The name of this mushroom, unusual in its appearance and surprising in its qualities, comes from its strange shape, which outlines a bit like a butterfly. With a diameter of 50 cm, the weight of the maitake mushroom can reach 4 kg. This mushroom is highly prized in China and Japan, being one of the most expensive mushrooms in Asia. With all this, maitake mushrooms can be grown at home without having any special knowledge of growing mushrooms.
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Conditions for Growing Maitake Mushrooms at Home
Maitake is rich in vitamins C and D has pronounced medicinal properties, it is successfully used to treat various diseases, such as diabetes or hypertension. This amazing mushroom is used in oncology as a prophylactic agent against the appearance of cancer cells. Not surprisingly, many would like to be able to grow it at home, thus gaining constant access to its broad medicinal properties.
Growing maitake mushrooms will require some materials and certain conditions. First of all, grain mycelium is needed, that is, mycelium, most often representing oat grains infected with fungal spores. It is best to use the services of a trusted commercial mushroom grower. In Kazakhstan, you can order Maitake mycelium online and receive it by mail.
The mycelium can be stored for up to eight months at a temperature of 0 ° C-7 ° C and no more than two weeks at a temperature of 20 ° C to 22 ° C. It is usually stored in the refrigerator on the lower shelves. The following are used as a substrate for Maitake mushrooms:
- reed;
- hay and straw;
- foliage;
- seed husks;
- shavings and sawdust.
It is better if the sawdust comes from deciduous trees. The main thing is that the shavings and sawdust are not rotten.
Maitake mushrooms are best planted in open areas, such as shady gardens, but they can also be grown in various enclosed spaces such as basements, storerooms, sheds, attics, a garage or loggia. The main growing conditions are the absence of direct sunlight and abundant watering. There will be enough electric lighting in the premises with fluorescent lamps for 5-7 hours. Temperature regime – 25 ° С during germination, 10-30 ° С during cultivation.
2 Ways for Growing Maitake Mushrooms
There are two widespread ways to grow Maitake mushrooms at home:
- Growing of Maitake on plant sediments;
- Growing of Maitake on wood.
Growing of Maitake on plant sediments
In the first case, mushrooms are grown in a separate special room, in the second, in the garden. Each method has its own advantages and is worth discussing separately.
The method of growing maitake mushrooms on plant cells involves the creation of mushroom blocks ordinary plastic bags are suitable for this purpose. First, the substrate is subjected to heat treatment, for which it is poured into a volumetric container with boiling water.
After that, the cooled substrate is mixed with mycelium and placed in a plastic bag. The bag is tied, for air exchange, small holes are made in a checkerboard pattern over the entire surface of the bag. After that, the mushroom block is placed in a special room for 3-4 weeks. With this method, fruiting takes place in several waves, once every two to three weeks, and such a mushroom block will bear fruit for three and a half to four months.
Growing of Maitake on wood
Growing maitake mushrooms on wood involve using only deciduous trees, the wood must be clean and not rotten. The tree is sawn into the most convenient pieces, in which shallow holes are drilled – up to five centimeters deep and about two centimeters in diameter. The mycelium is placed in the holes and covered with sawdust, chips or moss so that the mycelium does not fall out of the hole. After that, the tree with mycelium is placed in the places that have been identified in the garden for growing mushrooms. With this method, 50 kilograms of wood will be enough for 100 grams of mycelium.
Mushrooms planted in this way will grow and bear fruit for five to six years, while they are not afraid of frost. The first harvest will appear within three to four months after planting, depending on how dense the selected type of wood turned out to be. One package of mycelium will allow collecting up to 25 kilograms of Maitake mushrooms from the landing area in one season.
