Your effort to get mushrooms to grow in your yard will be successful if you choose the right place and provide conditions that are as close to natural as possible. For the most part, the mycelium grows in tandem with tree roots, to which the mycelium gives minerals and antibiotics, receiving amino acids and carbohydrates in return.
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Easiest mushrooms to grow in the yard
If you follow all the rules of cultivation, then in 2-5 years from one mycelium you can get a crop of up to 2 kg per 1 sq. m. So, what are the easiest mushrooms to grow in the yard?
Oyster mushrooms
Oyster mushrooms can be grown in beds, using a special substrate, or on the stumps of hardwood trees. Care consists mainly in regular watering.
porcini mushroom
A plantation can be set up next to a spruce or pine tree that grows in the yard. In addition, a place near wooden buildings or storage of a tree of these species is suitable.
Champignons
Under the mushroom beds, shaded areas of the garden are prepared – they are filled with compost with mushroom mycelium. Mushrooms need to be constantly watered and protected from temperature extremes.
Chanterelles
The key to success, in this case, is the correct preparation of the mycelium, its transportation from the forest, and the period of storage before planting. In the case of accustomed mycelium, after 2-3 years, you can harvest the first crop.
Honey mushrooms
The basis for their cultivation is hardwood stumps. Small holes are drilled in them, which are subsequently filled with mycelium. In order for the mycelium to germinate and begin to bear fruit, the tree must be constantly moistened.
White mushrooms
They can be grown under trees that grow in the yard(spruce, beech, oak, birch). It is best to transfer the mycelium to the site from the forest. But it is important that the type of wood in the yard or garden and in the forest is the same.
Note ! There are different ways to grow mushrooms in the yard. Moreover, they are used both to obtain planting material, and directly to obtain a crop.
Best Place for Growing Mushrooms in your Yard
It is important to know that the best place for growing mushrooms is a shaded area in your yard. For oyster mushrooms, champignons, lowlands near fences are excellent. For forest mushrooms, the space near deciduous/coniferous trees is suitable. It is worth knowing that the mycelium does not develop next to fruit trees, and the proximity to garden plants is also contraindicated for mushrooms.
Before laying planting material, you need to perform a soil analysis. It is important that its acidity and composition are approximately the same as those of forest soil. After that, the topsoil is prepared for cultivation.
Pay attention ! Near the trees, the upper layer of the earth is removed to a depth corresponding to the height of the bayonet shovel (70 cm from the trunk). The bottom is covered with a substrate of peat soil, sawdust and leaves (in equal proportions).
You can also transfer soil from the forest collected in the place where you noticed the mushroom clearing to the site.
Substrate preparation for mushrooms to grow in the yard
Consider the process of preparing a substrate from freshly cut branches of trees and shrubs, chopped with a garden shredder (suitable species are birch, alder, willow, oak, etc.). The chips should have dimensions from 1 mm to 20 mm. It is important that the mixture is breathable but dense.
If shiitake mycelium is used. Its approximate consumption is from 30 g to 50 g per glass jar.
Step-by-step instructions for preparing the substrate to grow mushrooms in the yard.
| Steps# | Description of actions |
| 1 | The substrate is mixed in a basin, after which it is poured with hot water. After it absorbs moisture and cools, it is necessary to drain the excess. |
| 2 | Next, the substrate is mixed and transferred to three-liter jars. |
| 3 | The mixture thickens, and excess water is drained again. Then the jars are left for several days without lids (the temperature should be at room temperature). |
| 4 | The jar is weighed, its weight is recorded. Then it is placed in the oven for 3 hours, the approximate temperature is in the range of + 70-110 degrees. After that, the mixture is cooled and re-weighed. In case of weight reduction, boiled water is added – so much that the weight is 4/5 of the original. Banks are left for 24 hours, then a similar heat treatment is carried out again. |
| 5 | Further actions are carried out on a clean surface and with thoroughly washed hands. Mycelium is poured into a jar and pressed into the mixture, the container is closed with boiled lids and placed in a warm place for 7 days. After the specified time, the covers are replaced with similar ones, but with 10 mm holes in each. The latter are covered with cotton wool to provide the mycelium with oxygen. |
| After the substrate turns white from the mycelium, it is transferred to the bag with a clean spoon and compacted. | |
| 6 | The package is tightly tied, and the finished block must be left in a warm (about + 20-26 degrees) place for a week, after which the package is slightly opened and a piece of foam rubber is inserted into the hole (see photo). |
| 7 | After recovering the mycelium damaged during transfer, you will have a dense substrate block that can be used to force the mushrooms out. |
Best methods to grow mushrooms in your yard or garden
Let’s discuss the best methods to grow mushrooms in your yard or garden with your hand.
From young mushrooms
The simplest method that is suitable for growing, boletus, and porcini mushrooms:
- a 10-centimeter layer of soil is removed from the roots of the tree;
- young mushrooms, consisting of filaments of mycelium, are crushed;
- then they crumble where the soil was previously removed;
- all this is covered with wet compost, spruce, or deciduous;
- the shelter is periodically moistened as it dries.
Using this method, you will be able to get the first harvest next season. True, it will consist of only a few mushrooms.
With soil from the forest with sprouted mycelium
Another fairly simple way to grow forest mushrooms is to transfer the top layer of soil from the forest to the site (with sprouted mycelium):
- in the forest, a place is marked where the mushroom you like grows;
- a layer of soil with a depth of a spade bayonet is removed at the end of the season, after which it is transferred to the site;
- at the same time, the removed soil must be planted as quickly as possible so that it does not dry out.
Note ! Inedible mushrooms should not grow nearby. It is important to make sure that the soil is not infested with their spores. There will be more chances for survival if the tree in the area is of the same species as in the forest.
Buy mycelium to grow mushrooms in your yard
A more complex method, which at the same time differs in better results due to the adaptation of the mycelium to planting and the presence of a sufficient food base:
- overgrown old mushrooms are selected;
- they are placed in a bucket or container;
- rain or well water is poured into it;
- the container is placed for several days in a shaded place where the temperature is approximately +20 degrees (after some time, the mushrooms will spread on the threads);
- wheat flour and gelatin are added to the container (1 tablespoon each), all components are stirred with a wooden spoon;
- the resulting solution spills the areas allotted for cultivation.
Important ! The spores will germinate in a year and penetrate the roots of the tree, and after another two or three years, fruiting will begin.
Planting a tree with
This is the most laborious and time-consuming method. Young trees, next to which the required mushrooms grew, are transplanted from the forest to the site. In this case, patience will be required, because, in order to get a harvest, you need to wait a long time. But thanks to this difficult method, it is possible to breed the most complex mushrooms, for example, the butter dish, which bears fruit from May to September.
There are several guidelines that will help you when growing forest mushrooms, regardless of the planting method chosen.
- Landing should be carried out during the coolest time of the day.
- Under fruit trees, forest fruits take root very poorly.
- It is important to constantly moisten the soil. If possible, you should take care of the organization of drip irrigation.
- The optimal time for planting mycelium is the end of summer and the beginning of autumn.
- Fertilizers containing a growth activator should be applied to the soil.
- The landing site should be located in the shade, no more than 1 m from the tree trunk.
- From the mycelium
On Tree stumps
This is an extensive growing method, which is great for beginners. Chocks or stumps are used for work, the optimal time for sowing mycelium is April.
Important ! The tree must be soaked in water for a week, and then holes or cuts should be made for planting material, which are subsequently sealed with foil or plugged with moss. Infected stumps are buried in a damp place about 2/3 of the height into the ground.
Do not forget about additional soil moisture in hot weather!
To grow mushrooms in your yard on tree stumps, you will need:
- yard or garden pitch;
- logs with a diameter of 200 mm or more (hardwoods are suitable);
- mycelium (about 200 g per 1 linear meter);
- foam rubber;
- durable PET bags 50×100 cm;
- 4 cm pieces of garden hose, the hole should have a diameter of 30-40 mm.
Step by step instructions To grow mushrooms in your yard on tree stumps:
| Steps# | Description of actions |
| 1 | Logs 0.5-0.6 m long are cut, and 5-centimeter holes with a diameter of 2 cm are drilled into them on the side in a checkerboard pattern (distance – about 15 cm). Then the holes are deepened to the middle of the log with a thin drill (about 8-10 mm). |
| 2 | The logs are stacked on a large piece of polyethylene. Then the holes are filled with mycelium (hands must be washed beforehand) and compacted, 10 cm of free space must be left to the edge. |
| 3 | 1 teaspoon of a solution prepared from potato starch is poured into each of the holes (an approximate calculation is 40 g per 1 liter of water), or simply water at room temperature. Further, the holes, as well as other damage, are closed with a garden pitch. |
| 4 | Logs are placed in large plastic bags. |
| 5 | The throat of each of the bags is threaded through a piece of garden hose. |
| 6 | The holes that formed, as a result, are closed with pieces of foam rubber (the length of one side is 5 cm). |
Picking Your Mushroom Harvest
You need to pick mushrooms in autumn or spring it all depends on the timing of planting. Mushrooms ripen in waves, and therefore it is worth visiting the plantation once a week.
Let’s get acquainted with the basic rules of harvesting.
- It is necessary to cut the mushrooms with a sharp knife and only at the root, otherwise the mycelium can be damaged.
- We recommend using overripe fruits for spore reproduction.
- Sections are mulched with compost – this way you prevent the mycelium from drying out.
- Each time, after harvesting, the site must be watered from a watering can to activate the subsequent growth of the crop.
As for the timing of Picking Your Mushroom Harvest, they will depend on the specific type:
- for champignons – 30-40 days after planting the mycelium, then every 6-10 days;
- for porcini mushrooms – in autumn or spring (it all depends on the weather and planting dates);
- for mushrooms – twice a year, in autumn and spring;
- for chanterelles – June and/o July;
- for mushrooms – at the end of summer.
Conclusion
As a result, we note that do-it-yourself mushrooms are healthier and tastier than store-bought ones. They are suitable not only for cooking but also for sale (though in small volumes). So follow all steps and methods to get mushrooms to grow in your yard with your hands. Enjoy the delicious mushroom grown with your own hands.
