To create a business with minimal costs or a quick payback is the dream of many people. For those who love to plant and harvest their gardens, there is a great opportunity to "grow" a profitable enterprise that provides a steady income. This is growing mushrooms as a business (at home).
Year-round business
Mushrooms are a year-round product in demand. From them they prepare delicious dishes and housewives in their kitchens, and chefs in restaurants of any level. For most people, mushrooms are a tasty and he althy product for which they are willing to pay money. For others, growing mushrooms as a business is a source of income.
The process of running a mushroom business is not burdensome, and you can start making a profit in two months. The main thing is to decide on the place and volume of the enterprise.
Mushroom business terms
Like any profitable business, growing champignon mushrooms as a business requires the preparation of certain conditions andsettlements.
The choice of location can be determined by the following criteria:
- For a year-round business, you can equip a greenhouse.
- If you have a cellar, shed or basement, you can equip them for a mushroom enterprise.
- Seasonal cultivation of champignons - as a business for the spring-summer period: under fruit trees in the open field.
The easiest of these is seasonal growing, as it does not require special equipment.
Mushroom Benefits
The launch of any enterprise should begin with calculations for investment, payback periods and profits. The acquisition of mycelium today is not difficult, as is the search for a market for mushrooms, so the clear advantages of this business are obvious:
- Getting the first profit in the third month after laying the mycelium.
- Possibility of obtaining a permanent year-round income.
- A simple activity that even a beginner can do.
- Use any utility rooms.
A mushroom growing business plan should start with finding and equipping a suitable location.
Greenhouse business
Many gardeners prefer to use their greenhouses for a double benefit. They collect mushrooms in them from September to February, and then proceed to plant early vegetables. This approach gives maximum profit, since the highest demand for mushrooms is observed in the autumn-winter period, and for early vegetables in the spring.
Growingchampignons as a business, reviews of entrepreneurs confirm this, it is better to conduct it from autumn to spring, since with the advent of vegetables, the demand for mushrooms drops somewhat.
Greenhouse Arrangement
For champignons, you can adapt an ordinary film greenhouse or tinker and build it according to Grachev's principle. Glass covers are also suitable. The main thing is that in such premises it will not be difficult to create the required temperature and humidity, the conditions so necessary for mushrooms.
A greenhouse made of film or polycarbonate is the easiest option for growing mushrooms as a business to bring less hassle and bring more money.
Steps of arranging a greenhouse:
- First of all, you should provide the room with heat. It can be heating with gas or electricity. It is also important to provide good ventilation, as the compost on which mushrooms grow releases carbon dioxide, and it must be removed regularly. Enterprising farmers have adapted to plant cucumbers, zucchini and pumpkins in mushroom greenhouses. This makes it possible to spend less time on maintaining the microclimate, as the plants complement each other and coexist perfectly side by side.
- Cultivation of champignons as a business gives profitability quickly through the use of shelves. This Dutch method maximizes the use of space while leaving room so that the crop can be harvested conveniently and quickly. If it is possible to invest in containers, this will make it easier to care for mushrooms. Containers can be plastic or wooden crates that have been treated with an anti-mould agent.
- Preparing the soil.
You should invest money in the arrangement of a greenhouse if you organize a year-round business. If you correctly draw up and implement a business plan, growing champignon mushrooms in specialized premises provides a quick return on investment and a steady income.
Champignons in the basement
To make investments in the business minimal, if you have a basement or cellar, you can use their area. Suitable room criteria:
- The best option would be a well-cemented floor to make it easier to keep clean and not expose the mycelium to mold infestation.
- In order for the cultivation of champignons as a business (reviews, photos of those who are already making a profit, this is confirmed) gives a high income and a plentiful harvest, it is better to equip the room with shelving. They save space and allow planting mushrooms with different maturation periods on each tier, which puts the process on stream.
- Mushrooms do not need lighting, so sufficient light can be provided for the convenience of those who care for and harvest them.
Mushroom farm basement equipment
- Ventilation must be of high quality, insect-proof, for which a fine mesh is used. At the same time, it is important that there are no drafts, therefore, in addition to hoods, it is appropriate to use fans above the beds or filters alongair purification.
- Cultivation of champignons as a business also requires constant regulation of humidity and air temperature. It is necessary to equip the room with a hygrometer and a thermometer. To increase the humidity, it is enough to spray the beds and the floor, and to lower it, ventilate or turn on the heating.
- If the room is large enough, then it can be divided into a zone for growing mycelium and a department for growing champignons, which will significantly increase the yield, and therefore profit.
- Disinfection of the premises is required before starting work. This can be whitewashing with lime mixed with copper sulfate, spraying with a 4% formalin solution, or fumigating with a sulfur checker. Mushrooms are sensitive to mold and pathogens, so the crop should be checked, and diseased specimens should be put in a separate container and destroyed.
Growing champignons as a business (reviews on how to grow, from other gardeners - this is confirmation) is a matter in which it is recommended to use any room, even not quite suitable at first glance. The main thing is to protect it from drafts, heat, ventilate and protect it from pests and mold. Plants will thank you with a high yield.
Compost preparation
Included in the business plan "Cultivation of champignons", the purchase of mycelium and the preparation of a nutrient medium are the most important points in it. The highest yield is obtained if horse manure is used for compost. But if this is not possible, then cow orbird droppings.
Ingredients to create the substrate:
- horse manure;
- straw;
- urea;
- ammonium sulfate;
- superphosphate, chalk or alabaster.
To make good compost, everything should be laid in layers. The straw soaked during the day is laid with the bottom layer, then manure, again swollen straw and manure. There should be 6-8 such layers. When laying, each layer must be watered with warm water.
After 3-4 days, all layers must be mixed, urea and superphosphate should be added to them. After another 3–4 days, mix again and add the remaining ingredients, and so on 4–5 times, and only in the last batch, gypsum is added to the nutrient medium.
Planting mycelium
After the compost is “ripe”, you need to add the “seeds” of mushrooms to it to get the mycelium. For 1 m2 of nutrient medium, there are 500 g of compost mycelium or 400 g of grain spores.
They sow the substrate, for which they make indentations at a distance of 20–25 cm with a finger, sowing material is placed in them. If spores are used for sowing, then it is enough to sprinkle them on the nutrient medium.
The air temperature for mycelium incubation should be +20… +27 degrees. When, after 10-12 days, the mycelium begins to actively grow, it should be sprinkled with a mixture of peat, earth and limestone in proportions of 5: 4: 1 and periodically sprayed without giving a nutrient mediumdry.
Harvesting
The "mushroom" farmer will be able to harvest his first crop in 35–50 days, given that the compost matures in 20–25 days. Depending on where the maturation takes place and how well the medium has been prepared, yields can be either very high or mediocre.
Cultivation of champignons as a business, reviews of experienced "mushroom pickers" confirm this, is a very profitable business, since the fruiting cycle can be made year-round.
The air temperature before ripening mushrooms should be +22 … +26 degrees. If it is hotter, then the champignons will climb up very quickly and will have a small hat on a long stem. Such a product will not be sold. At a temperature of +12 degrees, the mycelium will cease to bear fruit. Therefore, as soon as hats appear and a mushroom smell is felt, the temperature should be reduced to +15 … +16 degrees.
Collect mushrooms carefully so as not to damage their base. To do this, you need to hold the bottom of the legs and the ground with the fingers of one hand, and separate it from the mycelium with the other with a slight turn. It is necessary to remove all the fruits, even small ones, because if you cut only large mushrooms, the rest stop growing and begin to rot.
It should be borne in mind that with the right approach, you can collect from 5 kg of champignons from 1m2 for several cycles. Therefore, when calculating the scale of a business, you should immediately think about how much space to use for it.
Crop storage
To save the harvest from a large plantation when it is difficult to manageone day, you need to think about refrigerators in advance. Their capacity is calculated from the number of kilograms of finished product with 1 m2. So, indoors at 30 m2 it will average from 150 kg per day.
Mushroom picking is a delicate process, and it does not tolerate haste. In addition, the harvested crop should be sorted by quality and size.
Before placing the mushrooms in the refrigerator, they should be cooled slightly in a room with an artificially low temperature.
It is not recommended to fill the cold rooms with boxes of ready-to-ship products to the top, as even there the mushrooms need air circulation.
If for some reason the champignon cap is covered with brown or gray spots, and the leg is twisted, then you need to urgently remove the diseased fungus from the mycelium along with its nearby "relatives". The affected area should be sprinkled with table s alt. If these measures are not carried out, then you can infect the entire plantation, and you will have to start the business from the beginning.
When a disease is detected, it is required to find the source and neutralize it. This can be caused by mold, which is easily fixed. It is advisable to burn rotten mushrooms, and then carefully disinfect clothes and hands.
In no case should you use chemicals or poisons from pests. After their use, champignons will become hazardous to he alth and must be destroyed. It is better to lose a mycelium or several than to risk someone's life.
Mushrooms are not too capricious, so it is enough to carefully check the ventilation, the absence of mold andinsects to get a prosperous and profitable business.
