How to grow oyster mushrooms at home?

Who among us doesn't like mushrooms? This is an exquisite and delicious creation of nature. With the onset of late summer and autumn, hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people rush to the forests to collect these gifts of nature. Salted, pickled, fried, these crispy legs and caps are eaten with great pleasure during winter. But, no matter how much we collect mushrooms, they are still not enough for the whole year. And sometimes you really want to taste the mushrooms, but, alas, all the supplies have already run out. How to make mushrooms on your table all year round? The answer suggests itself. Grow mushrooms yourself. The technology of growing mushrooms is quite simple, and, moreover, you will be sure of the ecological purity of mushrooms. Champignons, oyster mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, honey mushrooms are used as "home" mushrooms. But, the most widespread among "home" mushroom growers are oyster mushrooms.

You don't have to be a mycologist to grow this type of mushroom. This is the name of the science of mushrooms. It is enough to know the technology of their cultivation and adhere to certain instructions. Well, and, of course, there must be a desire to do this business. So, here are some guidelines for growing oyster mushrooms at home.

Acquisition of mycelium (seed for growing oyster mushrooms)

The first step towards growing mushrooms is to acquire a seed called mycelium. You can buy it either in gardening stores, or online, through online stores. To get acquainted with the technology of growing mushrooms, it is enough to purchase one kilogram of mycelium. From this amount of mycelium, about 4-5 kg ​​of mushrooms can be grown. Before sowing, the mycelium is stored in the refrigerator at a temperature of 2-4 ° C.

Preparing the substrate for planting oyster mushrooms

The "soil" for growing mushrooms is the so-called. substrate. Barley or wheat straw, crushed leaves and corn cobs, buckwheat husks can be used as a substrate. At first, it is not worth starting to grow oyster mushrooms on sawdust of deciduous trees. Get experience first. The raw materials for the substrate must be dry, clean and free from mold. For the first experiments, 10 kg of raw material is enough, which must be crushed to fractions of 4-5 cm.

   
 
After that, the substrate is subjected to heat treatment. It consists in cooking the substrate for 1.5-2 hours. At the end of cooking, the substrate is squeezed out and cooled to a temperature of 25-27 ° C. The substrate should be moist, but without excess water. It is quite simple to check it. A handful of the substrate is taken into the hand and squeezed. A few drops of water are allowed, but the water should not flow in a stream.

Preparing mushroom blocks for growing oyster mushrooms

As a rule, oyster mushrooms are grown in plastic bags, and they are called blocks.There are other methods, but this one is the simplest and most effective one. Since we have 10 kg of substrate, we take two bags, which should fit 5 kg of substrate. You can use bags and smaller capacity. The bags are disinfected. They are washed and then placed in a 1-2% bleach solution for 2 hours.
Once the bags are ready for use, they are filled with substrate and mycelium. Filling takes place in layers.

First, a layer of substrate 5-6 cm thick is laid out, then a layer of mycelium half a centimeter thick, etc. The topmost layer should be the substrate layer. After that, the bag is tied and perforated in it. It consists in creating slots 1-1.5 cm long at a distance of 10-15 cm from each other. Usually the slots are staggered.

The incubation period for the maturation of oyster mushrooms

After you have prepared the mushroom blocks, they need to be placed in the room set aside for growing mushrooms. Of course, the best option is a basement, where you can provide the desired temperature, humidity, light.
The incubation period lasts from ten days to two weeks. During this period, the temperature in the room should be 20-22 ° C, and it is necessary to regularly ventilate the room, but, at the same time, it is necessary to exclude the penetration of flies into the room. For the first few days, the substrate in the bags will heat up. Therefore, it must be cooled, for example, using fans directed to the mushroom blocks. Excessive internal temperatures can kill the growing mycelium.
After three to four days, you will notice the first white filaments of the mycelium, and after ten days the blocks will turn into a homogeneous white mass with a characteristic mushroom smell.

Oyster mushroom fruiting period

And now the fruiting period is approaching. The temperature in the room is reduced to 10-15 ° C, the lighting is provided for 10 hours, the air humidity is raised to 90-95%. To increase the air humidity, you can spray the room with water, but avoid getting water on the substrate.

 
And now, finally, the rudiments of fungi begin to appear from the cuts. The fruiting period takes about two weeks. In the last days of the fruiting period, mushroom caps increase in size very quickly. This moment can be considered the beginning of the harvest. It is recommended to twist the mushrooms out of the substrate, not cut them off.
But, having reaped the first harvest, do not be complacent, as the first wave of the harvest will be followed by the next waves. There can be up to four such harvest waves. Of course, the most productive waves are the first and second. But, and subsequent waves will give a worthy harvest.
In the future, the fertilized blocks are used as fertilizer in personal plots.
As you can see, the process of growing oyster mushrooms is not so complicated and long. With some effort, you will get a great addition to the table, and if you want to sell mushrooms, you will receive additional funds for the family's budget.

Growing champignons at home

Champignons are no less tasty and delicious mushrooms than oyster mushrooms. But, the process of growing them is somewhat more complicated in comparison with the same oyster mushrooms.

To grow mushrooms, a cool room is required, in which it will be necessary to maintain high humidity. The best option would be a basement at home or a cellar.

Preparation of a substrate for growing mushrooms

This is the most difficult and time-consuming stage in the process of growing mushrooms. When preparing the substrate, it is necessary to strictly adhere to the recommendations, since the mushroom yield depends on the quality of the prepared substrate.
The basis of the substrate is compost, consisting of a quarter of straw of winter wheat or rye, and three-quarters of horse manure. In the absence of such, you can use cow dung, or even bird droppings, but the yield of champignons will decrease slightly. The substrate is prepared in the open air, under a canopy that protects it from rain and sun.

 
In addition, additional ingredients are added to the substrate. For 100 kg of straw add 2 kg of urea, 5 kg of chalk, 2 kg of superphosphate, 7 kg of gypsum. Together with manure, you get about 300 kg of substrate, which is enough for 3 square meters. mycelium.
Straw soaked in water and manure are stacked in layers. At the same time, the straw is additionally moistened. For 100 kg of straw, 350-400 liters of water are needed. During the formation of the stack, part of the superphosphate and all of the urea are gradually introduced. After the stack is formed, it is mixed four times, adding the remaining additional ingredients to it. After adding all the ingredients, the fermentation process begins in the stack. The final compost will be ready in 3 weeks.

Sowing mycelium (champignon seeds)

As for oyster mushrooms, factory-made mycelium is used for sowing mushrooms. Two types of mycelium are produced - grain and compost mycelium.

Grain mycelium produced in plastic bags. Its shelf life is 6 months, at a temperature of 0-4 ° C. For 1 square meter of sown area (about 100 kg of substrate), you will need about 400 gr. grain mycelium.
 Compost mycelium sold in glass jars. It is stored for about a year at a temperature of 0 ° C, and only 20 days at a temperature of 18-20 ° C. Consumption of compost mycelium per 1 sq.m. sown area is 500 gr.

Sowing and incubation period for mushrooms

Before sowing, as in the case of oyster mushrooms, the substrate is heat-treated. After heat treatment, the substrate should spring slightly when pressed by hand. The substrate cooled to 25 ° C is placed in boxes in a layer of 30 cm. As already mentioned, per 1 sq. M. the sown area will leave, about 100 kg of substrate.
Then the mushrooms are sown. A handful of grain mycelium or compost mycelium the size of an egg is buried in the substrate by 4-5 cm. The distance between the holes should be 20-25 cm. The grain mycelium can also be simply scattered over the surface and covered with the substrate.
During the incubation period, in the room where the mushrooms are grown, the humidity is maintained at 95%, and the substrate temperature should not exceed 25 ° C. After the growth of the mycelium, this will happen in 10-12 days, the surface of the substrate is covered with cover soil, 3-4 cm thick. The cover soil contains one part of chalk and nine parts of peat. After another 3-5 days, the room temperature drops to 15-17 ° C. Regular ventilation should be carried out, but without the formation of drafts. The covering layer is carefully moistened, but so that water does not get onto the substrate and mycelium.

Harvesting champignons

Champignons are harvested at a time when the film that connects the stem of the mushroom and the edge of the cap has not yet broken. Like oyster mushrooms, mushrooms are twisted out of the ground, and the remaining holes are covered with casing layer.

The fruiting period lasts from 8 to 14 weeks. Possibly up to seven harvest waves. From 1 sq.m. the cultivated area can be harvested up to 12 kg of mushrooms.

How to grow oyster mushrooms at home? By a certain technology. Then you don't have to spend money on buying mushrooms. And it will certainly be possible to safely eat them without fear of poisoning.

Where to begin

You always need to start by getting to know the experience of other people, so to speak - studying the materiel. There are many articles and videos about growing oyster mushrooms at home. After acquaintance, you will need:

Two rooms. One directly for growing, the second for the incubation period. It is assumed that this will be one room. Then it is necessary to strictly observe the temperature regime and regulate the level of air humidity.

• Nutrient substrate. Sold ready-made, packaged.
• The mycelium itself. Pay special attention to the expiration date.
• Fan. The most common, household.
• Antiseptic. Rubbing alcohol or chlorine solution.
• Rubber gloves, a gauze bandage for the face, a sharp knife, thick plastic bags.

Naturally, you have to be patient (a process of more than one day) and the desire to taste your own grown oyster mushrooms.

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Requirements for the premises

For growing mushrooms at home, you need to allocate a separate room. It doesn't have to be a bedroom or living room. A basement, a cellar, a shed, a garage - they all fit perfectly. For the incubation period, the temperature should be maintained no higher than 24-26 ° С, the air humidity should be no more than 70%.

Separately, it must be said about cleanliness. Do not wash every centimeter with bleach. It is better to treat it with a sulfur-smoke bomb or simply whitewash the walls with lime with the addition of copper sulfate. Then no extraneous mold will infect the mycelium.

The main condition is that all ventilation openings must be closed with a fine mesh. Mushroom flies strive to fly into the aroma of mycelium and ruin the whole idea from the very beginning.

For the period of germination and harvesting, the humidity in the room should be at the level of 80-95%, the temperature should not be higher than 18 ° C.

Advice. A basement or cellar is the most optimal room. In such places, there is always high humidity, and the temperature can be increased with an ordinary heater.

Preparing the substrate for oyster mushrooms

As a nutrient medium for growing oyster mushrooms at home, you can use any substrate available, as long as it contains cellulose. It is her that mycelium feeds on. Experienced mushroom growers use sawdust, small branches or shavings. For beginners, it is best to use:

• barley straw
• sunflower seed husks
• corn stalks, leaves
• wheat straw
• buckwheat husk
• husked corn cobs

First of all, you need to carefully sort out the prepared raw materials. The mass must be clean and dry. The presence of mold or the presence of only the smell of decay already indicates that the raw materials are not suitable for growing oyster mushrooms.

After taking the mass, it is necessary to thermally process it for reliability. This will get rid of harmful bacteria, insect larvae, and at the same time moisturize it. For this, raw materials are poured into a metal dish, filled with clean water. Heat to a boil, boil for about 40 minutes. Then leave for 3 hours.

Then the excess water is drained, and the raw materials are put under a press to remove the remaining liquid. Alternatively, the substrate is poured into a tissue bag and hung.

As soon as the temperature of the mass drops to 24-26 ° C, you can start planting.

Advice. For the best result, a little fresh yeast is added to the raw material before planting. Approximately 50 g per 15 kg total weight.

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Planting material

It is very difficult to prepare a good quality mycelium on your own. Therefore, it is better to buy it in seed shops or from oyster mushroom growing companies. How many grams do you need? The calculation is very simple. For 10 kg of raw materials, you need about 400 g of mycelium.

First of all, before buying, you need to carefully examine the package with planting material. Gray or black spots, a distinct smell of ammonia are signs of incipient mold. This mycelium is not suitable for planting. The color of the vegetative body of the fungus should be from bright yellow to orange.

It is not recommended to order planting material through Internet resources. After all, the photograph may show something completely different from what will be in the package.

Advice. If the mycelium was purchased in advance, then it must be stored in the refrigerator before planting, no more than 9 days. Temperature 3-5 ° С is the most optimal.

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The most crucial moment

The substrate has been prepared, the planting material has been purchased and has already been laid down for a day at room temperature. We took a deep breath, we can start.

The most important thing is that there should be no slightest draft in the room. Fungal spores are very volatile. The slightest breath and then you can find oyster mushrooms in places that are completely unsuitable for them.

All instruments must be disinfected.Knife, tight bags, hands. You can wash it thoroughly with laundry soap or wipe it with aseptoline. Hands can be additionally protected with gloves. They also need to be treated with an antiseptic. Be sure to wear a gauze bandage. The ingestion of fungal spores into the lungs is not a very pleasant event.

The process itself:

• The mycelium is crumbled without opening the bag.
• Raw materials are poured into the bottom of the prepared plastic bag.
• Oyster mushroom vegetative body is laid out on top with a thin layer.
• Layers are repeated all the way to the top.
• The bag is tightly tied.

In order for the mushrooms to sprout faster, it is advisable to lay out the planting material closer to the walls of the bag than to the center.

You can do it even easier. Raw materials are poured into prepared bags, small cuts are made with a knife. Mycelium is laid in them, then sealed.

Advice. Don't take huge packages. Anyway, oyster mushrooms will only grow outside. The most optimal size holds about 5-8 kg of the finished mixture.

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Incubation period

So, the bags are full, tied, awaiting their fate. Which? Warmth, darkness, tranquility. The incubation room should have a temperature not higher than 18-20 ° C. The substrate gets very hot, the vegetative body may die. It is impossible to ventilate the room, the emitted carbon dioxide is very important for the germination of oyster mushrooms.

What to do? Fan! Saves the day, helps to cool the bags, does not make drafts.

One day after the laying, the previously made incisions are opened. If the mycelium was laid in layers, then it is imperative to make cuts with a sharp knife. Vertical 2-3 cm high, horizontal about 0.5 cm wide, the distance between them is 10-12 cm.

Packages should not fit tightly to each other. A free space of at least 7-9 cm is left between them.

The incubation time depends on the variety, ranging from 16 to 24 days. Detailed information can be obtained from the manufacturer, or read on the packaging.

It is important to periodically enter the room and inspect the bags. The appearance of black spots and an unpleasant odor indicates that the tools and materials were not sufficiently disinfected. The normal state is a light, almost white color of the contents, a characteristic pleasant aroma of mushrooms.

Advice. Inspection is carried out as quickly as possible. Any light is now not desirable for the mycelium.

First fruiting. Important aspects

It is important not to miss the moment when oyster mushroom rudiments appear. They can be seen with the naked eye. On a white background - gray tubercles. In the meantime, bags with mushrooms are transferred to another room, or the conditions are changed in the same:

• The temperature is reduced to 10-18 ° C.
• Increase air humidity up to 90-95%.
• They put artificial lighting with fluorescent lamps for a period of at least 8 hours per day.
• Be sure to ventilate the room. At least 4 times a day.

The main factor for the first fruiting period is moisture. However, it is impossible to water the oyster mushrooms. They can rot before reaching their size. The ideal way out of the situation would be frequent spraying of walls, floors, spraying water in the air. Care should be taken not to get water on the mushroom caps and bags.

Advice. If light-colored oyster mushrooms are needed, then the temperature is kept at 12 ° C. To obtain a dark cap, the temperature is raised to 18 ° C.

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Second fruiting

After the first harvest is harvested, the mushroom blocks are not thrown away! Oyster mushroom gives up to 5 harvests from one planting. The mushroom holder rests for about 12 days, then pleases with a new portion of a healthy treat. It is very important not to change conditions during breaks between harvests. Then one block can bear fruit up to 4 months.

And if there is no separate room

How to grow oyster mushrooms at home if there is no separate room? It's also very simple! When did this stop a Russian person if he needed to? There is no basement, which means growing on stumps is a completely alternative option.

This will require:

• Smooth stumps of non-resinous trees.
• Planting material.
• A secluded spot in the garden with good shade.
• Burlap, film.
• Enthusiasm is welcome.

The wood must be healthy, free from mold, rot or debris. It is advisable that before use it lay no longer than 10 months. Poles are soaked in clean water for 3 days, pressing with oppression so that they do not float.

Then holes are made in the tree, preferably with a drill. The diameter is about 1-1.5 cm, the depth is about 5-7 cm. The oyster mushroom planting material is poured inside, the holes are plugged with moss. If there is no drill at hand, then they simply cut off the upper end of a log 5 cm thick, apply a vegetative body. The resulting saw cut is placed on top. For reliability, you can strengthen the structure with nails.

The procedure is carried out in March. Before the logs are planted in the garden, they are folded into a pyramid, covered with burlap and foil. Periodic ventilation, regular inspection for mold growth is the key to success. After a while, the mycelium will completely braid the wood, the hemp will turn white.

With the onset of warm weather (mid or late May), the woods are planted in the garden. They choose shaded places: under trees, vines, on the north side of buildings. The stumps are installed vertically, burying 12-15 cm into the ground. Damp foliage or soaked old barley grains can be placed on the bottom of the holes.

Taking care of the logs consists only in carefully watering the soil around, if the weather is dry and hot.

Subject to the technology, the first harvest appears from the end of August. Lasts until mid-November, depending on climate and weather conditions. For the winter, the poles are covered with spruce branches or covered with leaves. Ideally birch. They disinfect well and do not allow the mycelium to rot.

Of course, this method is not suitable for industrial cultivation of oyster mushrooms, but very good for home use. Good yields can be obtained at low cost. The only negative is seasonality. Oyster mushrooms do not grow under the snow in winter.

Advice. Such poles with bunches of oyster mushrooms can become an original decoration of the site. They can be cooked as much as there is enough free land. There will be enough mushrooms for themselves and their relatives and for sale.

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Several nuances

1. All work on the cultivation of oyster mushrooms is recommended to be carried out in a gauze bandage. Mushrooms secrete a large number of spores, which can lead to allergies.
2. When harvesting, oyster mushrooms are twisted by hand from the substrate. When cutting with a knife, you can infect the mycelium with putrefactive bacteria, then you will have to forget about the next crops. The remaining roots of the mushrooms also harm the mycelium. A large amount of moisture is lost through them.
3. If the slightest signs of mold appear in one of the bags, you must immediately remove it from the room so that the rest does not become infected.
4. The spent substrate is an excellent fertilizer, it will be a pity to throw it in the trash. Taking it out into the garden or pouring it out in the garden is the right decision. By the way, the remains of mycelium next year can give a small harvest of oyster mushrooms, if you pour the mixture somewhere near a reservoir or under trees.
5. When grown indoors, the first two waves of fruiting are the most productive. The second and third years of cultivation are the most prolific on the woodlands.

Growing oyster mushrooms on your own at home is a very real thing. Just follow the instructions and enjoy the result!

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Video: technology for growing oyster mushrooms

08/26/2016 Comments 1,849 Viewed

Growing mushrooms at home can provide us with this unique product throughout the year. Gathering mushrooms in the forest is an exciting activity, but short-lived, associated with the season, unsafe for an inexperienced mushroom picker, and even an unfavorable ecology increases the risk. Another thing is self-grown mushrooms, from reliable seed and under control. Breeding methods are known.If you master them in practice, then tasty and healthy dishes containing protein, vitamins, essential amino acids can be prepared not only on fine autumn days.

Of the many edible species that exist in nature, more than ten are "domesticated". When choosing, you have to take into account not only your taste preferences, but also the possibilities: is there a suitable room, what conditions can we create in it, are we ready to allocate time for difficult care, or is it worth trying to grow something less whimsical. For each species, its own technology has been developed, sometimes it is rather complicated. For more information on growing mushrooms at home, see articles published on our website.

This technology is called intensive, with its help you can have mushrooms at home all year round. The extensive method is simpler, which consists in creating conditions close to natural in the open field. It is quite easy to grow oyster mushrooms and mushrooms in this way, but the harvest will be slow and seasonal, as in nature.

Mushrooms sensitive to environmental conditions require a well-adapted room for this purpose.

A basement or a shed is suitable, which is sealed enough to maintain the desired temperature, ideally equipped with an air conditioner and a fan, thermometers and sensors will be needed to determine the humidity of the air and substrate.

Light is not needed to harvest, it only affects the color: in the dark, the caps will grow white. But for the convenience of work, lighting, of course, will be needed.

Champignons are capricious, the technology must be followed in all subtleties. Substrate preparation is a rather laborious process. The basis is fresh, not rotted manure, preferably horse manure, but cow manure mixed with wheat or rye straw is also possible. Lime, chalk, urea are added in small amounts. To improve the composition, experienced mushroom pickers introduce chicken droppings, pig manure. In order for the mass to mature, it is laid in a slide, moistened up to 70%. Stir with a pitchfork every five days. Ripening lasts 20 days, after which it is placed in boxes with a layer of up to 45 cm.

> Planting can be started when warming up in the depth of the substrate reaches 27 ° C. Pieces of mycelium the size of a nut are placed in a checkerboard pattern, at intervals of about 20 cm, to a depth of half a centimeter. For good growth, it is necessary to maintain 24 - 25 ° C indoors for 12 days and the substrate moisture content is about 60%. Then the temperature is lowered to 16 - 20 ° C, the surface is covered with sod earth, without pressing. After 40 days, the first mushrooms will appear, and within about 3 months it will be possible to harvest.

When grown outdoors, mushrooms do not give a large harvest and depend on weather conditions, but since the method is relatively simple, it is sometimes used in the garden or in the country to grow a crop "for yourself". The place for the beds for mushrooms should be shaded, a canopy is desirable. The substrate is prepared and the mycelium is sown in the same way as it is done indoors, but it is covered with straw on top, moisture retention is the main problem of open beds. When dry, if the mycelium grows poorly, you need to water it carefully, not pouring, champignons do not tolerate wet substrate poorly.

The big advantage of mushrooms is that they are much easier to grow than white mushrooms or mushrooms. Absolutely cost-effective, extensive technology is suitable for them - sowing a stump from a deciduous tree with mycelium in a summer cottage.

A piece of active mycelium must be found in nature, inserted into a 1 cm in diameter, 0.5 cm deep depression made in the stump, and sealed with adhesive tape, plasticine, or plugged with moss until next year, when the mycelium is ready for fruiting.

The portable base even gives an advantage: during the spring frosts, it is brought into the barn, and with warming they dig in the soil, leaving a third of the height on the surface.The place you need to choose is moist, shady, similar to those in which mushrooms grow in the forest.

> Intensive breeding of honey agarics. The same woody base with mycelium planted on it can be used indoors. While maintaining high humidity and appropriate temperature (25 ° C with the development of mycelium, about 18 C ° with the germination of fruit bodies), they will bear fruit for some time at any time of the year. In order to grow a really bountiful harvest of honey mushrooms, the process needs to be intensified: to master the cultivation in plastic bags. They are filled with a mass of the following composition: dry sawdust, boiled for sterilization for 2 hours, mix with oats or barley in a 3: 1 ratio, add a teaspoon of lime to create an alkaline environment. The mycelium is added to the bag and kept indoors at 20 ° C for a month, then the compacted contents are removed from the bag, the temperature is reduced to 10-15 ° C and high humidity is constantly maintained. Honey mushrooms of two types have been introduced into the culture - summer and winter (flammulina), both can be successfully grown according to the described method.

When it comes to how to grow mushrooms at home, of course, it is not the window sill in the room that is meant. The special conditions in which mushrooms grow and bear fruit - humidity, temperature, sometimes a specific substrate - are unacceptable for human habitation. And yet, such unpretentious species as oyster mushrooms and mushrooms can be grown in some quantity even on the balcony, although this technology is more suitable for a specially designated room.

Glass jars with a capacity of 1, 2 or 3 liters are filled with a mixture: 3 parts of sawdust (not coniferous) to 1 part of bran. The substrate is placed in jars after soaking for a day and mandatory sterilization. It is carried out as follows: the filled jars are kept in boiling water for 2 hours, left for a day, then the same is repeated. Cool, put on an ordinary plastic lid with a round hole cut out in it (about 2 cm in diameter), add mushroom or oyster mushroom mycelium to the mixture. The development of the mycelium lasts about a month at a temperature of about 20 ° С, with the beginning of germination it is necessary to reduce it to 10 - 15 ° С. condition.

Growing mushrooms at home and in personal plots has not yet become common. What for? After all, and so the forests are filled with white mushrooms, mushrooms, chanterelles and boletus mushrooms every autumn. But there are mushrooms that either do not grow in our forests at all, or do it with great reluctance. They can perfectly diversify the menu, and also make good money on them. For example, an oyster mushroom plantation in your own dacha is more than real! It is an ideal mushroom for domestic cultivation. Delicious, inexpensive (in terms of labor costs and the cost of the technological process). Oyster mushroom can be grown in different ways, but there is an option chosen by the time and experience of many amateur mushroom growers.

Growing oyster mushrooms at home

"Children of the Underground"

For the first phase of growing mushrooms, which is their reproduction with the help of mycelium (mycelium), you can do with any ground room - a shed, for example.

The second, main phase is better for mushrooms to "live" in a cellar or basement, that is, underground in the cool.

Growing oyster mushrooms - photo

Both premises for a mushroom plantation must be carefully prepared and equipped with ventilation, electricity and water supply. From the inventory, you will definitely need thermometers to control the degree of heating and cooling of air in the room. The equipment will need a water heater.

By the way! Temperature regulation in a room with growing oyster mushrooms is best controlled by conventional ventilation. To do this, you will have to provide for the possibility of wide opening of windows or doors.

There are several mandatory procedures that must be performed in a building or underground room where mushrooms will grow.

1. The premises are whitewashed with lime and then dried using active ventilation.

   The walls are whitewashed with lime - photo

2. Then the place of cultivation is sprayed with bleach (4% solution).
3. After processing, the doors / windows are closed and the inside is left to disinfect for two days.
4. Then the object is ventilated for the same amount of time.
5. A similar disinfection treatment for conveyor re-cultivation must be performed every cycle.

What mushrooms grow on

Oyster mushrooms differ from their forest counterparts in that they do not grow in soil. They need a substrate for successful growth. You can make a suitable mixture from numerous components:

• dried straw of field cereals;
• the shell of sunflower seeds is suitable;
• it is very good to use sawdust of trees, but not conifers, but deciduous ones;
• corn stalks, reeds are suitable.

Substrate preparation

All this will become an ideal "soil" for oyster mushroom plantations. The components can be used separately, and it is acceptable to mix them in arbitrary combinations and proportions. The ingredients must be dry. Before use, they need to be crushed (the optimal size of fractions is in the range of 0.5-3 cm). The resulting mixture should have a pleasant smell, not contain any traces of mold, fungal debris and foreign objects.

Prepare the substrate on the surface of the earth; this is not necessary in the cellar. For proper preparation and compliance with all regulations, certain procedures must be followed.

1. The crushed mass is poured with boiling water until it is completely covered, to destroy all kinds of competing organisms in the form of other varieties or harmful microflora.

   Moistening and stirring the substrate

2. The substrate thus poured, steamed to the state of "porridge", is tamped into large barrels or other containers suitable for the capacity and left to swell up to half a day.
3. Then the mass is taken out of the barrel and laid out for complete cooling and evaporation of some of the moisture on a wide film with a thin layer.

Stage one: mycelium - building up mass

Oyster mushroom mycelium

The preparation is over. Mycelium purchased. You can proceed to the first stage, the task of which is to build up its mass.

Advice! How to check the quality of the mycelium of the oyster mushroom progenitor? He must have some characteristics. Snow-white color, with a small proportion of substrate blotches with a darkish tint. The second parameter is smell. Despite the fact that this mushroom does not grow in the forest, the mycelium should smell like forest mushrooms.

1. In a dense transparent polyethylene bag, with a volume of 20 to 60 liters, a layer of wet cold substrate is laid. Layer height - 8 cm. Carefully leveled by hands.

   Laying the substrate

2. Lay on top, ramming tightly, mycelium, in a three-centimeter layer (you can simply break it into small pieces to tamp without voids).
3. Then the substrate is laid and compacted, but already with a layer of 15 cm.
4. Again a three-centimeter layer of mycelium.

   Mushroom substrate bags

5. The procedure should be repeated until all the acquired mycelium ends. In this case, there should be a substrate layer of 8 cm on top.
6. The resulting "puff cake" is compacted, the bag is tied tightly with twine and set in a vertical position.
7. The entire surface of the bag is pierced with a long disinfected (can be ignited on fire) nail, 120-150 mm in size. Not every 25 cm² has one hole.

   How to make a perforation of a mushroom block

Advice! There should be more holes at the bottom: this is necessary to drain the liquid constantly forming in the package.

Immediately after the procedure, a clear separation of the layers into dark and light (substrate and mycelium) will be visible through the film of the bag.

The temperature required to increase the mycelium mass should be kept at + 18 ... 26 ° С.Germination of mycelium spores will begin in three days, and ten days later you can observe a miracle. The whole mass will turn into mycelium and become completely white. After that, the bag is untied and multiplication is continued to the required amount.

Hanging substrate bags and growing oyster mushrooms

One full standard bag gives life to 8-10 other bags with interlayer (substrate + mycelium). When, finally, the required amount of mycelium for your purposes is formed, then 2 bags from every ten are left for the subsequent increase in mass, and 8 are transferred to obtain the long-awaited harvest of oyster mushrooms.

Fruiting process

Growing oyster mushrooms

The whitened substrate must be kept in the "native" bag for another 5-6 days after ripening, if this bag is sent for fruiting. During this period, it will finally mature, become "monolithic", will be as dense as possible.

To activate the beginning of the crop formation, bags with mycelium completely processed by the substrate are kept at + 3 ... 5 ° С for another three days. To enable the mushroom fruiting body to grow, it will need room to grow. To create it, holes 3-5 cm in diameter are cut out in polyethylene (one per square meter). The packages are moved to an underground room in temperature conditions of + 10 ... 16 ° С. Here they are installed at a distance of at least 30-40 cm from each other, always vertically. To make it more convenient to water the mushroom "plantation", the bags are placed with ribbons in three rows with a 70 cm gap between them.

Advice! If you are the happy owner of a high basement, then you can also place bags with future mushrooms on additional shelves located along the walls. Such placement will increase the used area, and hence the mushroom yield.

Care for future mushrooms

Once a day, the bags should be slightly moistened, and the room itself should be thoroughly ventilated, since in the process of fruiting oyster mushrooms, a large amount of carbon dioxide is formed. As for the lighting in the dungeon, during the first week it will not be needed at all, and then it would be nice to illuminate the room. Mushrooms will grow in any case - with or without light - but backlighting can significantly increase the yield.

Watering oyster mushrooms

If all conditions are met, the first fruiting will begin in 10 days. When the mushroom heads begin to lighten (after the whitish, dark and greyish brown stages), you can harvest. After a while (about three weeks), the second fruiting will begin with a much lower productivity. Two series of fruiting, taking into account a well-chosen base and high-quality mycelium, yield up to 45 kg of oyster mushrooms from 100 kg of the substrate used. When the harvesting of mushrooms of the second second wave is completed, the packages are taken out of the basement, and, after sanitizing the underground room, a new batch is placed in it. This conveyor method makes it possible to carry out 6 double fruiting cycles per year.

Basic rules for growing oyster mushrooms

Oyster mushrooms grow in a bag of hay

Table. Growing conditions for cycles

1	Germination of mycelium bodies into the substrate	10-14	20-24	90	not required
2	Ripening and fruiting	4-5	22-28	95	not required
3	Growth of the fruiting body (1 wave)	7-10	15-19	85	100
4	Growth of the fruiting body (2nd wave)	7-10	13-17	85	100
5	Harvesting, unloading the substrate, disinfection of the chamber	2	irrelevant	irrelevant	not required

Value and use

Fresh Oyster mushrooms

Oyster mushroom is highly valued for its beneficial nutritional properties. In taste, it is not inferior to other cultivated mushrooms and even surpasses them, and in terms of the value of the composition, it has no competitors at all. Not hard, but dense texture, light bread flavor and subtle aniseed notes on the palate. For cooking - a godsend, since oyster mushroom is a versatile mushroom. It can be boiled, fried, canned (pickled and salted), stewed, dried.The only product that the popular mushroom doesn't go well with is fish. Otherwise, in salad, hot, soups, as a stand-alone culinary masterpiece - oyster mushrooms are wonderful.

Fresh oyster mushroom - photo

Important! A prerequisite for the preparation of any mushroom dishes is its heat treatment. In its raw form, it contains chitin, which is not absorbed and rejected by the human body.

Growing a mushroom, given the right premises and some free time, can become not only a useful and nutritious hobby, but also a way to make good money by supplying healthy and tasty oyster mushrooms to the retail network.

Video - Room for forcing mushrooms Oyster mushroom

Video - Harvesting Oyster mushrooms