Grow mushrooms using a substrate (like straw or sawdust ), keeping humidity, temperature and light levels moderate while providing high levels of humidity, low light intensity and minimal temperature fluctuations. Before inoculating with mushroom spores for inoculation purposes. Assure there are sufficient supplies of moisture by sterilizing and inoculating with moisture as soon as you add your substrate into the mix.
Mushrooms have become an increasingly popular homegrown crop. Although cultivated mushrooms require more effort than most crops to cultivate, mushroom growing kits offer easy methods that enable growers to cultivate gourmet varieties such as oysters and shiitake mushrooms along with more common button mushrooms.
Mushrooms can be grown indoors or outdoors in prepared beds or boxes, on hardwood logs outdoors, or with log-grown mushroom cultures being more successful. Indoor growing under controlled environments tends to produce the best results while weather conditions often play a big part in whether beds-grown mushrooms succeed. Logs-grown mushrooms usually do better though.
How to Grow Mushrooms?
There are several methods of growing mushrooms: purchasing mushroom spawn and planting it directly in beds or boxes filled with manure or compost is one option, or you could choose a mushroom growing kit that includes both the spawn and growing medium (wood shavings or straw). If you can access recently chopped logs with pre-drilled holes for tapping into, wooden dowels/plugs impregnated with spawn are another great way.
Where to Grow Mushrooms
Mushrooms thrive when grown under in conditions with controlled temperature and moisture levels, such as a shed, garage, garden cold frame, or cellar – anywhere out of direct sunlight where temperatures can be kept between 15 and 20 °C (which shouldn’t drop below 10degC or rise above 20 °C). This is best achieved through growing in beds, compost heaps, or logs away from direct sunlight.
Growing Mushrooms in Beds or Boxes:
Mushroom cultivation requires a fertile, moisture-retentive medium with rich nutrients, such as horse manure from your local garden center or stables. Once fresh manure has been acquired, pile it into a heap and fork it over every couple of days until its temperature and composition have settled and stabilized over time.
Assure the growing medium is moist. Distribute and mix the spawn across the surface 5-8cm deep before covering it with damp newspaper. After several weeks when white thread-like mycelium has appeared, remove it and cover it with a 2-3cm layer made up of 50 percent garden soil or compost mixed with 50 percent lime – water as needed using either a hose equipped with a spray attachment or watering can fitted with a fine rose to maintain even moisture levels – mushrooms should begin appearing shortly thereafter.
How to Grow Mushrooms on Logs
Growing mushrooms on logs is relatively effortless as dowels are installed and require little attention once in place. However, you are required to supply and drill your logs; hardwood (not conifers), healthy woodcuts must be used with dowels installed no more than six weeks post cutting; the ideal log types would include oak, beech, hornbeam chestnut hazel birch maple or holly for best results with log diameters ranging between 10-15cm and 45-60cm long logs being the ideal.
Drill holes along the length and rows of an 8cm long, 15 cm apart. Use impregnated dowels fully into each hole and seal each one if directed by your kit; some kits include sealing wax for this purpose if you like. Place it under trees or shrubs in a shady location with one end on the ground while its counterpart propped up; this way it stays moist for 18 months until mushrooms appear.
How to Grow Oyster Mushrooms
Oyster mushrooms. Getty Images Purchase oyster mushroom spawn, along with some straw. Soak the straw overnight in water until it’s thoroughly damp before mixing in mushroom spawn to dampened straw and sealing it into a polythene bag as a bin liner; leave for 6 weeks in an environment between 20-25oC such as near your compost heap for best results. As it disintegrates into compost heap soil or near a compost bin, the mushroom spawn will occupy it, colonizing its space with mushroom growth.
After six weeks, oyster mushroom spores will have taken hold of the straw in your plastic bag and begun growing through it. Move this environment to light, warm, and humid conditions – such as your greenhouse – then cut slits in it so the oyster mushrooms can take root through them.
After two weeks, examine your bag to see if oyster mushrooms have sprouted; otherwise, the straw should continue producing mushrooms for several more weeks.
FAQs
Q1. Is It Easy To Grow Mushrooms At Home?
Yes, when the necessary conditions and supplies are present at home for mushroom growth it should not be difficult.
Q2. How quickly can mushrooms grow?
Depending on their species, mushrooms typically take one or two weeks to develop into full maturity.
Q3. How Can You Create Mushroom Seeds?
To produce mushroom seeds (spores), harvest mature mushrooms from which spores have been collected before cultivating on an appropriate growing medium.