You can spare a small piece of land to be able to grow your own vegetables. Many people, especially those living in apartments, have started to create kitchen gardens of their own with the help of pots on their balconies or terraces.[break]
Mushroom farming is also one of such culture that can be done regardless of having a proper kitchen garden. In fact, it can even be grown inside, but in a separate dark room. Though it needs ample knowledge and a good practice, you can nonetheless try for yourself and grow your own mushrooms. Mushrooms derive all of their energy and growth materials from their growth medium, through biochemical decomposition processes and it’s different than growing any other plants.
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The Week is here to help you with the basic processes to start you up with the idea.
Choose the mushroom type
There are different species of edible mushrooms. The most popular ones that are found in the market are white mushrooms or button mushrooms. Agaricus bisporus is the most popularly cultivated mushroom worldwide. There are other types of mushrooms too, like Shiitake, which particularly requires wooden log for cultivation. But here, we’ll be taking white mushroom cultivation in consideration.
Start-up essentials
Though growing mushrooms at home can take a lot of effort, it can be equally rewarding. Unlike most plants, mushrooms grow in different conditions. Therefore, you’ll first need to spot a dark space in your greenhouse or create one in one corner of your kitchen garden. After you’ve decided on the spot, you’ll need to have a cupboard frame that’ll allow you to cultivate larger number of mushroom in a small space, on straws, polythene sheets and mushroom spawns.
One important thing about mushroom cultivation is that it grows in moist places. Therefore, it’ll need wet soil to grow. Water is of utmost importance as it’ll be required in excess than other plants.
Creating the medium
Since mushrooms are the fruits produced from fungi made up of thin, threadlike cells called mycelium, they require a growing medium that supports this mycelium. Mushrooms are regarded as recycler plants as they eat dead plants to extract the energy for their growth and need more fiber-filled environments.
Though it may sound a little complicated, creating the medium isn’t difficult if you learn thoroughly about the process. First, you’ll need to boil water enough to soak the amount of straw necessary for the cultivation. It depends on your choice of quantity of the stock. After the water is boiled, place the straw in the boiling water and maintain the heat until the straw is quite soft and almost mushy.
Then, remove the straw from the water let it cool down for a while so you can handle it properly.
Subsequently, mix the straw with your mushroom spawn and place it on plastic sheeting. The plastic sheeting is the cover for the medium, so make sure that it can be packed tightly and can be stored in the form of solid log.
For mushrooms to grow, they will need some air circulation. Therefore, take a knife and make several ventilation holes on the top of the log before placing it in a dark, warm, dry place in your greenhouse.
Check regularly
After placing the log in the dark and moist environment, you’ll need to check it regularly to know about the developments. Generally, the log isn’t watered until you see a white substance forming on the straw.
After the white substance starts to appear, move the log to a cool place or set the temperature in such a way and water it regularly to help the mushrooms grow. Water is one of the most important factors in the growth of mushrooms. Since mushrooms grow through cell enlargement, ample water is required for the mycelium strands to form mushrooms by fusing together and reaching toward the surface. You should see edible mushrooms after about one week.
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