Mushrooms grow faster than most fruits and vegetables; moreover, they do not take up precious space in the garden. Many amateur growers start with oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus), the easiest type to grow, but when you've mastered the basic techniques, you can try dozens of other species.
Steps
Part 1 of 2: Growing Mushrooms for the First Time
Step 1. Purchase oyster mushroom mycelia
This strain is the simplest to grow and a great choice for beginners. To get started, buy them online in the form of spores or mycelia that are stored in sawdust, grains or agar-agar; they are sold individually online or as part of a grow kit. All varieties of oyster mushrooms are fine, but the blue-gray and pink ones develop very quickly and grow without problems.
If you want to grow them outdoors, you can use pieces of wood inoculated with the spores; it is a simpler alternative, even if the growth is slower. Just drill holes in a newly fallen trunk or branch, insert the substrate with the spores and wait for the weather to become humid.
Step 2. Prepare a pasteurized substrate
If you bought a kit with a large straw sack, know that it represents the ready-to-use substrate, which is the material that provides nutrients and a place for mushrooms to grow. If you only bought a container with the spores, you need to prepare the substrate yourself and heat it to make sure only the beneficial microbes develop. Here are the two ways to make the substrate:
Cardboard:
It is best suited for spores stored in sawdust
1. Cut the corrugated cardboard into pieces of a few square centimeters, all of equal size.
2. Put the cardboard in a bucket and weight it with a heavy object.
3. Add boiling water to completely submerge the material.
4. Cover the bucket with a lid and wait for the contents to cool for eight hours.
5. Wash your hands with antibacterial soap.
6. Squeeze the cardboard to remove as much water as possible. Straw:
Best suited for spores preserved in cereals
1. Choose cereal straw such as wheat or rice straw.
2. Cut it into pieces about 8-10 cm long inside a garbage pail, using a shredder or lawn mower.
3. Transfer the straw to a pillowcase or laundry net bag and tie the fabric closed.
Immerse the bag in a pot full of water, which you put on the stove to heat.
4. Bring everything to a temperature of 70-75 ° C for an hour.
5. Drain the straw well and allow it to cool down to below 27 ° C.
Step 3. Add the spores to the substrate
This process is called "inoculation". To minimize competition with other spores, wash your hands before proceeding as soon as the substrate is ready.
- Grow kit with substrate: Sterilize a syringe and inject the spores into the growth bag through a small hole or onto the substrate tray in several places.
- Cardboard substrate: Stack the substrate square inside a plastic food bag. Spread some spores between layers (crumble the spores if they have formed a solid block).
- Homemade straw substrate: Scrub a table with 70% isopropyl alcohol. Spread the straw over it and sprinkle it with the spores, mixing everything carefully. Transfer the inoculated straw to plastic food bags, filling them completely but without compressing the substrate.
- There is no exact relationship between the amount of spores and substrate; however, adding more spores allows a colony to grow faster that resists contamination better.
Step 4. Drill holes in the bag
Tie the flaps of the opening together to close it and make holes along the sides, so that they are spaced about 8 cm apart; also pierce the bottom, to create drainage openings for the water. Fungi need air exchange to grow quickly and safely, otherwise carbon dioxide builds up and prevents it from developing.
Most of the bags that are sold with the kits are already perforated or equipped with an air filtration system that makes the holes useless
Step 5. Choose a place with a constant temperature
Now the spores are ready to colonize the substrate with the mycelium. For most strains colonization is best triggered at a temperature between 16 and 24 ° C. Even small variations in temperature can reduce crop yields or encourage contamination, so try to keep it constant 24 hours a day.
- The mycelium can grow at any level of brightness, except when exposed to direct sunlight. Some growers achieve better results with a low light that respects the day cycle (real or simulated). However, if you have decided to use straw, remember that excessive exposure to light can cause grains to germinate, which in turn interferes with the development of fungi.
- The ideal temperature depends on the mushroom strain. If the package of spores you bought has instructions regarding the growing environment, respect them.
Step 6. Check for humidity over a few weeks
The white and filamentous "roots", called mycelia, need 2-5 weeks to spread into the substratum; at this stage, all you need to do is monitor the humidity every few days. If the substrate feels dry to the touch, wet it with steamed water through the holes in the bag. If you notice standing water inside the bag, make additional drainage holes in the bottom.
The mycelium is white. If you notice large patches of another color, the mold has contaminated the bag; in this case, throw the container away and clean the surface with isopropyl alcohol before starting over
Step 7. Move the bag to a fungus growing environment
When the mycelium has formed a thick white "mat" inside the bag, it is ready to bear "fruit". Mushrooms have different needs at this stage, so you need to transfer the substrate to a new place following the instructions below:
- Mushrooms do not grow without light. Provide enough light to read during daylight hours. Use indirect sunlight, a grow lamp that reproduces natural light, or a cool white light bulb (less effective, but cheaper).
- Mushrooms need fresh air to get rid of carbon dioxide and to avoid the development of small fungi; open the top of the bag and ventilate the room with a light breeze.
- Lower the temperature, you should keep it around 13-16 ° C. Increase the humidity rate to at least 80%, preferably 90-95%, by turning on a humidifier or by hanging plastic sheets around the bag. This factor doesn't have to be perfect, but other environmental conditions affect the yield and color of the mushrooms.
Step 8. Wet them lightly
An abundant or poor water supply is a fairly common problem at this stage. To prevent the mushrooms from drying out without impregnating them, lightly spray the inner walls of the bag once or twice a day.
- If the developing mushrooms turn brown or start to form new ones on the surface of the old ones, it means that the substrate is too dry.
- If the hats are damp or sticky, you are probably watering too much.
Step 9. Collect the mushrooms when they have reached their maximum size
As soon as they appear they look like small dots, but if the environmental conditions are correct, they then grow rapidly within a few days. When they have reached full size, press the substrate with one hand and use the other to twist the stem at the base. You can eat them immediately or dry them for future use.
- If you have doubts about the appearance of fully developed oyster mushrooms, wait for the edges of the first ones that have formed to become wavy; this phase is immediately following that of maximum ripeness, but the mushrooms are still edible. Collect the others just before they reach the size of these.
- It is quite common that in certain strains there are some small, not fully developed mushrooms; leave them on the substrate without picking them up.
Step 10. Continue collecting mushrooms
Most spores manage to produce at least two crops, while others continue to bear fruit for three to four months. Keep the substrate lightly moist and keep picking the mushrooms until they stop appearing.
Part 2 of 2: Improving the Process
Step 1. Try other varieties
The basic principles of oyster mushroom cultivation work for most other species as well, but changes need to be made. When buying spores, read the instructions on the package or ask the retailer for the following information to change your growing technique:
- Most suitable substrate (some species need specially prepared compost);
- Ideal temperature during the colonization phase;
-
Ideal temperature and humidity during the development of fungi;
The monkey's head mushroom, reishi, shiitake, elm mushroom and nameko are all perfect for a second project and their cultivation is slightly more complex than that of mumps.
Step 2. Keep the grow environment clean
If mold or other contaminants take over the substrate, the entire batch of mushrooms is to be thrown away. Most species are not as resistant to contamination as mumps, so you need to pay even more attention to cleanliness:
- Wash your hands with antibacterial soap before handling any part of the grow.
- Carefully pasteurize the substrate. If it's impossible to heat it on the stove, look for steam chambers or chemical treatments;
- Treating a compost substrate is a complex process that requires the help of an experienced grower.
Step 3. Cover the substrate
You must use a layer of sterile material to protect the top of the substrate tray; generally, it is sphagnum and calcareous soil. Always keep it moist, so that the water gradually percolates towards the substrate by wetting it without impregnating it.
- Not all types of spores need a sterile cover; ask the dealer or an experienced grower for more information.
- Do not air the area until the small dots (the developing fungi) have appeared on the sterile cover. If you do this too early, you trigger the growth of mature mushrooms before they have had a chance to pierce the coating; as a result, they will grow under sphagnum and loam.
Step 4. Maintain control of growth factors
Monitoring and controlling both humidity and temperature allows for higher yields and helps improve technique with every attempt. If you want mushroom growing to become a serious hobby, set up the room with fans or air ducts and a heating / cooling system to manage the temperature. Record changes in temperature and humidity using a thermometer and hygrometer.
- The temperature can vary widely in different parts of the room, for example on the floor and ceiling; if you are growing mushrooms on stacked shelves, put a thermometer on each level.
- Strong air currents can prove fatal to some types of fungi; protect the spores from direct wind.
Step 5. Get rid of the substrate after harvest
If you have decided to grow multiple mushrooms in the same room, pasteurize the substrate again to eliminate mold and bacteria that may have contaminated the environment. If you have a compost substrate, you need to leave it for 8-24 hours in a steam room at an approximate temperature of 70 ° C. Although the substrate is low in nutrients for mushrooms, you can reuse it as compost for the garden or as mulch for the newly sown lawn.
The exhausted substrate often contains a high concentration of salt to which some plants are sensitive; by leaving it exposed to the elements for six months, you should be able to get rid of this inconvenience
Step 6. Collect the spores yourself
Instead of buying them every time, you can grow mushrooms to get them from. This is a complex project, but you can find some free sources of information that can guide you; try contacting a mycological association in your region. One way to create a spore crop is to reproduce them. Transfer them to a Petri dish with agar-agar, using an inoculation loop; you can find several articles online explaining how to proceed. Repeat for several Petri dishes, as some spores may die.
An almost sterile environment is required for this operation. Before starting, remove all carpets and curtains that can hold dust. Clean every surface with a non-aggressive disinfectant, including the ceiling; cover all the openings with plastic sheets and create a sort of "anteroom" at the entrance with a second layer of plastic
Advice
The mycelia deteriorate over time; if you can't use them immediately, put them in the substrate as soon as possible and put them back in the refrigerator
Warnings
- In many countries, growing, transporting, possessing or consuming hallucinogenic mushrooms is illegal; if you break these laws you could be arrested.
- Fungi produce spores which are released into the air and which can cause respiratory problems for allergic or sensitive people. If you fear, wear a respirator when dealing with developing mushrooms.
