How to grow oyster mushrooms at home in the basement?

Table of contents:

• Basement preparation
• Single-zone or multi-zone growing technology?
• Preparation for sowing mycelium
• Preparing and sowing mycelium
• Growing and picking mushrooms
• Common mistakes when growing mycelium
• Common mistakes when growing mushrooms

Many people find it nearly impossible to cultivate mushrooms at home. But this point of view is incorrect, because growing oyster mushrooms in the basement does not require a serious investment of time or effort. And you can get a lot of advantages from such an unusual hobby.

Oyster mushroom is unpretentious, always gives a good harvest.

1. This mushroom is not whimsical at all. The temperature in the room where it will grow must be maintained in the range from + 9 ° С to + 30 ° С with air humidity in the range of 80-85%.
2. Oyster mushroom is a very high-yielding crop. You can place 330-500 mushroom blocks per 100 m2. And from one block, 2.5-3 kg of mushrooms are harvested up to 10 times a year.
3. These mushrooms do not require significant and labor-intensive maintenance. And one person may well look after the mycelium.

If you decide to grow mushrooms in the basement of your own home, you can not only provide your own family with this useful product, but also build your own, albeit not too large, but profitable business.

Basement preparation

Any basement with the necessary microclimate is suitable for growing oyster mushrooms. It must be remembered that the strains of this fungus, which are now common on the Russian market, do not bear fruit at temperatures above + 25 ° C. Therefore, you do not need to build a special greenhouse.

The following conditions must be met in the basement:

• the air temperature must be maintained in the range from 15 ° С to 20 ° С;
• air humidity not lower than 80% and not higher than 95%;
• good ventilation and proper lighting must be established.

All these conditions are easy to provide in an ordinary home basement.

For normal oyster mushroom growth, the basement temperature should be within 15-17 degrees and 80% humidity.

For the normal growth and development of fungi, the balance of humidity and air temperature is very important. Remember that under the same indoor conditions the level of moisture saturation in the air is higher, the lower the temperature. For example, at + 20 ° C, the humidity is 90%. If the temperature drops to + 19 ° C, then the humidity rises to 100%. And when the air warms up to 21 ° C, the humidity level drops to 82%. Therefore, for effective cultivation, compliance with certain standards is required.

Such conditions require special thermal and waterproofing of the basement. But this does not require re-equipping it. It is enough to use a suitable covering material. Experts recommend spreading straw or wrapping paper on the floor, covering the concrete with a thin layer of soil or sand. It is only necessary to change the damp material in time.

Fungi require a low level of carbon dioxide in the air for normal growth. Centrifugal fans will help to provide optimal conditions for growing oyster mushrooms.

The mushroom plantation requires neither windows nor natural light. It is necessary to equip the basement with fluorescent lights (so-called fluorescent lamps).

Naturally, it is necessary to be especially careful when choosing materials for equipment.Wood and metal mushroom growing shelves are cheap but short-lived. They quickly rot, rust and mold. And parasites can also start in the tree. Therefore, it is worth giving preference to plastic and concrete.

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Single-zone or multi-zone growing technology?

Mushrooms do not need light to grow.

For effective cultivation of mushrooms, you may need one or several rooms at once. It depends on which growing technology is used in a particular case.

If, after inoculation, that is, the introduction of microorganisms into the nutrient medium (inoculation), the blocks with fungi are constantly in the same room, then the development of the mycelium (mycelium) and fruiting occurs side by side. This is called single zone growing technology. With multi-zone technology, the germination of mycelium in the substrate occurs in one compartment of the room, and the mushrooms bear fruit in another.

Both cultivation methods have their own advantages and disadvantages. Single-zone technology allows you to save usable basement area (no additional room for mushroom blocks is required). But then there is a need for additional equipment to change the temperature, degree of illumination, air humidity and the level of carbon dioxide in it.

Technological scheme for growing oyster mushrooms (single-zone technology).

With a multi-zone solution, it is necessary to equip several rooms. But the conditions in them will be constant. In this case, you will need one germination area and one fruiting area.

For the normal development of the mycelium, a higher temperature is required than for fruiting. But the light and additional ventilation are not needed for the mycelium.

It should be borne in mind that during the growth of the mycelium of oyster mushroom, a significant amount of heat is released. And if you correctly arrange the blocks, then you can save a lot on heating, when additional heating is needed only in the first few days of germination. The optimal arrangement of blocks is considered to be one in which up to 200 kg of substrate is placed on each 1 m2 of floor.

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Preparation for sowing mycelium

The mycelium can be planted in 2 ways: in ordinary building plastic bags or on artificial stumps located in specially prepared shelves.

To prepare the stumps, you will need any kind of hardwood logs. Low-grade wood is also suitable. Usually they take logs up to 1.5 meters long and 10-15 cm in diameter.Before sowing mycelium, cuts are made in the stumps at a distance of 30 cm from each other and about 5 cm deep.

Scheme of the Dutch mycelium.

The frame of the shelf for growing is mounted from scraps of metal pipes, corners or wooden beams. The structure consists of 4 vertical posts and 3-4 shelves, on which artificial stumps are placed. The length of the side of the frame should be approximately equal to the length of the harvested logs, that is, 150x150 cm. The shelves are at a distance of 30 cm from each other. The lower shelf rises above the floor to the same height

But the easiest way is to use construction bags 35x75 cm or 35x90 cm in size. They do not need additional processing, you can place them in the basement as it is convenient for you.

Before sowing mycelium, the bags are filled with a pre-prepared substrate. Fresh sawdust (necessarily deciduous trees) or sunflower husks are used for it. The substrate must necessarily meet the following requirements:

• there should be a smell of fresh wood or sunflower;
• the color of sawdust can be from white to deep yellow;
• the moisture content of the mixture should not exceed 30%.

To fill 1 bag measuring 35x75 cm, you will need 2.5 buckets of dry filler.

Oyster mushroom scheme.

Before filling the growing bags, the substrate must be pasteurized, that is, treated with specially designed organic additives.But you can do without expensive funds. To do this, you need slaked lime. It must be taken in a ratio of 1% to the total mass of the substrate in the bag. Lime is mixed with the filler, then soaked in a suitable container (without removing the filler from the bag), pouring hot water for 2.5-3 hours so that it completely covers the substrate.

The bags are removed from the water, suspended, allowing the water to drain. The finished filler should be slightly damp, crumble easily and not stick to your hands.

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Preparing and sowing mycelium

The mycelium is bought as needed, because its shelf life is only 5 days at temperatures from + 15 ° C to + 25 ° C. To form one block of oyster mushrooms, 200-285 g of mycelium are required (depending on the type of strain).

Before sowing, mycelium can be fertilized with special organic additives that will help increase yields by up to 30% and shorten the growing period. Add them strictly following the manufacturer's instructions. But usually powders are added at the stage of processing the filler for bags, and solutions - just before inoculation of the mycelium.

The mycelium is an underground organ. Its popular name is “mycelium”.

Before sowing, be sure to wash your hands and disinfect gloves. Remember that growing mushrooms requires strict hygiene practices.

If the mycelium was stored in the refrigerator, then it must be removed from there 3.5 hours before sowing. The temperature of the mycelium should be approximately equal to room temperature.

The mycelium is added to the prepared substrate in a ratio of 2.25% per block, that is, approximately 190 g per 9 kg of filler. The substrate with the mycelium is compacted tightly so that there are no voids. The bag is tied tightly and left in a clean and warm room for 27 hours.

Mycelium grows at temperatures from + 16 ° C to + 22 ° C.

Mycelium grows at an air temperature of + 16 ° C to + 22 ° C. About 1.5 days after sowing, characteristic whitish spots appear under the surface of the bag. For the normal development of oyster mushroom mycelium, the block temperature should not exceed + 29 ° С (optimally - + 25 ° С). If the temperature rises higher, then the room needs to be cooled.

After 5-8 days, the substrate turns brown, and after 10-12 days, the block turns completely white. Mushrooms germinate on days 14-16.

Oyster mushrooms are bred not only by sowing mycelium, but also using caps of old mushrooms. But this method is unreliable, and it will take you at least 1 year for a new crop to appear.

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Growing and picking mushrooms

When good growth of the mycelium is visible to the naked eye, cuts are made in a crosswise manner in the bag (the length of the cuts is approximately 2.5 cm). One mushroom block requires approximately 11 holes. For this period, the mushroom blocks are best placed about 10-30 cm above floor level. This will prevent the accumulating carbon dioxide and pests from reaching the oyster mushroom.

When fungi form, abundant watering is necessary. It is best done with a spray bottle. To supply water inside the bag, you can punch additional holes in the block or pour through the already made slots for the growth of oyster mushrooms.

The main feature of a ripe mushroom is the formed hymenial plate.

The best way to humidify the air for effective oyster mushroom growing is to use a high pressure diffuser at the beginning of the basement duct. In winter, if possible, apply steam. You can also increase the humidity inside the room by watering the floor, but this method should not be abused.

The main feature of a ripe fungus is a formed and elastic hymenial plate (inner side of the cap). In this case, the edge of the oyster mushroom must still be bent down. When the edges are straightened, spores are released and the mushroom loses weight. Therefore, it is worth harvesting a little ahead of time.

When picking mushrooms, you need to pull them out of the substrate, not cut them off. Slices of the legs are an ideal place for the development of green mold (trichoderma).

Up to 4 shoots can be grown on one block. Typically 2 shoots are the largest. But after the 4th harvest, the substrate should be completely changed, even if the mushrooms continue to grow. Along with the fungi, pathogens also multiply, which are capable of infecting the entire basement.

All work must be carried out with goggles, a mask and gloves. These precautions will help protect not only your oyster mushrooms, but also your health.

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Common mistakes when growing mycelium

If you do not maintain the desired temperature in the basement, mold will appear on the oyster mushroom.

If, when growing mushrooms, you observe a weak mycelium puffing, and the ripening time has increased significantly, then the most likely reason for this lies in the non-observance of the optimal temperature regime necessary for the correct formation of the mycelium. In order to fix the problem, you will need to adjust the temperature in your basement.

Sometimes weak fluff is accompanied by the appearance of dark or green spots on the block surface. The reason for this is the dirt introduced during the preparation of the substrate or during inoculation. Remember that growing mushrooms requires strict hygiene standards.

Mold can also cause these stains. In any case, you shouldn't risk your entire crop. Isolate the affected unit from the rest, and thoroughly sanitize the basement. It is possible that mold and mildew will not have a significant effect on the crop. But it's not worth the risk.

Mold can be the cause of the appearance of numerous colonies of fluffy mycelium both in open areas of the substrate and on the fruit bodies themselves. In this case, the affected oyster mushrooms turn yellow, lose their elasticity and become watery. Such lesions are caused by the fungus Artrobotrys pleuroti. In this case, the mushroom block must be completely destroyed along with the harvest, and the basement must be carefully treated with disinfectants.

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Common mistakes when growing mushrooms

If there is insufficient ventilation in the room, the oyster mushrooms will dry out.

On already ripe or young mushrooms, a characteristic bloom may appear, resembling a grayish muslin. Such a defeat is also called a spider web. The fungus softens, and the decay of the carpophorus (fruit body) is accelerated several times. Mold is also to blame for this problem. Be sure to isolate the affected blocks, remove and destroy the infested areas along with the crop (it is wiser to destroy the entire block). Try changing the water you use for irrigation. Perhaps the pathogens were in it. Treat the room with a solution of baking soda and salt. The crop must be harvested in a timely manner and without residue. Fully sanitize your basement. After collecting the surviving mushrooms, completely replace the substrate with fresh one and sow new mycelium.

If you notice that excess water accumulates under the polyethylene of the mushroom block and an unpleasant putrefactive smell appears, then you have overmoistened the substrate, and the block has swamped. This could be due to improper watering when using a watering can rather than a spray bottle. Or the drain holes in the bag are not large enough. Increase the number of holes to remove excess moisture. You can make 2-3 additional cuts at the bottom of the block 3-5 cm long. Be sure to try to increase the ventilation of the entire room.

Oyster mushrooms are perennial mushrooms, if you create constant optimal care for them, they will give a good harvest every year.

In case of insufficient ventilation, violation of the temperature regime and air humidity, oyster mushrooms can be delayed in development, and some of them will dry out.This can be avoided by adjusting the microclimate in the basement, maintaining the optimum temperature and humidity, and adjusting the ventilation. Almost all newbies face this problem. After all, each room has its own unique characteristics. It is possible to find the optimal conditions only by experience.

Due to non-observance of the technological rules of cultivation, the appearance of the oyster mushroom may also change: the leg becomes disproportionate in length, the cap, on the contrary, is formed small and bends in the form of a funnel, the entire body of the mushroom is bent. Most often, this is caused by an excess of carbon dioxide in the air, low humidity in the room or a lack of light. As soon as you notice unwanted changes in your mushrooms, try using different lighting and ventilation modes.

These are the basic rules and features of cultivation, according to which oyster mushrooms are grown in the basements of private houses. Mushrooms do not require a serious investment of effort, time or specialized knowledge. It is enough to adjust the necessary equipment once so that it provides optimal conditions, and you can harvest a very useful product all year round.

Growing mushrooms today is a very profitable business, and equipment for growing champignons, oyster mushrooms and other popular mushrooms located in the greenhouse will help organize stable production throughout the year. The main thing is to approach the matter correctly and comply with all technological standards.

Growing mushrooms consists of several stages:

1. Arrangement of the premises.
2. Composting.
3. Acquisition of mycelium.
4. Growing mushrooms.
5. Harvesting.

Mushrooms are always welcome guests not only at the festive, but also on the everyday table. No matter how many of them there are on the market, the price does not decrease, because many people want to pamper themselves and their family with gray oyster mushrooms or snow-white champignons. These are unpretentious mushrooms and they are easy to grow in a greenhouse, using environmentally friendly pickles for food all year round. And if you get a taste, then growing mushrooms can be made a family business.

There are 2 levels of mushroom production - amateur and industrial. Depending on them, the level of the used equipment also changes. If you need a large and stable income, production will have to be automated.

Room equipment: lighting, ventilation and temperature control

Champignons and oyster mushrooms can be grown in polycarnate or glazed greenhouses.Vegetable growers who grow early vegetables in the greenhouse in summer can use the same area for growing mushrooms in winter. The main thing here is not the material from which the room is made, but the observance of the temperature regime.

It is very easy to adjust the light regime when using a greenhouse. Since mushrooms do not like direct sunlight, glass for the winter can be whitened from the inside with a chalk solution, and by spring the whitewash can be washed off, preparing for the vegetable season. As for champignons, they can do without lighting at all, and oyster mushrooms have enough lighting equal to the power of a 100-watt bulb per 20 square meters. m. So, additional equipment with lighting devices for a greenhouse with transparent walls is not required.

In winter, the mycelium will have to not only be heated, but also ventilated, because compost is used to grow mushrooms, which releases a lot of CO2, so carbon dioxide will have to be removed from the room from time to time.

In a small room, you can use a household fan to improve air circulation, but it is much more convenient when supply and exhaust ventilation is involved.

A greenhouse for winter use is equipped with gas, stove or electric heating. Fungi require different temperatures at different stages of growth. Oyster mushrooms during the incubation period need 20-25 ° C, and during fruiting, the temperature is lowered by 5 ° C.When mushrooms are grown, in addition, between incubation and fruiting, the temperature will have to be reduced to 15-17 ° C. Therefore, the room for growing champignons and other mushrooms, first of all, must be equipped with a thermometer.

To ensure a high level of the necessary humidity in a small room, you will often have to spray the floor and beds from a household spray gun, and in a large room it is better to assign these responsibilities to automation, which, based on the indicators of the sensors, will turn on and off not only the humidifier, but also heating and ventilation. To create a microclimate, foggers are often used - installations that generate artificial fog, since the room should have a humidity of about 90%. The advantages of automatic systems are that they allow you to set your own environmental parameters for each stage of mushroom growing. In amateur mushroom growing, you can get by with a hygrometer and hand spraying.

Substrate preparation

Oyster mushroom is considered the easiest to grow, as it grows very quickly, and the substrate is easy to prepare. You can grow this unpretentious mushroom on almost everything. It is allowed to use straw, sawdust from processing hardwood, coconut shells, sunflower seed husks, toilet paper, potato peelings. But without special preparation, only wood trimmings can be used, all other types of substrate must be heat treated in order to suppress the development of competitors - moldy fungi.

Growing mushrooms in small volumes, containers for preparing a substrate for mushrooms are made independently from purchased metal barrels, one of which is placed on bricks over the fire and filled with water. Steam is generated in it, which, through the attached pipe, enters the second barrel with the substrate, which will be sterilized with hot steam to destroy the harmful microflora.

For farmers who produce mushrooms on an industrial scale, it is better to purchase a substrate machine that can carry out even the complex process of composting the planting soil for mushrooms. The compost for mushrooms is fed into the container via a conveyor belt, which is then processed with hot steam. The electric motor rotates the drum at this time, due to which the processing occurs evenly.

Equipment for growing oyster mushrooms (video)

Placement of myceliums

Dutch technology has great prospects, allowing the use of even small rooms. It provides for the arrangement of racks on which products are grown in several tiers. Shelves can be purchased or made by yourself. This optimizes the process, and it is possible to get several times more harvest from the same area. The production of oyster mushrooms allows the use of long bags under the substrate, placed on racks or suspended on special hangers.

Summarizing all of the above, you can make a list that mentions the main equipment for growing mushrooms and oyster mushrooms in large volumes:

1. Shelving and / or hanging.
2. Automatic machine for maintaining the necessary environmental conditions.
3. Humidifier.
4. Heater.
5. Ventilation unit.
6. Compost racks.
7. Substrate machine.

In addition, if necessary, shredders of substrate components, mechanical stuffing bags with substrate and other equipment are purchased, depending on the need.

At first glance, growing mushrooms seems to be too troublesome, but practice shows that even novice agrarians can successfully cope with this. The correct choice of equipment will reduce labor costs or avoid rash expenses. If mushrooms are grown for your own table, there is no need to purchase expensive equipment, a greenhouse is enough, and many operations can be done manually. Farmers, on the other hand, are much more profitable to purchase specialized equipment that eliminates unnecessary labor costs and increases the yield. It will pay off quickly and start making a profit.

How to grow champignons (video)

Gallery: oyster mushrooms and champignons (15 photos)

Growing mushrooms at home allows you to harvest all year round. This allows us to consider it as an additional source of income. From this article you will learn how to grow oyster mushrooms in a basement.

Different ways of growing

Oyster mushrooms can be grown in two ways: extensive and intensive. Extensive assumes the use of natural conditions and is considered more profitable in terms of investments. The intensive uses an artificially created environment.

Both methods have disadvantages. The disadvantages of growing in a natural environment include the ability to harvest only once a year and complete dependence on external conditions. The second method requires a fairly large investment and has many organizational nuances.

For those who want to grow mushrooms in the basement, both methods are suitable. It all depends on the equipment available and personal preference. In fact, the replanting technology is common, only the volume of the crop changes. This article will describe an intensive method using a special substrate.

Basement preparation

Before you start growing mushrooms, make sure that the conditions in your basement meet all the requirements. If at least one of them is not observed, you will not be able to maintain the required microclimate and your entire crop will die.

Oyster mushroom is successfully grown in basements.

So, what should be in the basement where oyster mushrooms are grown?

1. Stable temperature from 10 to 20 ° C.
2. Air humidity from 85 to 90%.
3. Sophisticated ventilation system.
4. Free from mold and pests.
5. Purity.

If you look at the list and find any problems, be sure to fix them. It is recommended to start preparation with cleaning. It will help you find sources of problems and free up space for shelving and equipment.

To achieve the required temperature, you need to make the room airtight and think over the heating system. Usually, to warm up the basement, you need to insulate the floor and walls. After that, one heater will be enough for you, which must be turned on once a day.

Air humidity is not only related to temperature, but also directly depends on the dryness of the basement. If it is periodically heated by groundwater, it will be difficult to regulate humidity. After solving all the problems with tightness, air humidification will be carried out during irrigation.

Mold in a vegetable basement can be a major obstacle to a rich harvest. Fight it by warming up the room, regularly cleaning and covering the walls with special antifungal paint.

At the slightest suspicion of pests, call professionals or carry out pest control yourself. It is most convenient to use a smoke bomb and industrial insecticides. Remember that after processing, at least 1 week must pass before laying the blocks with the substrate.

The final step in preparing the basement is thorough cleaning and disinfection. It is carried out using a 1% chlorine solution or bleach. Please note that in addition to the basement, you will need a separate warmer room for the incubation of oyster mushrooms.

Substrate procurement and processing

First, you need to buy mycelium and the substrate on which the oyster mushrooms will grow. Suitable substrates are dried stems, hay, buckwheat and seed husks, and hardwood shavings. The main requirement for the substrate is the complete absence of mold and rot.

Collecting the substrate yourself is a difficult task. All beginners are advised to purchase ready-made material, packaged in dense plastic bags. When buying, pay attention to its composition. It is important that it is suitable for growing oyster mushrooms.

The processing of the substrate can be carried out in the following ways:

• hydrothermia (use of hot water);
• pasteurization (blowing steam over a humidified substrate);
• xerothermia (blowing steam over dry material).

The purpose of such processing is to make the substrate looser, to fill it with oxygen and other useful substances. The root system of fungi will develop in a comfortable and fungus-free environment. This will speed up your oyster mushroom growth and allow you to harvest several large crops per year.

To prevent mold growth, dry the substrate thoroughly after rinsing. To do this, leave it to dry in a warm place for 2 days. During this time, all excess liquid will drain.

After that, the available raw materials are crushed and mixed. This will help the substrate to retain water better. The resulting material is completely ready for planting oyster mushrooms.

Oyster mushroom grain mycelium.

If you decide to purchase the vegetative body of the fungus, that is, the so-called "mycelium", carefully approach the choice of the supplier. To get started, buy a small trial batch. Be sure to check the information on the supplier's certificate and on the labels. The most important points for you are germination rate, resistance to disease and fungus, variety and shelf life.

The mycelium should be free of ammonia odor and black or gray spots (this may indicate incipient mold). It should have an orange or yellow tint.

It is very important to know if all storage conditions have been met. Oyster mushroom mycelium should be stored at + 3-4 ° C in a basement or refrigerator. Transport temperature should not exceed 20 ° C. Subject to these conditions, its shelf life is 6-9 months, depending on the variety.

After you purchase the mycelium in bags, leave it at room temperature for 1 day. Then fold them apart from each other so that they can freely access the air. Keep in mind that the shelf life at home is significantly reduced, so you should start planting as soon as possible.

Before laying, carefully chop the mycelium without opening the bag. After that, briefly transfer the bags to the room with the substrate, that is, to the basement. This is necessary so that the temperature evens out, and the mycelium does not die from shock.

The opening of the bag with mycelium should be done exclusively in a clean room. Use gloves and disinfect the table with an alcohol solution. It is worth noting that the cultivation of oyster mushrooms and the planting of mycelium should be carried out in different places in order to avoid infection of the mycelium. If you don't have a separate room, use a divider to create a small space in your basement.

Basics of cultivation technology

The whole technology of growing oyster mushrooms can be roughly divided into 4 stages. The first involves processing the substrate. Methods for processing it are given in the previous part of the article. At home, the easiest way to prepare it for use is with hot water. Add water so that it completely covers the substrate and boil for 1.5 hours.

Pre-boiling the substrate.

Many people prefer to boil the substrate directly in plastic bags. In this case, you need to make several holes in them so that the water can circulate calmly. After draining the water, it is advisable to place the substrate under a press and leave for a day to remove all excess liquid.

Laying of oyster mushroom mycelium should be carried out only in sanitary conditions. Disinfect the basement first, treat the bags with alcohol and put on gloves. If there is ventilation in the room, it must be temporarily blocked to prevent the spread of fungus. Also wash the work surface with disinfectant and water.

Pour the mycelium and substrate on the table, mix them, taking into account that the total mass of the substrate should account for 3% of the mycelium of domestic producers and 1.5-2% of the mycelium of foreign manufacturers.

Put the resulting mixture in special bags of 10-15 kg and tamp it tightly.If you are trying to grow oyster mushrooms in your basement for the first time, use 5 kg bags. The smaller the volume, the easier it is to regulate the temperature inside the block.

Mushroom substrate bags.

When you have filled all the mix available, flatten the bags slightly on one side and perforate on the other. The cuts are made with a sharpened and clean knife at an angle of 45 °. The length of each cut should be 50 mm.

The packed bags are transferred to the incubation room, where the average temperature is + 25 ° C. They are placed on racks so that the perforated sides have free access to air. In addition, there should be free space between the bags. It must be at least 5 cm. It is forbidden to put them on top of each other. Now the third stage begins - incubation.

Laying the mycelium into the substrate.

Incubation and cultivation

The temperature at the incubation site should be constant and not fluctuate more than 1-2 ° C. If the temperature rises above 30 ° C, the mycelium will experience heat shock and future fungi may die. Even small changes in temperature reduce the likelihood of germination.

During incubation, the room must not be ventilated. The emitted carbon dioxide creates suitable conditions and slightly increases the humidity. To prevent mold and disease, clean daily with chlorine-based cleaning products.

The emergence of fruiting bodies of mushrooms.

Typically, incubation takes 18-25 days. After that, the oyster mushrooms are ready for the last stage - cultivation. The bags should be carefully transported and laid out in the basement. They are installed vertically at a short distance from each other.

Further successful cultivation depends on the conditions that you create in the basement. Humidity should be between 85% and 95%. To grow mushrooms with a light cap, a temperature of 10 ° C is required, and at higher temperatures (up to 20 ° C), the cap will turn out to be dark. However, these differences do not affect the taste in any way.

The light intensity should be 5 watts per square meter. Mushrooms are watered 1-2 times a day with warm water using sprinklers.

Since mushrooms produce a lot of spores during cultivation, it is best to keep them away from living quarters. High concentrations of spores in the air can cause allergies.

Harvesting

The first mushrooms should be expected in 1.5 months. After removing them, you can wait for a re-harvest in 2-3 weeks. In order for the crop to appear quickly, you need to completely cut off the legs and sort out the substrate. If the block becomes moldy, it must be removed from the basement immediately and used as fertilizer. If you do everything right, oyster mushrooms will bear fruit within six months.

Oyster mushrooms can be harvested several times throughout the year.

With the right approach, growing oyster mushrooms in the basement can be considered an additional source of income. The main disadvantage of this way of earning is the need for capital investment. But the numerous pluses clearly outweigh this minus. You will be able to grow a rich harvest that will not depend on the season, and will quickly return all your costs

Many people find it difficult to grow mushrooms in the basement. Perhaps not all mushrooms are suitable for reproduction in an artificial environment, but growing oyster mushrooms in the basement does not require special financial costs and efforts to maintain, while ensuring stable harvests of mushrooms at home. Sometimes this hobby turns into a profitable business very successfully.

Oyster mushrooms are not demanding on temperature and humidity, setting the average temperature from 9 to 30 degrees Celsius and humidity 80-85%, you can get a bountiful harvest. The high yields of oyster mushrooms are confirmed by the collection of three kg of mushrooms from one block, up to 500 such blocks are installed per 100 square meters.

Among other things, caring for the mycelium is not difficult.

Preparing the basement for growing mushrooms

Any underground premises with an optimally arranged microclimate are suitable for the reproduction of oyster mushrooms in cellars.You do not need to build a greenhouse, but before growing oyster mushrooms, you need to ensure the cellar temperature is no more than 25 degrees Celsius.

The following conditions must be met in the basement:

• the temperature is set from 15 ° C to 20 ° C;
• humidity from 80% to 95%;
• good ventilation and adequate lighting.

It is necessary to maintain a balance of temperature and humidity, because even small fluctuations in the scale of degrees are immediately reflected in the humidity of the room. At 20 degrees of heat, the humidity is 90%, with a decrease of 1 degree, the humidity rises to 100%, and when heated to 21 degrees of heat, the humidity is reduced to 82%.

In the basement, you should take care of hydro and thermal insulation. There is no need to re-equip the basement room, it is enough to use covering materials. Experts recommend covering the floor with straw, or covering it with a thin layer of sand or soil.

The main thing is not to forget to change the damp material in time.

Mycelium and oyster mushrooms require low carbon dioxide levels at the breeding site. To ensure their correct growth, it is worth considering installing centrifugal fans.

The oyster mushroom plantation does not require natural light or windows. You can use fluorescent light sources (called fluorescent lights). Conventional lamps, especially those of higher power, are not allowed to be used, since they can overheat the mushroom beds.

When choosing a material in which mushrooms will grow, one must take into account the strength and durability of their use, as well as resistance to moisture. Wooden and metal elements quickly fail, becoming covered with rot or corrosion, fungus and mold. For the installation of shelves, it is worth choosing plastic and concrete.

Oyster mushroom growing technologies

You can use one or several basements for mushroom plantations at home. It all depends on the technology used.

If, after the introduction of spores into the nutrient medium (grafting), the blocks with mushrooms stand in the same room until fruiting, the development of mycelium (mycelium) and harvesting take place in one place. This technology is called single-zone.

In the case when spore germination is done in one compartment, and fruiting is carried away to the second, a multi-zone method is used.

With single-zone technology, the basement area is saved, but there is a problem with maintaining the temperature, humidity and degree of illumination changed after germination. With a multi-zone design, it is necessary to equip several basements with constant conditions.

So, one basement room will become the germination zone, and the second - the fruiting zone. For the development of the mycelium, a temperature is needed higher than for fruiting. With the growth of the oyster mushroom mycelium, a noticeable amount of heat is released. If you arrange the mushroom plantations correctly, you can significantly save on heating the basement.

Preparing boxes for oyster mushrooms

Planting of mycelium, as a rule, is carried out either in construction bags made of polyethylene, or in artificial stumps, which are placed on shelves. To prepare such stumps, you need parts of logs of any deciduous trees, 1.5 m in size and up to 15 cm in diameter.

Before sowing the mycelium, in each stump they make a cut to a depth of 5 cm. Between such cuts there should be at least 30 cm. The shelf is made of a metal profile, corners or wooden beams.

This four-story structure consists of racks and shelves on which stumps are laid out. All shelves are removed 30 cm from each other, including the lower one - from the floor.

Construction bags are much easier to use, the small dimensions of which (35 * 75 cm or 35 * 90 cm) allow them to be positioned with space saving without much labor costs. In addition, these bags do not require additional processing.

Before sowing, the bags are filled with a substrate of fresh sawdust (hardwood) or husk of seeds or buckwheat. One bag will require 2.5 kg of substrate, and its color of sawdust should vary from white to bright yellow, the moisture content of the mixture is about 30%, and the smell is dominated by notes of fresh wood and sunflower.

The substrate is pasteurized; the simplest mixture for this is slaked lime. It is taken in the amount of 1% of the total mass. Stir with the substrate, soak in containers (right in the bag) for 3 hours in hot water. At the end of the time, the bags are taken out and allowed to drain. The filler should be moist and not crumble in the palm of your hand.

Preparing and sowing mycelium

The mushroom box is not purchased in advance, since it is suitable only for 5 days. From one mycelium weighing 200-285 grams, a block of oyster mushrooms is obtained. It is necessary to calculate in advance the required amount of mycelium.

It is fertilized with natural additives to increase yields, according to tradition, all additives are added at the stage of filling the bags, and solutions - when planting the mycelium.

Disinfect all surfaces, including your gloves, before starting work. Growing oyster mushrooms requires compliance with sanitary rules. The mycelium is removed from the refrigerator 3.5 hours before the start of work. It is planted in a substrate at the rate of 190 grams per 9 kg of filler.

When planting, it is compacted tightly, without voids. The bag is tied and set aside in a clean, warm place for 27 hours. At a temperature of 16-22 degrees Celsius, in a day and a half, whitish stains will appear on the surface of the bag.

We monitor the temperature, its maximum level is 25 ° C. After a week, the substrate will turn brown, and on days 10-12, the block is completely white. Mushrooms grow quite quickly - they appear 2 weeks after planting.

Growing and picking mushrooms

As soon as the growth of the mushrooms becomes noticeable, cuts are made in the bags crosswise. There are about 11 holes per bag. All blocks are placed at a distance of 0.3 m from the floor to protect against pests.

At the stage of mushroom formation, abundant moisture is needed with a spray bottle. In winter, it would be nice to add steam, or flood the floor with water. It is quite easy to recognize a ripe mushroom - it has a formed and elastic inner side of the cap.

Moreover, the edge should be bent to the bottom. When the edges are straightened, the mushroom loses spores (and weight), accordingly, it is important to have time to harvest before that. When collecting, it is very important to pull out the mushroom, and not cut it off, because the cut site is a breeding ground for mold and other infections.

All work at home is carried out without fail in a mask, glasses and gloves. This is necessary not only for oyster mushrooms, but also to protect their own health.

Diseases of the mycelium

As soon as a slight fluff appears on the mycelium, this is a signal that the temperature regime is not being met. When the growing conditions change, the mycelium is formed incorrectly. To avoid this, or to eliminate such consequences, you should adjust the required humidity and temperature.

Also, puffing can be accompanied by dark or greenish spots on the block, which means that dirt is brought in, either when planting mycelium, or in the process of caring for it.

If traces of mold appear, discard the affected block without regret. It is better to sacrifice one than to lose the entire crop. Immediately after this, a thorough sanitization of the room is carried out.

Another common oyster mushroom disease is the fungus Artrobotrys pleuroti. Its signs are the loss of elasticity by the mushrooms, the appearance of yellowness and wateriness. Such an affected block is destroyed and the entire room is disinfected.

Possible mistakes when growing oyster mushrooms in the basement

On the formed fungi, a gray bloom may form, which means a defeat by a spider web. The mushroom becomes soft and its leg rots. All this happens very quickly due to the spread of mold.

Such blocks with defeat must be removed from the total mass and destroyed, since it is no longer possible to save the landing.Perhaps the pathogens were in the water, it also needs to be changed. All premises are treated with soda salt solution, sanitization of all surfaces is carried out.

After the remaining healthy mushrooms have been harvested, replace the substrate with a new one and inoculate new mycelium.

If a musty odor appears under the bag material and condensation accumulates, then the substrate is too waterlogged. Waterlogging of a block of this kind occurs with the wrong method of irrigation - you need to use a spray bottle instead of a watering can.

Alternatively, the drainage holes are insufficient for adequate ventilation, their number should be increased. General ventilation of the room can also help - if it is lacking, the optimal microclimate of the basement will be disturbed, which will lead to a delay in the growth of the fungus and its drying out.

The selection of ventilation is individual and is chosen empirically. If an excess of carbon dioxide accumulates in the air, then the entire mushroom is deformed at all stages of development - its leg becomes too long, the cap is very small and a curved funnel, the whole mushroom is bent beyond recognition.

It can also be at low humidity or lack of lighting. Immediately after revealing such a fact, change the backlighting and ventilation modes of the basement. Growing oyster mushrooms in the basement does not require much effort, time or solid knowledge.

Compliance with all the rules for the reproduction of mushrooms and the technology of caring for them will make it possible to equip mushroom plantations in the basement and harvest crops all year round. If you wish, you can master the cultivation of other types of mushrooms, such as champignons or porcini mushrooms.

Growing Oyster mushrooms in the basement.avi