ripen quickly
Flaws	Productivity depends on the weather; fruiting occurs only in the warm season	The need for additional costs and two premises

Video - Oyster mushroom on stumps, Extensive method of growing mushrooms

Video - Oyster mushroom, spent blocks, good harvest

Growing oyster mushrooms in the home basement is a trend that came from the 90s. Craftsmen mastered this business from scratch, planted entire plantations in such conditions and built a business on them. Growing oyster mushrooms is not difficult - it is important to stick to step-by-step algorithm and instructions. This article contains expert recommendations on where to start the process and how best to carry it out. Photo and video tips are provided to help beginners.

Step 1: Preparing the room

To organize home cultivation of oyster mushrooms, you will need a properly equipped room, high-quality mycelium (mycelium), and a suitable substrate. Mushrooms are grown in the basement in two ways:

1. Natural. Minimum equipment costs, but no more than one harvest per year.
2. Intensive. It requires investment to create and maintain the microclimate necessary for oyster mushrooms in the basement. But it allows you to harvest several crops per season, regardless of weather conditions.

Advice. Mushroom pickers often choose the second option. This technology will allow you to feed your family and sell some of the mushrooms.

You should not count on a safe and healthy harvest if you cannot create and maintain the following conditions in the basement:

• purity;
• air temperature in the range +10…+20 °C;

It’s easy to grow oyster mushrooms on your own

• humidity - 85-90%;
• constant air circulation, well-functioning ventilation;
• absence of pests and mold.

General cleaning at the first stage will help identify problems in the basement. A total rearrangement or refurbishment of the premises may be necessary. To grow mushrooms in winter, take care of the tightness and insulation of the basement. Then, to maintain the microclimate in cold weather, one heater will be enough for you, which will turn on for 2-3 hours.

Close ventilation holes mosquito nets. Mold can be removed manually using special products or a vinegar solution. As a preventive measure, a normal balance of temperature and humidity is sufficient. Remove pests using disinfestation: smoke bombs or chemicals. Further work in the basement you can start no earlier than in a week.

Step 2: Substrate Preparation

When using an intensive growing method, the substrate acts as a comfortable, moist and breathable environment. It protects oyster mushrooms from mold damage. Experienced mushroom pickers use shavings of deciduous trees. It is easier for beginners to work with buckwheat or sunflower husks, barley or wheat straw, and dry corn stalks.

An important task is to properly prepare the substrate for growing

Before use, prepare the material:

1. Make sure it does not contain fungal microorganisms.
2. Heat-treat the raw material: steam the dry or moistened substrate, boil it in water. In the latter case, let the liquid drain for several days. The optimal saturation with moisture is when, when squeezed by hand, the substrate springs, but does not ooze water.
3. Cool and grind the material.
4. Place the substrate in plastic bags with small holes. Transfer them to a separate, disinfected, warm room to plant mycelium.
5. Use bleach to treat surfaces. The same sterilization is needed in the basement.

Step 3: purchasing quality mycelium

In order not to make a mistake in choosing a basis for mushroom propagation, follow these recommendations:

1. If you are not sure about the quality of the mycelium you are purchasing, take several small batches from different suppliers.
2. When purchasing, study the data on the variety and strain, productivity, mold resistance, and harvest lifespan.
3. The optimal temperature of the mycelium is about +20 °C. Check that you are not being sold overheated material.
4. The mycelium should not emit an ammonia smell and be covered with black or green spots. A healthy color is bright orange.

Oyster mushroom mycelium

After collection, the seed mycelium is stored in the refrigerator at a temperature of +3...+4°C. Under such conditions, ordinary mycelium will retain productivity for up to 3 months, substrate - for up to 9 months. Ask the sellers about compliance with these conditions. After purchasing mycelium:

• place the bags separately in a well-ventilated room;
• leave for a couple of hours at room temperature;
• Before adding, chop the mushroom base without opening the bag.

Attention! It is necessary to open the package and carry out all subsequent operations only with gloves, in a sterile environment. After opening, treat the mycelium with a disinfecting solution.

Step 4: laying mycelium

You will need a sterile table. The bags also need to be treated with a disinfecting solution and then with water. During work, turn off the ventilation, close the windows and doors. Mix the substrate and mycelium directly on the work surface. Correct proportions for mycelium:

• domestic raw materials - 3-5% of the total volume of the substrate;
• foreign-made product - 1.6-2.5%.

Pour the mixture back into the bags and tamp down. The optimal weight of one bale should be 5-15 kg. Flatten the bags slightly and, using a sharp knife, cut slits on both wide sides. The length of one is 0.5 cm. This technique will lead to the fact that the mushrooms will break through in bunches.

Plant the mycelium under sterile conditions.

Place bags on racks or shelves in the same room. The bags should be located at least 5 cm from the walls and each other and be well ventilated from all sides. The most favorable air temperature is about +25 °C. In a block with a substrate it may be slightly higher. Sowing care is simple:

• do not ventilate the room;
• Wipe the floor and surfaces with water and chlorine solution every day.

Attention! Do not allow the mycelium to overheat at temperatures of +30 °C or higher.

Step 5: Growing Oyster Mushrooms in the Basement

The bags should remain in a warm room for 18-25 days. After this, they should be moved to the basement. There the blocks are placed vertically. They can be placed on top of each other, but a gap of at least 0.5 m is required between the columns. The first mushrooms can be collected after 1.5 months. after the formation of mycelium.

Growing oyster mushrooms in the basement

In the basement you need to maintain optimal conditions for growing oyster mushrooms. The desired lighting intensity is 5 W/sq. m. To ensure that the body of the mushroom matures dense and not watery, use a humidifier or sprayer for irrigation. Water at a temperature of +10...+25 °C should be supplied from top to bottom no more than twice a day. After watering, ventilate the room.

Attention! Oyster mushrooms produce a lot of spores. To prevent them from causing allergies, the basement must be isolated from the living rooms.

Subsequent waves of fruiting in oyster mushrooms occur at intervals of 2-3 weeks. Between these periods, any remaining mushroom stems should be removed. Sort through the bags. If you notice mold, take it out of the room. Such a substrate will work as an organic fertilizer on the site. Growing oyster mushrooms in the basement is easy, especially if you prepare well for the process.

Growing oyster mushrooms at home: video

Growing mushrooms in private households, in country houses and even in apartments is becoming fashionable today. Firstly, in the store mushroom products are not sold at a low price. Secondly, homemade mushroom, grown without the use of unknown chemicals, is environmentally friendly and safe for consumption. Thirdly, mushroom growing can be done profitable business, or at least a good source of additional income. Fourthly, this is a very interesting and exciting hobby. You take a substrate, place mycelium in it, and create conditions. And he begins to grow “like mushrooms.”

Growing champignons at home for beginners

Before you start growing champignons

You need to think carefully and weigh your desire and capabilities on two scales. If they are approximately at the same level, it is worth taking the risk. Information for beginners: growing champignons at home is a more labor-intensive process than growing oyster mushrooms. But less long-term and more effective than growing porcini mushrooms.

Certain costs will be required for the purchase of materials, arrangement of the premises, as well as patience and certain skills. Provided that you already have a suitable room and you just need to create favorable conditions in it.

Room

It should be moderately cool, such as a cellar or basement. If there is neither one nor the other, it is difficult to advise anything. Perhaps a garage or greenhouse will do (during the cold season). In spring and early summer, before the onset of extreme heat, champignons can be grown without any room at all. The main thing is that the air temperature should not be higher than +20°C. Indoors, in the case of year-round cultivation, the temperature should be constantly maintained in the range of +12°C... 18°C, and humidity in the range of 65-85%.

Room for growing champignons

Substrate

The most important item on the list of prerequisites for the successful cultivation of champignons can be called the substrate (or as it is also called for its composition - compost). The following composition is generally accepted as a fruitful version of compost.

1. Horse or cow manure (or pork, or bird droppings, which can be taken, but is not advisable).
2. Straw.
3. Urea.
4. Superphosphate.
5. Gypsum.
6. Alabaster flour.

Substrate for growing champignons

Table. Proportions of components for making compost from mullein or horse manure.

Table. Proportions of components for making compost from bird droppings.

By the way! To cover an area the size of one with mushroom compost square meter, you will need compost made from 40 kg of straw base (other components, according to proportions).

Video - How to disinfect mushroom substrate

How to compost

It is better to carry out this procedure in the air or, as a last resort, in a regularly ventilated room. During the process of ripening compost in a heap, where the straw is layered with manure and watered, the heat can rise to +70˚C. There is an intense release of carbon dioxide, water and ammonia vapor into the atmosphere. Of course, a person should not breathe this mixture for long.

It is good to place the compost site in the sun (the higher the temperature inside this “layer cake”, the faster and better the compost will ripen). But it is worth providing shelter from rain, since heavy rain can wash out from the compost all the useful components necessary for the growth of future mushrooms.

Compost pit for preparing substrate

Advice! If it is not possible to protect the compost heap with a canopy from precipitation, cover it with roofing felt or thick film before the rain. Be sure to lift the film from the sides, leaving the sides open.

The straw for the substrate must be fresh, dry, free from mold and other defects. Before laying, the straw is soaked in a large reservoir of water for a day. If there is no such reservoir, spread the straw on polyethylene and water it generously several times a day, without letting it dry out.

Laying the compost heap

The straw and manure prepared in this way begin to be laid in layers.

The first layer is straw. Then - manure or droppings.

Each layer of straw is sprinkled with ammonium nitrate and urea in the proportions indicated in the table.

Each layer of straw is watered abundantly with water.

In total there should be at least 3-4 layers of straw and, accordingly, the same amount of manure.

You need to finish the laying with straw.

Give everything a final watering so that the compost heap remains moist at all times.

The height of the pile must be at least a meter. Length and width are arbitrary.

Preparing compost for growing
champignons

For a week, the multilayer structure basks in the sun. Then comes the moment of the first shake-up. The procedure is carried out with a pitchfork. Shaking out a compost heap is no easy task. But they cannot be neglected, since for speedy composting it is necessary to ensure oxygen access inside.

During the first shaking, gypsum is added. It will improve the structure of the compost.

The second shake-up is carried out without waiting for the next week, 3-4 days after the first. This time superphosphate and chalk are added.

Important! If the pile in the sun is slightly dry, it is watered generously. You cannot let the compost dry out; its formation will stop.

The third and fourth shaking is carried out after four subsequent days. After three weeks, the compost heap will lose its pungent ammonia smell and turn a pleasant chocolate color. The straw in the compost will acquire a soft structure and will be torn with your fingers.

Ready compost for growing champignons

A high-quality compost substrate, completely ready for use, does not stick to the palm, springs in the fist when squeezed, and leaves a wet but not dirty mark on the skin.

Advice! If you have over-moistened the pile, and moisture literally flows out of the compost when compressed, it should be spread out to dry (but not dried, just reduce the humidity to 60%), adding half the amount of chalk.

The finished substrate is filled with racks, boxes or other containers where champignons will be grown. The temperature of the substrate must be reduced before introducing the mycelium.

The process of laying compost for germination

Preparation of the substrate for further planting of mycelium

If you plan to grow mushrooms in a room specially designated for this enterprise, for example, on the earthen floor of a cellar, compost is poured directly onto the floor in a layer of 70 cm, forming beds with an area of ​​½ m² or 75x75 cm.

1. If you have installed racks in the basement on which future mushroom harvests will carefully grow, they must be equipped with sides, and then the compost can be laid directly on the racks in a layer of 45 cm.
2. If cultivation is planned in boxes, which can be placed in stacks in the same basement or cellar (no more than two meters in height), because champignons do not need light for development, compost is poured into boxes. Backfill layer – 25 centimeters
3. If you grow mushrooms in open or greenhouse soil, the compost is compacted directly onto the surface of the ground, 25-30 cm high. Start of laying - early spring when the ground thaws. Canopies are made over the open ridge to protect from precipitation and sunlight that is too intense for shade-loving champignons.
4. The compost is compacted well by hand and the surface is carefully leveled.

Racks for champignons

Mycelium

After preparatory work The most important moment comes - planting the mycelium. Mushroom mycelium can be planted at a soil temperature no higher than +28°C at a depth of 5 cm. You need to check the temperature with a thermometer. This is important because exceeding even two degrees will kill the mycelium.

The planting material for growing champignons, like other cultivated mushrooms, is sterile mycelium, which is grown in special laboratories. Two varieties of champignons have been selected for cultivation:

• bisporous white;
• bisporous brown.

Champignon mycelium

Their taste and nutritional value do not differ significantly. The only difference is the color of the mushroom, according to its name, white or brown. They sell mycelium or mycelium in bags or jars. Packaging is usually 1-2 kg. The mycelium of both varieties is grown in two ways - on manure and on cereals.

The first, dung mycelium, will be needed for planting 500 g per m² of area. Grain – not 100 g less.

Planting mycelium

The dung mycelium is a rather monolithic lump, which before planting must be divided by hand into small pieces, the size of half a matchbox.

1. The mycelium prepared in this way is laid out on a large tray in one layer. In the soil, a wedge-shaped peg is used to lift part of the top layer so that a piece of mycelium can be placed there.
2. Planting is done in a checkerboard pattern with a cell distance of 20 cm.
3. Part of the mycelium is covered with a substrate no more than 3 cm thick.

Compost overgrown with champignon mycelium

Grain mycelium is an ordinary grain on which fungal spores are “planted.” Its sowing is done as you would sow any grain.

1. The top layer of compost, 3 cm wide, is removed from the bed or box.
2. “Mushroom grains” randomly scatter over the surface.
3. The compost is poured back in and lightly pressed down so that there is no void between it and the grains.

Champignon grain mycelium

By the way! Wild mushroom mycelium is also suitable for growing homemade champignons. If you find a place where champignons grow, take a closer look at the soil. The soil, permeated with a “web” of whitish-gray mushroom spores, is quite suitable for starting your mushroom plantation.

Caring for a champignon plantation

After you have planted, the temperature in the room is maintained high. This prerequisite– mycelium germination will not begin at below +24°C and above +26°C. At this time, in the initial phase of mycelium growth, do not expect immediate “sprouting”. Champignons are not vegetables. They grow deep into the soil, gaining a foothold and forming the future harvest. At low temperatures, growth is insufficient; at high temperatures, the formation of a fruiting body is weak.

Rules for harvesting champignons at home

Compost humidity should be constantly maintained in the range of 55-60%. As soon as it dries, the mycelium “freezes” and stops growth. The compost is moistened superficially, from a sprayer, so that water does not flood the mycelium, otherwise it will mold and die.

It will take 12 days for the mycelium to grow deeper. After this, the temperature in the room necessarily decreases. Either the heating is turned off, or the transoms and ventilation holes are opened - all methods are good to reduce the temperature to +18°C...20°C.

By this time it is necessary to prepare the soil for backfilling. The mycelium will grow upward not on compost, but from nutritious soil of the following composition:

• turf land;
• loam;
• sandstone;
• fine-textured peat soil.

Any of the above will do structural types. The main thing is that the soil is not heavy. To add “airiness” and ensure air penetration into the fungal spores, the soil is sifted onto a coarse sieve.

Agricultural practices and timing of their implementation when growing champignons

Before backfilling, the soil is moderately moistened. And cover it with a 3-4 cm layer of compost.

Maintaining temperature within specified limits. – +16°С... 18°С, plus or minus two more permissible degrees.

Maintaining humidity in the range of 65-85% (air) and not higher than 60% - earthen layer.

Intensive daily ventilation of the room to remove accumulated carbon dioxide.

You can collect the first homemade mushrooms from your own plantation on the 35-40th day. One fruiting cycle lasts about two months.

Agricultural practices and timing of their implementation when growing champignons (continued)

Despite all the apparent difficulties and conventions, the growing process, starting from the moment of compost preparation, takes no more than four months. In two months of fruiting, the crop can be harvested 6-7 times. From 5 to 10 kg of mushrooms are collected from a square meter of ridge. The next harvest ripens after 5 days.

Champignon harvest

Important! Mushrooms must be collected at the stage when the film between the stem and cap is intact and tightly connects them. Opened mushrooms with darkened (for white varieties) plates and damaged film, the remains of which can only be seen on the stem, are best not eaten.

When harvesting champignons, do not cut them with a knife. The mushrooms are twisted out with a gentle hand movement. The holes formed after collection are sprinkled with soil and slightly moistened.

Video - Growing champignons at home (part 1)

Video - Growing champignons at home (part 2)

Video - Harvesting champignons

When my father retired, he was at first happy: how much freedom! But simultaneously with freedom, a dangerous diagnosis came to him, which had been dormant in his body for a long time: diabetes mellitus. The doctor warned: to live, you need to move, plus a strict diet. Dad thought for a moment and decided to plant a garden.

This is where the action is for the whole summer! And in winter he grows mushrooms. He started with stumps, now he has found clients to buy from and filled the entire basement with bags, evicting his mother and her rolls from there (they are now forbidden to him anyway due to the high sugar content). And stewed mushrooms are just what you need!

What you need to successfully grow mushrooms

• Mycelium (you can buy it in stores like “Everything for the Gardener” or order it on the Internet). For the first time, a kilogram will be enough for you. If you take it in your hands, look at the package: black and green spots are bad, it’s rotten. An ammonia smell is also considered a bad sign. If you order online, read reviews about the seller.
• The substrate, as well as the container in which the mushrooms will germinate. Most often these are synthetic bags, but some people manage to use what they have on the farm. For example, plastic boxes. And here is the result:

• Rooms that can be equipped as a “mycelium”: one for incubation (closed and not cold - say, a pantry or a former garage), the second for ripening mushrooms ( better basement, in which there is lighting and you can slightly regulate the temperature). It is better not to grow mushrooms in the house - everyone will be bothered by the specific smell + constant excess moisture. And spores, which are considered a strong allergen! They are strictly forbidden to be inhaled by children, and they can also harm adults.

Bag growing technology

The most popular. Even if your entire basement is filled with potatoes and other vegetables, you can cover them and hang a bag or two of mushrooms. And none of the neighbors will look at your mini-production and sarcastically ask how the harvest is.

Preparing mycelium

• After purchase, it is kept in the refrigerator at 3-4 degrees, for a maximum of 3 months. If the package arrives by mail, it cools slowly and is placed in the refrigerator.
• Before use, the mycelium is also heated slowly. If you throw it into the substrate cold, the unfortunate mycelium may die from thermal shock!
• Carefully disassemble the mycelium bar into small pieces.
• It is better to not just wash the table on which you will work, but to disinfect it, and put rubber gloves on your hands.

Preparing sawdust (substrate)

For 1 kg of mycelium take 10 kg of sawdust.

Although, of course, it could also be:

• straw (barley or wheat will suit you),
• dry corn (cobs, leaves and stalks, dried and cut into pieces no larger than 5 cm),
• husks from sunflower seeds or buckwheat.

The main thing: the substrate should not rot!

For insurance, it is also disinfected. You can simply boil your sawdust in boiling water, or you can spray it with steam (both dry and wet).

In order for the mushrooms to “hatch”, the sawdust must be moistened. Exact quantity It’s hard to tell the water, look at their appearance: sawdust clenched in a fist should not drip, only spring. If you pour in too much, let the water drain and only then use the substrate.

Packing bags

1. The work room (where the bags will hang) must be thoroughly whitewashed with lime, this will disinfect the room. The tools also need to be processed.
2. To begin with, take small bags - say, 5 kg. They can be any color, not necessarily white or transparent.
3. The mycelium and substrate can be mixed on the table and then loaded into bags. Or do it differently: fill the bag in layers. 5 cm of sawdust - 0.5 cm of substrate, then again 5 cm of sawdust...
4. Carefully cut holes up to 2 cm in length in the walls of the bags - this is where your oyster mushrooms will peek out. The larger the hole, the larger the “families” will be. Leave 10-13 cm between the slits.
5. Air must flow to the bags from all sides, so it is better to hang them by the “tail” to hooks attached to the ceiling. Racks are also considered a good option.

Germination of oyster mushrooms (incubation)

The first signs of mushrooms will appear in 10-20 days. But if the bag is transparent, you will see threads of revived mycelium crawling inside within 4 days.

But this is only provided:

• not too hot temperature (maximum 25 degrees),
• high humidity (70 to 80%).

To cool the room and bags (they should not overheat), you can install a fan. But ventilation is prohibited.

Mushrooms also need wet cleaning- do it daily.

Harvest ripening

The bags are transferred from the storage room to the basement. Here the mushrooms grow and are cut off.

Conditions that oyster mushrooms need now:

• Low temperature (15 to 10 degrees).
• Even higher humidity (up to 95%). A purchased air humidifier, as well as regular spraying of walls and floors with water, will help achieve these percentages. The main thing is not to fall into the bags.
• 10, or even better - 12 hours of illumination (for this it is better to take fluorescent lamps, but some people also use ordinary “Ilyich bulbs” and are also satisfied with the result).
• Regular ventilation (2-3 times a day).
• Spraying "families" of mushrooms. Carefully pour water onto the caps, but so that all of it flows down and does not stagnate in the mushrooms, otherwise they will begin to rot. Repeat the procedure every day.

The first harvest can be harvested 1.5 months later (do not cut the mushrooms, but twist them - this way you will protect the mycelium from rotting). Moreover, you need to wait much less for the next harvest - it will arrive in 15-20 days.

In general, one mycelium can produce 4 crops, but the largest are the first two.

Used sawdust can be thrown away. Although if you have a garden, the old substrate can be used as fertilizer for trees and bushes.

Growing oyster mushrooms on chocks (that is, stumps)

If businessmen call the previous method intensive (since everything grows quickly and in large quantities), this one is extensive: slowly but surely.

Of course, this is no longer an option for making money, but rather for yourself. On several fresh pieces of wood you can grow mushrooms for the whole winter, and also distribute 2-3 baskets to your godfathers.

Suitable for you: linden, poplar, willow or aspen.

It's simple: water the stumps thoroughly, make deep cuts in the bark, place the mycelium there, place the chocks in the shade and wait for the mushrooms to start peeking out. And then decide whether to let them grow to the size of chops or cut them down into babies convenient for canning.

Just don’t keep these stumps in a distant garden, otherwise the neighbors will think that “it just grew on its own,” and they’ll secretly trim your mushrooms.

This video will tell you more about this method:

Folk tricks: do-it-yourself mycelium

Not everyone knows, but you don’t have to buy mycelium.

You can make it at home. For example, using these tips:

And you can make it even easier if you have a basket of mushrooms collected somewhere. Use the peelings from them (cut off lower parts with soil). Mix them with a few kilograms of wet straw and grow them as described above. Of course, the harvest will not be for sale, but it will be enough for your family.

Grow mushrooms in rural areas or on a personal plot - simple and profitable. Having created with his own hands suitable soil for the growth of the mushroom, the farmer will be able to sell and eat honey mushrooms, porcini mushrooms, chanterelles, shiitake and oyster mushrooms at a high price, without significant financial costs.

• Growing champignons
• Growing oyster mushrooms at home
• And in conclusion

Growing champignons

Today, growing mushrooms has become a fairly profitable and widespread agricultural activity. Growing champignons at home is certainly not an easy task, but it is completely worth it when you get real profits and a fresh homemade product. Growing mushrooms, especially those that are popular for food, can become a real business for you if you pay enough attention to cultivation and care. IN warm time year, as well as in latitudes with mild climates, mushrooms can be grown annually both in open ground and in greenhouse conditions.

All mushrooms are quite capricious regarding light and temperature. That's why optimal conditions growth temperature will not be lower than +12 degrees. With high humidity of about 80% and complete shade. A huge advantage of mushrooms such as champignons and oyster mushrooms is that they can be grown in a multi-tiered manner, thereby saving space; the basement may be the ideal place.

For mushrooms, it is necessary to prepare a special nutrient mixture from the soil. A mixture of manure, straw or sawdust is quite suitable. This mixture is prepared approximately a few weeks before the mycelium is added to the substrate. The growth and productivity of mushrooms will directly depend on the quality of the soil. At enterprises that grow mushrooms on an industrial scale, about 200 kilograms of straw or finely chopped sawdust are used for half a ton of manure. To improve the soil and saturate it, it is enriched with ammonium sulfate, and the substrate is stored in a cool, dark place, avoiding direct sunlight on the mixture. The prepared mixture must be stirred every week, adding 20 kilograms of gypsum once and mixing well.
After three to four weeks, the mixture for growing mushrooms will be ready.

Wood flooring or the pallets will be very convenient to place in basement or greenhouse, you can pour the soil immediately onto the prepared surface, not forgetting to water the substrate from time to time.

If you are new to growing mushrooms, then it is better to purchase material in the form of mycelium in a specialized store. Spore myceliums are sold in special containers; they come from dung and grain. The dung mycelium is divided into equal pieces and placed in the substrate to a depth of about 5 centimeters; it is better to place them in a checkerboard pattern so that the distance between the seedlings does not exceed half a meter. In order to save space. Cereal myceliums are sown a little differently: grains are laid out on a layer of substrate, and then covered with a layer of soil of about 5 centimeters. The optimal temperature for the development and growth of mycelium is considered to be +25 degrees, then after ten days, the temperature should be reduced to 20 degrees, and the surface of the substrate should be covered with an even layer of soil of 3 centimeters. After a week, the temperature is lowered to +16 degrees, after a month you can expect the first champignons.

Growing honey mushrooms at home

An equally important mushroom variety that is grown by mushroom pickers at home is considered to be honey fungus. Its unpretentiousness and easy care for the mycelium make honey mushrooms a very popular mushroom. The most common way to grow honey mushrooms is to breed them in wooden tubs. This growing method is widespread because it can be used both on a personal plot and on specially prepared forest land. The main advantage of growing honey mushrooms is their low financial cost, as well as the ease of propagation of mycelium. Growing honey mushrooms in wooden tubs is mainly done by amateur mushroom pickers.

Almost any variety of honey mushrooms is suitable for growing honey mushrooms at home. The seating area can be wooden logs, tubs, or troughs made of hardwood. But conifers trees are not used in growing mushrooms, as they can cause bitterness in the grown product due to the high resin content. Growing honey mushrooms is a fairly simple procedure, and differs little from the cultivation of other myceliums. The procedure for cultivating honey mushrooms involves infecting the wood platform with mycelium or planting raw materials. It is necessary to make cuts in the thickness of wooden containers for planting or drill holes, and then fill the recesses with mycelium or planting material. After the procedure of filling with mycelium, the holes are covered with the prepared substrate. The most simplified option for growing honey mushrooms is to fill a rotten stump with mycelium by infecting the bark and crevices, and then sprinkle it with rotted manure mixed with straw in a 1:1 ratio.

Monitor the quality of your planting material, since it is difficult to acquire high-quality mycelium or mycelium. For home grown Again, grain mycelium, which is purchased in specialized stores, is perfect. Also a fairly common option as seed material pieces of wood infected with spores serve. Infected wood can be found in the forest yourself and recognized by a white coating, as well as a specific mushroom smell. Such myceliums are carefully removed using a knife or file, divided into pieces, and introduced into prepared cracks in prepared stumps. Before removing forest mycelium, make sure that the mushrooms are edible.

After the procedure with the introduction of mycelium, to accelerate the development of the mycelium, the mushroom plantation can be isolated with cellophane, and with proper care, the honey mushroom harvest can be obtained by autumn. Climatic and other factors (such as the quality of the mycelium, humidity and wood) directly affect the rate of growth and development of honey mushrooms. Mushroom harvest will not immediately please you with its abundance. When growing mushrooms on your site, take into account the fact that mycelium and fungal spores can adversely affect tree roots, as well as wooden buildings. Therefore, exclude the possibility of infection of fruit trees with fungal spores. After the mycelium has been introduced into the soil, fruiting of the mycelium will last about 6 years. Mushroom plantations are quite aggressive, so it is better to fence them off with grooves filled with sand so as not to harm garden plants.

With the growing popularity of mushroom farms, mushroom sticks have also become widely known. Special wooden sticks infected with fungal spores. The ease of working with such raw materials cannot but rejoice; the sticks are simply inserted into tree bark or holes, and then covered with wet sawdust or small straw. This method of growing honey mushrooms is suitable for a garden plot, but in industrial enterprises, only grain mycelium is used for growing honey mushrooms.

Growing oyster mushrooms at home

Another common mushroom with excellent taste is the oyster mushroom. There are quite a few ways to grow oyster mushrooms. This article will describe a method that is suitable for both hobbyists growing mushrooms in small batches and for large-scale production. Into the wild natural conditions, oyster mushroom grows on stumps and deciduous trees. The optimal temperature for the development of mycelium is +25 degrees. Then, at a temperature of +14-16 degrees, fruiting begins, for up to 5 weeks. The sizes of oyster mushrooms range from 5 centimeters to 30, the color of the mushroom is gray, with a brown tint. Oyster mushroom is a fairly aromatic mushroom with good taste. These mushrooms are also suitable for pickling and pickling, as well as frying and making soups.

So, the substrate for growing oyster mushrooms must be prepared in advance. A mixture of sawdust, small straw and sunflower husks will serve for it. The substrate must be clean, without the presence of foreign objects; in addition, it is better to boil the sawdust before preparing the soil to destroy harmful microflora. Afterwards, the substrate is dried on film, spread out in a thin layer.

Temperature and humidity are important for growing mushrooms, so the room must be equipped with everything necessary, clean and well ventilated. Oyster mushroom grows well in basements equipped with heating appliances, hoods and lighting.

You can start planting mycelium after following all necessary conditions, for growing mushrooms, namely after preparing the substrate and premises. Oyster mushroom mycelium can be purchased at specialized enterprises and farms, as well as in gardening stores. You can start sowing after the substrate has been placed at the bottom of ordinary plastic bags or bags, then on a layer of 8 centimeters, the mycelium of 3 centimeters is laid out, broken into pieces, and covered with substrate on top, and so on, one by one, to the top. The bag is bandaged, the contents are compacted, then cuts are made on the bag at a distance of 2-3 centimeters to further growth mushrooms and removal of excess moisture.

Bags filled with mycelium are placed vertically, approximately half a meter apart, to allow oyster mushrooms to grow. It will be easier if the bags are formed in such a way that the location of your mushroom “bed” does not cause you any inconvenience later. You should be able to move freely between bags for ease of watering and harvesting. You can arrange the bags in tiers if the room is high enough, which will increase the cultivation area. The optimal temperature in the room is considered to be 19-25 degrees, when the mycelium begins to develop, the contents of the bags will turn white, as the spores will penetrate deeper into the substrate. Watering bags with mycelium is done once a day. If you comply with all the requirements when cultivating myceliums, then within three weeks, your mushroom bed will delight you with the first fruits.

In order for mushroom fruiting to develop actively, some mushroom gardeners resort to tricks. For this purpose, the substrate germinated with mycelium is stimulated low temperature from +3 to +6 degrees, this temperature is maintained for about two or three days, then you need to leave the substrate in bags, making fairly wide holes there, or remove the substrate and leave it without bags and not water it for a week. After a week-long lack of moisture, the substrate is watered abundantly with water at room temperature, and then once a day, ventilate the room with mycelium, the air temperature in the room should be +15 degrees.

For the first week, your mycelium does not need lighting, but then it is necessary to organize sufficiently bright light over the bags with mycelium. artificial lighting. After the mycelium begins to bear fruit, a new harvest of mushrooms can be obtained every three weeks, however, over time, productivity will decrease, which will serve as a signal to replace the substrate and apply new party mycelium, that is, to the resumption of the cycle. From every 100 kilograms of substrate, experienced mushroom pickers receive about 50 kilograms of fresh mushrooms. It is very important, before the start of a new cycle of fruiting of the mycelium, to disinfect the room in order to get rid of the pathogenic environment of the predecessors. The approximate number of cycles per year will be 4-7, depending on care and growing conditions.

Growing porcini mushrooms in the garden

Growing porcini mushrooms in personal plots is not a painstaking procedure and is quite simple. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly popular. If you don’t want to spend money on buying mycelium, then you can do without it, just find the mycelium and the place where porcini mushrooms grow. You can collect mature mushrooms and prepare a mixture with spores yourself porcini mushroom. To do this, mature porcini mushrooms are crushed and poured clean water, leave in a dark place for a day. Thus, a solution will be obtained containing numerous spores of the white fungus. Next, you need to follow the plan, choose a dark place, preferably under deciduous trees, and organize something like a garden bed. To do this, we fertilize the ground with rotted manure mixed with chopped straw or sawdust, mix everything thoroughly with the soil, mix it, level it and water the prepared soil with the prepared mixture. It must be taken into account that porcini mushrooms enter into symbiosis only with deciduous trees, and do not like the scorching sun.

Another way to grow porcini mushrooms is to remove the mycelium from the old place and move it to your own plot. The main thing is to properly organize the place for planting the mycelium. Pay attention to what trees the mycelium grew under in a forest or clearing, and to the structure of the soil, this will help to establish fruiting in the future on your site. So, after removing the mycelium, collect enough soil from this place so that it is enough to add to the soil on the site after laying the mycelium. We loosen the soil, fertilize it with manure, pour out the brought soil, and loosen it again. Then we make depressions in the prepared soil and lay out pieces of mycelium, sprinkling it on top with a mixture of sawdust, straw, sunflower husks or forest soil, then lightly moisten it. The myceliums should not be filled with water, and the soil should not be allowed to dry out, that is, the place where porcini mushrooms grow must be constantly moistened.

Mature parts of porcini mushrooms can also be used as seed material. Porcini mushrooms must be chopped, the soil loosened, fertilized with compost and crushed sawdust deciduous trees. Planting is carried out as in the previous version, only crushed mushroom is added. Then the soil is moistened and sprinkled with chopped straw on top. Both fresh mushrooms and slightly dried ones will do; these mushrooms are laid out in a dense layer on the prepared soil and watered every day; after the soil becomes infected with spores, the mushrooms can be removed. With proper selection of the place for planting porcini mushrooms and compliance with fertilization and planting technologies, the harvest will appear next year. Reproduction will occur progressively, from a few mushrooms to entire mushroom families, and in another year you will be able to get about two kilograms of porcini mushrooms from your mushroom plantation.

These methods of breeding and growing porcini mushrooms are suitable only for amateur mushroom growers. The described growing methods are widely used in areas where the necessary mushrooms grow in sufficient quantities. Industrial production of porcini mushroom is established mainly in Poland. But our domestic producer does not stand aside, increasing the volume of mushroom production.

Unfortunately, in our time, mushroom cultivation technologies lag behind world producers, although previously mushrooms were bred on an industrial scale in Russia. Today, mushroom cultivation is rather an amateur activity, undoubtedly profitable. The price coefficient on supermarket shelves is quite high, but mushroom cultivation on an industrial scale is not yet practiced in our country at the proper level, preferring to import foreign mushrooms.

If you want to grow porcini mushrooms, it is worth considering the fact that their mycelium differs from other varieties in that it grows together with the roots of trees, forming a kind of symbiosis, and without it the development of the mycelium is not possible. Therefore, the cultivation of porcini mushrooms should take place near the trees growing on your site. It’s even better to organize your own mushroom farm in the adjacent forest belt.

Growing chanterelles at home

Breeding chanterelles, like other mushrooms, is based on the basic rules of mushroom cultivation. Planting a mushroom next to a tree is done using a spore infusion, pieces of mycelium or seed material, with the assistance of a layer of forest soil. The composition of forest soil is rich and nutritious, and the upper humus layer is responsible for the development of mycelium. The bulk of the soil is rich in microelements and organic compounds; it also contains fungal spores, from which fruits then grow. Therefore, when growing chanterelles on your site and preparing myceliums for planting, choose a place where their main population is concentrated, cut off the mushrooms, carefully remove the mycelium and, together with the soil, transfer it to your site.

The removal of forest soil should be carried out near trees; the optimal time for harvesting is considered to be the beginning of autumn or early spring. Layers of soil at least 20 centimeters thick are dug out. In the area where the soil is infested with chanterelles, the bottom layer of forest soil is used. The organization of a mushroom mini-farm should take place in a cool, shaded place, among trees. We bury the mycelium in the ground and sprinkle it with chopped straw. Maintain the required humidity.

If you previously noticed a place where a lot of chanterelles grow, mark this place. However, the absence of mushrooms cannot guarantee that the mycelium is dead, it is simply possible that the season was less fruitful; the main criterion should be that the mushrooms were noticed earlier in this place. Fungal spores remain in the soil for a long time and are not afraid of bad weather and suppression of fruiting. They continue to exist remarkably well, using a minimum of nutrients, taking advantage of their protection.

In order for forest soil to serve as good soil for a future mushroom farm, it must go through a certain stage preliminary preparation. This preparation method will improve the quality of forest soil. To properly prepare forest soil, it is packed in plastic bags and dried in a cold room, the main thing is to leave oxygen access to the soil. The soil can be stored in such conditions for up to a year, without harming fungal spores, but pathogenic microorganisms will die without moisture. As a result of this kind of training, the mushroom spores will get used to drought conditions and become more resilient.

It is better to plant chanterelles on the site in early spring; high humidity and warm weather will contribute to better implantation of the mycelium into the soil and its further development. Previously harvested forest soil must be mixed with garden soil in a 1:1 ratio, pour the soil mixture into the prepared depressions, add mycelium or a prepared chanterelle solution there, and cover it with fine straw or rotted leaves on top to protect the mushroom bed from drying out. Watering must be organized in such a way as not to harm the mycelium; it is better to water in small portions, slightly moistening the soil, because water stagnation should not be allowed. The mycelium can simply die from excess moisture as a result of rotting.

Chanterelle has not yet become widespread, although it has an excellent taste and contains quite a bit useful substances. Only a few mushroom gardeners grow chanterelles on their plots. However, it is quite possible that chanterelles will soon prove themselves and the mushroom industry will turn its attention to these mushrooms. And we can all be content with tasty and healthy mushrooms that can even treat gastrointestinal diseases.

Growing shiitake mushrooms at home

Unpretentious, easy to grow and very healthy shiitake mushroom, it is very popular in foreign countries. Foreign industrial companies grow this mushroom in huge quantities. And for good reason. In terms of beneficial properties, the mushroom is not inferior to its relatives; it strengthens the nervous system and has a tonic effect. It contains the optimal amount of amino acids for humans.

Traditional places for growing shiitake mushrooms are tree stumps and logs. In countries rising sun This mushroom is very popular. In our country, shiitake mushrooms are grown on sawdust from deciduous trees. The largest harvests can be obtained if these mushrooms are grown on an enriched, specially prepared substrate, which is formed into blocks and infected with mycelium.

The main component of the substrate for growing shiitake is beech, birch, oak, and ash sawdust, enriched with special fertilizers. Sawdust from coniferous trees is not suitable for growing. The content of esters and resin substances in them will have a disinfecting effect and only hinder the development of mycelium. The size of sawdust also plays an important role in growing mushrooms. Since too small ones will clump together and disrupt aeration, slowing down the growth of the mycelium. Sawdust can be mixed with wood chips for better gas exchange. In order for shiitake mushrooms to please you with a harvest, the soil must be sterilized before colonizing the mycelium. The fact is that the mycelium of shiitake, like all other mushrooms, develops more slowly than pathogenic microorganisms that can harm the mycelium in the future and leave you without a mushroom harvest.

The substrate infected with mycelium should not be too wet or dense; a bacterial infection will develop in such soil. Substrate for industrial production Shiitake is stored in bags, then sterilized and used for its intended purpose. However, there are other methods of preparing the substrate yourself. It is not difficult to prepare the substrate; the sawdust is sterilized by heat treatment, cooled, dried, then seeded with mycelium, and then packaged in plastic bags. Thus, the mycelium develops in a warm temperature, the mycelium grows for a month and a half, and then the contents of the bags are taken out and mushroom beds are formed in the basement or other room intended for growing mushrooms.
The entire process of packaging and contamination of soil with mycelium must be carried out in compliance with sanitary standards. Fruiting on open formed blocks lasts about six months.

The cultivation time for shiitake mushrooms in compliance with the thermal treatment of the soil, be it sawdust or other substrates intended for this purpose, is shorter than real outdoor cultivation. This method of growing mushrooms is called intensive; harvesting, subject to all the requirements of this method, occurs year-round, in specially designated areas indoors. To increase the development time of mycelium, special fertilizers and enriching additives are added to the soil. Sources can be elements of organic origin and nitrogen-containing ones. You can freely purchase ready-made additives for growing mycelium and increasing shiitake fruiting in specialized stores, or you can use compost or rotted manure. To increase the acidity level, as well as for the purpose of enrichment, in addition to organic matter, a dose is added to the substrate mineral fertilizers, in the form of crushed chalk, bone meal, gypsum, or ready-made store-bought ones.

And in conclusion

Any variety of mushrooms is suitable for home cultivation. With proper care and compliance with all the rules for growing mushrooms, even on your own plot you can organize a fruit-bearing mushroom farm, second only to the industrial one in production volumes, but undoubtedly superior in terms of the safe characteristics of the resulting product. Growing mushrooms can also be an excellent business for your family; at a minimum cost, you will get maximum profit and provide yourself with the freshest mushrooms all year round.

If growing mushrooms at home as a business interests you, this article is for you!

First you need to decide on a place to grow. It is important to know that mushrooms require air humidity of at least 90%. The air temperature during the growth period is about 20 degrees Celsius, and during the fruiting period it is only 10 - 15 degrees. It is impossible to maintain such conditions in an apartment, especially given the heating season. The most enthusiastic of the beginners equip a balcony or loggia for growing mushrooms. Although this method is considered costly, it is quite acceptable. The best option– the presence of a private house with a barn or cellar. It is easiest to create the desired microclimate there.

Another factor that is worth considering when choosing a location is that fungal spores are an allergen. Constantly being in a room where there is mycelium can negatively affect health, causing coughing, skin reactions, and tearing.

There are several types of mushrooms that mushroom pickers have learned to grow at home:

• They are unpretentious and do not require particularly expensive equipment. They are considered the most useful due to their high content of polysaccharides and essential amino acids. When consumed regularly, they are an excellent antitumor prophylaxis.
• Champignons. A familiar mushroom that can be grown all year round in a greenhouse or barn.
• . Chinese mushroom having many beneficial properties and has excellent taste.
• . There is a summer and winter variety. They give a good harvest. Unlike their forest counterparts, they are entirely edible; their legs are as soft as their caps.

These are the main varieties. Many people try to grow ring mushrooms, porcini mushrooms, truffles, forest species on personal plots.

Necessary knowledge for beginners

If this is your first time trying to grow mushrooms at home, you need to know the basic rules for growing mushrooms. It is very important to decide on the choice of mushroom variety, because each species requires certain growing conditions and its own temperature regime. It is best to choose a variety for which it is possible to create the most suitable conditions for breeding. It is also important to know the basics technological process. To start the process, you need to purchase mycelium - mycelium, which is mushroom seedlings. It is placed in a substrate where it germinates. They sell rye mycelium (grain infected with fungal spores), or wooden blocks. The second method is preferable: the tree is less susceptible to the penetration of the virus into the mycelium. It is better to buy mycelium from a trusted seller; the yield will depend on the quality of the seedlings.

Substrates can also be purchased ready-made for the selected type of mushroom. They are produced under sterile conditions, which will enable the fruits to grow without pathologies and infections. The substrate consists of plant residues and fertilizers, forming with mushrooms mycorrhiza - the root of the fungus. Thanks to this connection, the mycelium will receive the necessary nutrition and will bear fruit well. A substrate containing sawdust from deciduous trees is ideal for champignons, alder or birch sawdust for oyster mushrooms, and oak substrate for shiitake.

Ways to grow mushrooms at home and outdoors

Oyster mushrooms are best suited for your first growing experience. They do not require special conditions to maintain humidity and temperature. Small greenhouse, a barn or an equipped balcony are quite suitable. The mycelium must be mixed with the substrate and poured into a plastic bag of the appropriate size. Place the bag on a special rack for 3 days. Then you need to make several slits for oxygen access. The room should be completely dark and the temperature reach 20 degrees Celsius.

When mushrooms appear through the slits, it should take about 20 days. Now the temperature must be lowered by 10 degrees, the lighting must be turned on for 12 hours and ventilated with a fan. To maintain the required humidity (90%), spray bags, walls and floors with water. The harvest can be harvested in a week.

After harvesting, place the bags with the substrate again in a dark room for a week. Then the mushrooms will begin to grow again. The more harvests removed from the bag, the smaller the mushrooms will become. One sowing is enough for 5-6 times, then you need to change the substrate with mycelium. You should not throw away the waste material; it will make an excellent fertilizer for any plants. It is very important to always use fresh mycelium, do not buy it in excess. If the mycelium deteriorates (acquires a characteristic odor), use will become impossible.

Mushrooms on the street

If you have a plot of land, you can grow wild mushrooms on it. Consider the trees growing on the site. Interaction with their roots is necessary for the normal development of the mycelium. If deciduous species predominate, give preference to chanterelles or boletus, if coniferous species, give preference to camelina or porcini mushroom.

But the simplest honey mushrooms are much easier to grow. For this you will need sawn wood. You need to make a lot of holes and cuts in the stumps, and then “plant” the mycelium there. Then place in a warm, damp place. When the mushrooms sprout, bury the stumps halfway into the ground, remembering to water them constantly. If it is difficult to find a tree to cut, you can replace it with a wooden box or simply fence it small area land.

You can use natural mycelium: bring a fragment of wood with mycelium from the forest and place it on a prepared area of ​​the garden, creating similar conditions. The ground should have grass, foliage, constant humidity, and the place should be located in the shade. Planting is best done in the fall before the onset of cold weather. If the weather is favorable, a small number of mushrooms will grow next year. In a year the harvest will increase significantly.

Subtleties of technology

There are several problems that beginners often encounter: mold and yeast. Mold can be seen immediately by characteristic green spots. Many people advise getting rid of such a substrate immediately to prevent further infection. But there is a less radical method: you need to separate the infected block or bag from the total, trying to harvest from it.

There is an opinion that When the temperature drops, mold growth slows down, while fungi continue to grow. Oyster mushrooms proved the truth of this statement. Even with mold infestation, you can harvest a crop that will justify the cost. It is worth noting that such a nuisance does not happen often: oyster mushrooms capture the entire substrate without losing their ability to ripen.

Another disease is yeast. Infection with them occurs from an excess of moisture when the mycelium does not have time to absorb it. Yeast colonies can be detected by yellow spots. They have a gel consistency and do not leak even after punctures. The method of control is identical to the control of mold: separate from healthy bags, removing the crop if possible.

A common cause of frustration in beginners is the slow filling of the substrate with mycelium. Experienced mushroom growers know that there is no need to shake the bags - the mycelium changes place, trying to adapt to the new. We need to give it time to take root and begin to bear fruit. Be sure to try to adhere to all technological parameters (light, humidity, heat). For many years, professionals have been developing growing technology, bringing it to perfection; there is no point in inventing something new, because the payback is 100%.

Growing champignons

Mini champignon farm

A mini farm for growing champignons is quite a feasible task for a beginner. Desire, patience and adequate expenses are the components of success. Having a dacha, creating a small mushroom farm will not be difficult. First you need to prepare the beds by choosing a shady, moist area. Then make a recess (50 cm). Pour sand, fine gravel into the bottom of the trench, and compost on top. You can buy compost prepared, or you can make it yourself: soak the straw with hot water, adding any manure with ammonium nitrate or gypsum. The mycelium is mixed with compost and compacted to maintain the required humidity.

To protect yourself from excessive heat, you can build a canopy from film. Shoots will appear in a couple of weeks. During this period, it is important to monitor the soil moisture by watering with (rain) water. Don’t forget to loosen the soil - this will help the champignons grow faster.

You can also set up greenhouse cultivation of champignons, getting a harvest all year round. For both open ground and greenhouses, scatter the mycelium on top of the compost laid out in boxes or bags, then mix it with soil (about 5 cm). In about a week, shoots will appear. For your efforts to be successful, you need to take care of the temperature in the greenhouse - it should be 15 - 16 degrees.

Important condition– air humidity – fluctuations will lead to drying out of the compost or rotting of the mycelium. 90% is the optimal figure. Watering should be frequent, but not abundant. Loosening the soil, ventilation without drafts - important stages on the way to the harvest. After a week, the champignons bear fruit. This phase lasts 10 days. After a short break - a new harvest.

How to grow healthy crops

Champignons have their own diseases that need to be gotten rid of. If gray putrid spots appear, remove the mushroom along with the mycelium, filling the hole with fresh soil. If “rusty” stains are added to the gray ones, the mushroom must be burned, and the clothes must be disinfected along with garden tools. If there is mold damage, you need to treat the area around the fungus regular salt. Do not use chemicals - mushrooms are an excellent absorbent and cannot be eaten later.

Insect pests can cause a lot of trouble. You can fight them with the help of preventive measures, special treatment of the greenhouse and equipment. The mite can significantly damage the crop. Carefully inspect the fruit: a pinkish cap and a brown stem at the base are a sure sign of the presence of a mite. Such fruits must be removed, the soil is disinfected, and the rows of champignons are sprayed with a special solution.

To obtain a healthy harvest, mandatory watering is required once every 4 days. Water the champignons using 2 liters of water per 1 square meter. Harvest starting with healthy fruits. After collecting the infected fruits separately, take them outside the greenhouse and destroy them by filling the holes with soil. This way you can prevent the spread of the disease.

If you plant cucumbers and squash next to champignons, you can get 2 harvests. The benefits will be obvious: the mycelium feeds on oxygen, and pumpkin crops feed on carbon dioxide. Such gas exchange allows you to avoid having to worry about ventilation, and the leaves of these crops will create the necessary microclimate for the champignons.

Basic requirements for growing mushrooms at home

The most strict requirements requirements for the substrate, compost, and growth mode:

• The substrate must match the composition of the variety of mushrooms chosen for cultivation.
• Compost should contain straw, manure, superphosphate, organic fertilizers. It must definitely “burn out” at a temperature of 60 degrees, becoming loose, airy, without a pungent odor.
• During the period of mushroom growth, the temperature of the compost does not exceed 20 degrees, and the room should not warm up above 15 degrees.
• Optimal air humidity is from 75 to 90%.
• Ventilation as a method of combating carbon dioxide.

By observing all the conditions of the technological process, you can get a rich, healthy harvest of the selected variety of mushrooms. The first time may seem difficult, but as in any business, you need to have patience and the necessary knowledge, and experience will definitely appear.

A hobby may well become a profitable business - a high return on investment with minimal costs allows you to count on this.

Mushrooms have firmly entered the life of modern man. Tasty, nutritious and valuable medicinal properties– they are present in the menus of fine dining restaurants, the culinary delights of the average housewife, and dietary nutrition for certain diseases.
Unfavorable ecology does not allow you to fully enjoy mushrooms grown in natural conditions. The fear of poisoning has long since transformed the traditional gathering in the forest into a pleasant memory. Fortunately, there is a worthy alternative - growing mushrooms at home. Growing mushrooms in small quantities is possible in an ordinary apartment or on a balcony. But conditions with high (90-95%) humidity and periodic drops in temperature to 10-15C can hardly be called comfortable for humans.
But owners of a private house with a basement, barn or garage can easily grow mushrooms not only for their table, but also for sale.
To start, you will need three components - a suitable room, mushroom mycelium and substrate (or soil).

Before you start growing mushrooms, you can familiarize yourself with the mushroom business on our website.
The room can be above ground or underground. The main thing is that it is possible to create optimal humidity, ventilation, lighting and temperature conditions. All these conditions are feasible and require a minimum of investment. To create a humidity of 90-95%, a household spray bottle is suitable. And with the help of a fan it is easy to produce artificial ventilation. For above-ground rooms, lighting from windows is sufficient; for underground rooms, 100-watt light bulbs are used at the rate of 1 per 20 sq.m. Although champignons do not need light; they bear fruit well without it.

How to grow mushrooms at home all year round.

Room temperature should vary depending on the stage of cultivation. For the incubation period it is 20-24C, and during fruiting – 10-15C. Therefore, in cold weather, controlled heating, for example, a stove or floor water heating, is desirable.
The straw of cereal crops (wheat, barley, rye) or sunflower husk is used as a substrate for oyster mushrooms. When choosing it, it is important to consider:
— The main quality criterion are cleanliness, dryness, absence of mold, foreign odors and impurities.
— According to the degree of productivity Wheat straw is in first place, followed by rye and barley straw, and oat straw in last place.
—Fresh husks are used, since it becomes infected during storage.

-For growing champignons It is better to use horse manure as soil. But cow milk may also be suitable if you add straw, leaves, and potato tops to it.
Mushroom mycelium is nothing more than a mycelium, which is planted in the substrate, due to which mushrooms are formed.
Experienced entrepreneurs and mushroom growers advise starting to grow mushrooms with oyster mushrooms.

They are considered the most unpretentious, early ripening and least expensive to grow artificially.
The first harvest can be harvested within thirty days (45 in winter). Oyster mushrooms grow well at moderate humidity (80-85%) and wide temperature ranges (from +10 to + 30C). They grow wildly not only on straw and husks, but also on sawdust different trees, corn stalks and dry fibers sugar cane. The process of growing oyster mushrooms requires special mushroom blocks. In fact, this is a plastic bag into which the substrate, mushroom mycelium and bio-additives are poured. 2.5-3 kg is removed from one such block at a time. mushrooms Serving 100 blocks on an area of ​​30 sq. m. can easily be handled by one person.
Mushrooms bear fruit for quite a long time, up to 5 years.
As for champignons, they are able to grow in the absence of light, in cool (12-18C) and damp room(65-85%), by laying mycelium in the soil.
The first harvest can be harvested after 45-50 days, and subsequent ones - within 3 months.
Growing mushrooms at home is an affordable and economical activity that can bring pleasure and a stable income.

Oyster mushrooms on tree stumps video.

Fresh mushrooms on the table all year round? Why not! Many gardeners have been growing crops at home for a long time and enjoy natural, crunchy and low-calorie products. Even beginners can cultivate mushrooms at home. Important criteria in this matter are high-quality seeds, mycelium and conditions for planting and growing.

Skilled gardeners shared the secrets of mushroom growing and told how to achieve productive results.

Basics of home mushroom growing

Not all types of mushrooms are suitable for indoor use, with the exception of winter mushrooms. Their compact size allows you to grow the crop directly on the windowsill, and their unpretentiousness makes this process very simple.

In addition to honey mushrooms, you can grow oyster mushrooms and champignons at home. But they will require more serious conditions and separate premises.

Mushroom cultivation includes:

• Suitable premises.
• Optimal conditions are temperature, humidity and lighting.
• Types of mycelium.
• High quality seeds and spores.
• Growing technology and containers.
• Type of culture.

Before you start breeding, you need to decide on the type of plants and the method of cultivation; the choice of premises and the creation of favorable conditions depend on this. Each type of mushroom requires a certain air temperature, humidity and ripening time. Therefore, the selection of varieties must be approached very seriously.

Types of indoor mushrooms

Most often, the most popular types of mushrooms are used in home production, which do not require much trepidation and hassle when growing in a garden plot or indoors. These can be woody or soil varieties, namely:

1. 1. Oyster mushrooms - grow well at +16–20 degrees in a specially equipped room (continuous fruiting) or in natural conditions - in the garden (fruiting period is only 1 season). Harvesting occurs after 25–40 days. Suitable for beginners.
2. 2. Champignons - considered the most expensive type of mushroom at the initial stage. For cultivation, a substrate with a high content of nutrients, high-quality mycelium is purchased and conditions for growth are created: good ventilation with maintaining an air temperature of +12 degrees and humidity 80%, diffused lighting is turned on daily, but for a short time. Champignons ripen in approximately 30-40 days.
3. 3. Shiitake - performed well in deciduous sawdust environments. PVC bags are filled with large sawdust from deciduous trees, hung by hooks or placed on pallets. Holes are made along the surface of the bag through which condensation escapes. Watering – 1 time per day. The cultivation technology is suitable for oyster mushrooms and shiitake, but the harvest of the latter will have to wait much longer.
4. 4. Porcini mushrooms, like champignons, love compost humus with a high nitrogen content and high humidity (at least 90%), air temperature +8-12 degrees; as “whims”, daily illumination with diffused, dim light is required for a short period of time. It is possible to grow porcini mushrooms in the garden, but harvesting is seasonal.

Champignons

White mushroom

All these delicacies can be purchased in the store at any time of the year, but homemade and grown with love and care are much tastier.

Growing methods

Growing methods are divided into several categories and determine the productivity of the crop and its volume. Some of them are suitable for home production, while others are suitable for business.

• The extensive method helps to breed the crop for home use: cooking, drying or canning in medium volumes. In this case, the mushrooms grow in the garden or country house, in a place suitable for them with high humidity and shade; the harvest here is small and seasonal. The advantages of this method are that it is cheap and easy to maintain - maintaining moisture and selecting a suitable stump or substrate. The downside is the risk of a lack of harvest in bad weather conditions (cold or extreme heat).
• The intensive method consists of equipping special premises for growing for industrial purposes or harvesting, regardless of the time of year. The disadvantage of this method is investment and creation necessary requirements for mushroom growth.

Optimal conditions and room for growing

Having decided on the type of mushrooms and the method of growing them, it is worth creating a favorable environment for the development of mycelium. First of all, you need to find a place or room. If planting will be done in the garden, you should choose an area protected from direct sunlight, with the necessary humidity and optimal temperature. Courses for beginner mushroom growers offer detailed information.

As a room for growing mushrooms, you can choose a basement, cellar or other building that meets the following requirements:

• Availability of ventilation.
• Ability to maintain a certain air temperature and humidity (install a heater if necessary).
• Plenty of space to accommodate shelving with boxes or bags.
• Additional lighting.
• An area for processing raw materials and storing crops (preferably protected by a partition).

A greenhouse can be adapted for cultivation by equipping it with a heater.

Required materials

In addition to the premises, you will need mycelium (mycelium, seeds), substrate and containers for germination.

Mycelium is the root system or germinated seeds of mushrooms that are placed in a nutrient medium for future growth and harvest. The mycelium can be purchased online, at a nursery or a specialty store. It looks like a layer of sawdust infected with fungal spores.

The containers most often used are boxes (for champignons), plastic bags (for oyster mushrooms) and tree logs (for oyster mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms). In the basement, metal racks are made, on which containers or bags with mycelium are distributed. And for convenience, mushroom growers recommend isolating a section of the working surface with a partition for processing, cleaning and storage harvested.

Selecting a substrate for planting

Along with the purchase of mycelium, it is necessary to purchase a substrate in which the “mushroom seedlings” will multiply. Each type of mushroom is suitable for a specific habitat. For example, champignons and porcini mushrooms grow well in compost, oyster mushrooms grow well in straw, and shiitake mushrooms grow well in sawdust.

The substrate can be purchased ready-made in plastic bags or prepared independently. As a nutrient mixture for champignons you will need:

• Any manure.
• Rye or wheat straw (fresh and oven-roasted for pests and fungi).
• Mineral components (chalk, urea, saltpeter, superphosphate, meat and bone meal or gypsum).

All ingredients must be fresh, otherwise harmful microflora will simply destroy the crop or develop much stronger than the seedlings. The best substrate for oyster mushrooms is considered to be wheat straw or sunflower husks (as fresh as possible). A good harvest will come from rye or barley straw, but not so much from oat straw.

Straw or sawdust is sterilized to remove pathogenic viruses and diseases. This can be done in a regular kitchen microwave. Chopped straw is placed in a large ceramic container and filled with water for impregnation, after which it is sent to the oven for drying.

After processing the substrate, heated straw and mycelium are placed in a container (basin, bowl, pan, box), mixed, heated in a warm place at a temperature of +21 degrees and placed in a dark place for 3 weeks.

On day 21, the overgrown mycelium is placed in a cool place (cellar) to ripen and form a harvest. The mixture is moistened as necessary, but overmoistening should be avoided. The first collection will appear in 2.5-3 weeks. The mushroom is considered suitable for cutting when the cap is fully formed and separated from the stem.

Mushrooms on a tree

You can grow mushrooms not only in a nutritious substrate, but also on the trunk of a deciduous tree, cut a week ago. This method will require a suitable log (poplar, oak, elm, maple) and birch plugs infected with mycelium (these are commercially available). Holes 5 cm deep are cut out on the log in a checkerboard pattern and filled with plugs that already contain fungal spores. Distribution occurs over the entire surface of the log; the distance between the plugs should be at least 10–15 cm.

When carrying out this procedure, you should be as careful as possible and adhere to hygiene: wash your hands thoroughly with soap and disinfect tools (hammer, drill bit). When plugging holes, you need to make sure that there is no debris in the area on the plugs.

Gradually, the mycelium from the birch blanks will spread throughout the entire log, and mushrooms will form on the cracks. This will take from 9 to 12 months. The harvested log is placed in a basement with optimal conditions and the required humidity.

Coffee grounds as soil

Coffee grounds, which have high antifungal properties, can also be used as a substrate for the germination of mushroom cultures. After heat treatment (brewing a coffee drink), it is ready for use. Only a fresh portion of ground grains is suitable. At home, it is unlikely that you will be able to collect such a quantity of grounds, but you can solve the problem by asking for waste at the nearest coffee shop.

The grounds contain large number microelements necessary for the growth of mushrooms: manganese, potassium, magnesium, nitrogen, etc. A regular bag for freezing food, in which holes should be made, is suitable as a container. This soil is good for growing oyster mushrooms; it is not suitable for other crops.

To germinate, the mycelium is mixed with grounds and placed in a bag, which is stored for 25-30 days in a dark but warm room. When the substrate turns white, make a couple of holes in the bag. Spraying is carried out through them. The first mushrooms will appear from there.