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Champignons are elite mushrooms included in the daily diet of every family. They have excellent taste and are easy to prepare. A wide variety of dishes can be prepared from them. If you have a summer cottage with a basement and a desire to please your family with these wonderful mushrooms without restriction all year round, having studied the technology, you can start growing them on your own. Believe me, planting mushrooms is not at all difficult. And our instructions on how to do it step by step for beginners will help you in this matter.

Champignons at home can be grown both in the beds and in the basements. You can grow this type of mushroom on the beds with your own hands for some time, as long as the weather conditions allow. But you can grow in the basement all the time. To do this, you just need to prepare a special substrate, properly prepare the room, study all the nuances of growing and be patient.

Champignons are quite unpretentious mushrooms that can be grown both in the country and at home in the basement.

Breeding in the basement for beginners

Before you start growing mushrooms, you need to properly prepare the room for growing mushrooms. It is better to approach this issue seriously, since the yield and quality of mushrooms depend on the growing conditions.

When equipping a basement for growing mushrooms, it should be borne in mind that the floor in the basement must be concrete. This is necessary in order to be able to maintain the appropriate humidity and a certain temperature regime in the room, as well as to prevent the appearance of rats, moles and various kinds of insects in the cellar.

To prepare the basement for growing mushrooms, it is important to carry out the following activities:

1. Clear the basement from the remnants of vegetables;
2. Whitewash the walls and ceiling with lime, with copper sulfate added to it;
3. If, as a result of storing vegetables in the basement, there is the presence of fruit midges, it is necessary to treat the room with chlorophos;
4. Place a box with sawdust soaked in disinfectants at the entrance. This will prevent bacteria from entering the room;
5. Disinfect all surfaces and racks;
6. Install additional ventilation, air conditioners and air purifiers;
7. There must be no mold on the ceiling and walls;
8. After processing, the room is well ventilated.

Preparing the substrate at home

To prepare the substrate you will need;

• horse manure - 100 kg;
• dry straw - 100 kg;
• urea - 2.5 kg;
• gypsum-8 kg;
• superphosphate-2 kg;
• chalk-5 kg;
• water 400 liters.

The preparation of nutrient compost should be done outdoors or in a well-ventilated area. If the substrate is being prepared outdoors, then it is advisable to build a canopy to protect the composition from raindrops and direct sunlight. The straw is soaked and left for 2 days.

For composting, it is better to use wheat or rye straw, without any signs of mold.

After soaking, straw and manure are mixed and left to roast. After 3 days, the composition is stirred, urea and superphosphate are added to it. When these components are added, a pungent ammonia smell appears.

On day 7, gypsum or alabaster is added to the composition, the composition is mixed well so that the top layer moves inward. After another 3 days, add chalk and add water. Then two more cuttings are made every 4 days. When performing interruptions, you need to thoroughly mix all the components so that they are evenly distributed in the total mass.

Ready-made mushroom compost should be rich in protein

When the compost is overcooked, it will turn dark brown and the smell of ammonia will disappear. The mass will be springy, the straw will become soft, and the compost will leave a wet trail on the palms when compressed. If water is released from the substrate during compression, then it must be interrupted again and scattered to dry. You can add 2 kilograms of chalk to it. The composting process takes 21 days. This volume is enough for an area of ​​3 sq. meters.

Planting mushroom mycelium at home in the cellar

When the substrate is ready, it is lowered into the basement, laid out in boxes or bags for growing mushrooms and planted with mycelium. You can buy it in specialty stores or mushroom farms.

It is necessary to deepen the mycelium to a depth of 5 cm. The distance between the depressions should be at least 20 cm. It is recommended to plant in a checkerboard pattern. After planting, the mycelium is sprinkled with soil.

Mycelium for planting in packaging

If fungal spores are planted, then in this case they are sown on the surface of the prepared soil. After sowing, spores are not sprinkled and the soil does not require additional moisture. It is important to cover the soil with a cloth and moisten it regularly. Mycelium will grow within 5 days. At this time, it is necessary to maintain an air humidity of 80-92% in the room and a temperature of 22 to 27 degrees. After 12 days, when the increased growth of mushroom threads begins, the surface must be covered with a mixture of the following ingredients:

• peat - 5 parts;
• soil - 4 parts;
• limestone - 1 part.

The layer must be at least 3 centimeters thick. After laying out the top layer, another 5 days should pass. The soil must be periodically moistened.

The covering layer must be sterile, otherwise infection can occur and the entire mycelium will die. For sterilization, the soil is spilled with boiling water or steamed in the oven!

After 5 days, the room temperature must be lowered to 13-16 degrees. During this period, the growth of mushrooms begins.

Planted mycelium that needs time to grow

Forcing fruiting bodies

The first crop can be harvested in four months. It is important to ensure that the mushrooms do not overripe. Collect at a time when there is still a white film on the underside of the cap and no brown plates are visible. Mushrooms cannot be cut with a knife, as the infection can get into the mycelium from the remnants of the cut leg. Each mushroom must be carefully twisted.

After harvesting, the places where the mushrooms grew must be covered with soil. Within 7-14 days, active growth of mushrooms will occur, which will make it possible to harvest up to 8 times. The largest amount can be harvested in the first three harvests, then the yield drops.

Technology for growing mushrooms in open beds

You can grow mushrooms not only indoors, but also in open beds.

For growing mushrooms, a garden bed located on the north side of the site, shaded from direct sunlight and protected from drafts, is suitable.

The ideal location would be under a canopy or next to a wall or brick fence. This will protect the mycelium from sunlight and rain.

The convenience of growing mushrooms in the open field is that no additional ventilation is required, the bed is naturally ventilated, which prevents the risk of mycelium decay in the ground.

For growing in an open bed, chicken droppings, horse or cow manure mixed with straw are suitable.

What is mycelium for in the country

For planting and growing mushrooms, a mycelium is needed. The mycelium is the root system of the fungus, which is a network of white thin filaments located in the upper layer of the soil. Its task is to reproduce mushrooms. It grows from the spores that are contained in the overripe cap of the mushrooms in the process of dying off. It needs moisture to grow successfully.

For growing mushrooms at home, mycelium can be purchased in specialized stores or grown with your own hands.

Planting in the ground in open beds

For planting champignons, it is better to prepare the site in the fall. In the selected area, it is necessary to remove the top soil layer of 30 cm. The garden bed must be at least 1 meter wide. The distance between the rows is 55 cm. At the bottom it is necessary to pour a layer of expanded clay, it will serve as a drainage layer.

The thickness of the layer should be 9 cm. Then weeds are thrown over the drainage layer, watered with mullein solution, sprinkled with soil removed from this bed and left until next year. Before placing the substrate on the beds, the soil must be disinfected. For this, a carbation solution can be used. The thickness of the substrate should be 22 cm. It is laid out in waves, the height of which is 32 cm and the base is 52 cm.

Scheme of arrangement of beds with open-type champignons

In the substrate, you need to make holes with a depth of at least 5 cm. The myceliums must be deepened into the hole 2 cm below the surface of the soil and covered with a substrate. If the mycelium is grain, then it is enough to scatter it over the surface of the soil, sprinkle it with a layer of three cm of substrate and tamp it lightly.

Along the border of the bed, it is necessary to make bends to drain excess water!

Provided that the soil temperature is +25 degrees, the growth of the mycelium will occur within two weeks. If the temperature is +30, the mycelium will die. For convenience, the mycelium is planted in a checkerboard pattern with an interval of 25 cm with honey holes. At the end of planting, the beds must be mulched with straw, this will prevent moisture evaporation. The layer thickness should be 25 cm.

From time to time, the straw is carefully moistened so that water does not get onto the substrate. You can check the germination of the mycelium after 5 days. To do this, you need to carefully lift the compost. After 14-21 days, the surface of the substrate will be braided by the threads of the mycelium.

After rooting of the mycelium, the straw must be removed and the mycelium should be covered with a covering layer. Covering soil is prepared as follows:

• peat-9 parts;
• chalk-1 part.

The soil must be moist. Spread it over the surface, compact and cover with straw again. The thickness of the soil should be 3.5 cm.

The first mushrooms should appear in 7-10 days. If the weather is hot, then fruiting may stop. With the onset of a decrease in temperature by several degrees, the mushrooms resume growth.

Mushrooms are harvested 21-30 days after planting.... It is necessary to collect mushrooms when the cap begins to take on a pink tint. It is impossible to leave the ripe mushrooms, as they will weaken the mycelium. In addition, overripe mushrooms have a significantly worse taste. When collecting, mushrooms are not cut. They must be carefully twisted. New mushrooms grow within two months.

The profitability of growing mushrooms at home

In order to understand how profitable it is to grow mushrooms at home, it is necessary to clearly understand all the nuances of this business, namely:

• rental of finished premises or construction of a new one;
• buying mycelium;
• disinfectants for room treatment;
• necessary equipment (racks, containers);
• equipment for ventilation and air purification;
• sanitary examination of finished products.

• compost 20 tons - 13 335 rubles;
• mycelium - 6 700 rubles;
• heating the room - 33 335 rubles;
• salary-40,000

Total - 93,370 rubles.

Growing mushrooms on an industrial scale

Profit calculation:

For 20 tons of compost, you can get 4 tons of finished products. The average cost of champignons is 150 rubles. From the sale of 4 tons, we get 600,000. Accordingly, the net profit will amount to 506 630 rubles.

However, these estimates do not take into account the investment in equipment, premises and costs incurred during the growing process. Accordingly, the recoupment of costs and the receipt of the first profit can be expected not earlier than in 12 months, subject to all the requirements regarding the cultivation technology.

It should be borne in mind that the calculation was made for an average farm. At home, the scale will be much smaller, and, accordingly, the cost part will not be so large. You can also use the simplest method - growing in bags.

You can start growing champignons from several boxes, and having mastered the growing technology, having delved into all the nuances, you can safely develop this type of business.

In the process of growing mushrooms at home, this stage is the most laborious. It is important to do everything strictly according to the instructions. to get a good harvest in the end. Compost made from winter wheat or rye straw (up to 25%) and horse manure (75%).

For 100 kg of straw, 2 kg of urea and superphosphate, 8 kg of gypsum and 5 kg of chalk are taken. Then manure is applied and in total about 300 kg of substrate is obtained. It will be enough to lay a mycelium three square meters in area.

The substrate is prepared outdoors under a canopy. The straw is soaked for a day, then the straw and manure are stacked in layers.

It is better to additionally moisten each layer of straw (this is where urea and superphosphate are needed). Then the heap is mixed well and other components are added to the substrate.

After mixing all the components, the fermentation process begins, during which on the third day the temperature in the stack will be about 70 degrees Celsius.

For a stack to burn better, it should be about one and a half meters long and high, and about twenty meters wide. After 22 days, the compost for growing mushrooms will be ready.

It should also be noted that it is possible to grow mushrooms on peat, but in this article we consider only the option with manure, as the most profitable.

For those interested in poultry farming, we invite you to read our series of articles on this topic.

Planting mycelium

For the correct cultivation of champignons at home, only sterile mycelium, which is grown in special laboratories, can be the seed material.

One square meter of substrate requires 400 grams of grain or 500 grams of compost mycelium.

Now a handful of grain or compost mycelium is taken and lowered into the substrate by about five centimeters. Place the holes in a checkerboard pattern, observe a distance of 20 cm between them.

The grain mycelium can not even be planted deeply, but simply scattered over the surface.

Incubation and temperature control

During the incubation period, closely monitor the humidity of the air. It should be at the level of 70-95%.

To preserve moisture, it is recommended to cover the box with the substrate with a newspaper and spray it periodically. The temperature of the substrate itself should be at the level of 20-27 degrees Celsius.

The mycelium will begin to grow after a week. At this time, the surface of the substrate should be covered with 3-4 cm of soil. 3-5 days after falling asleep, the temperature in the room should be lowered to 12-17 degrees Celsius.

The surface is constantly moistened. Particular attention should be paid to the ventilation of the room, but so that there are no drafts.

Harvesting

Already in 3-4 months it will be possible to harvest the first crop. Mushrooms should be collected that have a stretched white film under the cap, connecting the edges of the cap and the leg. It is not recommended to eat mushrooms with brown plates.

When picking, the mushrooms are not cut, but carefully twisted. Fruiting mycelium will last a week or two. During this time, up to seven harvest waves are collected.

Up to 12 kg of mushrooms can be harvested from one meter of square usable area. Moreover, 70% of the crop is harvested during the first two waves.

Growing champignons in the basement

The process of growing champignons in a basement is no different about how to grow these mushrooms at home. It should be noted that cellars, storerooms and closets are good premises for growing mushrooms. Because it's damp and dark there.

There is no need to create any additional conditions different from those required when growing at home.

In the country or at home

This growing method is good because mushrooms can be planted right on your site, outdoors.

Need to find the most shaded and humid place, make a small canopy or greenhouse there.

Now you can compost and grow mushrooms using the technology used for home cultivation.

Please note that outdoors, it will be more difficult to create the necessary temperature and humidity conditions for the mushrooms.

Mushrooms as a business

Thanks to the abundant harvest, the rather simple planting and care process, many people think about how to grow these mushrooms for sale. But, it should be borne in mind that this the niche is already densely packed with entrepreneurs.

The advantage to opening such a business is that that the raw material for growing mushrooms is agricultural waste that is sold for a penny.

If you initially know where to sell the resulting crop and work out a good distribution scheme, then you can get a good profit the first time.

In addition, it will not be difficult to find a ready-made business plan for growing mushrooms.

Equipment for industrial scale

When growing a large number of mushrooms industrially, of course, you need a lot of equipment... After all, the room will have to maintain a constant microclimate, a certain humidity and temperature.

So, not to do without professional humidifiers, compost racks, mushroom picking trolleys and various electrical equipment.

It is impossible to list everything you need, because every little thing is important. So, it is best to contact specialized firms selling equipment for the industrial cultivation of mushrooms.

But in order to grow mushrooms at home or in the country, a lot of equipment is not required. Strict adherence to rules and regulations, and in three to four months it will be possible to harvest a bountiful harvest of delicious mushrooms.

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Video

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Growing champignons at home for beginners will help you build a profitable business, while without much cost and skills. Why is this so? After all, champignons can be bought in any store? Have you noticed what prices are set by the owners of supermarkets for such products? If you can set up production in your house, or even apartment, you will be able to sell them much cheaper to your friends, eat them yourself, or try to organize a whole dealer network. In general, it all depends on your plans for life, but the algorithm of actions is the same for everyone, so today we will teach you how to grow mushrooms at home, and you can choose the volume of this production yourself.

Before starting any business, you need to set goals, and really look at things, whether you can realize them. For a start, you can try, it's easier, but not as profitable. If you are serious about making money, then go ahead to your dream.

First of all, calculate all the costs, you need to find a room and buy materials, which we will talk about further.

What should be the premises?

Mushrooms love coolness (+ 13C… + 17C), so the place should be just like that, a cellar or basement will be very useful. The air humidity should be approximately 75%. In the spring, before that in the central and northern regions, where the heat does not come so quickly, mushrooms can be grown right outside, but the temperature should not be higher than + 20C.

Substrates for growing mushrooms.

Without a substrate or in the common people - compost, it is unrealistic to run this business, therefore this point is especially important. What is the composition of the manure substrate for our purposes:

• Cow or horse manure - 5 kilograms.

• A sufficient amount of straw is 10 kilograms.

• Superphosphates - 200 grams.

• Definitely the amount of plaster is 700 grams.

• Chalk - 500 grams.

• Urea 200 grams.

You can also make a substrate from poultry droppings, but it will be less effective.

Ingredients for litter substrate are required.

• Straw - 10 kilograms.

• Litter - 3 kilograms.

• Urea - 200 grams.

• Gypsum - 700 grams.

• Alabaster - 500 grams.

For one square meter of substrate, 40 kilograms of straw will be needed for the base. Other components and proportions are not changed.

Disinfection of the mushroom substrate is an important process, see how it happens.

Preparing compost for growing mushrooms.

Since, as a result of the maturation of the compost, fresh manure will emit a huge amount of heat, and all other components in the heap lead to the emission of carbon dioxide and ammonia vapors, it is better to prepare this mixture in the fresh air, or in a room where fresh air is constantly circulating, otherwise such the procedure cannot be carried out, it is dangerous for your health!

The compost ripens best in the sun, because this way the temperature rises even more, and the process goes much faster. The main thing is to make protection from rain, otherwise it can harm and confuse your plans. When it rains, you can cover the pile with a riboid or plastic.

It is better to prepare compost for the substrate outdoors.

To prepare the substrate, you must not take bad, damp or spoiled straw, it must be of ideal quality. Before laying the substrate, the straw should be soaked for 24 hours in a large vat of water. If you do not have such a vat, you can simply spread the straw on polyethylene and constantly sprinkle it with water, make sure that it does not have time to dry out.

Laying the compost heap.

After you have prepared all the components, they will need to be stacked in layers. A layer of straw, a layer of manure (droppings). All layers of straw are impregnated with ammonium nitrate and urea, in the proportions indicated in the plates. Also, the straw must be watered with plenty of water. Approximate number of layers 8, 4 each (straw and manure). The last ball is always straw. The next step will be abundant watering. The height of the pile is at least 100 centimeters.

The pile should now warm up in the sun for about 7 days. After that, it will need to be shaken with a pitchfork. Although this is a complex procedure, its implementation is mandatory, because this way fresh air gets inside. Also, during this procedure, plaster is applied to improve the structure. Four days later, a second shaking procedure is done, superphosphates and chalk are added.

Make sure that the pile does not dry out, if the first symptoms begin to appear, water it with water.

Every four days, repeat the procedure, do it twice more. After 21 days, the unpleasant smell from the heap will cease to emanate, and its color will also change. The straw will soften and you can rip it with a slight movement of your hand.

How do you know if the compost is ready? There are several signs: it does not stick to the palm of your hand, if you squeeze it in your fist, it begins to spring, and leaves a wet, but not dirty mark on the skin.

If you get too wet manure, from which liquid flows out, you need to dry it a little by spreading out a pile, and adding half a portion of chalk.

And so, now you need to put this substrate in a container where you will grow mushrooms, on shelves or racks. Before introducing the mycelium, it is necessary to lower the temperature of the substrate itself.

How to lay compost for growing mushrooms.

The bookmark depends on the method of growing, if you decide to grow mushrooms directly on the floor, then you can pour the heap directly onto it, as shown in the picture above. Its layer should be about 70 centimeters. The garden bed should be half a square meter.

1. In the case of growing mushrooms on shelves, just make boards and lay the substrate on the shelves, the layer height is 45 centimeters.
2. You can also grow mushrooms in boxes by pouring compost into it in a layer of 25 centimeters, while boxes can be stacked on top of each other, because they have no need for lighting.
3. When grown, in open ground or in a greenhouse, the substrate is poured onto the ground, the height of the slide is up to 30 centimeters. But this procedure should be started in early spring, after the ice has thawed. It is necessary to make a canopy over the plantation, from the sun and rain.
4. Compact and level the pile surface with your hands.

Planting mycelium.

This is the most important aspect of the job. The soil temperature should not be higher than + 27C, the planting depth is 5 centimeters. Take this procedure seriously, measure it with a thermometer, because if the temperature is higher than +29 at the planting depth, the mycelium will most likely die. The mushroom box for planting champignons is bought in special stores, or via the Internet. There are two types of planting material: double-pore white and brown myceliums. They are exactly the same in their structure, but differ only in their color.

Methods for growing mushrooms at home.

There are two main ways - dung and cereal. Cereal mycelium is consumed at the rate of 400 grams per 1 meter2, manure will need 500 grams.

How to plant mycelium.

If you have a dung ball of mycelium in your hands, you should divide it, one piece should be 2.5 * 2.5 centimeters in size.

1. We have prepared pieces of mycelium for planting, then we lay it out on a large tray, in one layer, now use a peg to lift the soil and plant one piece of the prepared mycelium.
2. Mycelium is planted by analogy with a chessboard, the distance between the cells is 20 centimeters.
3. Cover a small part of the substrate (3 centimeters) with the substrate.

Mycelium on compost

Cereal mycelium. These are common grains, but they are home to fungal colonies. Planting is carried out by analogy with planting cereals.

1. Remove the top ball of compost (3 centimeters)
2. Then pour the grain infected with the fungus onto the surface.
3. We put the top layer back in place, tamp it.

If champignons grow on your site or nearby, you can take this soil as a basis, and plant it at home, and thus grow mushrooms without spending time and energy on composting.

Care for mushrooms at home.

You have already done the main work, but this is not all, now it is very important to grow the mushrooms correctly. To do this, the room must be set and maintained at a suitable temperature. This is very important because Everything outside the temperature range of + 24C .. + 26C makes this task impossible, only in this temperature range the mycelium begins to germinate. Often inexperienced mushroom pickers, from the first days they wait for shoots to appear, but the mushrooms do not grow upward, but inward, so at first you will not see anything.

You should also monitor the moisture content of the compost layer, it should not be other than 60% + -1..3%. In case of drying out, myceliums stop developing. But do not direct moisture inward, just sprinkle the outer layer, water getting inside is an unwanted occurrence.

After 12 days, the germination of the fungus ends in depth, now it is necessary to reduce the room temperature to + 20C. It is also necessary to prepare the soil, the mushrooms will grow on it, and not on the compost. The composition of the soil is as follows, choose any:

1. The land is sod;
2. Loam;
3. Sandy loam soil;
4. Peat-based soil with fine structure.

Heavy soils are not suitable for growing mushrooms, so it must be sieved through a sieve.

What you need to do to grow champignons at home

Before filling the soil, it will need to be moistened. Then we pour it on the compost, the layer should be about 3.5 centimeters. Everything else is already a matter of technology, and there is nothing complicated about it.

It is necessary to maintain the room temperature in the corridor from + 16C to + 18C (+ - 1C..2C). Air humidity should be around 70% -75%. And the soil moisture is 60%. Carbon dioxide will accumulate in the room, so the room should be ventilated daily. After 40 days, you will be able to harvest the first harvest of your own mushrooms. They bear fruit for another two months.

That's all, growing champignons at home may seem like a daunting task for a beginner, but if you do everything in stages and do not load your head with unnecessary worries and expectations of failures, in 4 months it is quite possible to get the first harvest of homemade mushrooms of excellent quality. And during the fruiting period, you will collect up to 7 crops from the site.

You also need to know that the protective film on the stem that connects to the cap must be intact. If the plates on the porcini mushrooms have darkened, or there is no film, it is better not to eat them.

Mushrooms are collected by hand without a knife, simply by pulling them out of the ground. The place that remains bare is covered with soil and slightly moistened.

Video of growing mushrooms at home:

We wish you good luck in this difficult, but very interesting and profitable business, visit our website more often, we have a lot of interesting materials on the topic, until we meet again and good luck!

Everyone is familiar with champignons - they can be found on the shelves of all grocery stores all year round. Moreover, they can differ in the color of the hats: brown, white or cream. They can also differ from each other in the shape and size of the cap, which does not affect their taste in any way.

Regardless of the color and other varietal characteristics, these mushrooms contain a large amount of minerals, vitamins and nutrients necessary for humans, and at the same time, the number of calories in champignons is quite low - only 27 per 100 g, so their use does not affect weight gain ...

In order to grow champignons on your own, you must first familiarize yourself with the conditions for their cultivation:

• Temperature. Champignons grow at an air temperature of about 15 ... 17 0 С, and at a higher rate, their growth stops.
• Humidity. This indicator changes, for example, when planting the mycelium of fungi, it is necessary to maintain the moisture content of about 90%, and after its survival, reduce it to 60 ... 70%.
• Ventilation and air circulation. Growing mushrooms is impossible without ventilation and aeration, since the substrate in which it sits constantly releases various substances, and when they stagnate, mustiness forms. At the same time, it is important not to create drafts - mushrooms do not like them.
• Lighting. For growth and development, champignons do not need light at all, they are grown in the dark. However, to carry out work with them, you still need a little lighting, which is then turned off.
• Watering. Watering is preferable with an irrigation nozzle or watering cans with fine mesh.

Mycelium- this is the planting material for champignons, the cultivation of which is simply impossible without it. There are two types of mycelium: grain and compost, so named in connection with their growing environment. Previously, mycelium was removed only in a compost environment, but now mycelium grown on wheat grain has gained immense popularity. It is believed that they take root much faster and better.

The mycelium is produced in a laboratory environment, so it is usually ordered online or purchased through manufacturing firms, as the production of mycelium is considered a separate business. But many, in order to save money, breed their mycelium at home. But, as practice has shown, this activity is very difficult and requires sterility, which often cannot be observed, and mold and harmful bacteria appear instead of mycelium.

Growing - step by step instructions

At home

At home, mushrooms are rarely grown, using mainly greenhouses, cellars, cellars or open ground ridges. If you want to experiment and plant myceliums in the room, then it is imperative to comply with all the conditions for growing mushrooms: content temperature, air humidity, ventilation and airing, etc.

Mainly compost consists of straw and horse manure, into which nitrogenous mineral fertilizers are applied: urea, superphosphate, ammonium nitrate, and gypsum. It is best to use horse manure, since when you replace it with cow or poultry droppings, the quality of the substrate will dramatically decrease. You can buy ready-made compost in a specialized store, but experienced mushroom pickers advise you to compose it yourself. Step-by-step instructions for composting:

• Soaking the straw for 24 hours in warm water.
• Place in a stack alternating layers of straw and manure (maximum 8 layers) and wetting each layer with water.
• After 4 days, mix the compost and add urea and superphosphate.
• After another 3 days, mix again and add ammonium nitrate.
• Stir the compost at intervals of 3 days two or three more times.
• Add gypsum with the last stirring.

For 1 ton of manure with straw, you will need 3 kg of urea, 5 kg of superphosphate, 4 kg of gypsum.

At home, you can use earthen floors or racks, but boxes that can be stacked on top of each other will be considered the most convenient option, which significantly saves space in the room. Usually their dimensions are 50x100 cm, and the height is 25 cm. The compost is filled with a layer of 23 cm, and when it is laid, it is carefully tamped by hand.

Planting mycelium

The mycelium is planted to a depth of 4 ... 5 cm in a checkerboard pattern at a distance of 20 cm from each other. The main thing here is not to rush and before planting make sure that the temperature of the compost after the fermentation process has dropped to 27 0 C. Only then can you start planting myceliums.

Growing champignons at home (part 1): video

Many gardeners, due to the fact that they spend the entire summer season in the country, grow champignons there. Below are detailed instructions for growing these mushrooms outdoors.

Choosing a landing site

At the dacha for growing champignons, it is necessary to choose a shaded and calm place. The bed is usually located from west to east and various structures are installed to protect it from the sun's rays.

Garden bed preparation

Ridges for champignons are recommended to be prepared in the fall. To do this, at the end of the season, trenches are dug no more than 1 m long and a width that is convenient for further collection. If the presence of several beds is envisaged, then a passage of at least half a meter is left between them. The recommended depth of the trench is 30 cm. A 10 cm drainage layer is poured onto its bottom (crushed stone, sand, gravel, etc. can be used as it), this will ensure the timely outflow of excess moisture.

Next, the trench is filled with mowed weeds and grass, tamped well, poured over with cow dung. And at the end, a previously removed sod layer of soil is laid on top, but with the grass down. And in this state, the ridge is left until spring.

In the spring, a special compost is prepared, which will fill the main volume of the trench (25 cm layer). Its main component is buckwheat straw, which should not have any dark spots and under-warming. It will take on average 2 ... 3 armfuls per 1 m 2. The required amount of straw is placed in a box, 3 buckets of rotted cow dung, 5 kg of chicken manure and 2 ... 3 handfuls of ammonium nitrate are added. All ingredients are well kneaded and laid out in trenches. The mixture is left to settle in them for a week and compacted. As a result of all these operations, a layer of 25 cm should be obtained.

Planting mycelium

It is possible to plant mycelium only when the compost reaches a temperature of about 27 0 C. If it is higher and fluctuates around 30 0 C, then there is a possibility that the mycelium will not take root and die. It is planted to a depth of about 5 cm at a distance of 20 ... 25 cm from each other in a checkerboard pattern, sprinkling with earth. When all the pieces of mycelium are sitting in their places, a layer of 30 cm of straw is placed on the top of the garden bed, which will protect the mycelium in the ground from drying out. Whether the myceliums have taken root or not will be known in a couple of weeks, and until that moment it is necessary to carefully water the straw layer so that water does not get into the compost.

In 2 ... 3 weeks it will be possible to see how the planted myceliums have grown. However, the first time you can check the survival rate within a week after disembarkation. If there are no signs of growth, then you need to irrigate the substrate itself with water, it is possible that the mycelium is lacking moisture. When the myceliums have taken root, the protective layer of straw is removed, and sod soil is poured onto the bed with a layer of 4 cm, slightly compacting it. In order not to use special protective installations from the sun, you can again cover the bed with straw, but then you will have to carefully monitor its ventilation. The very first mushrooms will appear within 1.5 months after planting, however, if the weather is too hot, then their growth and development stop. The total duration of mushroom fruiting in the open field is up to 4 months.

In the basement

Basements and cellars are ideal for growing mushrooms, of course, if they are properly equipped for these purposes and the appropriate agricultural technology is followed.

The main parameters that need to be considered when growing mushrooms in the basement are:

• air humidity. To control humidity, a hygrometer must be installed in the basement. To increase the humidity in the room, you can spray with water, and to reduce it, simply ventilate;
• air temperature. To control this parameter, a thermometer must be installed. If the mushrooms are grown only in the summer, then additional heating of the cellar will not be required. If, however, throughout the year, then you will have to think about its insulation;
• ventilation. In this case, forced ventilation will be required, since the room is closed. The compost in which the mushrooms sit constantly gives off carbon dioxide, the accumulation of which will lead to mustiness. Therefore, a constant change of air is simply necessary in the basement. Ventilation should not create drafts.

Pre-disinfection

In order for the yield losses due to infection with diseases and pests of mushrooms to be as minimal as possible, the cellar must be pre-treated, for example, light a sulfur stick, and the walls and ceiling must be whitewashed with the addition of copper sulphate. You can use other methods of processing the surfaces of the cellar, the main thing is that it is clean. After disinfection, it must be well ventilated.

The compost is prepared according to the standard technology from horse manure and straw with the addition of nitrogen-containing mineral fertilizers.

Planting mycelium

As in the previous case, pieces of mycelium are placed at a depth of 4 ... 5 cm in the compost, when its temperature after fermentation drops to 27 0 C. The distance between adjacent pieces is 20 cm. If grain mycelium was purchased, then it is not deepened, but simply spread over the surface of the compost.

After the myceliums have taken root and began to creep over the surface of the compost (14 days after planting), they are sprinkled with a layer of soil of 4 cm, which can be prepared from peat, limestone and garden soil, taken in a ratio of 5: 1: 4, respectively.

Forcing mushrooms

Approximately 4 days after adding the soil, it is necessary to lower the temperature of the mushrooms content to 15 0. At this time, the mushrooms themselves begin to grow, the first harvest of which can be harvested in 3 months.

Caring for mushrooms, regardless of the place and method of cultivation, consists in maintaining the humidity and temperature conditions before and during the fruiting of myceliums:

• the temperature at this time should be 15 ... 17 0 С, since already at 20 0 С the development of mushrooms stops, which is extremely undesirable;
• air humidity should be about 70%;
• watering is carried out on the filled up soil so that the compost remains dry. It is best to use a spray nozzle while watering. So a crust will not form on the surface;
• airing is recommended regularly, especially after the first harvest. Lack of fresh air will lead to the formation of a stroma - a white crust on the mycelium, which must be removed.

Growing champignons at home (part 2): video

Fruiting of champignons occurs in waves, that is, mushrooms ripen not at one time, but several times. Therefore, their collection for the entire period of fruiting is carried out quite repeatedly: from 3 ... 4 to 7. Practice shows that the mushrooms show the maximum yield during the second and third waves. In other cases, mushrooms ripen more piecemeal. It is important to observe several rules when harvesting mushrooms that will help not to damage the mycelium itself and continue the fruiting period:

• the mushrooms are individually unscrewed by hand from the mycelium, without making any sudden careless movements;
• the void formed when the fungus is removed is sprinkled with soil mixture until a flat surface is formed.

If you look closely at the structure of the champignon, then the cap is connected to the stem with a white soft film that covers the inner plates of the cap. Mushrooms are harvested when this film is stretched, but not torn. A torn film indicates that the fungus is overripe. But mushrooms that have already become flabby and with completely bare plates are generally extremely undesirable to eat.

If a new planting of champignons is planned, then at the end of their fruiting, it is necessary to change the compost to a new one, and disinfect the room.

Growing champignons at home (part 3): video

Growing mushrooms in large quantities and all year round is a cost-effective and profitable business. In order to take it seriously, it is necessary, first of all, to draw up a plan of expenses related to the search and acquisition of premises, the purchase of the required amount of mycelium, the production or purchase of compost and soil mixture for cultivation, as well as the creation of all the necessary conditions for the development and fruiting of myceliums.

In addition, it is necessary to establish channels through which the sale of finished products will take place. Of course, only with a thorough knowledge of the mushroom growing technology itself can you create a business that generates income.