Many mushroom lovers try to grow mushrooms at home. Not everyone succeeds. So, how to grow mushrooms in the country? It is recommended to start landing with the choice of a place and its preparation. Such mushrooms grow best on dead wood. However, if desired, a special substrate can be used.
Why honey agarics
Honey mushrooms are quite tasty mushrooms that can be grown not only in the summer cottage, but also on the balcony. The main thing is to observe the technology of germination and planting. Such mushrooms have a delicate and fragrant flesh. Honey mushrooms are often used to make soups, fries and various sauces. After all, the product retains its unique flavor even after heat treatment.
In addition, the cultivation of honey mushrooms is an activity that can bring good income. In Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Germany, they often engage in similar business. However, in these countries, special paste is used as planting material. To purchase such a substance in our stores is not yet possible.
Where to sprout in the garden
Since it is not so easy to grow mushrooms in the country, it is worth preparing the place in advance. For germination, stumps from old fruit trees or damp lumps that lay under a pile of firewood and come in contact with the ground are ideal.
If there is nothing suitable on the site, then rotten, rotten boards will do. Also, some summer residents practice growing mushrooms on sawdust.
Selection of material for planting
Growing honey mushrooms on stumps is a simple process, but a long one. The main thing is to choose the right kind of wood. Summer mushrooms sprout best on birch stumps. This material, even after cutting, retains a large amount of moisture. At the same time, dense bark protects the wood from drying out.
If mushrooms are planted in the garden, then it is worth using stumps of old pears and apple trees for these purposes. Honey mushrooms also grow well on alder, aspen and poplar chocks. It is worth considering that honey agarics are capable of destroying any stump in 6 years.
Do not use pine and spruce for growing this type of mushroom.
Preparation and landing
How to grow mushrooms in the country? First you need to infect the old stump with spores of the fungus. This is not difficult. This will require hats already grown mushrooms. They must be laid down with the plates on a blank sheet of paper. Spores should pour out from the hats. They look like dark dust. It is recommended to pour spores into a bottle with water and shake well.
It is also worthwhile to prepare the stump itself in advance. From it it is worth sawing off a round timber, the thickness of which should be from 3 to 5 centimeters. After that, the upper part of the stump must be chopped crosswise. This can be done with an ax. The more cracks that form, the better.
Now it remains to infect the stump with spores. This is done quite simply. It is necessary to pour prepared wood with water in which the honey agaric spores are located. After that, it’s worth nailing a round on top, which was sawn off from a stump.
If the weather is dry, it is recommended to regularly water spore contaminated wood. Otherwise, honey mushrooms will not germinate.
Sprouting in bags
Since not everyone is able to grow mushrooms in the country in the first way, it is worth thinking about their germination in the greenhouse. For this, half-rotten pieces of wood should be placed in the corner of the structure. They also need to be poured with water, which contains the spores of honey mushrooms. After some time, the wood should be put in bags and placed in a dark place in the woodpile. In spring, the ends, as well as those places where the bark was damaged, should be covered with mycelium. Material is ready for planting.
How to grow mushrooms in the country from mycelium
The wood on which the mycelium appeared must be placed in the place where the mushrooms are planted. It should be well protected from wind and direct sunlight. In this way, the winter and summer mushrooms sprout. The fungal mycelium must penetrate the soil. From there, he will receive additional moisture. Therefore, it is recommended that chocks with mycelium be dug into the soil 2/3 of the height. The distance between pieces of wood should be between 10 and 15 centimeters.
To mushrooms winter or summer sprouted, you need to regularly water the chocks. This is especially true in dry and hot weather. Watering workpieces is recommended for 5 minutes once an hour. At the same time, you need to moisten the wood from 12 to 17 hours of the day. By night, chocks should dry well.
Third way
To grow mushrooms on the site, you need to collect ripe mushroom caps. They are recommended to be placed in a container and filled with water. Hats should stand for several days. After this, the water from the container should be drained and filtered. The resulting infusion must be soaked in previously prepared pieces of wood or stumps. In addition, on the surface of the material, you can put the ripe hats of honey mushrooms. Two days later, they can be removed.
It is worth noting that this method is not suitable for everyone, since the process of germination is very slow. The first harvest of honey mushrooms planted by a similar method can only be obtained by the end of the next season.
Spawn
There is also a less laborious way to germinate mushrooms. This will require not only rotten stumps or lumps, but also mycelium. The proliferation of summer mushrooms at the same time proceeds more intensively. You can find mycelium in the forest. This must be done in early June. Only the area where active growth of the mycelium is noted should be taken. As a rule, in such places you can see a large number of threads that have a cream or white tint. In addition, there should be a strong smell of mushrooms. It is worth collecting mycelium together with pieces of wood.
Such blanks must be placed in notches on logs or stumps. So that the mycelium does not die, it is recommended to cover the planting site with shingles, moss or bark. For better germination, the stump or log should be covered with a film. This method allows you to get the first crop of mushrooms by the beginning of the next season. It is best to infect the wood with a summer open air in the fall or at the beginning of summer.
Growing Features
The technology of growing mushrooms in the country is quite simple. However, there are some features. Such mushrooms should be covered with breathable material. If desired, you can bring down a loose box of boards, agril, slab. Also for these purposes, burlap or paper is suitable.
If the stumps are left from a freshly cut tree, then they do not need to be further processed. You can immediately begin to infect them with honey agaric spores. If the upper part of the stump has dried, then it must be soaked. To do this, the wood is regularly watered for several days. Disputes are planted only after the material has accumulated enough moisture.
The first mushrooms with the correct landing should appear in June. Harvested, as a rule, until September. However, it should be noted that in the first year there will be few mushrooms. The productivity of honey agarics largely depends on the degree of growth of the mycelium, the quality of wood and weather conditions. In the second year, the number of mushrooms can increase 4 times.
If honey mushrooms are planted in the garden, then it is worth choosing a darkened place where the sun's rays do not penetrate. If the stump is not located in the shade, then it is recommended to cover it. To do this, you can use hay or straw.