Growing mushrooms in greenhouses: technology, characteristics of work, necessary conditions and expert advice

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Growing mushrooms in greenhouses is a great way to get a clean crop for yourself or to sell. It cannot be said that the technology of this process is too complicated, but a lot of work will have to be invested.

What mushrooms can be grown

Before you get to work, you need to decide on the type of mushrooms. Some representatives of this kingdom do not grow at all in cramped conditions, refusing to multiply and grow. Others, on the contrary, grow excellently on artificial substrates and composts, delighting with a rich harvest.

So, at home and in large industrial greenhouses, the following species are usually grown:

• Porcini mushrooms. A very valuable, but incredibly capricious culture. Experienced mushroom growers recommend that beginners do not mess with this variety, as whites often die, react to the slightest climate change and grow slowly. But if you manage to get a harvest, then it can be easily sold.
• Oyster mushrooms. An ideal crop for beginners, it is often grown commercially. Oyster mushrooms are unpretentious, they are goodfeel in a wide range of climatic conditions and on different substrates. At the same time, they grow rapidly - the first harvest can be obtained in a month. Sales markets are also easy to find - cafes, restaurants, small shops take them for sale. The disadvantage of oyster mushrooms is that they are inexpensive, and in order to make a tangible profit, you need to harvest from a large area.
• Champignons. More capricious than oyster mushrooms, as they need expensive compost to grow. But they are growing well, and if the products are sold, the costs will pay off.
• Shiitake. Tree fungus, the same as oyster mushrooms and honey mushrooms. It is not widely distributed in our country, but in the world it is in second place in popularity after champignons.
• Winter mushrooms. A cold-resistant mushroom, which is important for our country.

Drop-off location

Mushrooms are grown in two ways:

1. Extensive. The crop is sown on the ground near the trees on the plot or near it. That is, champignons, porcini and mushrooms grow in their natural environment, but under the supervision of a mushroom grower.
2. Intense. Growing mushrooms in greenhouses refers specifically to this method of harvesting. Oyster mushrooms, white mushrooms and champignons can be grown in an artificial environment all year round, but this requires a lot of labor and money.

A room for mushrooms is not necessarily a classic greenhouse. Other spaces would also work well, such as a garage, shed, basement, or even a room in the house. But any room, includinggreenhouse, you need to seriously prepare to create the right microclimate in it.

Greenhouse preparation

What is the name of the greenhouse for growing mushrooms? In some places you can hear the term "mycelium", but its primary meaning is mycelium. Therefore, it is correct to simply say “greenhouse for mushrooms.”

To grow mushrooms in a polycarbonate greenhouse, the greenhouse must be prepared for planting such a non-standard crop. Mushrooms, in principle, can be planted in an ordinary greenhouse for vegetables, between cucumbers, and they will feel good. But if the greenhouse was purchased for breeding purely mushrooms, then it must be modified:

1. Direct sunlight is harmful, so we shade transparent walls with chalk or mesh.
2. Cover the floor with a film, and then lay special earth on it.
3. Install electric heaters or water radiators (or provide another method of heating).
4. Arrange special humidifiers powered by the mains. Humidity in the room should not be lower than 85-90%.
5. In order to avoid mold growth on the walls, they must be treated from the inside with a special solution. This is a very important stage, skipping it, the mushroom grower risks losing the harvest.
6. Ventilation system. The air should be renewed, but without drafts.
7. Zoning the premises. It is necessary to provide a place for storing and processing land, substrates and compost, for plantations and for sprouting mycelium.

If the crop is grown for sale, then it is necessary to allocate space for itstorage.

There are also special mushroom greenhouses, for example, a two-tiered St. Petersburg, combined Moscow or Grachev. Such a structure resembles a vegetable greenhouse, but insulated with wooden walls and a layer of manure on top and bottom, and with a ventilation fragrance system.

Equipment

What else do you need besides a greenhouse? There are actually quite a few things to buy:

1. Polyethylene for covering the ground.
2. Mushrooms can be grown in different ways, sometimes depending on the particular variety. Mushrooms are grown on stumps, racks, bags of substrate, suspended or impaled on a pin, boxes or other containers. Something from this list will have to be purchased.
3. Heating radiators (electric heaters).
4. Humidifiers.
5. Ventilation system.
6. Refrigerators for the harvest. Even if growing mushrooms in a greenhouse is just a hobby, it is necessary to provide a place in the refrigerator for the next wave. If the culture is for sale, then this becomes a priority.

If mushrooms are grown for the purpose of their further marketing, you need to purchase containers for collection and storage, as well as packaging containers and film.

Mycelium purchase

In order to start the process, you need planting material. For mushrooms, this is mycelium - a mycelium in the form of thin interlaced threads that are laid on a special ground. You need to buy it from trusted suppliers so that it is fresh, not dry and not infected with various diseases. In addition to checkingcertificate, it would be useful to get a small test sample, by which you can evaluate the quality of the mycelium. This is especially important if you have large plantations.

Other breeding options

Some specialists in growing mushrooms in a greenhouse all year round prefer not to buy mycelium, but to germinate the mycelium on their own, from live spores. It's cheaper, but more of a hassle.

Mushroom spores are bought and germinated as seeds on a special substrate at high humidity and temperature. And after the start of intensive growth of mushrooms, the temperature is reduced.

Spores are also obtained from wild mushrooms: they are collected, soaked in water for 24 hours, and then rubbed into a pulp. Water with a suspension is poured onto the landing site and waiting for seedlings. The method is effective, but the yield is in question.

Mushrooms can still be grown by simply transferring part of the mycelium from the forest to the right place. Hobbyists practice simple burying hats followed by intensive watering.

Substrates and composts

One of the main conditions for growing mushrooms is the planting of mycelium in specially prepared soil. Different substrates are suitable for different types of mushrooms, namely:

• For champignons, special compost - straw with the addition of urea and superphosphate - is moistened for several days. Then cow dung is laid out in boxes and covered with straw on top. After 3-4 days, everything is mixed with the addition of water and gypsum. As soon as the structure of the compost becomes fine-grained and the smell of ammonia disappears,you can plant mycelium: for 100 kg of straw take 100 kg of manure, 2 kg of urea and superphosphate and 8-10 kg of gypsum.
• Oyster mushrooms grow in bags filled with sawdust and peat and topped with earth.
• Growing porcini mushrooms in a greenhouse all year round is difficult due to the fact that they only grow well in dry, well-drained soils. They do not grow on peat-added substrates, loam, marshy soils and sandstones. Ideally, you need land from the area of \u200b\u200bthe forest where the seed was taken from. But you can mix garden soil with manure and sawdust.

Any substrate or compost for growing any type of mushroom can be bought ready-made.

Expert advice for beginner mushroom growers

1. Newcomers to the cultivation of this crop often talk about the full automation of greenhouses for growing mushrooms. But only large industrial enterprises can afford this.
2. When recruiting staff, make sure they have a medical card. When working with mushrooms, this is not just a formality, but a necessity.
3. If the crop is grown for sale, it is necessary to find outlets in advance.
4. Everyone can do this - all you need is patience and diligence.
5. Be sure to buy a refrigerator or freezer with shock freezing - the shelf life of raw mushrooms is negligible, and you can lose the result of long work.
6. Water temperature for irrigation - not less than 10 ⁰С. Rigid is unsuitable for a delicate culture, it must be softenedadding lime.

Growing white mushrooms in a greenhouse

This variety needs 80-85% humidity and no temperature fluctuations. For germination, the ideal option is 28 degrees, for growth - 17. When growing mushrooms in a greenhouse, it usually takes no more than a couple of months to harvest, but not in this case.

Cep mushroom is incredibly capricious, it can "take root" in a new place for more than a year. But if the mycelium still grows, it can bear fruit for 3-5 years.

How to grow oyster mushrooms

Oyster mushrooms grow either on wood blocks or on bags of substrate. In the first case, mycelium is applied to pre-moistened bars, which will be fixed on them for 2-3 days. In the second, the mycelium is placed inside a bag with a moistened substrate. Also, 7-12 holes are made in the bag - for the growth of mushrooms. The optimum temperature is in the range of +19…+21 ⁰С.

First harvest - after 2 weeks, then several harvest waves within 2.5 months, with a total product yield of about 25% of the substrate weight. Substrates and wooden blocks are replaced as they run out.

Champignons

Sowing is carried out as follows: holes are made in the compost in a checkerboard pattern - so that at least 25 cm remain between them, and the seed is laid out in them and covered with a four-centimeter layer of earth. The temperature of the substrate is not higher than +30 ⁰С, otherwise the mycelium will die. But not lower than +20 ⁰С, so that growth occurs without delay. filmdo not close it - it will only hurt the mushrooms.

When the mycelium grows well, it must be covered with covering soil (for 9 shares of peat one share of chalk) 4 cm thick. The temperature in the greenhouse is reduced to +17 ⁰С.

When growing mushrooms in a greenhouse, it is important to harvest on time. For champignons, the signal is a stretched, but not broken, film between the stem and the cap.