How to grow oyster mushroom at home?

Growing mushrooms at home allows you to pamper yourself with this tasty and healthy product all year round, and can also become an excellent source of additional income. Oyster mushrooms are one of the simplest types of mushrooms of their kind. Anyone who has decided 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 sprout on any soil, be it dry grass, thyrsa, coffee grounds or even cotton fabric. This stunted plant is able to extract nutrients from everything in its environment. Another advantage of the species is its fast growth rate. Already two weeks after sowing, the first crop can be harvested.

Growing oyster mushrooms does not require any special knowledge and skills. The best place for growing oyster mushrooms will be the basement or cellar of a private house. Oyster mushrooms are not thermophilic and do not need a lot of light. If you do not have a basement, they can be grown in a greenhouse in a country house or shed. Despite the simplicity and the absence of excessive maintenance of mushrooms, the growing room must be properly prepared.

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

1. Growing equipment (bags). The choice of equipment depends on the method of growing oyster mushrooms. The most convenient and economical option is bag cultivation. To do this, you need special supports with hangers, on which the bags with the substrate are suspended. It is best to use plastic equipment, it does not corrode and is much cheaper. By the way, oyster mushrooms can also be grown on stumps.
2. Room temperature. This mushroom does not need high temperatures, so there is no need to create a greenhouse. It will be enough to insulate the room and carry out thermal insulation to retain moisture. Naturally, elementary heating devices must be present so that the temperature does not fall below 13 ° C. An elevated temperature is necessary only at the initial stage after planting the mycelium (22 ° C - 25 ° C). Infrared lamps can be used for additional heating.
3. Humidity. Oyster mushrooms are very fond of moisture, so the air in the growing room must be constantly humidified. It is very easy to do this using nebulizers or special electronic humidifiers. The humidity level should be around 70-90%.
   
4. Ventilation and lighting. All mushrooms grow in the fresh air and oyster mushrooms are no exception. The room must be systematically ventilated. This can be done manually, or you can install special hoods that will deliver fresh air. Again, purchasing such equipment is expensive, so unless you plan to grow large quantities of oyster mushrooms for sale, it won't be cost effective. When it comes to lighting, you need to install fluorescent garden lamps. You won't need a lot of them, since this type of mushroom does not require a lot of light.
5. Cleanliness and pest free. To grow a large, and most importantly, a healthy crop, the premises must be clean. If the basement is heated by groundwater, and there is fungus or bloom on the walls, this can seriously affect the yield. Mushrooms will hurt, light spots will appear on them, mushrooms will lose their density, become soft. To protect future plantings, it is necessary to disinfect the premises. First, they thoroughly clean the walls, ceiling and floor, remove all dirt and mold. Then, all surfaces are sprayed with a solution of sulfate, and the walls and ceiling are covered with a solution of lime and copper sulfate.

Video: a room for growing oyster mushrooms in the basement

Note! If there is a fungus in the room, it is better not to use it as a greenhouse. High humidity, which is necessary for growing mushrooms, will only aggravate the situation, the disease will affect 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, after thoroughly disinfecting the premises and installing the necessary equipment, you can proceed to the very process of growing the mushrooms. The technology of growing oyster mushrooms involves several stages.

Video: step-by-step instructions for breeding 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 should still be fertile.

The best substrates for breeding oyster mushrooms are:

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

Choose the amount of substrate according to the amount of mushrooms you want to grow. So, one bag for growing oyster mushrooms is designed for 5 kg of substrate. All components of the substrate must be clean and dry, they must not have mold or rot, and they must not be rotten. It is best to disinfect the selected substrate by heat treatment. Next, you need to grind these components to a fraction of 4-5 cm and mix. Repeated heat treatment for two hours and squeeze out.

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 buying 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 dark spots are visible - this is the first indication of the presence of mold. You can also determine the quality of the planting material by smell, it must be fresh and smell like mushrooms. If you smell a slight ammonia smell, it means that the mycelium was stored incorrectly and has deteriorated.

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 of gardeners on the Internet.Do not buy large quantities of mycelium at once, take a trial batch. If the mycelium germinates without problems, forms good and healthy myceliums, you can purchase a large batch.

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

Landing

Before proceeding with planting, the mycelium must be placed in a room where 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 is imperative that it first be disinfected or thermally treated. An effective way of processing is washing with a solution of bleach.

The optimal volume of the bag should be at least 5 kg.

Further, the planting of oyster mushroom mycelium or the formation of mushroom blocks is as follows:

1. There is a layer-by-layer filling of the bag with a substrate and mycelium. For every 5 centimeters of the substrate, there should be about 0.5 cm of mycelium. The top and bottom layers in the bag should be substrate.
2. At the end of the filling of the mushroom block, the bag is tightly tied 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 done in a checkerboard pattern.

Attention! The planting of mycelium and the cultivation of oyster mushrooms are carried out in separate rooms, since there is a high risk of infection of myceliums.

Video: how to make a perforation of a mushroom block

Further care

In the period from planting to the formation of myceliums, temperature room air should be 18 ° C - 20 ° C. As soon as they are visible first fungi formations, the temperature is lowered to 13 ° C - 15 ° C. This is the optimum temperature for growing all types of oyster mushrooms.

It is very important to maintain humidity air. Watering the substrate is strictly prohibited, since in wet soil the mycelium begins to rot. Even if the myceliums survive, all the mushrooms will hurt, rot and dark spots will begin to appear on them. To achieve optimal humidity in the room, you can hang wet sheets or any other wet cloth. Open containers with water are left near the heating devices, in this way the moisture evaporates faster and saturates the air.

Harvesting

The fruiting period for oyster mushrooms 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 to 9 days. That is, already 9 days after planting the mycelium, you can harvest the first full harvest.

It is customary to cut the mushrooms with a knife carefully so as not to damage the main root attached to the mycelium. When collecting mushrooms, absolutely all fruits cannot be cut 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 crop of mushrooms has been harvested, the substrate and bags must be disposed of. They are not recyclable. The room is well cleaned, ventilated and disinfected. It will be possible to re-breed mushrooms only 2 weeks after all harvesting work.

Video: technology for growing oyster mushrooms

Oyster mushroom diseases and pests: control measures and precautions

It happens that during the fruiting period, the mushrooms begin to hurt. A variety of factors can be the cause of such diseases. 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 heat treatedbefore planting the mycelium. It is placed in a large container and poured with boiling water, after which it is boiled for 2 hours, then squeezed and dried.

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

Very often oyster mushrooms are attacked mushroom flies, a little less often - ticks. These parasites are also born in the mycelium when the air is too humid and the room is not ventilated. Light pits appear on the mushrooms, like small bites. Naturally, such mushrooms must be removed immediately, and the room must be disinfected. Do this with smoke bomb, which is left for a day in a hermetically sealed room, and then thoroughly ventilate it.

It is necessary to carefully monitor the state of the mushrooms from the formation of the mycelium to the last fruiting. If one of the myceliums is infected, the entire bag will have to be thrown away, and this will significantly reduce the yield increase.

Summarize. Based on all of the above, it can be understood that growing oyster mushrooms at home is a very simple but time-consuming process. To do this, you will need to purchase special equipment, prepare the premises and fertile soil, and purchase high-quality mycelium. Further, it all depends on your patience and hard work. With proper care, up to 9 kg of mushrooms can be harvested from one bag. Growing oyster mushrooms is a great option for getting your first experience in mushroom growing.

Video: how to grow oyster mushrooms at home

If you decide to grow mushrooms on your own, it is better to start with oyster mushrooms. Growing these mushrooms at home does not require the study of complex theoretical information or special skills. Oyster mushrooms are not as demanding as other types (for example, mushrooms). Another argument in their favor will be high yields. You can cook many delicious dishes from them, the taste of which will not leave anyone indifferent. Let's figure out what are the ways to grow oyster mushrooms and how to cope with the difficulties arising for beginners.

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 a natural environment is needed for maturation;
• for the same reason, the extensive method does not have to spend a lot of money;
• in addition, the mushrooms do not need constant supervision in this case.

But there are also negative aspects:

• the appearance of the crop depends entirely on the season and suitable weather;
• 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 for sale at home.

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

Pros of the intensive method:

• the ability to control the time of harvesting;
• You can also regulate the amount of harvest - when using this method, it will be more;
• thanks to this, there is the possibility of selling mushrooms and compensating for costs.

Some cons:

• you will have to make more effort and spend a lot of time doing landings;
• cash investments will also be required - to create the necessary conditions at home.

In the intensive method, the mushrooms are ripened in a cellar or other suitable room.

Mycelium selection

First of all, you need to purchase "seeds" - in mushrooms they are called mycelium. Recently, it has become much easier to do this - there are many online stores with mail delivery throughout the country. But there are also local companies. For beginner 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. Mycelium is stored in the refrigerator for up to two months, but it cannot be put in the freezer. It is not allowed to get mycelium on the skin, therefore, when opening the package, do not forget to wear gloves.

When buying, 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 of planting material from a new supplier for the first time.
• Learn all the information about the selected variety, the time of mycelium growth, mold resistance.
• Check the expiration date on the packaging.
• Check the temperature of the mycelium immediately after delivery - it should be about +20 degrees Celsius.
• The mycelium should be free of black and green spots.
• 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 in this way, you do not need a lot of materials.

• Hemp that is on the site of your house. But they can be sown only in late April or early May, when a constant high temperature is established.
• Pruning from deciduous trees such as beech or aspen. They should be no more than half a meter in height and fifteen centimeters in diameter.

Check every stump carefully - they should be free of mold.

Advice

If the wood is dry, soak it in water for several days. Only in such conditions will mycelium be able to develop.

The technology is as follows:

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

There is another way - you need to saw off a disk two centimeters thick from the top of the stump. Apply a layer of mycelium to the cut. Cover with a disc. 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 plastic wrap or thick cloth. By the end of the term, a white bloom will appear on the stumps. This means that it is time to "plant" them. To do this, they 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 must be constantly moist.

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

Preparing for growing in the basement

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

• it must maintain a temperature of +15 degrees;
• a good ventilation system is needed in the basement;
• 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, since spores can cause allergies.

The next important condition for harvesting is a good substrate. This is a breeding ground, thanks to which mushrooms will grow. To prepare it, you can use:

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

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 workpiece periodically. Drain this water and fill a container with hot water (not boiling water). Cover with something heavy and let sit for five hours. Drain, squeeze out the substrate (liquid residues can cause mold) and add nutrients (urea and superphosphate) to it.

Basement landing

In this growing technology, it is not only the place and the basis for planting that are important. The vessels must also be prepared. Oyster mushrooms are usually grown in bags. At home, ordinary garbage bags as large as possible are also suitable.

Punch holes in them at intervals of twenty centimeters. Through these holes, the mushrooms will break out.

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 should be moved to the basement and placed on top of each other or hung from the ceiling.

Planting care

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

• The temperature in the bags will rise, 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 the basement.
• The lighting can be switched on after three days.
• 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 do not need to be cut off, but unscrewed from the substrate.
• After the first harvest, it is important to maintain the same conditions in the basement for two weeks, then another batch will appear soon.

Conclusion

Oyster mushrooms are the most suitable mushrooms for growing at home. They don't need any special care. The 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 another, you need to prepare the room, but thanks to this you will quickly get a large amount of mushrooms.

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

Today I want to show you how I grow mushrooms at home - oyster mushrooms.

It is very simple and not troublesome. Sow mycelium once and pick mushrooms for 3-5 years. With this method of cultivation, mushrooms turn out to be very fragrant - like grown in the forest and radically different in taste from store ones.

Each of you has the opportunity to grow eco-mushrooms in a garden plot on a stump.

I sowed mycelium for the first time 3 years ago - today is the fourth spring. This spring I decided to expand my plantations and at the same time tell everyone - because, as I always get asked a lot of questions.

Conifers are NOT SUITABLE for planting oyster mushrooms. The best for planting are deciduous trees: poplar, apple, cherry, oak, alder, beech, chestnut, ash, maple, poplar, birch, aspen, walnut.

Oyster mushroom grows especially well on walnut and poplar stumps.

The harder the wood, the longer the stump will last, and the more mushroom yields will grow on it.

The planting site for oyster mushrooms is a very important factor.

Oyster mushrooms do not really like places where the sun is too bright or a large open space. Therefore, it is better to plant oyster mushrooms under the trees in the garden. For example, oyster mushrooms grow well under a spreading walnut, well, or under other trees. Trees will shade the hemp with their crowns. Remember that the oyster mushroom planting site should be open to rainfall. This will save yourself the trouble of watering the mushroom garden.

You can use plots along the sheds and other structures on the north side.

Initially, I put stumps along the fence - between the building and the fence. There is a distance of about half a meter. It's enough. The main thing is not to put it under a canopy - so that the stumps are watered with rain.

To populate the mycelium, we need hardwood hemp - the size of the cuttings can be different - from 30 to 50 cm in length and 15 to 40 cm in diameter. The main thing is that the wood is healthy and there are no signs of mold infestation.

Prepare a tree stump for direct planting. It should be freshly cut, not old (dry). If the hemp is about a month old - place it in water for a day - so that it becomes wet. But, of course, it is better to use freshly sawn stumps for breeding oyster mushrooms. Then a successful result will be guaranteed.

We take hemp, drill holes with a diameter of about 1-2 cm in them.It can be smaller, but the smaller the diameter, the more difficult it is to fill it with mycelium. Number in random order 6-8 holes on top and 4-6 holes on the side. IMPORTANT: The stump should stand vertically with its top up, that is, as a tree grew in nature, so put the stumps, do not change direction, turning the stumps upside down.

We fall asleep the mycelium. For convenience, we take a pencil (or other tamping device), put the mycelium into the holes, tamping it tightly with a pencil (stick, mortar, suitable in size) - do not worry, nothing will happen to the mycelium. The holes must be closed. You can close it in various ways - you can use plasticine, moss, duct tape, or, most conveniently, with a garden pitch. Some are even covered with cement. Mushrooms do not necessarily grow from these holes, they sprout inside the stump and come out anywhere

To install the stump, we dig a small hole - the depth is about 5 centimeters, put the stump in the holes and sprinkle the sides with earth. This is so that the stump is more stable and pulls moisture from the ground. Grass can grow around the stump. For more moisture, you can sprinkle around the mown grass, fallen leaves, etc., so that the soil remains moist longer.

They planted it, watered it around and that's it. We are waiting for the harvest.

If the summer is dry, the stumps can be watered. But do not pour water directly on the stump, mycelium does not like direct ingress of water, only moisture. That is, you can water the stumps with a fine spray

This year I decided to increase my mushroom plantation.

My husband just howled at my message that he needed to "prepare" the stumps again. By the way, it's not easy to drill them.

Buying mycelium in the society of mushroom growers, I got into a conversation with their technologist (gored me with questions) and he suggested to me a less laborious way to populate hemp with mycelium.

All ingenious is simple.

Digging a hole - a little less than a bayonet chipping - 15 centimeters, well 20.

The width is slightly wider than the harvested hemp.

At the bottom we pour a pillow - 5 centimeters. It is possible a little more - not fundamentally.

This can be sunflower husks, dry moss, shavings or sawdust of deciduous trees.

Water the hole with a pillow abundantly and pour mycelium on top - about 2 centimeters. About a handful of grain mycelium on a stump.

My mycelium is settled on a grain basis (wheat). I bought this mycelium from the mushroom growers' community in our city. A pack of mycelium - 2 kg costs 106 rubles today. This pack is enough for 5-6 hemp. You can search for mycelium online or search for a mushroom growing community in your area.

Prepared fossa

We put a stump on the mycelium.

Sprinkle the sides with earth (no need to tamp) and water abundantly around.

This is a general view of the place where I "planted" a stump this year - along the fence under the raspberry bushes, from above they give a shadow of the crown of large cherries.

A great place for stumps is under the spreading walnuts.

There is practically no need to look after your mushroom plantation.

Nature will take care of the good harvest itself. However, if the planting was done in the wrong place, for example, too sunny, periodic watering will be necessary.

This method of growing oyster mushrooms will allow you to get a harvest of mushrooms in the same season. Moreover, you will receive mushrooms all year round - from the beginning of warm days to December (in the south, when there is no frost). Each stump will bear fruit until it completely disintegrates into parts. Such a mushroom plantation can feed you 3-5 years, but the largest harvests occur in the second and third years. Mushrooms with 10 stumps are more than enough for one family - and we fry and pickle and preserve for the winter.

If stumps from felled trees remain on your site, you can use them, but they should be sown with mycelium only in April-May, when the temperature is above zero.

Oyster mushrooms on stumps during spring planting appear in August-September, and with a prolonged autumn, the harvest can be harvested until December.In cold regions for the winter, hemp is well covered with spruce branches, straw or foliage.

I'm not covering anything.

Now you know how to grow oyster mushrooms on stumps.

It is not difficult to grow oyster mushrooms. I will tell you what conditions are necessary for this.

I harvest healthy hardwood: poplar, aspen, apple, pear, walnut. I saw it into stumps with a height of 30-40 cm and a diameter of at least 18 cm. On each one I make notes (small notches) on the cut, which was on the side of the crown. The bark does not need to be removed. Along the entire lateral surface of the stumps, I drill holes with a diameter of 10-15 mm, a depth of 7-10 cm at a distance of 12-15 cm from each other. I soak the workpieces in water in any container (bath, barrel) for 2-3 days. Fresh wood need not be soaked.

Pick-up location

In a shady, damp place of a garden plot or vegetable garden (it is possible between currant bushes, gooseberries and in a raspberry) I dig holes 15-20 cm deep, slightly larger in diameter than hemp. At the same time, it is important to observe the distance between the holes - 30-35 cm. At the bottom of each hoard I put moistened sawdust (or small shavings, straw) with a layer of 1-1.5 cm. On top I pour the planting mycelium of mushrooms with a layer of 1 cm and put the hemp notches up. It is very important.

Growing oyster mushrooms on stumps

The fact is that wood has the ability to absorb water only in the direction from the root to the crown. And if the stump stands incorrectly, "roots" upwards, it will not absorb water from the soil and will give a very small harvest of mushrooms (only one harvest, and in dry weather it may not be at all).

Oyster mushroom growing technology

Before putting the stumps in the hole, I fill the holes drilled in them with planting mycelium and close the outside with wax or corks from wet sawdust. Instead of holes, you can make cuts, slots and fill in the same way.

Around the stumps installed in the holes, I compact the soil - I trample it down with my feet. To save space, wooden blanks can be stacked on top of each other, matching by diameter. Each or all together I cover for 2-3 weeks with a piece of clean plastic film, which I must first perforate (pierce) through 10-15 cm with a nail.

For this purpose, you can use clean plastic bags or bags - put them on the stumps and fasten them so that they do not fly off. Such a shelter protects the mycelium and wood from drying out and promotes better survival of the planting mycelium.

Oyster mushroom growing on a tree stump

How to care for oyster mushrooms?

In this way, I plant the oyster mushroom in May - early June, so that during the warm summer time the mycelium grows well in the wood. Care consists in keeping the soil around the stumps moist. If weather conditions are favorable, fruiting begins in September-October of the current year. When using high-quality mycelium and certain strains (varieties), I harvest oyster mushrooms annually from April to November for 4-5 years, depending on the density of the wood and the diameter of the stumps.

As you can see, it is not so difficult to grow oyster mushrooms in the country. Try it - and you will surely be able to harvest a good harvest of mushrooms.

In recent years, more and more people have begun to master technologies that allow collecting oyster mushrooms on stumps. Growing these mushrooms at home does not require any special knowledge and skills. After reading this article, you will learn about the main stages of this process.

Mycelium selection

To collect oyster mushrooms on stumps, cultivation must begin with the acquisition of high-quality planting material. Some vendors offer to buy mycelium on sticks. However, long-term practice has shown that when using them, the first harvest can be obtained only after two years, and sometimes even later. Therefore, experts recommend purchasing fresh mycelium from oats or wheat.When choosing such planting material, you must make sure that there is no gray-green mold on it, the excess of which indicates the poor quality of the offered product.

When is it better to plant oyster mushrooms on stumps?

It is advisable to start growing these mushrooms in the autumn months. It is during this period that they do not require frequent watering, and the crop ripens much faster. If, with spring sowing, it will be possible to feast on mushrooms after a year and a half, then with autumn sowing - just a year later. In the first six months, oyster mushrooms require special care, which consists in frequent watering.

All of the above does not mean that you need to abandon the spring sowing of mycelium. It's just that in such cases, the logs with the future harvest are not buried in the ground, but placed in the basement and covered with wet burlap so that they gradually become overgrown with mycelium. In the fall, they are taken out of the cellar and buried in the ground.

Sowing technology

It should be understood that growing oyster mushrooms at home on stumps is a long and laborious process. In this case, you can only get a seasonal harvest, depending on climatic and weather conditions. The preparation of stumps must begin at the end of January. It is advisable to choose those on the surface of which there are no signs of mold. Before adding planting material, the logs should be soaked in water for three days. This will create the high humidity required for the mycelium to be set. Stumps with mycelium can be taken out into the garden no earlier than May, when the threat of frost will completely disappear.

To get a good harvest of oyster mushrooms on stumps, cultivation and sowing can be done in several different ways:

• Holes are made in the logs, the depth of which is about six centimeters, and the diameter is about ten millimeters. Then they are filled with mycelium in grains and covered with moss or scotch tape.
• Planting material is laid out on the end of the stump and covered with a disc previously cut from a log, the thickness of which is about three centimeters, and then fixed with nails.
• A pyramid is built from the chocks, and the end of each log is covered with a two-centimeter layer of mycelium.

After sowing, the stumps are placed in a cellar and covered with burlap or foil.

Growing oyster mushrooms on stumps in the basement

In order for your venture to be crowned with success, it is necessary not only to choose the right mycelium, but also to create optimal conditions in the room chosen for these purposes. It is important that the air temperature in the basement is at least fifteen and no more than twenty degrees, and the humidity is within 80-95%.

It is recommended to pay special attention to ensuring good ventilation and lighting. It should also be understood that growing oyster mushrooms on stumps in the basement implies insulation and re-equipment of the room. To avoid carbon dioxide build-up, it is imperative to install fans. It is advisable to use fluorescent lamps as lighting devices. To place blocks with mushrooms in the basement, special racks should be equipped in advance. It is preferable that they are made of durable plastic that is resistant to moisture.

Open ground transplant

In May, hemp with oyster mushrooms can be moved to the garden. The readiness for landing on open ground can be judged by the presence of a dense white bloom. For the most successful fruiting of myceliums, it is advisable to put the logs in the shade, for example, under densely leafy trees.

Wet leaves are lined at the bottom of the pre-dug pits, and then stumps are planted. It is important that the embedment depth of the logs does not exceed fifteen centimeters. The distance between adjacent chocks should be about half a meter. Further care of the plantings consists in periodically moistening the soil around the logs. The first crop can be harvested at the beginning of autumn.

With the onset of winter, it is recommended to wrap the hemp with spruce branches, leaves or straw.Such a mycelium will bear fruit abundantly for several years in a row. The maximum mushroom harvest can be harvested in the second and third years.

Growing oyster mushrooms on stumps will allow you to collect fresh and healthy mushrooms for almost a whole year for a long period. At the same time, planting work is simple, maintenance is minimal, and very little space for planting oyster mushrooms is needed. In our material, we will look at how to properly grow these mushrooms on the site.

What to plant and how to carry out preparatory work?

The first step is the choice of planting material, that is, sterile grain mycelium. It can be bought at special oyster mushroom farms and online stores. It is also sold in some horticultural department stores.

It is best to buy mycelium in spring or autumn, because it should be transported at freezing temperatures. But you need to store the material in the refrigerator until planting - the temperature should not be more than + 2 degrees. In such conditions, oyster mushrooms do not lose their viability within three months. If you store the mycelium of mushrooms at room temperature, they will live no more than a week.

Oyster mushrooms grown on a tree stump

As a rule, mycelium is sold in sachets weighing 0.2 or 2 kg. It is best to take a larger volume, since it will come out cheaper, and the quality of the substrate will be much better. If there is a lot of this, you can ask your neighbors - perhaps they would like to try growing oyster mushrooms on stumps.

Having purchased the required amount of mycelium, at the beginning of March, you need to prepare logs (stumps) for planting oyster mushrooms. For this, poplar, aspen, oak are suitable - almost any species, except stone fruit. It is important to remember that when growing oyster mushrooms on hard species of wood, for example, on beech or oak, mushrooms master wood for a long time - the first crop can be harvested only after 2-3 years, but mushrooms will live on such wood for about five years.

The length of the stumps should be about 25 cm, the diameter should be at least 15 cm (and preferably 20-25 cm). it is also advisable if the selected wood is left to rest for about two years before use.

For growing oyster mushrooms, you can use hemp that could appear in the garden after cutting down old pears or other fruit trees. The bonus of using them is that oyster mushrooms will turn the remains of trees into dust in just a couple of years. Cooked stumps need to be kept in water for several days, after which they are transferred to a cellar or other closed room, spreading mycelium on the end part of the wood with a layer of up to two centimeters.

In order to accelerate the spread of the mycelium of the mycelium inside the wood, it must not only be applied to the stump, but also several holes about 5 cm deep must be drilled in the stumps. In this case, all work must be carried out exclusively on clean plastic wrap. The holes should be made every 5-10 cm to allow the mushrooms to grow on both sides of the log. Then cover the logs with raw sawdust, moss, and small pieces of bark so that the mycelium does not fall out of the holes made.

The stumps need to be installed one on top of the other in the form of a large column up to two meters high, while about 100 g of mycelium will be spent on each piece of wood (for 50 kg of wood, you will take about 250 ml of mycelium). Next, we cover the resulting structure with a layer of straw and burlap. The main thing is not to use plastic wrap for this, which will become the main obstacle to air access to the stumps, the evaporation of moisture, and will stimulate the development of mycelium.

When using the method of seeding holes with oyster mushrooms, you can put each individual log in a bag and plug it with a piece of cotton wool to ensure high-quality air exchange. To do this, we place a piece of hose with a diameter and length of about 5 cm into the neck of the package, and a piece of cotton wool in the upper part. We also send the hemp packed in this way to the cellar.It takes about 2 months for the plants to germinate if the hemp is kept at a temperature of about + 15 degrees. At the same time, all the time you have to maintain high humidity (over 90%) in the room, while there should be no water on the stumps themselves.

Growing oyster mushrooms on stumps - instructions for the gardener

To grow oyster mushrooms, you need to provide them with normal lighting, therefore, in mid-May, the wood with the mycelium of the mushrooms must be transferred to the site and buried about half in the ground. Each stump should be located on the bed at a distance of at least 35 cm from each other. The place for the garden should be shady, therefore it is fashionable to bury them near garden trees or tall shrubs. Maintenance is quite simple: water the soil carefully during periods that are too hot.

By the way, it is not at all necessary to keep the hemp in a dark room for two months - you can transplant the mushrooms into the hemp according to the technology described by us in mid-May and immediately bury it on the site. In this case, it is imperative to throw burlap on them, regularly moistening it. True, in this case it is worth remembering that the first crop will be cut only in mid-October.

Mushroom mycelium

If you decide to carry out work immediately in May, growing oyster mushrooms on a stump in the open field, then you can use a slightly different method:

1. Saw off a disk about 3-5 cm thick from the stump.
2. Dig a hole about 15 cm deep into the ground, placing the sawn part on the bottom, and on top - the mycelium in a layer up to 1 cm.
3. Place the remaining log about 40 cm long on top and cover with soil (about 10 cm layer).

If you have a heated greenhouse on your property, it can also be used to grow fungus in the fall or winter. The main thing is to set the desired temperature and humidity. You need to plant in November, laying out stumps with mushrooms in rows, and not in a column. True, they need to be placed in the ground at a shallow depth, as when planting in open ground. At the same time, a layer of mycelium with a height of about 2 cm is applied to the upper part of the log.

If the air humidity is about 95%, and the temperature is +15 degrees, the mycelium will master the wood in just a month. And all this time, such conditions should be maintained for a month. After the overgrowth is completed, reduce the temperature by a few degrees to activate fruiting, and after a few days, return the indicators back.

The first harvest will take about three months after the stumps are laid in the greenhouse. That is, by the New Year you will be able to decorate your table with mushrooms collected from the garden.

Mushroom Harvesting Tips

If you grow oyster mushrooms first in the cellar, then the harvest can be obtained already in September, while the fruiting of the fungus continues almost until the end of autumn. With proper care, about 600-700 g of mushrooms can be removed from one stump. For the winter, the stumps should be left in place, covered with spruce branches or old burlap. But at the same time, it is not necessary to cover the mycelium, since it is not afraid of frost.

If conditions are favorable, about two kg of mushrooms can be grown on each bar. However, the maximum harvest can only be harvested in the third year. At the same time, oyster mushroom stumps can be harvested for another 5-7 years after using the mycelium.

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Oyster mushrooms - how are these mushrooms useful?

Oyster mushrooms are a very valuable product. They are an indispensable product for those who are overweight, as they are both nutritious and low in calories (only 40 kcal). In addition, they contain a large number of useful trace elements and substances:

• Essential amino acids.
• Easily digestible proteins.
• Fatty acid.
• Fiber, carbohydrates, iron, copper.
• Vitamins of group B, PP, C.

With regular consumption of oyster mushrooms in food, you can reduce the level of cholesterol in the blood, which is an excellent preventive method for combating atherosclerosis. Oyster mushrooms also have an immunomodulatory effect, help in the fight against tumors. True, before eating mushrooms, they need to be processed: fried, boiled, stewed, salted or pickled.

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You can grow mushrooms at home throughout the year, which gives a stable income 12 months a year. It is not so difficult to create conditions for a home mushroom farm, you just need to have the right information.

Selection and preparation of a room for planting mushrooms

Oyster mushrooms are grown in 2 ways:

• extensive is the cultivation of mushrooms in natural conditions. This method does not require additional investments, but due to the natural process, the harvest will be only once a year;
• intensive - mushrooms are grown in an artificially created environment and bear fruit all year round, but at the same time, large investments are required at the initial stage.

Since business requires year-round fruiting of mushrooms, we will consider an intensive method of growing them. It is worth mentioning that the room for oyster mushrooms can be very different: a garage, a shed, a basement.

The most common place is the basement, because it is quite damp, and this mushroom loves dampness.

To use a room for mushroom equipment, it must meet certain requirements:

• temperature from 10 to 20 ° C without sharp changes;
• the air must have a humidity of up to 90%;
• the presence of an excellent ventilation system;
• cleanliness and complete absence of mold and pests.

Any problem discovered during the preparation phase must be resolved before the main stages of mushroom cultivation start, otherwise the entire crop could be lost. Premises preparation takes place in several stages:

1. Sealing the room and installing the heating system. Usually, the floor and walls are insulated in the basement, 1 heater is installed. This is quite enough for heating a small room, and the heater is turned on once a day;
2. Thinking over the humidification system, since moisture can increase due to the rise of groundwater, it is worthwhile to think over the issue of humidification in advance;
3. Complete destruction of mold by heating, cleaning and covering the walls with antifungal agents;
4. Pest disinsection;
5. Final cleaning and disinfection of the premises with bleach.

A week should elapse between preparation and placement of the first substrate. In addition, in addition to the basement, another separate warm room will be needed, which will be used for the incubation of oyster mushrooms.

How to grow oyster mushroom mycelium yourself

To grow oyster mushrooms at home, you need only two things: a substrate or soil for the mycelium and mycelium - an oyster mushroom mycelium. Both of these items can be bought, but it will take time and trust in the supplier, because they do not always guarantee quality.

Another way would be to grow grain mycelium in a separate room, after sterilizing all equipment in advance. The whole process can be divided into stages:

1. Cut fresh oyster mushroom in half and cut a piece from its leg (upper part);
2. Place the cut out part of the mushroom in a sterile tube and seal it;
3. Leave the test tubes with spores in a warm dark room for 2-3 weeks (temperature at least 24 degrees);
4. After 3 weeks, start growing grain mycelium;
5. Pour grain into a saucepan, add water and cook for half an hour;
6. After cooking, dry the grain and put it in sterile 3-liter jars;
7. Place all jars in a large pot and sterilize them;
8. Wait for the containers to cool completely and place the spores from the test tube in each of them;
9. Leave the jars in a warm room (20 degrees);
10. As soon as white fluff begins to form in the cans, it means the mycelium has begun to germinate;
11. 2-3 weeks after placing the mycelium in the grains, you can start sowing it into the substrate and growing mushrooms.

Instructions for growing mushrooms step by step

Now we will tell you how to properly grow oyster mushrooms at home. First of all, you should carefully choose suppliers, because the quality of the source material depends on whether there will be a harvest and in what quantity.

For the first time, it will be enough to buy 1 kg of mycelium (as a result, this is 3-4 kg of harvest), having recognized the variety and strain of the fungus, as well as the growing period and mold resistance.

The mycelium should not have green spots inside, its color is bright orange. The shelf life of the purchased mycelium is 2-3 months.

The process of growing oyster mushrooms at home consists of several stages:

1. Processing of material for the substrate: the raw material is placed in a tank, filled with water and boiled for 1.5 hours. Then it is filtered and placed under oppression, where the substrate cools down to 25 ° C, while the container must be with holes so that excess liquid flows down;
2. After all the water has drained off, the substrate bags are placed in a sterile room and the mycelium is placed in the nutrient medium;
3. During the laying of the mycelium, it is necessary to turn off the ventilation so that mold spores do not get into the bags;
4. Before the laying process, the room and the work surface should be disinfected;
5. The laying process is simple: the mycelium and the nutrient medium are mixed on the working surface so that the mycelium is 3-5% of the total amount of the medium in the case of domestic production and up to 2.5% of imported mycelium production. The mixture is tamped tightly into bags of 5 - 15 kg;
6. The bags should be flattened a little on one side and cuts should be made on the other for mushroom germination;
7. Cut the bag with a clean knife at a 45 degree angle. Each incision should be no more than 5 cm;
8. The blocks are placed around the room so that the sides with the cuts face the inside of the room and there is air access to them.

Thanks to the correct design of the premises and the observance of the rules when replanting the mycelium in the nutrient medium, after a couple of weeks it will be possible to harvest oyster mushrooms.

How to form mushroom blocks

The process of placing mycelium in the soil is an extremely capacious process that requires compliance with certain rules and conditions. The mycelium is stored in the refrigerator and 4 hours before transplanting it into the soil, the bags with spores should be taken out and allowed to warm to room temperature. Mushroom blocks are formed in the following way:

1. The substrate temperature should be around 20-24 degrees, and the mycelium should be at room temperature;
2. Hands should be well disinfected and sterile gloves should be worn;
3. All utensils with a tool are also disinfected so that bacteria and fungi do not get into the mycelium;
4. In an enamel or plastic bowl, knead the mycelium to separate grains;
5. Pour the substrate into a plastic bag and add mycelium to it: 300 g of spores per 1 block;
6. Spores are well distributed throughout the block and its layer is well compacted;
7. Pour the substrate to the very top of the bag;
8. You can either arrange the mycelium in layers over the bag, or mix it in advance with the medium on the desktop and then pour it into the bags;
9. Tie all the bags with sweaty twine and arrange them in their places;
10. On each bag, on one side facing the room, make 5 cuts 5 cm long;
11. Cut off the corners of the block so moisture can escape unhindered.

This completes the process of forming the mushroom block. It is worth remembering only about the thorough disinfection of the room, hands and instruments, as well as the fact that the components must have room temperature.

Conditions during the incubation period

The incubation of oyster mushrooms takes from 18 to 25 days. All this time, myceliums should not be in the basement, but in a separate dry and warm room. The incubation period is very reverent, therefore, careful observance of all conditions is required:

• the temperature in the room should be constant, without drops and no more than 30 degrees;
• the room should have dim light and sufficient humidity;
• during incubation, there should be no drafts in the room;
• if the temperature rises and is more than 30 degrees, then all myceliums will die;
• cleaning with bleach should be done daily to avoid mold.

As soon as the oyster mushrooms begin to bear fruit, they are moved to the cultivation room.

Fruiting and the nuances of harvesting

The most exciting process is the fruiting process of mushrooms. As soon as the first mushrooms begin to appear, you can calm down - it means that the process of incubation and cultivation went right. Once the bags have been moved in the cultivation room:

• reduce the temperature to 10 ° С;
• turn on the lighting for 8-10 hours daily;
• increase humidity up to 90-95%;
• turn on the ventilation system up to 4 times daily.

Ventilation and humidity issues should be resolved at the stage of preparation of the premises, so that during the cultivation of mushrooms there are no problems with these points. The fruiting time of oyster mushrooms is 10-15 days.

During this time, the rudiments of mushrooms begin to appear, and at the end of this period, full-fledged oyster mushrooms are already on the bags. As soon as the caps become large enough, they can be collected, and it is better not to cut the mushrooms, but to twist them.

Once the crop is harvested, the room should be well ventilated and a second crop should be expected in 14 days. The conditions should remain the same.

Oyster mushrooms bear fruit up to 4 times, but the first two waves of the harvest are the most abundant - up to 75% of the total harvest.

As soon as the bags have stopped bearing fruit, they should be replaced with new ones. The used substrate is perfect for farmers to fertilize the soil.

Possible problems

Like any farming, mushroom farming has its common problems. Usually mushroom pickers meet with:

1. Poor development of mycelium - the reason for this most likely lies either in the poor quality of the mycelium, or in non-compliance with the conditions for maturation. Check the room temperature and remove excess moisture from the bags;
2. Weak pushing of the mycelium - this is due to improper temperature conditions or the presence of infections;
3. Spots on a mushroom block are a process of mold development, which occurs due to improper temperature, poor-quality mycelium. A small infection can be removed and its place filled with salt, but a large lesion will lead to the infection of the entire block and the rest of the myceliums, so such a bag will have to be removed completely;
4. Delayed harvest is caused by improper ventilation and temperature;
5. The appearance of other mushrooms - sometimes a gray dung beetle sprouts before the oyster mushroom harvest. This happens due to a violation of the cultivation technology or poor-quality mycelium;
6. Oyster mushrooms dry out quickly - this indicates insufficient humidity in the room. It should be increased to 90%;
7. Low yield - the reasons for this are very diverse from poor source material to improper care.

Any of the listed problems can be solved by returning and observing the correct technology for growing oyster mushrooms.

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How to grow oyster mushrooms on stumps

Oyster mushroom can be grown at home not only in bags, but also on woody stumps of cedar, larch, aspen or linden. The main condition for fruiting mycelium is clean, not diseased wood. Oyster mushroom has been grown on stumps since the beginning of March in basements.

This method does not require special costs, but you should carefully follow the technology:

1. Prepare larch hemp. Their diameter should be about 200-300 mm, and their length should not be more than 40 cm;
2. If the stumps are dry, they must be well soaked in water, and freshly cut stumps do not require this;
3. Drill holes up to 2 cm in diameter and up to 15 cm in length in the upper honor of the stump (according to the growth of the tree);
4. Make holes on all sides of the stump;
5. Knead the mycelium to separate fractions and fill all holes with 350 g mycelium;
6. Cover the holes with clay or plasticine (cotton wool, wooden chopik);
7. In the basement, dig holes for stumps of 15 cm and place the stumps there;
8. Fill the holes with sawdust or earth;
9. During warmer months, stumps can be placed throughout the garden;
10. Water daily 3 liters of water per 1 square meter;
11. Mushrooms will begin to sprout in 4-5 months, they can already be cut or broken.

Oyster mushrooms on stumps can also bear fruit in the cold season in specially equipped rooms.

And a little more information about growing oyster mushrooms at home can be found in the following video.