Many of us love mushrooms, but not everyone can provide themselves with wild mushrooms. Therefore, we mostly buy fresh or frozen champignons in the store and prepare our favorite dishes. But store-bought champignons often do not have the same aroma that is inherent in freshly picked young mushrooms.

Therefore, a good alternative to them is growing champignons in the country, on a personal plot. At the same time, you can not only provide your family with them, but also make good money if you grow them professionally. Let's find out how to grow your own champignons in your own dacha?

Preliminary preparation

It must be said that seed material for our useful activity is not difficult to find (more on that later). The process of the agricultural technology used is somewhat more complicated. But if you have the desire and a little skill in working on the land, everything will definitely work out.

In nature, there are more than six dozen species of champignons. For cultural breeding, only one variety is used - the two-spore champignon (white, brown and cream - according to the color of the cap).

For successful breeding (in summer), unheated utility rooms, for example, a cellar, dugout or basement, are excellent. You can use a country shed for these purposes. Mushrooms do not need sunlight, but they should be provided with fresh air, especially during the period of emergence and humidity.

You can grow mushrooms in open ground, but then they must be covered with greenhouse film to maintain moisture. Since not everyone at their dachas has premises suitable for growing, we will learn how to do this using open ground.

Planting and growing

First of all, select a place on your site where you will place the mycelium. A shaded (but not dark), moist area of ​​land is ideal. If your dacha is located on sunny side and it is difficult to find a place where there is always shade, build a light one, but durable canopy. To do this, drive pegs on both sides of the future bed, nail slats between them or tie them with wire. Cover the top and sides with film, secure it and lightly shade it.

Now let's deal with the garden bed itself. Dig up the soil and apply fertilizer with manure. You can mix manure, rotted straw, compost and add this mixture to the soil. To neutralize, add a small amount of lime. After this, compact the bed well, since the mushrooms themselves, as well as the mycelium, do not like loose soil.

Speaking of compost, you need to make sure that it is always a little warm. To do this, periodically place rotten leaves on the bed, stir the compost with your hands so that oxygen penetrates. Then the fermentation process will constantly take place in it, which will keep the bed warm. This is very important for good development and growth of mushrooms.

Next you need to acquire planting material. If mushrooms grow where you live, this is the easiest thing to do. Just go into the forest, to the edge or along the side of a forest or country road, find mushroom place, collect the mycelium along with the soil, bring it to the dacha and spread it on the prepared bed. If champignons do not grow in your area, purchase ready-made mycelium.

If everything is done correctly, the street is warm and humid, in two weeks the first shoots will appear. Now pay special attention to soil moisture. If it's hot and dry outside, spray them with water from a sprayer more often.

The mycelium grows quite quickly, its threads grow in different directions, entangling the entire compost. To improve its development, aeration, and speed up reproduction, carefully loosen the compost soil.

From the moment the first mushrooms appear, they will appear in sufficient quantities until the cold weather. The first 3-4 collections are usually the most abundant. Over the entire harvest period (8-9 weeks) you will collect 6-7 harvests. At this time, you can not only cook them, but also prepare enough for the winter. Or sell the surplus.

In late autumn, the question of preserving the mycelium will arise. During this period, it is best to move it to the basement, cellar, etc. Place it there compost bed and continue growing mushrooms. Also be sure to monitor the soil moisture and feed the mycelium. You can even place it in an empty garage, in a city environment. Well, with the onset of warmth, put the champignons back in the country.

Important!

Collect and use young mushrooms for food when the film enveloping the plates on the cap is not damaged, the plates themselves have not darkened, and are still pale pink.

Do not take old mushrooms that are overripe. They usually accumulate substances harmful to humans that negatively affect the health of the digestive tract and circulatory organs.

When harvesting, champignons are not cut with a knife, but rather twisted out of the soil. But in order not to damage the rest of the mycelium, do this carefully, slightly pressing the soil at the base of the champignon leg. After you remove the mushroom, be sure to sprinkle the resulting hole with soil.

And also, in order for the mycelium to develop well and actively produce new crops, do not forget to water the soil, spray it, but as it dries out. When you move the mycelium indoors, make sure there are no drafts. Then on your table all year round fresh, aromatic champignon mushrooms will be present.

Growing champignons in open ground will allow you to get a good harvest only if all agrotechnical procedures are followed. Mushrooms are sensitive to moisture and temperature conditions. In addition, they need to provide proper nutrition, since they, like animals, consume organic matter.

In order to grow mushrooms, you need to create a substrate rich in dead organic matter, and then place spores there. If the spores are viable and the conditions are favorable, then all that remains is to harvest.

Champignons in the country can be grown in closed and open ground.

For quick receipt The developed mycelium (mycelium) is taken from the harvest and placed in a favorable environment. Champignons in the country can be grown in closed and open ground.

The soil for champignons should be enriched with a large amount of easily decomposing organic matter. However, even mushrooms cannot tolerate high concentrations of ammonia. This means that the layer of soil must be saturated with organic matter that has gone through the fermentation process. To do this, compost is prepared as follows:

1. Half the barrel is filled with fresh cow dung. A layer of wood ash about 1 cm thick is laid on top.
2. The mixture is poured with water and mixed thoroughly. Now the barrel of compost needs to be placed somewhere away from where people live, since the activity of bacteria in this nutritious “broth” will be accompanied by a strong odor.
3. For at least 10 days, and preferably 2 weeks, you need to stir the compost several times a day. After this, the fermented organic matter should stand quietly for about 3 days.

The finished compost is poured onto the prepared beds. You need to put covering compost on top. It is prepared as follows:

1. You need to take 50 kg of straw, the same amount of cow or horse manure. Horse manure is preferable in this case because it is dense. Added to this mixture ammonium nitrate and superphosphate (2 kg each). In addition, you will need 4 kg of gypsum.
2. The straw is soaked in water for 2 days, after which it is mixed with manure. This mixture is divided into 4 parts.
3. The resulting mixtures must rest. After a week of rest they need to be stirred, then after 5 days and after 4 days. These preparation steps are necessary in order to create a sufficiently loose substrate. During the first stirring, ¼ part of gypsum, saltpeter and superphosphate is added to each pile. Before mixing, the mass is moistened with water. During subsequent wetting and mixing procedures, fertilizer and gypsum are added in equal proportions based on the remaining mass.

Once all types of compost are ready, you can start sowing.

How to grow champignons at home.

If champignons grow wild in a given area, then the seed material can be obtained from nature. This is the most cheap way grow champignons.

In order to choose high-quality seed, you need to find an environmentally friendly place. Mushrooms have the ability to absorb substances from soil, water and air. If the pollution exceeds certain limits, the mushrooms die and no longer grow in the area. With moderate pollution, the mycelium and fruiting bodies grow, but contain all the pollutants in increased concentrations.

Landed on summer cottage, contaminated champignons will gradually clear. If the ecological situation in the garden plot is favorable, then the mushrooms can be eaten. However, the mycelium will have to be transferred with contaminated soil, which means that it will be possible to eat the fruiting bodies only after several years.

To avoid worries and concerns about contamination, find an area with good harvest fruiting bodies away from industrial enterprises and busy roads.

Determine the area where you will cut the soil. It all depends on your capabilities and desires. In order to preserve the mycelium, you need to remove a layer of soil no deeper than 5 cm. It is impossible to clear the soil of fallen leaves and blades of grass. Fungal hyphae permeate not only the soil, but also the litter.

For convenience, cut the removed soil into squares and carefully place them in bags. It is advisable to maintain the integrity of each cut block.

Before planting, the soil with mycelium must be stored under conditions that exclude sudden temperature changes. It is best to keep planting material at high humidity and temperature +7...+10°C.

Growing champignons in bags.

Preparing store-bought mycelium

Ready mycelium can be purchased in specialized stores and supermarkets. Live myceliums are sold in packages that maintain optimal humidity. Before sale, the mycelium is kept in refrigerators at a temperature of +5...+7°C. This ensures a dormant regime that inhibits the growth of fungi.

It is difficult to determine the quality of mycelium when purchasing, since the viability of dormant mushrooms is checked when they are activated. However, it is recommended to open the package and smell the contents.

Living mycelium smells like fresh mushrooms and fertile soil. The reason for rejecting mycelium is a putrid or sour smell. This means that bacteria have become active in the substrate. This occurs when fungi, which are antagonists of bacteria, die.

Self-cooking

You can grow mycelium yourself, using only spores of mature champignons. You can do this right away in the garden. To be on the safe side, you can first plant the mycelium at home in temporary soil.

Growing champignons at the dacha in open ground saves time. However, in this case it will not be possible to harvest soon.

Planting champignons in the country is done as follows.

1. Find mature mushrooms, pick them and chop them.
2. Prepare the planting soil. To do this, dig a trench 25 cm deep, pour fermented manure into it, lay straw with horse manure on top, and sprinkle it all with a thin layer of soil. Now the mushroom bed needs to be watered with a small amount of water. The bed should be moist, but not wet.
3. Spread the mush of caps on damp soil, and then sprinkle it with a thin layer of earth (about 3 cm).

If the planting material is of high quality, then the mushrooms will begin to bear fruit in the same season. To guarantee and have the best effect, mycelium can be grown at home in the fall.

Growing champignons in the garden.

Planting mushrooms in the garden

In order for champignons to become a common crop in the country, you need not only to plant them correctly. Great value has a choice of landing location. Mushrooms do not need light, so you can choose shaded places for them. If there are no such zones, then the area with the mycelium will have to be specially shaded.

In addition, mushroom beds should be placed in a place protected from the wind. Champignons grow well where there is good moisture, but there is no stagnant waterlogging. Protection from winds makes it possible to maintain stable humidity and temperature conditions, which is extremely important for mushrooms.

The principle of arranging the place where the mycelium will develop is universal. In order to understand how to grow champignons at the dacha in open ground, it is enough to know that these mushrooms need to be provided with a large supply of dead organic matter, which must constantly decompose. This is why there is a mixture of manure and straw. Manure is organic matter that will feed the mycelium in the first years of its development. Decaying straw (grass, leaves, sawdust, etc.) is food for fungi, which will be available to them in a few years.

On the beds

Placing crops on beds is necessary to create specific conditions and fencing this area with plantings. Beds are not only a separate area, but also an area raised above the main soil. This placement allows you to protect the plantings from waterlogging and create special conditions.

Mushrooms are rarely planted in open ground beds. The advisability of such placement arises in the case of constant waterlogging.

If the bed is well shaded, then caring for the champignons will require little time and effort.

A trench 1 m wide is dug in a shaded lowland. The length of the trench is determined at will and in connection with the characteristics of the location. The width of 1 m is determined by the convenience of caring for the bed and harvesting. The trench is filled with nutrient substrate according to the scheme described above. Only top layer The soil in which the mycelium is located should rise 10-15 cm above the ground level. The edges of the bed must be reinforced with boards or bricks.

With this arrangement, the mycelium will be located in an area of ​​sufficient moisture, and rotting organic matter will be located in an area of ​​waterlogging. If the bed is well shaded, then caring for the champignons will require little time and effort.

In the hole

A depression in the soil for growing mushrooms is used when soil moisture is constantly low. The depth of the hole depends on the desire of the person and the condition of the soil. If a hole is created as a means of combating drought, then it is better to go deep to a layer of clay.

A layer of compost is placed at the bottom of the pit. The top should be covered with fresh grass or leaves. Then a layer of soil is laid. After watering, mushrooms are sown on the soil in the form of spores or finished mycelium. From above, the seed is again covered with a thin layer of soil and leaves. After this, the pit can be covered with a lid. With this device, moisture will not evaporate, and temperature regime will be permanent.

Sowing mycelium

At home, the purchased mycelium must be activated before planting. To do this, it is placed in a dark place with a temperature of about +20°C. This should be done 2-3 days before planting. If the mycelium begins to develop in the warmth (a clearly visible “web” of hyphae appears), the humidity inside the package increases and the mushroom smell intensifies, this means it’s time to start planting.

It is recommended, if possible, to disinfect the soil before sowing. This is done to combat diseases and pests. Only the top layer of soil into which the mycelium is immersed is subject to disinfection. This should only be done if you are planting purchased mycelium or sowing spores. If soil is transferred from the forest, then disinfection does not make sense.

Growing champignons in a box.

Planting in boxes

There is a method of growing mushrooms in bags or boxes. Fruiting bodies grow in all openings of this vessel. The more holes, the greater the harvest.

In this case, a homogeneous substrate is prepared from rotted manure and organic filler. Sawdust, leaves, grass, and straw are used as the latter. Such a substrate is quickly depleted, so you constantly need to prepare new soil for a new box into which the mycelium is transferred from another container.

Mycelium care

The mycelium requires stable environmental conditions. This means that it needs to be watered if necessary. A stable temperature can only be maintained indoors. However, even in open ground, temperature changes can be stabilized by forming shelters from polyethylene film. Autumn cold snaps will not kill the mycelium, but will significantly reduce the yield.

Long-existing mycelium in open ground must be fed with manure diluted in water in a ratio of 1:5. This should be done in spring or autumn after fruiting has ended.

For the winter, it is advisable to cover the mycelium with a layer of leaves or sawdust. This layer will reduce temperature changes, and in the summer it will grow with fungal hyphae.

Mushroom picking

There is a rule - the more often the harvest is harvested, the more mushrooms grow. In place of the harvested fruiting body when favorable conditions something new immediately grows. So keep harvesting constantly. This must be done even if only 1 fruiting body has grown. Its elimination stimulates the activity of the mycelium.

Growing champignons in a greenhouse.

Features of growing in a greenhouse

Growing in a greenhouse can be carried out all year round or only during periods of above-zero temperatures. Mycelium can be planted on beds or shelves. You cannot leave soil with mycelium on the shelves for the winter - the hyphae will freeze and dry out. Only myceliums immersed in a thick layer of soil and covered with leaves, sawdust and grass can overwinter.

Even unheated greenhouses protect mycelium from thermal damage, since indoors there is no wind or sudden temperature changes. However, there is no snow there either. To compensate for its insulating role, a shelter of leaves or plastic film is needed.

Video: how to grow champignons in the country

In order to understand how to grow champignons in open ground and in a greenhouse, it is recommended to watch the video. With its help, you can better understand the algorithm of actions and the basic rules for growing tasty and useful product. If you do everything correctly, you can harvest a harvest that can satisfy the needs of even a large family.

If you have a compost heap on your site, where you put humus from greenhouses, greenhouses, and where you dump manure, then you have a place to grow champignons. It will be enough to place the mycelium in this nutrient medium in early spring, and you will be guaranteed a regular harvest of mushrooms. Maintenance requirements boil down to regular moistening of the soil. The productivity of such a mycelium is small, but for a family, growing mushrooms in the garden will be a significant addition to the table - it’s not every day that we eat them!

Champignons do not require light, so they can be grown in damp and cool areas, for example, in a cellar or. In open ground, growing mushrooms in a garden plot is possible under the shade of trees. In this case, the growth areas need to be covered with a film, which will protect the area from drying out and excess moisture.

Growing mushrooms in open ground at a summer cottage

For ease of harvesting, mushroom beds should be made no wider than one and a half meters. If you do not pursue the goal of collecting large harvests, then it will be enough to add up to 20 kg of horse or cow manure to the soil when digging. Then plant prepared zucchini seedlings on the beds, install arches and stretch the film.

When the seedlings begin to grow, pieces of mycelium are planted between them. Together with the zucchini, the mycelium will also develop, and you will collect a double harvest from one bed - zucchini and mushrooms. The main thing is to keep the soil in the garden moist. Champignons grow most readily on horse manure, although you can also use cow manure by mixing it with straw (30% by weight of the manure), leaves, and garden tops. To 50 kg of substrate add 10-12 kg of lime, the same amount of gypsum, and one and a half kilograms of urea.

Having mixed everything and placed it on a dense pile, the substrate is covered with film on top, where it will have to reach the desired condition for about 20 days.

The readiness of the nutrient medium becomes obvious when the ammonia smell disappears. The finished substrate is used both for growing mushrooms at a summer cottage in boxes or racks, and for creating ridges in open ground.

We use a substrate - growing champignons in a personal plot

A more productive way to grow mushrooms in a personal plot is to create myceliums on an artificial substrate. To do this, remove a layer of soil up to 25 cm deep, as is done when forming. Make the width at least a meter, leaving paths between the ridges. To disinfect the beds before laying the substrate, they are sprayed with a weak solution of carbation (0.5%), and then about 20 cm of nutrient substrate is laid.

To increase the area under the crop, the substrate is laid out convexly, increasing the height towards the middle of the ridge. Be sure to build a canopy that will protect the mycelium from drying out. When the temperature reaches 26 °C at a depth of about 5 cm in the substrate, holes up to 5 cm deep are made in the ridge with a peg, where the mycelium is placed. If grain mycelium is planted, then it is scattered over the surface of the ridge and covered with a layer of substrate up to 3 cm thick, then lightly compacted.

With sufficient moisture, fungal hyphae will spread throughout the substrate, they can be observed even on the surface in the form of a silvery coating. This will happen within two weeks after planting the mycelium. The hyphae that have protruded to the surface are covered with well-moistened turf soil, in a layer of 3-4 cm, without compacting. Another month of waiting, and fruiting bodies will begin to appear on the surface.

Collect mushrooms every day, avoiding the formation of old mushrooms, which deplete the mycelium. The fruiting bodies should reach a diameter of about 2 cm, after which they can be twisted out of the ridge, filling the holes with soil. Growing champignons in open ground in this way will bring up to 6 kilograms of excellent mushrooms from one square meter mycelium.

We often buy champignons in the store and don’t think about the fact that we can grow them ourselves in the country. Let's talk about the intricacies of growing these mushrooms in the garden.

Features of champignons

Those wishing to master the technique of producing champignons should know some of the subtleties of home cultivation so as not to be disappointed. The main condition for a successful enterprise is the absence of sunlight, as well as maintaining a certain temperature, ventilation and humidity.

What do you need to grow champignons in the garden?

The compost is laid in two layers, 10 cm each, each of which is well compacted. Thus, the total height of the formed bed should not exceed half the height of the wooden side. After this, you need to measure the temperature inside the compost. Sowing is carried out at a temperature of +22, but not exceeding +30.

Champignons from purchased mycelium in the garden

grain mycelium

Growing champignons in the basement

Mushrooms should not be allowed to outgrow. This will lead to blackening of the plates and the taste will deteriorate. In order to avoid infection of the mycelium with various infections, it is necessary to remove all fruit fragments, wormy and diseased specimens.

Champignons in the garden from homemade spores

The prepared soil should be warmed up to +22. Liquid with spores is poured evenly onto the bed. Sprinkle with a thin layer of sifted soil. Since the roots of mushrooms are tiny, the thickness of the coating should be no more than 1 centimeter. To speed up germination, you can cover the surface with polyethylene. For development, it is important to maintain the set temperature and not overdo it with watering. After germination, only daily spraying is carried out (can be twice a day). If you water with a watering can, then once a week.

With the beginning of the mushroom season, many lovers of “silent hunting” prepare the necessary equipment and select the time for a trip to the forest. However, the anticipation of a good harvest is not always justified, because there are lean years. Of course, you can buy mushrooms in stores or markets all year round, but the price is not acceptable for everyone. Today the problem can be solved quite simply: you can grow champignons in a greenhouse or in open ground in the garden. In our article we will introduce you to how to grow champignons in the country and how to properly harvest.

How to prepare planting material

The primary task of preparing for mushroom cultivation is the preparation of mycelium (mycelium). This is not so easy to do: you need a certain skill, carefully sterilized containers and special equipment. There are several options for preparing mycelium at home: on grain, on potatoes and agar. The most popular is considered to be grain mycelium.

For it you will need:

• collect champignons in a field or forest, and it is advisable to take mushrooms that are already overripe;
• cut out a small (several centimeters) piece of mushroom with a disinfected knife;
• pour the required amount of grain or oats into the container, fill it with water so as to just cover the mass, no more. To disinfect grain, add hydrogen peroxide to the water (at the rate of 1 glass per 1 bucket);
• cook for about 40 minutes;
• strain the grain through a fine sieve and dry it;
• pour the prepared mass into sterilized containers;
• It is recommended to use a quartz or bactericidal lamp for control disinfection;
• make small holes (the diameter of a needle) in the disinfected lids and roll up the jars;
• Boil the jars for an hour. Water should not flood the lids during boiling;
• Using a disinfected instrument, transfer a piece of mycelium into the grain. Transfer must be carried out under as sterile conditions as possible: use a lamp or alcohol burner, you can purchase a specially equipped sealed box;
• the holes on the sterilized lid must be closed with a sterile bandage or cotton wool and secured with disinfected tape;
• Jars should be stored in a dark, cool room at a temperature of +17-23 degrees.

To carry out the entire process, you need to wear sterile medical gloves or treat your hands with an antiseptic. Of course, there is an easier way, but it requires constant repetition and does not guarantee a successful result. You can prepare wild mycelium. To do this, you need to find a place where mushrooms grow abundantly and remove the top layer, on which the hyphae threads are clearly visible. You can preserve such a layer until spring in a cold room with a low level of humidity.

Selecting a location and preparing the bed

After preparing the mycelium, you need to start choosing a place in the garden where you can grow mushrooms. The northern shaded side is best suited for the garden bed. Drafts are contraindicated. Optimal place there will be an area near the house or under a canopy: the structure will provide the mycelium with diffused lighting and protection from precipitation. You need to dig the required number of trenches in the garden bed (width -1 m, depth - 30 cm). Next, compost is poured into the trenches, which can be prepared at home. To do this, you need to combine equal parts of horse manure (or chicken manure) and straw and fill them with a hot urea solution.

Next, the mixture must be compacted and covered with strong, dense material. After about two weeks, the mixture is enriched with superphosphate and left until completely ready. When the compost turns light brown and crumbly, it is ready to be used. Growing mushrooms in a greenhouse or greenhouse is also widespread. If you have any of this at your summer cottage, then champignons will delight you with their unpretentiousness and growth rate in greenhouse conditions. Naturally, mushrooms need suitable temperature conditions, lighting and humidity levels. But basically, growing champignons in a greenhouse depends on the correct substrate.

Planting and further care

To plant mushrooms, you need to choose a part of the day when the air warms up well. The temperature should be within 20 degrees, the soil should be well moistened. Plant champignons in shallow holes. The mycelium is divided into small pieces, about 6 cm, and placed in the holes. Then the mycelium should be sprinkled with compost and watered with warm water. You can cover the planted areas with special material or film. There is no need to water the mushrooms.

After a few weeks, the cover should be removed and the seedlings should be sprinkled with peat and turf. Forest or field soil in which champignons previously grew will serve as the optimal surface layer. It is recommended to lay the top layer in such a way that there is a small space for air and moisture to penetrate.

Mushrooms do not require special care: it is only important to maintain a certain temperature and humidity level. The optimal temperature will be within 24-26 degrees; at temperatures above 30 the mycelium dies. When the seedlings germinate well, the temperature should be reduced by 9-10 degrees. Reduction can be achieved by spraying cold water or additional shadow. The soil should be kept slightly moist: water regularly surface layer so that moisture does not penetrate to the mycelium. Excessive moisture can cause mycelium to rot.

Features of harvesting

Champignons grow for 3-4 weeks. A ripe mushroom becomes pale pink in color. As soon as the first signs of readiness appear, the crop should be harvested. Large champignons lose some of their taste. In addition, overgrown mushrooms weaken the mycelium.

Harvested on time and proper watering will not allow the mycelium to become depleted.

When the fruiting bodies of grown champignons reach 2 cm, they are carefully twisted out, and the resulting void is filled with soil. The mycelium will bear fruit for about two months. Perhaps in the first year the harvest will not be abundant, but in subsequent years from 1 sq. m it will be possible to collect up to 6 kg of mushrooms. As you can see, growing champignons in the country is not difficult, but troublesome. However, the result is worth your effort and expense.

Video “Planting champignons in the country”

From this video you will learn how to properly grow champignons in the country.