From the category archives:

Mushrooms

How to Grow Button Mushrooms at Your Own Home at Easy

It is very shocking to think about the considerable number of people who think that process of growing button mushrooms is a hectic task. In reality growing button mushrooms can be a very simple activity. Clear idea about the various techniques and methods that has to be employed to establish the highest quality button mushrooms, this process of growing button mushrooms can become a cakewalk. There is a possibility of growing these button mushrooms without the aid of any mushroom kit or mushroom growing equipments, but the quality of mushroom produced can be significantly increased using various mushroom growing kits and equipments that are available. There should be careful decision that needs to be taken while selecting mushroom growing kit. This decision can mainly be influenced by the type of button mushroom fruit you desire.

Essentials for growing button mushroom

Mushroom Growing Kits

Some of the equipments you will be requiring to grow button mushrooms include tray, compost, water mister, mushroom spawns, spores, newspapers, syringes, and foils. One of the key aspects for increasing the yield and quality of mushroom is to determine inoculation points. The tray to be used for growing button mushroom will be ideal if it is 2 x 3 (length x breadth) inches. Other trays of different dimensions can also be used, but the former dimension will be best suited. The depth of tray shall be anywhere between 6 to 8 inches. The ideal depth will be of 6.5 inches. The tray can be any container or in case you don’t have any container then it can be produced from scrap wood.

Procedure for growing button mushroom

The tray should first be filled with compost that is well rotten. The compost of highest quality should be selected for best results. The compost should be capable of forming a ball like structure when it is pressed with the help of fist. It is also required that the compost should easily be broken when it is being touched with hands. To make possible this kind of compost it is required that water should be uniformly dispersed inside the compost. When the compost is saggy it will not produce good results. Flake of dry spawns measuring about 2 cups should be mixed along with compost to produce loose mixture. Then the loose mixture should be piled up and allowed to be set during overnight. Next day the loose mixture containing spawn and compost should be pressed deep inside the tray. The pressure can be applied either using scrap wood or by other objects that are flat.

Ideal conditions

High Quality Mushroom Wallpaper

The mixture should be maintained at sixty five to seventy degree Fahrenheit. Water should be sprayed to this mixture uniformly and pouring of water should be avoided since it will affect the growing process. After two or three weeks white webbing like thing can be seen on the compost. It is necessary to apply peat moss that is moist in condition and form a one and a half inch layer over it. Care should be taken to make sure that peat moss is sufficiently moist to enhance the growth of mushrooms. Now cover the peat moss with many regions of newspapers which is uniformly sprayed with water. Spray water twice daily and maintain the buildup undisturbed for a period of 10 days at fifty five degree Fahrenheit. Remove newspaper after few days and continue to spray them with water. After few days there will be several fruits that will be emerging from a thin white structure that will resemble a thin pin. You can pick the button mushroom fruit when they are small or you can allow them to grow bigger. The mushroom fruits in most cases will emerge every 10 to 15 days for duration of 2 to 7 months.

Button mushroom growing kit

If you feel that the above process is tedious to be undertaken or want the entire process to be accelerated to obtain button mushroom fruit in lesser time then there are number of button mushroom growing kit that will be of great use. Some of the popularly used button mushroom growing kit includes macrodome kit and casing mushroom growing kit. Using these kits even a child could grow mushrooms in a very short period.

Cultivated Mushrooms — The Baby Steps of Mycelium

As you know we’ve covered the equipment and places to successfully produce mushroom. Now we’ll have a look at the production process itself which is very unusual as mushrooms aren’t plants.

First, before bringing in the compost, you’ll have to apply biocides to the rooms you’ll be growing mushrooms in because mycelium is very vulnerable to foreign organisms . For this, use formaldehyde and DDVP, both at %1 volume. After applying these solutions, keep the room shut for two days and then ventilate. Remember to put a doormat at the entrance with %1 formaldehyde solution as well.

Protect the Mycelium from Aerial Harm

mycelium

When the rooms are prepared, put the sacks filled with mycelium induced compost into the trays after pressing on them. Fold the empty top parts of the sacks and cover them with wrapping paper which %1 formaldehyde solution was applied. The wrapping papers should not have any kind of print on them, because the print process might introduce some elements that might harm the mushrooms. Covering the compost will protect the Mycelium from aerial harm and losing humidity from the surface. If sack has enough empty space, you can use that section to cover the compost as well. If you have used paper to cover the compost, you should water the paper with spraying. While the paper must always be kept wet, the compost itself shouldn’t.

white mycelium

When you move the sacks, remember to disinfect the floor. At the first stages of mycelium growth, the room temperature should be kept 20-24 degrees and the moisture %80 – 90. At this time, the temperature should never get above 27-28 degrees, as the insides of the sacks will be 2-3 degrees hotter than the outside. At 30 degrees, mycelium growth slows and at 32 and more, it dies. Similarly, around 13 degrees the growth slows and mycelium dies at 0 degrees. As you can see, the temperature should always be controlled.

Add Fresh Air From Outside

To prevent the temperature becoming too hot, if you don’t have a system to make it cooler, you might consider adding fresh air from outside. But as you want a high ratio of carbon dioxide, fresh air with oxygen is something you don’t want, and it will drop the moisture levels. It is dangerous but might be considered if there is no other choice.

As mushrooms are not plants, they don’t need sunlight. Actually, sunlight leads to low-quality products as it causes cracks and stains on the mushrooms. Light should only be used when harvesting or taking care of your mushrooms.

The moisture should also be controlled and kept around %85- 90. If the room isn’t moisturised enough, the compost will start to dry and the efficiency will drop. But moisture levels higher than %90 is very suitable for a great number of problems. If the moisture is too low, you can water the floor or hang wet sheets on the walls.

The moist environment needed for any step in mushroom production is suitable for pests and diseases. Because of this, pesticides should be applied before the infections.

If you’ve managed to keep the environment in control, the mycelium should cover all the compost in about 18 days.

If the growth is slow, one or more of these might be the reason:

Compost being too dry or wet.
Temperature is over 30 degrees inside the compost.
Compost being poor or not prepared well enough.
Compost being prepared enough but not pasteurized.
Presence of bacteria or diseases in the compost.
Using old mycelium.
The room temperature being too low.

Cultivated Mushrooms — Tools of the Trade

We’ve already chosen the location of our brand new white mushroom business, so now let’s find the necessary equipment to make it all come together.

First, we’re going to need some shelves in our mushroom production room. They should be made of iron rather than wood so that the moisture will not compromise them. If we run the first shelf so that it measures just 20-30 centimeters higher than the floor, it will be easy enough to access — ideally, our 3 story storage shelf should be 80 centimeters lower than the ceiling.

Next, we’re going to need some heating, and while the optimum choice is a boiler, it is an expensive system. Below, you’ll find a comprehensive list of heating options for all budgets:

Boiler:

A common radiator boiler would suffice. Steam is pumped into the pipes and through them, into your mushroom room. This takes care of both heating and moistening and is the favored choice in modern mushroom production.

Coal Stove:

While placing a pot filled with water on top of a coal stove would certainly humidify the air, the stove doesn’t heat the room evenly. Because of this, mushrooms are prone to ripen in varying timeframes which ultimately makes the harvest difficult. This option could still be utilized in square-shaped rooms without any problems. If extra moistening is required, spraying water on the walls and floor will help.

Central Heating:

This is the easiest solution to set up and use, but it is also very expensive. The moistening is done by spraying water on the walls and floor.

Gas Boiler: To use simple gas as an automatic heating system in mushroom production, some modifications are needed. A water pump, a steam sprayer and a power mechanism with temperature control are required. The water is heated and with the help of the sprayer, it is sent through the plastic pipes. The drawbacks are that the temperature and water level must always be checked, and ultimately, it is an expensive and somewhat hard method to employ.

Electric Heaters:

These can be distributed throughout the room and moisture can be generated by putting water pots near them. If you also create your own electricity -you can learn electric wiring codes locally, these can be a good solution as well.

Another Very Important Factor In Mushroom Production Is Control. We need to be able to determine the moisture level at all times, so a hygrometer is quite necessary. We also need a thermometer in order to check the room temperature as well as a glass thermometer to keep our compost’s heat in control.

Ventilation is also a concern — and that can be achieved with two high-powered fans that continually keep transferring used air out and fresh air in. The fan we’re going to use to draw air in should be positioned backwards – it does its job by way of a pipe so that the mushrooms are kept away from direct exposure. Just on the opposite side on the wall, a fan should be installed in order to draw out the bad air. Don’t forget to install a spore filter on the fans!

Watering Is a Very Tricky Issue When It Comes To Mushrooms. Never water them in traditional ways! Instead, spray water in very small particles by attaching a suitable diffuser hose pistol.

Sometimes it is necessary to use chemicals, so be sure to wear protective equipment. Breath masks, aprons, gloves, etc. are essential to the process in order to prevent exposure to chemicals in such closed spaces.

Next time, we’ll build on this article series by addressing various other aspects of mushroom production.

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Cultivated Mushrooms — Where Should They Be Grown?

White mushrooms, table mushrooms and button mushrooms, these delicacies have many names among the customers for they are very popular indeed. If you want to grow your own mushrooms there are several choices you might consider if you’re asking the question “where?”.

Mushroom production is usually done in caverns, refrigerated warehouses, light-proof greenhouses, tunnels, storehouses, cellars and naturally, modern mushroom cultivation facilities.

The general requirements of mushroom production are as follows:

The constructs must be entirely made of concrete to prevent vermin infestation and to create the required moisture by soaking.

There must not be any cracks on the walls and the ceiling and insulation must be complete.

To be able to maintain the ventilation, temperature, moisture control and for cleaning, the chosen zone must have electricity and water sources. Also ease of transportation should be considered.

The ceiling must be at least 2.5 meters high and the floor must have a canal for drainage. If there isn’t a canal, a hole could be dug to collect water.