Mushroom growing kits make it easy to have a lot of beautiful and scrumptious mushrooms with minimal effort. They’re enjoyable for beginners just learning the way to develop mushrooms and seasoned cultivators alike.
A kit is just mushroom mycelium rising on some sort of materials, called a substrate. When you purchase a mushroom kit, many of the hard work of growing the mycelium and getting ready the substrate has been carried out for you. For many individuals, having to do less work to grow mushrooms far outweighs the price of the kit.
Mushroom kits can come with different substrates. Some examples are:
A block of sterilized sawdust and wood chips (commonest)
A log or piece of wood
A bag of pasteurized straw
Loose and crumbly sawdust that you just use to inoculate other substrates (additionally called mushroom spawn).
Read on to study more about mushroom growing kits including how they work, advantages and disadvantages, and the place to buy them. They’re a terrific reward for curious kids, elderly nature lovers who want a simple project, bored gardeners within the winter, or just anyone who loves mushrooms!
Most mushroom growing kits are like a low-maintenance boyfriend or girlfriend. All they really need is fresh air, water, a good location, and a little patience. 😉
Because the kit already has growing mycelium, all you could do is create the precise conditions for it to produce mushrooms. This usually includes exposing the kit to a cold temperature for a day, after which keeping it watered.
The cold simulates fall temperatures, encouraging the mycelium to create mushrooms as a technique of reproduction before winter.
Keep in mind that the mycelium is alive and won’t survive if left in a box without air or water. Mushroom growing kits do have a definite shelf life, so use it as quickly as you possibly can after it arrives.
Here’s roughly what to anticipate to do with numerous substrates. The instructions that come with your kit will go into more detail.
Sawmud/wood chip block — Submerge the block in cool water and put within the refrigerator for twenty-four hours. Remove the block and place in a well-ventilated, low-light area. Mist with water a few times a day and cover with plastic to keep up the humidity level. Mushrooms will fruit in a couple of weeks or less.
Mushroom log — Soak the log in cold water for 24 hours. Place it someplace off the ground in a shady spot either indoors or outdoors. Mushrooms will fruit in a few weeks or less, provided that the log is frequently soaked every few weeks.
Loose sterilized sawdust — Technically considered mushroom spawn, these kits are the most work but also probably the most versatile. They should be mixed in with one other substrate and allowed to colonize before they can start fruiting. Other substrates embody cardboard, pasteurized straw, outdoor compost beds, wood chips, etc. It’s still fairly easy!
After your mushroom kit has fruited once, keep watering it per the directions. Most kits may have multiple flushes. Some will proceed to develop mushrooms every few weeks for two months up to a year.
You may still get some use out of your kit after it stops producing. Just because the nutrients within the substrate have been used up does not imply that the mycelium isn’t nonetheless alive. Throw it outside on a bale of straw, a bed on wood chips, or in a compost pile. You will have mushrooms in that spot subsequent spring!