In order to artificially grow Reishi mushrooms, you will need a room or area where it will be easy to control humidity and air temperature. Humidifiers and water sprinklers are great for this. All that remains is to acquire Reishi mycelium and sow it on the stumps of deciduous trees or a substrate from sawdust. Read complete methods for growing mushrooms.
Reishi Mushroom is also known as Ganoderma, Lingzhi, Ganoderma lingzhi.
Currently, Reishi mushrooms are grown on special farms, where they maintain comfortable conditions for spore germination.
Table of Contents
Methods to grow reishi mushroom (Lingzhi, Ganoderma lingzh)
Reishi mushrooms are grown on fruit tree stumps or sawdust, previously sterilized and fortified with nutritional supplements. Fruiting lasts about 4–5 years. Reishi mushrooms grow slowly and singly. When the mushroom hardens and turns dark brown, it can be harvested. Fully ripe mushrooms produce rusty-brown spores.
Fans of exotic hobbies can start cultivating this unusual mushroom at home, for example, in the country. Reishi can be grown both outdoors, in shady places, and indoors. In any case, it will be necessary to exclude as much as possible direct sunlight on the mycelium.
Growing reishi mushroom on stumps
The first way to grow reishi is growing on stumps. Deciduous tree varieties are more suitable for this method than conifers. Hemp is prepared in advance: from autumn, after the leaves have fallen, and until spring, until the buds have blossomed. During this period, the bark adheres most closely to the wood, and the percentage of nutrients in it is maximally high.
Reishi reproduces microscopic sporophytes, which practically do not take root on trees. Therefore, this mushroom is rarely propagated at home. Basically, for growing, they buy ready-made mycelium on wooden sticks. Bars are contaminated under sterile conditions in special laboratories. It is quite difficult to repeat this at home.
Reishi mycelium is brought into sawn tree trunks. The diameter of the cut is 15–20 cm, the length is 25–50 cm. Holes about 70 mm deep and 12 mm in diameter are drilled in the cuts. Small wooden blocks contaminated with Reishi mycelium are inserted into them, and then covered with polyethylene.
Hemp incubated with mycelium can be placed for the period of overgrowth in a room with a temperature of 20-26 ° C or sprinkled with earth in a greenhouse or in the fresh air. To do this, a trench is prepared in the soil, after which hemp infected with mycelium is placed in two rows in it and sprinkled with soil. The desired constant air temperature is 26 ° C.
If you plan to sprinkle the stumps containing mycelium with earth, the holes should be closed with paraffin. The germination rate of the mycelium is directly proportional to the number of bars with intermediate mycelium. The more bars there are in the hemp, the faster the mycelium will germinate and the first Reishi mushrooms will appear.
Growing reishi mushroomon sawdust (as substrate)
If the Reishi mushroom is grown on sawdust, a composition is used as a substrate, which consists of 80% sawdust and 20% of nutritional supplements from the husk of grain crops (millet, barley, oats, etc.). Mineral additives (gypsum, chalk) will be useful. Usually they are taken in small quantities, about 1-2% of the total mass of the substrate.
All components are thoroughly mixed and thoroughly moistened. Then the prepared mixture is heat-treated. The substrate is sterilized within 5 hours at a temperature of at least 90 ° C. If there is a lot of substrates, it is recommended to re-sterilize, as one may not be enough.
The substrate is placed in containers convenient for long-term storage and the mycelium is placed in it. The substrate is inoculated at temperatures below 30 ° C under sterile conditions. Sprinkle a little soil on top. After that, it takes 15-20 days to germinate the Reishi mycelium. It is important at this time to maintain the temperature and humidity within the prescribed norm. The thermometer should not fall below 18 ° C and rise above 26 ° C, and the humidity should preferably be kept at 75%. It is very important to carefully monitor the substrate, trying to avoid waterlogging and drying out at the same time.
When the substrate is completely overgrown with the Reishi mycelium, slots are made in the containers with it, from which the mushrooms will grow.
How do you get reishi to fruit?
Reishi fruiting bodies grow fully in a year. For good fruiting, it is necessary to constantly maintain the required temperature and humidity conditions. Reishi is a thermophilic mushroom, but temperatures can be slightly reduced in autumn and winter.
Reishi growing technology requires precise control over soil moisture. The soil should not dry out. In favorable conditions, the mushroom can be cultivated for a long time. When the Reishi mushroom dies off, new mushrooms appear in its place.
Possible problem you can face during growing reishi Mushroom
Reishi mushroom is rarely affected by the disease. But if it is waterlogged, then mold or rot may appear. Under all growing conditions, Reishi does not get sick.
Reishi pests are the same as those of most mushrooms – these are ticks, mosquitoes, slugs, and other various insects. To prevent their appearance, it is recommended to install grids and disinfect working tools, soil, and premises.
Reishi mushroom growing business
Also, many people buy mushrooms due to the fact that they do not bring absolutely any harm to the body, because they are considered a dietary dish, and also nothing will happen to the figure from mushrooms (of course, we are talking about edible mushrooms that are sold in stores ). Today we will not talk about all mushrooms, but only about one type, about Reishi mushrooms. A step-by-step plan for starting a business in growing Reishi mushrooms, where to start This article is written about them, since they have a huge number of advantages for doing business, for example, These mushrooms are very often used to treat various diseases. They improve health, as well as thanks to them, a large number of heart diseases can be prevented. They are in great demand, and they are also quite expensive. They are easy to grow at home.
How much money you can make growing Reishi mushrooms?
The income received from this line of business is quite large. The profitability can be 200 and even 250%. But at the initial stage, the profit may be small and amount to about 20-30%, in some cases losses are also possible. On average, this line of business makes a profit of 60-70%.
In the future, it only grows. How much money is needed to start a business of growing Reishi mushrooms The amount of money for opening this business depends on the chosen method of work. This can be done by hand or using special machines. If you choose the first option, you will need about $ 100. When choosing the second method, the amount of capital investments increases slightly. The start-up capital must also include the costs of registration, the lease of a land plot, the purchase of equipment, etc. How to choose equipment for growing Reishi mushrooms When choosing equipment for growing Reishi mushrooms, you need to consider the method of growing them: open or closed. In the first case, you will need to purchase a minimum number of tools for processing flooring or a rack of logs, as well as build a canopy. With the second, you will need to use a drip irrigation system, humidity, and temperature control. The closed method of growing Reishi is also picky about the composition of the soil and the moisture of the tree.
