Growing champignons at home for beginners (in the basement, at the dacha)

Growing champignons at home for beginners, as well as for experienced mushroom pickers, is a modern, fashionable, fascinating exercise. This is a kind of hobby, and a source of additional income, if you approach the matter rationally, competently.

Champignons are a popular, always in demand, tasty and healthy food product. They do not linger on store shelves, despite the fact that they have not the lowest cost. Growing them yourself, you will always be sure of their "pure" origin. They are useful: they contain glucose, carbohydrates, vitamins, 18 amino acids, easily digestible fats. Also harmoniously combined with any products, they can be boiled, fried, baked, marinated, canned.

This mushroom is incredibly tasty, low calorie, is an excellent alternative to meat (which, of course, attracts the attention of vegetarians).

Knowing how to grow champignons at home, you can provide yourself, as well as your friends and relatives with a quality product.

Champignons, photo:

Before starting to engage in mushroom picking, you should sensibly assess your desires and opportunities. In addition to time and money investments (purchase of materials), you must have the appropriate premises. Some skills, a detailed study of information on relevant Internet forums, the presence of a competent adviser will never prevent you. If we compare the process of growing champignons and veshenok, then our case, of course, is more time consuming. But if you compare it with the cares and nuances of breeding white mushrooms, it will be much easier, shorter in terms.

Where grow mushrooms in nature?

If we consider natural conditions, then they are found almost everywhere. Forests, steppes, meadows, fringes, lowlands, open spaces with moist soil and even semi-deserts, mountain forests are usual places of growth.

As for the "home" conditions, they can grow in the garden or vegetable garden, cellar, basement, a specially equipped garage, a greenhouse.

How to grow mushrooms? Long experience of mushroom pickers has been proved that they grow best where the basement is equipped with good ventilation.

In this case, the air temperature should be relatively cool (not above +20 ° C), and if this process put on the flow, then the mercury index on the thermometer should vary between +12.. + 18 ° C all year round. The percentage of humidity should be about 70..85%, lighting does not play a special role.

It is not recommended to cultivate mushrooms in the apartment conditions due to the absence of all the required standards: temperature, compost (smells from it), lack of space.

Growing champignons at home - technology

The necessary factors for a successful process are:

1. The right place.
2. Disinfection of the room.
3. Organization of microclimate.
4. Competent preparation of the substrate.
5. Composting.
6. The choice of mycelium.
7. Planting of mycelium.
8. Appropriate care.

As already mentioned above, with properly organized conditions, mushrooms can be grown throughout the year. The technology itself is not very complex, as it may seem initially. From the very beginning it is necessary to arrange everything competently, and then the process will go on the rolled track. This work can be called even creative, something like a hobby. To date, breeders have recovered about 50 varieties of this fungus, which have slight differences in appearance. The color of the cap, its structure, the duration of storage may vary, but all cultural varieties are the "children" of the usual white champignon.

An example of a light brown variety on the photo:

Let us, as a basic example, consider just the basement cultivation, since this method is considered the most common. For the so-called "burial" breeding, it is best to choose high-yielding varieties such as Silvan 130 (Sylvan 130), Hauser A15 (Hauser A15) or Somicel 512 (Somycel 512). They are rather unpretentious, they are easy to take care of, and also very "prolific".

Remember - the most important factor for a successful result of your efforts is the presence of well-adjusted ventilation in a room where mushrooms will grow!

The constant flow of fresh air is very important, because during the growth they release carbon dioxide, and its excessive concentration in the room leads to stretching, lengthening the mushroom leg.

Growing champignons in the basement

The chosen room must be decontaminated. This factor does not depend on whether the basement is a garage or a separate shed. As already mentioned above, in addition to good ventilation there must be a high level of humidity. It is necessary for qualitative growth of mushrooms, but in fact high humidity is a direct way to the appearance of mold and various fungi on walls, shelves. In addition, the mushrooms themselves are extremely sensitive to all kinds of parasites and diseases. Therefore, the treatment of the room is a must for the mushroom grower.

How to grow champignons at home - disinfection of premises:

1. Of the most common, often used - it is whitewashed ceiling, walls, all surfaces with a lime with copper sulfate (copper sulfate) added to it. The so-called "recipe 2 or 3 kg of slaked lime + 100 g of copper sulfate per bucket of water (10 liters). When working with disinfectants, always wear a face mask!
2. The second method is more dangerous for the human respiratory tract and also requires protection. It takes 350 g of bleach, diluted with 10 liters of water, is used by irrigation of the walls of the room.
3. Irrigation of walls and other surfaces with 4% formalin, using a construction spray - most convenient.
4. You can fumigate the room with a sulfur checker - it also gives a very effective preventive effect.
5. Chlorophos is a radical, disastrous method, but it is too poisonous in its composition. It works not only on mold, but also on harmful insects.

After any treatment, the room needs to be ventilated in a qualitative way - this is also a prerequisite.

Let's return to ventilation, or rather - we will clarify one thing: the air should be fresh, but drafts should be excluded. Pipes of ventilation ("dushniki") are better to be closed with grids with a shallow cell - this will create an obstacle to the penetration of insects, as well as a small barrier to air masses. If you have a serious room of large size, and growing is put on stream, then the system The ventilation should be more global, with additional fans located above each large drawer. If opportunities permit, installation of air purifiers with replaceable filters will not be superfluous for this case.

It is clear that a thermometer with a hygrometer is simply necessary for a room where mushrooms are grown. So you can always control the humidity level of the air: with a lack - water with water from the spray gun, with excess - to ventilate. With the onset of summer heat, fans solve this problem, but if the cultivation of this type of fungi occurs over the year round, then in addition to all the above-mentioned benefits of civilization, you will also need additional heating of the basement or cellar.

Large cellar room, photo:

Best of all, if your cellar, in addition to all the requirements for cultivation, will have an earthen floor (not concrete). On a larger scale, the more purposefully the premises will be adapted specifically for mushrooming - the better. Any additional additional factors in the basement, cellar, garage or shed, not related to the topic of growing mushrooms, will only interfere with the "microclimate" of the premises.

To the "pluses" of mushroom science can be added the fact that they are able to bear fruit well even in total darkness. This distinguishes them from all other green inhabitants. Enough of the weakest light bulb - they will feel comfortable, but the light, rather, more useful to you, so that you can navigate comfortably.

If growing champignons at home initially has far-reaching plans, the owner has a large room, then dividing it into 2 zones will become a reasonable, convenient solution. Simply put, the mushrooms must originate somewhere, and a specially prepared substrate (about it later) is calculated for this process. So, in one zone there will be a substrate on which the mycelium will spread (this is called incubation). In the second compartment will be placed directly boxes with mushrooms, where their forcing will take place.

The temperature regime of these two compartments must also be different: the mycelium usually grows at a temperature of +23.. + 24 C °, and the growth of the fungi occurs at an index of the temperature column +16.. + 18 C °. If you adjust, develop your own "schedule" of moving boxes from one zone to another, you can grow these delicious, all-time favorite mushrooms year-round.

Compost for growing champignons

The preparation of compost (substrate) is one of the most important aspects of mushroom growing. The quality of the mushrooms will depend directly on the properly prepared substrate. Usually, when you buy a mycelium of champignons, the packaging with the content shows the substrate corresponding to the variety, as well as the nuances of its preparation. Sorts are different, and the composition of the compost, its harvesting technology can vary. However, most often these parameters do not have any significant differences.

Mycelium, photo:

Substrate should be prepared either in a specially designated room for these purposes, or outdoors (outdoors), under a well-equipped canopy. It is important that compost does not get precipitation (rain) or sunlight. It is also extremely not recommended to pour the compost on the "bare" ground - lay a sheet of dense polyethylene film. Thus, unwanted insects or some other pests will not penetrate the substrate. It should not touch the ground, but blowing it with air from all directions is a must!

Compost for champignons should be moderately moist, as excess moisture can disrupt proper fermentation processes.

Whatever it was, the street is the best place to ripen the substrate, the active allocation of ammonia, carbon dioxide will not be useful to anyone. The average time of "readiness" of the substrate, its fermentation, is approximately 25-30 days. During this period it is recommended to mix it at least three times (to ensure uniform fermentation). The fact that the process has come to an end, you will learn by the absence of a specific smell of ammonia. Its color by this time acquires a brownish hue. While the substrate is fermented, the temperature inside it can be about +50.. + 65 C °, and already ready-to-use compost has a temperature of no more than +24.. + 25 C °.

By the way, to enrich the contents of the compost when it is first mixed, you can add to the general composition the crushed lime. During the second mixing - fertilizer superphosphate, the third - rubbed gypsum or its building analog (alabaster). Already the "ready" substrate, in addition to the features described above, does not stick to the hands, the springy person at tactile contact, the straw is extremely softened, easily divided into fragments.

As an alternative to the independent process of substrate preparation, one can advise the acquisition of ready compost, which is sold in the garden and garden departments of supermarkets or flower stores. Of course, such a substrate will be less qualitative than prepared personally, although on the package it will be written that it has all the required characteristics.

Here it is up to you to decide - what is more convenient for you, do you have the time to implement all the points of preparation for the cultivation of these mushrooms. Considering the common signs of "good" compost, let's highlight the main ingredients.

Compost composition for growing champignons:

1. For these purposes, it is considered to be the best equine products of life. In addition, it is important to consider that the horses were fed with hay, and not with green grass. Moisture of horse manure for the preparation of the substrate should be about 45%. Horse waste can be replaced by cow or bird, but, according to the experience of seasoned mushroom pickers, the harvest on such a "basis" will be much worse. So, horse manure you will need about 100 kg.
2. Straw - better choose a dry, rye or wheat variety. It, too, you need about 100 kg.
3. Alabaster (gypsum) - approximately 6 kg.
4. In other cases, the alabaster is replaced by urea (-3 kg) or the same amount of saltpeter (per 100 kg of straw and 1000 kg of manure). As we recall, these fertilizer additives are introduced with the mixing of the compost.
5. Again, the use of 100 kg of horse waste, 100 kg of well-dried rye straw, 3 kg urea, 5 kg of chalk, 2 kg of superphosphate, kg of gypsum, when mixed, will create the optimal ratio ingredients.

How to grow mushrooms at home? Use fresh animal products, while they still contain the most nutrients. Make sure that there are no coniferous shavings or sawdust in the introduced components - they release resin, and these fungi feel it, react painfully to its presence. Phosphorus fertilizers, as well as urea, are in fact very recommended, useful are sources of phosphorus and nitrogen, so necessary for champignons. But the chalk normalizes the acidity of the substrate, maintains the optimal pH level.

Champignons: growing at home - the easiest way to create layers:

1. We take a convenient wide container, fill it with hot water, soak the straw for about 24 hours.
2. After that, we lay it in layers together with the manure. You will get about 5-6 layers. Do not forget to moisten each layer with a lot of hot water, lightly, but do not wet it abundantly.
3. After 3 days, take the forks and thoroughly mix the compost-straw "pie but add fertilizer - superphosphate with carbamide (urea). At this stage, the substrate begins to smell strongly ammonia. After 4 days, we again shovel the substrate, additionally adding those top dressings that are required by the standard for this variety.
4. In general, the composting should be done about 4 or 5 times for the whole time. Do not spare the effort on this - useful elements are evenly distributed throughout the composition, and the mass will acquire a relatively homogeneous consistency.

The so-called "care" for compost has already been described above, but I want to add, to repeat the warning about excessive moisture. Too much moisture in the substrate will slow it's maturation, but worse - it will wash all the useful ingredients required for development, growth, from the mixture.

Compost components (dry hay, horse manure, fertilizer), photo:

Mycelium of champignons - planting

Substrate, of course, should be purchased from a reliable representative (best of all - special laboratories). When the compost is already ripe, we transfer it to the agreed place, we arrange it on boxes or special forms, where further actions will take place:

1. To get a good harvest of champignons, on 1 m2 of compost will need about 500 g of mycelium or 400 g of these varieties of spores.
2. If a mycelium is used, small dimples, 4 or 5 cm deep, should be made at a distance of 20 cm from each other along the entire surface of the container with compost. In these pits the appropriate amount of mycelium is laid, if for the sowing spores of fungi are used, they are simply evenly spread over the surface of the substrate.
3. After a while you will notice the thread strings covering the surface of the containers with compost. By this time, the temperature of the humidity in the room should stay at 75-95%. To avoid drying the substrate, it can be irrigated from time to time with clean water from the spray gun, and also covered with a clean damp cloth or paper.
4. The mushroom of champignons begins to grow at a temperature of +20.. + 28 C °, the active phase of the distribution of the mushroom "spider" begins approximately 10 or 12 days later, then the upper layer of compost it will be necessary to sprinkle with appropriate soil mixture (about 4-5 cm), wait another 3 days, then transfer the containers with future mushrooms to a colder room with a temperature of +12.. + 16 FROM. Or, by force, lower the temperature in the room to this indicator of the mercury column.
5. Note that the usual garden soil for "sprinkling" you will not work. Prepare a mixture of 1 limestone fraction, 5 parts of peat, 4 parts of clean soil. After 3 - months, expect the first well-deserved results of their labors.

Harvest from one mycelium can give from 5 to 8 periods of maturation of new fungi. This is called "wave the most generous collection of champignons falls on the first three "waves". It is important to catch the moment of maturation - when the hat from below is still tightened with a thin white skin (film), and brown plates can not be seen yet. Mushrooms need to be twisted from the place of its growth, but not cut off (so that harmful bacteria do not penetrate into the mycelium through the site of the cut).

After that, the kakurozhay will be collected, again gently sprinkle the substrate described above zemlemesmesyu. During the next two weeks, they will grow particularly active.

Correctly extracted from the soil mushroom, photo:

Hat in the optimal state of ripening, photo:

How to grow champignons in a country house in the open ground?

In addition to the above, most commonly used "basement" method of growing mushrooms, there are other alternatives. For example, how to grow champignons at home, namely - in the suburban area. Sometimes, for some reason (lack of a basement, garage or other suitable premises), the desire to cultivate these mushrooms seems impossible. But if you are a happy owner of a summer cottage - everything is feasible!

The most successful period for this is summer and autumn, it is also important to choose a comfortable place. Champignons - where grow? In shaded areas, on specially prepared soil, the place for the mycelium should be in moderation humidified, the land should not dry out, the sun's rays should not cover the selected a place. To protect against drought on hot days, beds are often covered with a polyethylene film or special covering material to create a certain microclimate. It is important to maximize the fungi to conditions similar to the environment of their natural growth. Since we can not affect the weather conditions, we must try to give the mushrooms moisture - when they need it, as well as the presence of fresh air.

In the garden under the trees, photo:

After seeding the mycelium on the beds, on the open ground, the cultivation of champignons - their technology, practically does not differ from the rules of growing in the cellar. After a couple of weeks, the "spider webs" of the mycelium grow over the surface of the soil, at this point the temperature is lowered by pouring the soil surface with a thin (up to 5 cm) layer of moist soil. The temperature, likewise, should vary within the range of +12.. + 15 C °, but in no case should it reach above +20 C °. Just like in the above method, it will be much more productive if this land contains peat and limestone. Regular watering (or rather, delicate irrigation) is best done after sunset - it will optimally moisten the soil, will not allow the formation of a dense earth crust. With the right approach to business, after about 3-4 weeks you can expect a harvest of your own mushrooms.

Mycelium lets "spider photo:

Let's sum up how to grow mushrooms in the country:

1. Mycelium or spores should be planted on specially prepared soil for this purpose. It can be a soil brought from the forest zone.
2. The land should be optimally saturated with top dressing, be well-moistened, do not have stones, fragments of bricks or the remains of old roots.
3. To plant mushrooms in the open ground is best at a neutral temperature of air - +21.. + 22 C °.
4. If you have chosen a greenhouse for planting, you should carefully monitor the humidity level and the air temperature in it. The conditions do not differ much from the basement or garage mushroom breeding. It must be remembered that heat and drought are fatal for them.
5. As already mentioned, the method of planting does not differ from the "basement" analog (20 cm apart, shallow pits, dusting with earth mixture after the appearance of "spider").
6. With the production of the first mushrooms, the abundance of watering can be reduced (so that the rootlets do not rot), irrigation - our everything in this matter.

After all the waves of the mushroom crop have come to naught, the spent substrate can simply be disposed of, and It can be quite successfully used as an organic fertilizer or mulch for some trees or even flowerbeds. Of course, it will not be suitable for re-growing mushrooms, but as an excellent feeding for your green inhabitants - it will serve. As for all sorts of containers, boxes after harvesting and composting, they will require mandatory disinfecting treatment, as well as the premises where mushrooms were grown.

Feedback from those who grew champignons

Growing champignons at home for beginners can not be called a very easy process, but, like in any new business, compliance with the rules, as well as taking notes from the already experienced mushroom pickers will surely help you in this interesting, fascinating occupation. And the grown up harvest will please you, your relatives and, quite possibly, will bring material income!