Who says that mushroom growing can be a complicated task? When you know what you are doing, any task can be easy breezy. Mushroom growing is like that. To grow mushrooms is not hard and the step by step process of doing so is not difficult at all.
This article is not about where to grow amanita muscaria shop the mushrooms or what to use as storage for already-growing ones. That is covered in some other article. This article is about how to plant the spores or spawns, the “seeds” of the mushroom. Also included in this article are some practices on how to take care of the mushrooms.
If you are a beginner, the best route to follow if you want to grow your own batch of mushrooms is to buy a mushroom kit. Each kit is specialized,depending on what kind of mushroom you want to grow. This also allows you to learn more about a certain mushroom, how it behaves and the likes.
When you buy a mushroom kit, the spawn may be of two types. It can be in flake form or in bricks. The method of planting also differs according to the type of spawn. If you are a beginner, it is best to buy both and see which one would suit your preference best. To give you an idea how these two work, here is some partial information about the two methods of planting mushrooms. Flakes are mixed with the substrate or medium first. You spread a quarter of the mix over an area of 15 ft2. You need to cover the entire area of the mix if your area is wide.
On the other hand, when you use bricks, you need to break the bricks into smaller pieces and plant these chunks into the medium, about 6 inches apart.
The steps after this are pretty much uniform for all species of mushroom. You need to maintain the moisture of the substrate so not to dry them out. Aside from this, you also need to place your planted mushrooms in a dry but dark place. The initial growth would be called the mycelia, the root-like form of the mushroom. These mycelia would cover the entire plot. The next phase would be the pinning or the growth of pin-like structures that would eventually become the mushrooms that you eat.
In order that the mushroom be at its optimum growth, it is best to increase the temperature to about 650F. Always remember to water the substrate twice in a date. But one thing to remember, though, once the mushrooms have appeared, you should not water anymore until harvest time. Whether the mushroom is still young or already mature, it really does not matter when you want to harvest them. It is actually in the preference of the grower when to harvest the mushrooms.