Champignons are among those types of mushrooms that are quite realistic to grow at home. A prerequisite for the successful cultivation of mushrooms is the presence of a room in which you can constantly maintain high humidity.
The process of growing champignons at home consists of two stages: preparing the substrate (special soil) and introducing the mycelium of mushrooms into the substrate. During the performance of all the necessary work, the technology should be followed accurately and in stages.
Stage one. Substrate preparation
This stage is the most difficult and time-consuming, so many, having familiarized themselves with the procedure, immediately give up and abandon the idea of growing champignons. And in vain! Here, after all, as in the saying: "To be afraid of a wolf - do not go to the forest."
Before you start preparing the substrate, you need to acquire all the necessary components for this process. If, for example, the task is to end up with such an amount of substrate that would be enough for a mycelium measuring 3 square meters, then the following components will be required: horse or cow manure - 35 kg; fresh straw - 100 kg; superphosphate - 2 kg; gypsum - 7-8 kg; chalk - 5 kg; ammonium nitrate - 600 g.
To begin with, the entire amount of straw is thoroughly soaked in water in a suitable container for 24 hours. After that, straw and manure are stacked in layers in a special pile (a kind of wooden storage), the width of which is 1.5 meters, the length is 1.2 meters. Each layer of straw must be sprinkled with saltpeter.
After 5-7 days, the substrate should be shaken up with a pitchfork and sprinkled with plaster. After another 3-4 days, the procedure should be repeated, but this time the remaining components, superphosphate and chalk, must be added to the substrate. As a rule, the soil for growing mushrooms fully "ripens" after 20-22 days.
Stage two. Inoculation of the substrate with mycelium
The mycelium is the seed that is necessary for growing mushrooms. As a rule, mycelium is produced in special laboratories, and can be purchased at most agricultural stores. This substance is not stored for long, so it must be used immediately after purchase.
Before starting the inoculation process, the substrate should be heat treated, in other words, pour boiling water over it. After that, when the soil has cooled, it must be scattered into separate boxes. Inoculation should be performed as follows: in the holes made in the substrate (4-5 cm in size), it is necessary to fill in the mycelium and slightly cover it with a layer of the same substrate. Use no more than one handful of mycelium per hole.
After 10-12 days, cover the substrate with a layer of peat and chalk soil (approximately 90% peat and 10% chalk) and place the boxes in some cool, damp and ventilated place. The first mushrooms begin to appear on the surface of the substrate after 3-4 months. From just one square meter of mycelium, you can collect up to 12 kg of mushrooms.
