Quiet hunting is a favorite hobby of many people in Russia. It's nice to wander through the forest in search of delicacies. The sensations from the finds are the most unforgettable. And avid gardeners have learned to grow mushrooms in their own cellars and basements.
Industrial cultivation of mushrooms is not profitable, but amateur gardeners do not give up and master more and more new ways of growing porcini mushrooms. The difficulty is that mushrooms are not plants and therefore do not apply to conventional plant growing methods. On the backyard, porcini mushrooms can be grown both directly in the garden and in the basement or cellar. Fungi do not need photosynthesis, so they can also be grown in dark rooms. A feature of the porcini mushrooms artificially grown in the basement is lighter, and sometimes completely white caps. This is their only difference from the porcini mushrooms that grow naturally in the forest. For the cultivation of porcini mushrooms, it is necessary that the room where they will be cultivated meets certain requirements.
What should be the room for growing mushrooms
When adapting the basement for mushroom growing, it should be borne in mind that it is desirable that the ceiling and walls in the basement are concrete. And to avoid contamination of fungi, the ceiling and walls should be whitewashed with lime. Underground rooms have a relatively stable climate, with little fluctuations in temperature and humidity. But growing mushrooms requires high humidity in the room, so if it is not enough, additional moisture will be required. The air temperature in the basement should not be too high, for the normal growth of mushrooms it is + 14-17 ° C. In addition, porcini mushrooms require increased room ventilation. To prevent insect pests from entering the ventilation holes, they should be sealed with a net.
There is a room, what's next
To grow porcini mushrooms, in addition to the premises, you will need a substrate where they will be cultivated, and seeds - mycelium. As a substrate, you can use dry corn stalks, husks from buckwheat and sunflower seeds, deciduous wood chips. An important condition is that the substrate must be free of rot and mold. The substrate is prepared in one of three ways:
- hydrothermia (the substrate is treated with hot water);
- xerothermia (a dry substrate is processed with steam);
- pasteurization (the moistened substrate is processed with steam).
To grow porcini mushrooms at home, you only need high-quality material grown in a laboratory. Further, observing the planting technology and the rules of caring for myceliums, in 18-25 days you can harvest the first crop.
