Mushroom cultivation in the basement as a business: conditions and technology

Growing champignons in the basement is most often perceived not as a business idea, but as a strange hobby of an amateur gardener. However, with such an occupation you can really make a profit! To do this, you just need to competently approach the matter: draw up a business plan, calculate profitability and investments, assess risks.

If you are interested in the idea, let's get down to "debriefing"!

Where to start a business?

Growing champignons in the basement of an apartment building is a very real idea for implementation. Why not, because the microclimate is fully consistent with the conduct of such activities, and champignons are not picky about the conditions.

A step-by-step algorithm for organizing a business can be represented as follows:

1. Understand mushroom cultivation technology.
2. Prepare a basement for placement of seedlings.
3. Disinfect the room.
4. Buy mycelium.
5. Purchase compost or raw materials for its manufacture.
6. Plant mycelium on a substrate.
7. Monitor temperature and humidity levels.
8. Harvest in accordance with the prescribed rules.
9. Find outlets and sell products.

We will analyze each item in the organization of mushroom cultivation in your own home.

Business Registration

Growing champignons as a business (in the basement) should be officially registered. Unless, of course, the volume of your production is not limited by the limits of "party to yourself, party to neighbors."

When it comes specifically to entrepreneurial activity, and especially to the implementation through retail outlets, cafes, etc., you cannot do without documents.

Do not worry if you have not encountered this issue before. Everything is pretty simple. Imagine your actions as a step-by-step algorithm:

1. You must register an IP. To do this, you need to go to the nearest tax office with a passport.
2. As an indication of the activity, you choose agricultural production and sale.
3. With this type of work, you can count on a single agricultural tax - 6%. This is a very profitable tax option.
4. The room for growing champignons is subject to inspection by workers of the phytosanitary inspection. In the basement there should be an acceptable background radiation. After verification, you will be issued a certificate.
5. Also in phytosanitary inspection you will check the goods before sale. Without a certificate of quality, no serious client will cooperate with you. The validity period of one certificate is the “life” period of one batch of compost. You will indicate these data during registration.

Next, we consider in more detail the conditions for growing champignons in the basement.

What are the working conditions required

Mushrooms are grown in the basement of a private house according to the same principles as in any other place. We will talk more about technology further. And now let's see what conditions are necessary to get a plentiful crop of champignons.

Growing champignons in the basement of a garage or other premises requires a solid solid construction. We will analyze the remaining requirements in stages:

• Contrary to popular belief, the floor should be concrete, not earthen.
• The room itself is maximally isolated from the environment, eliminating the possibility of sources of pollution from the outside.
• Another difference from other types of vegetation grown for sale: champignons do not need a constant light source. This provides substantial savings on equipment and utility bills. It is enough to hold one lamp in the basement to work with convenience.
• Even on a small area, you can organize the cultivation of a significant amount of the crop. To do this, containers are installed in “layers” by placing ordinary shelving in the basement. Champignon growth height is small, which allows you to make tiers at a small distance.
• It is important to consider this feature: compost for champignons will emit unpleasant carbon dioxide. It is unpleasant because it leads to the appearance of mustiness. And mushrooms do not tolerate such a situation. To avoid problems, establish an effective ventilation system.
• Do not overdo it with room ventilation. Drafts are also the enemy of your seedlings. Also, it is worth installing a mosquito net with small cells on the ventilation openings to prevent insects from getting inside.
• However, mushrooms are unpretentious to the temperature regime. Try to maintain a "level" level, this is enough. In summer, if necessary, a fan is used. Growing champignons in the basement in winter may require the installation of a heating system (if the room is very cold).
• Control the humidity in the cellar. You can reduce it with the help of ventilation, and increase it with a simple spray bottle with water.

What preparation is needed before growing?

Like many other fungi, susceptible to diseases and parasites and champignons. Growing in the basement (the technology of the process, in fact, is extremely simple) requires careful preparation of the place before work begins. Preliminary work consists in the disinfection of the premises, surface treatment, elimination of mold and even a chance for its appearance in the future. If you do not approach this issue carefully, the crop may be spoiled. It's a shame to destroy the business of several months because of simple laziness, right?

If you do not want to check the resistance of mushrooms to a harmful environment, carry out such preparation of the territory:

1. Examine the room for insects (relevant if vegetables were previously stored in this cellar). If you find at least a few individuals, be sure to treat chlorophosomes.
2. All surfaces are covered with lime, to which copper sulfate is added.
3. Use a sulfur checker to fumigate the room.
4. Also, the space is sprayed with 4% formalin solution.
5. Want to insure yourself? Take a deep container with sawdust and pour them with disinfectant. Put the box at the entrance to the cellar. It will serve as an additional barrier to pests.
6. After carrying out the manipulations, carefully check the basement. Otherwise, you can harm not only seedlings, but even your own health.

Sometimes simple airing does not give a special result. This indicates that you need an additional ventilation system. For example, you can put additional fans above the shelves with mushrooms. If your business expands, it makes sense in the future to invest in the installation of air purifying filters in the ventilation system.

Champignon cultivation technology

By what principle should mushrooms be planted? Basement cultivation (process technology, to be precise) has some features:

• Zoning. It is recommended to divide the basement into two parts - for the incubation period and for direct distillation. The fact is that you will need to observe different temperature conditions. Zoning space will greatly facilitate the task.
• As was said, each period needs its own temperature. For cultivation - 23 ^o C, distillation - 12-17 ^o C.
• Carefully follow the compost conditions on the packaging. Horse manure is considered the best basis. When using it, increased productivity is noted.
• The substrate, which is done independently, will always be better than purchased. But to save time and effort it can still be purchased.

Growing process

When all the conditions for growing champignons in the basement are met, you can proceed directly to the process. The easiest way for beginners to present it in the form of a step-by-step algorithm:

1. Plant mycelia in a substrate. As a rule, for growing at home, entrepreneurs acquire a mycelium, ready for planting. Most often, this is a base grown in special laboratories in which ideal sterility conditions are maintained. They buy mycelium for planting through intermediaries - on the Internet, "Everything for the garden" stores, as well as directly from suppliers.
2. It is very simple to calculate the required amount of mycelium: 1 m ² - 500 grams of “live” Wednesday. If you decide to grow mycelium from spores, you will need 400 grams.
3. The planting process is not very different from the usual one: you need to make holes about 5 cm deep. Properly prepared compost will be a little springy in sensations. Keep a distance of at least 15-20 cm between the holes. Place a part of the mycelium in each well.
4. Wells do not need to be spore for planting. Seeds are simply poured evenly onto the ground. The mushroom pickers will work their own way.
5. During the incubation period, the entrepreneur's task is to monitor the level of humidity and temperature conditions. How to do this is described in more detail below.
6. To permanently moisten the earth, you can cover it with paper (cloth) and moisten it.
7. 10-12 days after planting, cover the substrate with another layer of earth - literally 3-4 cm. The earth is prepared in a special way: peat + lime + soil in a ratio of 5: 1: 4.
8. The incubation period will end in 4-5 days. All this time regularly moisten the air and soil from the atomizer.
9. The next growing period is distillation. At this time, the temperature in the basement is lowered to 12-17 ° C. Sometimes it is difficult to achieve this, where it is much easier to transfer the shelves to another room. For this, in the section above it was proposed to zon the basement.
10. Soon the mushrooms will begin to grow. Follow the rules for their collection and do not let the mushrooms over-ripen.

Sales channels

A rare person today does not use champignons. Growing at home in the basement can provide the needs for mushrooms of the same family. But if it comes to business, of course, it is necessary to establish sales channels. It is in the search for customers that the secret of success of this undertaking lies.

Growing champignons in the basement rarely involves a large volume of harvested mushrooms. Therefore, surplus that family members do not use can be sold in the nearest market.

If the business is nevertheless put on stream and you want to find a more “solid” market, consider these options:

• It is not necessary to sell mushrooms directly to those who consume them. Using intermediaries can reduce profits, but at the same time provide you with a constant stream of orders. Whether such a scheme is beneficial in your case, decide for yourself.
• Shops, supermarkets, cafes, restaurants can act as an intermediary for the sale of mushrooms.
• If you get a solid harvest, it makes sense to look for the possibility of concluding a supply contract with manufacturers of semi-finished products (champignons can be part of pancakes, pizza) or culinary.
• A good idea for promotion is to create your own website. On it you will be able to post useful information for the consumer about mushrooms in general and champignons in particular. The price list, potential discounts, terms of delivery of products to customers, contact details are also indicated there.

Calculation of financial investments

Growing champignons in the basement, which is positioned as a business, will cost quite cheap. Of course, it all depends on your resources and planned production volumes. However, the absence of the need to pay for the rental of premises is already a big plus!

It is also important to note that by growing mushrooms, the entrepreneur frees himself from such a large cost item as the purchase of equipment. It is on technology that the lion's share of the budget is usually spent in organizing a business.

Consider the remaining cost items for 1 cycle of growing champignons:

• raw materials for the manufacture of 1 ton of compost - 1000 rubles;
• champignon mycelia - 500 rubles;
• creation of necessary conditions in the basement - 2000 rubles.

Total we get the amount of 3500 rubles. As you know, this is a ridiculous price to start a modest but own business.

Profitability and return on business of mushrooms

If you correctly took into account all the requirements for growing white champignon in the cellars, each mycelium can bring you 5-8 crops. It is worth noting that only the first three will bring the bulk. As a rule, the growing cycle is 1-2 months.

Follow these rules when harvesting:

• Monitor the condition of the mushrooms - they must not be allowed to overripe.
• It’s easy to determine the right moment for collection - the champignon hat is covered with a white film from below.
• Mushrooms that are grown at home do not cut, remember this! You just need to gently twist them around its axis and get it.
• When you get the mushroom, sprinkle it on the ground.
• Subject to simple rules, the growth of new champignons will occur for several more weeks.

We calculate the estimated profit from the business:

• 1 ton of compost is 200 kg of mushrooms, if all conditions have been met;
• 1 kg of this type of mushroom is now estimated at 100-150 rubles;
• profit from 1 crop cycle - 20,000-30,000 rubles.

As you can see, the profitability of the business is 100%. Investments will pay off in a few months.

What risks await the entrepreneur?

Growing champignons in the basement of the house, like any other business, carries certain risks for the entrepreneur. They need to know and, if possible, minimize the negative consequences.

• Although one cannot speak of high competition in this area, it is difficult to find a stable sales market. Start a partnership before the harvest, as the product deteriorates quite quickly. You could familiarize yourself with ideas for finding buyers above.
• Champignons are not particularly fastidious mushrooms. However, they are susceptible to diseases, as well as other factors affecting productivity. Follow all cultivation rules and the condition of the mycelium.

Growing champignons in the basement is a worthy business option at home. He can immediately highlight a number of advantages: low competition, minimum starting budget, 100% profitability, ease of planting and caring for mushrooms. However, getting decent revenue is realistic only if the entrepreneur establishes a permanent sales channel. If you find enough buyers or one, but wholesale, you can recoup the investment and make a profit after the first harvest.

And be sure not too lazy to draw up a business plan before starting to implement the idea in order to make detailed calculations and outline a work plan.