What do mycelium look like on sticks of the company search. How mushrooms grow in an artificial environment: what is oyster mushroom mycelium? Laying logs infected with mushroom mycelium

Mushrooms really never grow alone and always grow in large colonies on fallen trees or stumps. These mushrooms lend themselves perfectly to artificial breeding, and in order to create your own mushroom “bed”, you just need to buy mushroom mycelium and prepare a suitable growth environment for it.

What you need to know about growing mushrooms from mycelium

Those who plan to grow honey mushrooms on their plot should, first of all, pay attention to the garden itself or the plot on which their colonies will grow.

Honey mushrooms are relatively unpretentious mushrooms, although some effort must be made for artificial germination. But it must be borne in mind that after the nutrient medium has exhausted its resources (we are talking about a tree stump on which they are planted), then the mycelium can subsequently move on to nearby trees. How to prevent it:

1. Place logs with future colonies as far as possible from cultivated trees or fence them off with a partition, preferably not a wooden one, since it will soon “bloom”.
2. You should harvest on time (remove the most mature mushrooms from the stumps, whose hats began to straighten in the manner of an umbrella) before the spores flew.
3. Dig a small groove around the future plantation, although this is also only conditional protection.

According to those whose yard is naturally infected with these mushrooms, they do not bring much harm to trees. People simply harvest and use mushrooms for their intended purpose.

The second condition is that it is desirable that the groundwater on the site pass relatively high. In this case, the lower edges of artificial stumps with honey mushroom colonies will constantly be fed with dampness, which will greatly accelerate their growth. Otherwise, you will constantly have to shed the soil manually.

Wood for laying mycelium mushrooms

Most of all, the mycelium likes old trees, already dead, but not rotten. With pleasure, they grow on lying trunks. It would be best, armed with a chainsaw, to drive into the forest and file small logs of fallen aspens or birches. They are favored the most. Just pay attention to:

• wood has not been eaten by bark beetles;
• there were no myceliums of other fungi on it (whitish fibers were absent under the bark);
• it was free from moss and lichen;
• it was soaked in moisture.

Blocks of freshly cut trees are also suitable, but they will first have to be artificially soaked for a long time in a container of water. In addition, a tree that has already been impregnated and has slightly begun to warm up, when moisture gets on it, absorbs it very well, which cannot be said about fresh logs. They will have to be irrigated many times longer.

Preparation of logs

Blocks for replanting mycelium mushrooms should be sawn off no more than 60 cm long. Until the middle of such a low column, moisture will be easily absorbed from below from the ground. From above, the log will receive moisture from irrigation and from a special hole, which will be discussed later. It is advisable to choose trunks with a diameter of at least 20 cm, but in general, the larger, the better.

Next, prepare holes for sealing sticks with mycelium. They are drilled on each log in a checkerboard pattern, on average, the distance between the holes along the length of the log should be at least 15 cm, along the circumference - at least 10. Here, too, the more the better. Sometimes colonies can grow to such an extent that they begin to interfere with each other.

The drill should be slightly larger in diameter than the stick with mycelium, and the depth of the hole should be 1 cm longer. After these holes need to be strengthened - extended with a thinner drill (so that the stick with mycelium does not pass into it), almost to the center of the log. This will speed up the growth of the fungus. When drilling holes, it should be borne in mind that each log will be buried in the ground to a depth of at least 15-20 cm. There should be no holes with mycelium in the ground.

Laying sticks infected with honey agaric mycelium

The bookmarking process is as follows:

• Lay the logs prepared for planting on a clean surface (polyethylene or a clean concrete floor) so that dirt does not get into the holes during the embedding process.
• Wash your hands thoroughly with soap and water before handling chopsticks.
• Position the sticks with mycelium in the holes until they stop.
• Pour a teaspoon of potato starch diluted in water, prepared at the rate of 40 g of starch per 1 liter of water, into each hole - this will spur the development of mycelium.
• Next, the hole should immediately be sealed with wooden pegs specially prepared for this. Some gardeners advise covering them with garden pitch.

Now the logs with embedded mycelium are ready for installation in the garden.

Laying logs infected with mushroom mycelium

Logs are buried in the ground to a depth of at least 15 cm so that moisture from the ground is more effectively absorbed into the tree. After installation in the upper plane in the center, a hole should be drilled with a drill 10–20 mm wide to a depth of 10–20 cm. Thus, the water poured into the hole will be faster and better absorbed into the upper part of the log.

How to care for a mushroom garden

To prevent moisture from evaporating so quickly from the ground and from the logs, you can cover the “plot” with a layer of straw. The peculiar greenhouse effect created from this will favorably affect the development of the mycelium. It is only worth keeping the condition of the straw under control. It is advisable not to let it rot, and as soon as traces of mold appear on it, it should be replaced with a new one.

Leaving, basically, consists in watering the soil and sprinkling the pillars. The fact that the logs begin to dry out can be seen visually. But don't wet them too much either. Excess moisture can cause the mycelium to develop less efficiently and yields will be low. You should bring out the golden mean for yourself and strictly observe it.

It is also worth remembering that the "mushroom plantation" should be in a shaded place. Experienced gardeners are advised to completely observe how mushrooms ripen in natural conditions. Then it will not be difficult for you to create a similar atmosphere for them.

As soon as the first whitish signs of mycelium appear, you can remove the straw, but it is worth monitoring the moisture all the time, even during the ripening of mushrooms. Sprinkling is carried out mainly in the period from 12 to 17:00, but with the condition that by the evening the upper parts of the logs, with the exception of the water hole and washed down, be dry.

Conclusion

If everything is done correctly, the mycelium will definitely grow, and next summer will be truly mushroom for you. Although some varieties of honey mushrooms, unlike, for example, autumn mushrooms, can develop much faster.

It remains only to say a few words about the time of planting mushrooms in the open field. Experts advise to produce it in the spring, when nature wakes up from winter. It is at this time that tree trunks are most suitable for planting. They are saturated with moisture, useful substances. Pests have not yet woken up, pathogenic bacteria are not so active. All this at times increases the chances of a healthy and rapid development of the mycelium.

Advantages:

• less weight compared to grain mycelium;
• during transportation can withstand even the most severe frosts;
• a wide variety of mushroom species;
• the possibility of growing in logs, stumps, packages;
• low cost;
• low cost of shipping (transportation) due to low weight;
• long shelf life (up to 4 years).

Disadvantages:

• afraid of moisture (wet mycelium should not be allowed);
• germination takes a little longer compared to grain mycelium.

You can grow mushroom mycelium on sticks in hardwood logs or in plastic bags with a substrate (sawdust, sunflower husks, straw, coconut substrate or corn cobs). There are some peculiarities here. Substrate bags germinate faster, but only bear fruit for 1-2 months, because. the mycelium completely decomposes the substrate. Logs and stumps germinate more slowly, but they can bear fruit for up to 7 years, until the complete destruction of the wood occurs.

Favorable time for planting mushroom cultures on a wood base in natural conditions is from April to October, indoors - all year round at a temperature of 15 to 27 degrees.

Growing mycelium on sticks in bags.

Special bags and bags for growing mushrooms can also be purchased from us.

Take a 6-8 liter bag and put some substrate (about 5 cm) on the bottom. The substrate must be pre-moistened to such an extent that when squeezed in the palm of your hand, a little water appears.

Spread evenly on the substrate 3 sticks infected with mycelium. Put a new layer on top. And so on until the package is completely filled. Count so that the package can then be tied.

With a toothpick in a checkerboard pattern, make holes over the entire surface except for the bottom. After that, the package with mycelium can be placed in a pallet or tied up under the ceiling. If you have a plantation, then use both methods to save space.

Light in this process is optional, the main thing is not to let the substrate dry out. To do this, it is necessary to periodically spray the bags with water from the sprayer. If the cultivation takes place in the basement, then it makes sense to put open containers with water to maintain high humidity.

After 7-12 days, the substrate will begin to grow mycelium - a white "web" will appear inside the bag. 20-30 days after planting, the first mushrooms will begin to appear through the holes in the bag. At this time, the substrate intertwined with mycelium will turn into a dense homogeneous block. On the sides of the package with a knife, make 4 cuts 1-2 cm long to exit the fruiting bodies.

To stimulate fruit formation, place the mushroom block in the refrigerator for 2-3 days at a temperature of 3-5 ° C or in a lighted room at a temperature of 15-20 ° C.

Moisten the substrate through the cuts made with a sprayer. After 3-4 days, "primordia" will appear - these are the beginnings of mushrooms. Within 4-5 days, primordia will grow to the size of a mushroom. They can be picked and used for food.

From one package with a volume of 5-8 liters, you can collect 3-5 kg ​​of mushrooms, while fruiting will occur in waves.

If you put not 16 sticks (one package), but 32 (two packages) in a bag and place them more often, then the growing process will accelerate and the yield will be higher.

Growing mycelium on sticks in logs (stumps, logs).

In this way, mushrooms are usually grown in vegetable gardens (on the street) and in greenhouses.

The main advantage of this method is long-term fruiting, up to 7 years.

We choose a log (burnt, stump) of hardwood (aspen, birch, poplar, etc.) without signs of rot, 10-15 cm in diameter and 30-50 cm long, with bark (without branches).

We soak it for 2-3 days in water, then leave it in a clean, ventilated room for 1 day to evaporate excess moisture.

We drill holes with a diameter of 0.9 cm and a length of 5 cm in a checkerboard pattern at a distance of about 20 cm from each other. The more mycelium sticks are used per log, the faster it will germinate with mycelium and begin to produce a crop.

With clean hands or gloves, insert the sticks with mycelium into the holes until they stop, then close with wooden plugs or wax (garden pitch) to prevent the penetration of bacteria.

You can cover the log with burlap, which will significantly speed up the development of the mycelium. We place the wood in a shaded, well-ventilated place at a temperature of 20-25 ° C. To maintain wood moisture: when growing mushrooms outdoors, water the soil near the stump (log) 2-3 times a week;

Overgrowth of a log occurs in 1-2 months, depending on the conditions. The wood is overgrown if white mycelium is visible in the places of infection and on the ends. Fruiting will begin in 2-6 months from the moment of planting at an air temperature of more than 15 ° C.

For the winter, sprinkle with leaves, cover with burlap.

Fruiting occurs in waves, up to 3-4 years on soft wood (poplar, birch, willow), 5-7 years on hard wood (beech, maple, mountain ash). In one year, you can collect 3-6 kg of mushrooms from each log.

In late autumn, the logs must be sprinkled with leaf litter and covered with burlap.

Shelf life

3 years when stored at a temperature not exceeding +24°C.

4 years when stored at temperatures from +2 to +4°C.

On sale there is a mycelium of a wide variety of mushrooms, even porcini and truffles. Is it really possible to get a crop from this mycelium? How to choose a good mycelium to grow mushrooms in your garden?

Range

Grain, wood or other substrate with mycelium most often goes on sale. After the complete development of the substrate, mushrooms are formed.

Sterile grain mycelium

Boiled and sterilized grain, mastered by the mycelium, is suitable for growing most cultivated mushrooms. The mycelium of oyster mushrooms, shiitake, honey mushrooms and other tree fungi is produced on grains of wheat and millet. On the grain of rye - champignon and ringworm. Grain provides nutrition for the mycelium at the initial stage of development and gives it an advantage over molds and polypore fungi, which are always present in stumps and logs. (For example, on a birch stump, a birch tinder fungus, Poliporus betulinus, can grow instead of oyster mushrooms.)

You can order grain mycelium of oyster mushroom, shiitake and other mushrooms in a 16-kilogram box from the dealer of the American company Sylvan.

It comes with two filter bags of 8 kg each. The company guarantees the cultivation of the mushroom, which is indicated on the package.

Grain mycelium is also on sale in small packages of 200 g. This is either independently packaged foreign raw materials, or a copy made in Ukraine. A copy of the first reseeding is as good as the mother mycelium. With long storage, you can see how the mushrooms begin to form inside the bag.

The main risk is that when sowing a non-sterile substrate, bacterial contamination is possible. Another drawback is the loss of quality during freezing and long-term storage at temperatures above +4 °C.

Sterile mycelium on wooden sticks and "chops"

The mycelium of tree mushrooms on wooden sticks or wooden dowels for furniture (“chops”) requires very careful heat treatment of the substrate. It stores well and tolerates freezing, but does not provide such favorable starting conditions as grain.

compost mycelium

Mycelium of champignon, ringworm and other humus and litter mushrooms can be sold on champignon compost as a carrier of mycelium. It looks like soft brown straw and is rarely seen on sale. Sometimes it is sold in plastic bags with a volume of 2-3 liters, it used to be found in two-liter jars.

Non-sterile substrate mycelium of oyster mushroom

Oyster mushroom mycelium can be made on ground wood chips that have not been subjected to heat treatment. It can only be used for growing oyster mushrooms on the same wood chips using a special non-sterile technology. Behind him is the future - he is stored for years and withstands freezing in winter.

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Which packaging is best?

It is better to choose a completely transparent package or with a transparent window through which grains or other substrate overgrown with mycelium are visible. The grains should be evenly covered with white thin threads of mycelium or a dense white carpet of mycelium. The mycelium should not be wet and have wet spots stuck to the sachet.

On the surface of the "chopics" the mycelium should be visible in the form of the thinnest white threads and there should not be green mold and other signs of disease.

The mycelium on the compost should be visible between the straws - like white threads or pieces of cotton wool. There should be no green or dark spots on the contents of the package, they also indicate infection of the mycelium with molds.

The bag should have an air filter or a cotton (paper) stopper in the neck for mycelium breathing. Sooner or later, mold spores get into perforated bags - it's better not to buy them. Sealed bags without perforation and filters are completely unacceptable. The mycelium in them will quickly turn sour.

If you press on the bag or open one of them for a test, you can smell it. It must be mushroom. The sour smell of silage, yeast or hydrogen sulfide is unacceptable.

Very small beautiful bags of mycelium, which are sold in flower shops, may be of dubious quality - be careful when buying.

Checking the viability of mycelium

Prepare the solution: stir a teaspoon of sugar in a glass of cooled boiled water. Moisten liberally with a sterile cotton pad or a square of toilet paper folded in several layers (fresh from the package). Wring it out and put it on a clean saucer (you can use a Petri dish).

Put a few grains of grain mycelium, a “chop” or a piece of substrate on the disk and cover with a glass. The rest can be removed in the vegetable compartment of the refrigerator. At room temperature, a week later, a white edge of growing mycelium should appear on the grains. There should be no colored spots.

What mushrooms to buy

In bags with grain mycelium of oyster mushrooms of various types, shiitake or champignon, as a rule, the mushroom indicated on the package is also contained. It is only necessary to check the viability of the mycelium, as described above. The same can be said about "chopiki" with oyster mushrooms, shiitake, maitake and reishi.

Another thing is mycelium with forest mycorrhizal mushrooms (porcini mushroom, chanterelle, white mushroom, butter dish, birch boletus, truffle, etc.). First of all, take a close look at the photographs and compare them with the names of the mushrooms. Sometimes it happens that under the image of a dry mushroom (Russula delica) a real mushroom (Lactarius resimus) is sold. A granular butter dish (Suillus granulates) was photographed, and it is sold as a real butter dish (Suillus luteus). There is a possibility that the photo is taken from other sources, and you need to be careful with such sellers. When buying, keep the receipt - in case of a negative result when checking the germination, the mycelium must be returned to the store. Until reliable information has been received on the successful cultivation of mycorrhizal mushrooms from mycelium, therefore, refrain from buying white mushrooms, chanterelles, truffles, milk mushrooms, oil and boletus. It is better to pick porcini mushrooms in the forest and sow your garden plot with their hats.

Many summer residents are faced with the problem of removing stumps from felled fruit trees. There are dozens of ways to get rid of the remains of trees, but most of them either require remarkable male strength, or can damage the ecology of the site. On the other hand, growing mushrooms on stumps allows you to safely, profitably and simply remove them from the site!

Mushrooms in the garden - it's easy

Today, mushroom growers successfully grow many types of mushrooms in their dachas - porcini, chanterelles, boletus, mushrooms, champignons, shiitake, oyster mushrooms and honey mushrooms. All these mushrooms are wood destroyers. That is, their main function in nature is to process the wood of dead trees, during which it turns into fertilizer for other forest plants.

By the way, wood dust, which appeared after the destruction of the stump by the mycelium, contains a huge amount of natural phosphorus and can be used to feed any garden and garden crops. Here is another benefit of growing mushrooms on garden stumps.

In principle, in gardening stores you can buy the mycelium of all the mushrooms mentioned above, but if you are just learning the basics of garden mushroom growing, I recommend starting with the most unpretentious oyster mushroom.

Which mycelium is better: grain or on sticks?

On sale there is grain mycelium and mycelium on short wooden sticks.

Grain mycelium consists of grains of wheat or oats infected with mycelium. It can be painted both in light yellow and whitish color (if it is already overgrown with mycelium). Such planting material can be stored in a refrigerator at a temperature close to zero for 6 months.

When buying, pay attention that there are no signs of gray-green mold on the grain - this indicates a low quality of the product.

Wooden blocks infected with mycelium may look like fresh wood or be covered with a slight waxy coating, indicating the presence of mycelium. Mushroom sticks are stored in the refrigerator for two years, while one such stick is enough to infect 5 kilograms of wood.

Mycelium on grain is better than wooden sticks, not only because its quality is easier to control, but also because it germinates and masters wood faster.

Planting mushrooms on stumps

Hemp of any hardwood trees is suitable for growing mushrooms. In this case, it is desirable to use fresh hemp with a diameter of 25 to 70 centimeters. If you want to grow mushrooms on old stumps, then make sure that other mushrooms do not grow on them.

It is also desirable that there are no old or neglected fruit trees near the stumps. The fact is that fungal spores are able to move to the dying roots of such plants. To prevent this from happening, you need to regularly whitewash the trunks of garden trees with lime and carry out sanitary pruning in a timely manner.

It is possible to carry out inoculation (infection) of stumps with mycelium at any time of the year, but it is best to do this in autumn or in April-June.

Sowing mycelium is carried out as follows:

1. On the sides of the stump (as low as possible), holes are drilled in a checkerboard pattern with a diameter of about 1 centimeter and a depth of 5 to 7 centimeters. The distance between the individual holes should be from 10 to 15 centimeters.
2. The stump is abundantly watered and wrapped in foil.
3. After 1-2 days, the shelter is removed and the mycelium is pushed into the holes (grain or in the form of wooden blocks, manually or using a sterilized hammer). Infection is done with sterile gloves or very clean hands.
4. Each hole is sealed with a cork made from a piece of wood, paraffin, pieces of cotton wool, moss, garden pitch or plasticine.

How to grow mushrooms on stumps

Three conditions are necessary for the successful cultivation of mushrooms on stumps:

• high humidity of air and soil (at the level of 90%);
• air temperature +14 ... 28 degrees;
• lighting and ventilation.

The mycelium extracts nutrients exclusively from an aqueous solution, so when the moisture content of the wood drops below the 30% mark, the mycelium stops growing.

To reduce the evaporation of moisture, hemp should be shaded from direct sunlight. And in dry weather, you can use the following simple watering method: put water bottles with holes in the bottoms on stumps. The liquid will gradually come out of the holes and wet the wood.

The mushroom picker will also not develop with increased dryness of the air. To encourage mushroom growth in hot weather, you can install a garden sprinkler around the stumps and run it for several days or nights (water should irrigate the area around the stumps).

When growing mushrooms on the street, there are usually no problems with ventilation and lighting. Just keep in mind that the stumps should be under diffused light and in no case under the scorching sun.

Mycelium permeates the entire volume of the stump in 3-6 months or even later (depending on the conditions created). And only after that, the rudiments of fruiting bodies begin to form on the stump. The fact is that mushrooms, like the fruits of plants, serve the purpose of reproduction. Then why should the mycelium look for a new nutrient medium until all the possibilities of the old feeding place have been exhausted?

Up to 100 mushrooms can grow on one stump, while the fruiting period can be from 30 to 50 days (depending on the prevailing weather). Fruiting occurs in waves with a break of 1.5-2 weeks. The mushroom picker completely destroys wood over a period of 6 to 8 years, while from each stump you will receive from 1.5 to 3 kilograms of delicious mushrooms!

What is a mycelium mycelium? What are the types of mycelium, how to choose and store them? There may be confusion here - some sources of information call the mycelium the substrate on which the mycelium was settled for further transportation and cultivation. Some people call the mycelium itself a mycelium - the body of the fungus, previously crushed and planted in a substrate for further settlement, but not both together.

I'm leaning towards that mycelium- this is a substrate inhabited by mycelium, which is waiting for it to be germinated soon on straw, logs, cardboard, and what else ... Read on the page for the types of substrate for growing. Mycelium is needed to transfer mycelium to these substrates.

Growing mushrooms from pure mycelium is not recommended. The exact amount of mycelium (which has already turned white on the substrate and is viable) can populate a much larger amount of the substrate than raw mycelium, which has yet to germinate into the substrate. The mushroom picker is easier to control, you can be sure of the result if you see live mycelium in the mushroom picker, and not naked porridge, which may not germinate for some reason. Next, we will deal with the pros and cons of different types of mycelium.

Types of mycelium

Mycelium on sawdust

Mycelium sawdust is sterilized. Deciduous trees are used, preferably fruit trees. The size of sawdust is several millimeters. A mushroom picker from small sawdust can be populated in logs, an open mushroom "bed", straw, cardboard and other substrates. Pressed dowels with mycelium are made from sawdust, which are hammered into.

Mushroom on sawdust, already overgrown with mycelium.

If sawdust were more nutritious, it would become an ideal mycelium mycelium. If you buy mycelium on sawdust, then most likely bran or some other source of nitrogen has been added to the bag. The main advantage of sawdust is in the size of their particles. Due to the fact that they are small, the mycelium is distributed more evenly and can colonize more substrate for growing mushrooms. Our mycelium on sawdust is not very popular, grain is much more common.

grain mycelium

Sterilized grains of rye, corn, wheat or millet are populated with mycelium. Grain mycelium can populate any kind of substrate. Grains are much more nutritious than sawdust, so a handful of grains can propagate mycelium to other grain myceliums, and not only. However, grain mycelium may not be suitable for growing in the air - birds, and even more so mice, will definitely smell the grains ...

Mycelium on corn (popcorn)

Mycelium on rye grains

Sticks with mycelium

Mushroom sticks are made from sawdust and even from the legs of mushrooms. This method of colonizing with mycelium is very effective for logs, cardboard, wood chips - everything that is made of wood.

Mushroom stick from pressed sawdust

Sticks with mycelium

Other types of mycelium

• Wood shavings mixed with bran.
• Suspension with mycelium.

What kind of mushroom is better? The main thing is that the type of mycelium fits the substrate. If you have logs for settlement - take mushroom dowels. Mycelium has already studied woody material, so its spores quickly colonize a stump or log.

The mushroom picker on sawdust will well populate logs enriched with sawdust bran, cardboard, straw.

The grain mycelium is suitable for decontaminated straw and sawdust.
Once you have decided on the type of fungus, do a little research on a suitable substrate. But, looking ahead, I’ll tell you that the usual gray oyster mushroom prefers straw or cardboard.

Buying and storing mycelium

Now there is a real boom in the mushroom business. Buying mycelium in the mycelium is not a problem - look for mushroom pickers on the Internet closer to you or with the best reviews. It is advisable to do without transportation by transport companies, since the living organism of the mycelium feels temperature changes, tedding, light and darkness, lack or excess of air ...

On sale there is a dry mycelium, in bags for seeds. But experienced mushroom pickers do not use such seeds - they say that it takes root disgustingly, wakes up very slowly, and so on. I will change my rules and make a link to a third-party resource with an article on the topic of dry mycelium. And I noticed that foreign sites do not sell any "dry" mycelium.

dry mycelium

The mushroom picker should be fresh, without yellow spots. Mold and other fungi compete for a nutrient medium, and the mycelium itself produces its own waste that poisons it. Before buying mycelium, you should have everything prepared.

If you notice errors in the article (on growing) - please write in the comments. There are many conflicting sources of information on mushrooms, so I really need your help and advice!