Foods like mushrooms are a valuable and he althy nutrient. At home, the cultivation of oyster mushrooms and mushrooms has become widespread. Such cultivation guarantees the absence of carcinogens and nitrates, which are easily absorbed by mushrooms.
Oyster mushrooms are recommended for use by patients with hypertension, cancer and some others. They slow down the aging process, help rejuvenation.
The article tells how to grow mushrooms and make oyster mushroom mycelium with your own hands.
What is oyster mushroom mycelium, breeding history
The mycelium of any fungus, including oyster mushrooms, is called its vegetative body, in other words, the mycelium, consisting of the thinnest branched roots-threads. The development of the mycelium occurs inside the substrate and on its surface. You can get this branched network both at home and by laboratory methods.
In the natural habitat, mushrooms multiplymostly disputes. In order to answer the question of how to make oyster mushroom mycelium in the laboratory, scientists tried several different methods.
In the beginning, fragments of mycelium for reproduction in specially adapted greenhouses were taken in the forest, in places where mushrooms accumulated, then planted in prepared soil. After its complete interlacing with mushroom threads, the substrate was dried and was ready for breeding. The qualitative characteristics of such material were weak, the mycelium degenerated and gave meager yields.
Later in France, they found a way to remove mycelium from fungal spores under artificial conditions, which was very limited in use and also did not take root.
The latest and most accepted patented method was the cultivation of oyster mushroom mycelium on the grain of almost any grain, sawdust, straw.
Methods of growing mushrooms
Oyster mushrooms are very unpretentious mushrooms that quickly yield crops. One and a half months after landing, you can make the first collection. About ten kilograms of mushrooms are usually obtained from a square meter of land per month.
There are several methods to grow this product:
- Extensive. This method is an imitation of natural growth and requires certain areas. For him, wood stumps are harvested, cuts are made in them and first oyster mushroom caps are placed in them, and then parts of the mycelium. The method is dependent on weather conditions: under adverse circumstances, the growth of fungimay take up to three months.
- Intense. Mushrooms are grown in this way, for example, in plastic bags. It is very efficient, low labor and inexpensive.
To grow mushrooms at home, the mycelium can be obtained in two ways: buy oyster mushroom mycelium, the price of which is currently about 150 rubles. per kilo, or make it yourself.
Mycelium production
Oyster mushroom mycelium - mycelium - is planted in the substrate, where it will germinate. At home, do-it-yourself oyster mushroom mycelium can be grown on wood or grain. Cultivation takes place in three stages in the following way:
- Obtaining uterine mycelium. It is made in the laboratory from spores and stored in test tubes or the material is propagated from pieces of mushroom tissue.
- Preparation of intermediate mycelium. At this stage, the mother culture is transferred from the test tubes where it was stored to the nutrient medium, where the basis for the sowing mycelium receives the initial development.
- Obtaining seed mycelium. Intermediate material is sown in the substrate, where it grows. Parts of this substrate are used to sow the place where the mushrooms will be directly grown.
How to prepare the base for planting
To get a good harvest, you need to properly prepare the soil for planting. The manufacturing technology provides that for this you need to grind dry and clean husks, straw and husks (barley or wheat), and then carry out their thermalprocessing. These actions will remove from the composition of insects that fell into it during collection.
In order to thermally treat the substrate, it is placed in a large metal basin, poured with hot water (70 ° C) and boiled for a couple of hours, after which the liquid is drained and the mass is cooled to room temperature. To check moisture saturation, a small amount of the mixture is squeezed in a fist: for normal humidity (about 70%), little or nothing moisture should come out, waterlogging is not allowed.
For cultivation, both a greenhouse with stumps installed in it, and large plastic bags at home on the balcony are suitable. Below we will consider how to cook oyster mushroom mycelium at home, plant and grow mushroom crops. Oyster mushroom is the only mushroom that is easy to grow if all the necessary conditions are met.
Oyster mushroom mycelium at home: stage one
To obtain the uterine mycelium, parts of the fruiting body of fresh mushrooms are taken. Oyster mushrooms need to be divided in two and cut a small piece from the leg. Then it must be dipped in a hydrogen peroxide solution for disinfection - the material is ready for planting in a nutrient medium.
Then, the processed piece is placed in a container with a nutrient substance and closed with a cork disinfected by fire. Such home production of oyster mushroom mycelium requires mandatory sterility, therefore, after processing, the material is not touched by hands, but taken with auxiliary tools, the room should also be kept clean.
Closed container with placed insideseedlings in an inclined position are left in the dark for a couple of weeks.
The nutrient medium in this production can be agar from wort, carrots, oatmeal, potatoes or glucose. After cooking, it is sterilized, poured into containers and waited for solidification, after which a piece of mushroom is added.
Step two: obtaining intermediate mycelium
The second stage is the direct cultivation of oyster mushroom mycelium. The manufacturing technology of the intermediate mycelium of the oyster mushroom requires the use of cereal grains. For these purposes, he althy quality grains are used, which are boiled for fifteen minutes in a ratio of material and water of one to two. Then the boiled grains must be dried well and mixed with calcium carbonate and gypsum.
Next, the mixture is placed in glass containers, filling them by two thirds, and subjected to sterilization. After processing, pieces of the nutrient medium prepared earlier are placed in the resulting substance. After two to three weeks, when the mycelium grows, it can be stored for storage, having previously been decomposed into plastic bags. It is allowed to store the mycelium for three months at temperatures from zero to twenty degrees.
Properly prepared do-it-yourself oyster mushroom intermediate mycelium, which is developed and viable, looks like a lush white coating that has a pleasant mushroom smell.
For planting seed mycelium, similar actions are performed, sowing more spacious containers. To do this, add to liter jarsone spoonful of intermediate mycelium. This prepares the substrate for further growing mushrooms on it.
Conditions for planting mycelium
You can grow oyster mushrooms in an old barn, stone garage or other suitable room. The criterion for its selection can be considered:
- possibility of creating high air humidity, which should be maintained at 85-90%;
- maintaining the ambient temperature around 15-20 degrees - at a higher temperature, the mushrooms cease to bear fruit;
- Creating a good ventilation system - the accumulation of carbon dioxide is unacceptable due to the high sensitivity of fungi to it;
- possibility of sufficient lighting - sunlight without direct rays or fluorescent lamps for nine hours a day.
Mushroom cultivation technology
After the oyster mushroom mycelium is grown with your own hands, you can start planting it, which is done as follows. At the bottom of the plastic bag, a substrate is laid out in the amount of one kilogram, and on it is a layer of mycelium, and so on in layers to the very top. The weight ratio of the substrate and mycelium in the bag should be 1:0.05. The mycelium should be placed closer to the walls of the bag, in which cuts should be made to allow air to enter. The weight of the finished block is 13-15 kg.
After filling, the polyethylene blocks are left in the dark at a temperature of about plus twenty Celsius - a higher temperature can lead to the death of the mycelium, sinceit could be ten to fifteen degrees hotter inside the block.
After two weeks, the block becomes like a white monolith. Before the appearance of primordia, the block is sprayed from time to time to maintain humidity and the temperature conditions are strictly observed. After the appearance of primordia, after a couple of days they become full-fledged adult mushrooms. It is not necessary to water them during growth, but it is important to ventilate the room well. When the edges of the hats line up, the crop is ready to be harvested.
Conditions for the preservation of mycelium
In industrial conditions, the mycelium is stored in low-temperature conditions or in liquid nitrogen. This content allows you to maximize the properties of the material and its germination without loss of quality. The process of freezing and subsequent defrosting for disembarkation is carried out slowly under the supervision of specialists.
In home-made conditions, mycelium is best stored in types of refrigerators that allow you to set the temperature of the freezer within minus twenty degrees Celsius. This will allow the material not to deteriorate and not lose its qualities.
After defrosting for a short time, the mycelium restores its vegetative functions.
It is important to prevent multiple sudden changes in temperature conditions, that is, defrosting and re-freezing. This can significantly worsen the quality of the mycelium, which, accordingly, will negatively affect the yield of the mycelium.
Useful tips for mushroom pickers
For successful cultivationmycelium and mushroom harvest must follow the following rules:
- The ideal substrate is hardwood sawdust.
- The color of the sawdust used should be white or yellow, this will serve as a guarantee of their freshness.
- The substrate must have a fresh smell, free of rot.
- When transporting mycelium, the required humidity must be maintained within 30-45%. The same conditions must be observed inside the plastic bag in which the oyster mushroom is grown.
- In one block package of 35 X 75 cm you will need to put about 300 grams of mycelium, you need to know this in order to accurately calculate the required amount of material. Buying for future use or defrosting an excess amount of mycelium is highly undesirable due to short shelf life and loss of sowing qualities.
- When producing mycelium and planting it in the substrate, strict sanitation rules must be observed to avoid pest infestation: containers, tools and hands must be decontaminated.
In general, if you follow the rules and technology for growing oyster mushroom mycelium, and then the fungus itself, you can achieve good results with not a very large investment of money and effort. With careful attention to the process, even a beginner can handle it.
