Growing Mushrooms at Home: Complete Guide for Beginners
You might think that growing mushrooms at home and in the garden must be very difficult or even impossible. The opposite is true. Mushrooms are much less demanding to grow than, for example, tomatoes and peppers, which you grow in your garden. The key to success is the correct procedure and optimal temperature for growth. They won't be porcini mushrooms, but you can enjoy a rich harvest of, for example, button mushrooms, various types of oyster mushrooms, nameko mushrooms, shiitake or wood ear mushrooms.
Exotic Crops in Our Conditions
In Asia, the cultivation and consumption of various types of mushrooms is much more widespread than here. However, this can change quickly. Mushrooms are extremely rewarding crops to grow. They grow all year round and some of them can be grown even in an apartment. At the same time, mushrooms belong to quality foods rich in various types of elements and nutrients, and many of them have healing effects. Check out Pestik's range of mushroom spawn here.
Package with Prepared Substrate for Beginners
The easiest way to grow mushrooms is to purchase a ready-made rectangular package with substrate in plastic packaging, which is already pre-inoculated with a specific mushroom. Most commonly available in this packaging are button mushrooms and oyster mushrooms.
Even a complete beginner can grow mushrooms according to the included instructions. Each mushroom requires a slightly different procedure and temperature conditions. The package is first left to be colonized by mycelium (button mushrooms about 3 weeks at 20-24°C, oyster mushrooms 1-2 months at 18-25°C). Subsequently, for button mushrooms, the covering plastic film is cut off on the top side of the package, leaving edges a few cm wide, and the surface is covered with the included peat substrate, which is again left to be colonized by mycelium. The substrate must be constantly moist. When the top layer is partially colonized, it is mixed, and after a few days the package needs to be moved to a space with lower temperature (14-18°C) and then you just look forward to the harvest. With oyster mushrooms, the difference is that fruit bodies grow on the sides of the package from openings in the plastic packaging, and the optimal temperature for their formation is lower (about 10-15°C). Unlike button mushrooms, which can grow in the dark, oyster mushrooms require at least some light during the day.
Growing Oyster Mushrooms in a Straw Bag
Another option for home mushroom cultivation requires a bit more preparation. You can start with oyster mushrooms. You'll need a sturdy plastic bag, chopped straw, mushroom spawn, and hot water. Don't worry, keep reading – you'll see it's not that complicated. And if it doesn't work out, you can always go back to the previously described method.
The chopped straw must first be pasteurized, which can be done in a larger container or directly in a thicker plastic bag. Pour water at a temperature of at least 80°C over the straw and let it soak until the next day. Drain the cooled straw (for bags, cut off the bottom corners and let the water run out), mix it with spawn according to the package instructions, tie the bag at the top, and place it in a room with a temperature of approximately 20°C. Over the following weeks, the bag will gradually colonize with mycelium. Cut several cross-shaped openings into the colonized bag, and if possible, move the bag to a room with a lower temperature. Don't water the bag. The fruiting bodies won't take long to appear.
Garden Mushrooms: Growing on Wood
The final option is growing on wood, which is actually the natural way wood-decaying mushrooms grow – including oyster mushrooms, nameko mushrooms, and wood ear mushrooms. You'll need branches and logs from freshly cut deciduous trees, mushroom spawn, and wax. Drill holes into the wood with a drill (the recommended diameter, depth, and spacing vary for different mushroom species), fill the holes with spawn, and seal them with wax. If you have a fresh stump in your garden, you can also try inoculating it with spawn. If successful, you'll be harvesting mushrooms directly from your own garden.