Cultivation of shiitake mushrooms. Distillation of fruiting bodies of mushrooms. Shiitake Growing Methods

Since the development of home gardening, people have cultivated many plants. On the beds and in the gardens you can find outlandish bushes, trees and fruit crops, which only 30-50 years ago grew only in forests and swamps. Recently, homemade mushroom farms can often be found. Gardeners began to grow mushrooms, and shiitake in ladies or on balconies.

Shiitake mushrooms are widely used in cooking. There are only 34 kcal per 100 grams of the weight of this product. Therefore, it can be attributed to dietary nutrition. Mushrooms have a slightly spicy pleasant taste, they resemble meat in structure. They are part of a large number of recipes, such as soups, omelettes, sandwiches, salads and so on. They can be eaten raw, while the mushrooms will have their own unique taste. When cooking, some of the nuances are lost, leaving a pleasant sharpness and aroma.
Mushrooms are also used for medicinal purposes. Due to their unique composition, they are often used in the treatment of cancer. Despite the fact that research in this area is still ongoing, a positive effect has been noted by many doctors. They are also recommended for use in other serious diseases.
Shiitake mushrooms are used in the cosmetics industry. On their basis, various creams, masks and lotions are prepared, which are aimed at increasing the elasticity and firmness of the skin. Also, these drugs nourish the skin, improve complexion, restore water balance, rejuvenate cells.

No harmful properties of these mushrooms have been identified. Doctors do not recommend using them during pregnancy and for those people who suffer bronchial asthma. Otherwise, they have a beneficial effect.

Shiitake mushrooms have been studied by world laboratories and the results have exceeded all expectations. This product contains a large number of substances and trace elements that not only have a beneficial effect on the body, but can also cure some complex diseases.

In China, he is considered the emperor of all mushrooms.

It helps in the treatment viral diseases, reduces the amount of cholesterol in the blood and increases blood circulation. Due to the content of a large number of amino acids, vitamins and hormones, it helps to reduce cancerous tumors. These mushrooms can be used for diabetes, stomach diseases, allergies and other diseases. At the same time, the state of health will improve significantly.

Growing shiitake mushrooms at home is not difficult. The necessary materials can be purchased at specialized stores, and the whole process is so simple that even a novice gardener can easily handle it. As a result, you can get environmentally friendly, healthy and tasty products.

More information can be found in the video.

Shiitake mushrooms have excellent taste properties, and also have a beneficial effect on health with the proper quality of the product.

To obtain the most useful and high-quality mushrooms of this species, you need to carefully and deliberately approach the issues of their cultivation.

Shiitake is considered one of the most popular mushroom crops in the world, not only because of its active use in medical practice, but also due to its excellent nutritional characteristics. This mushroom culture is great for preparing mouth-watering dishes and even drinks.

The mushroom has a brown cap with a diameter of 4 to 22 cm with a unique embossed pattern. Shiitake has a fibrous stalk, and the young representatives of this organism are also endowed with a special stretch, which protects the fruit parts during the ripening period of the spores. When the spores are ready, the membrane breaks and remains as a "hanging tissue" on the cap.

Chinese emperors drank a special decoction of these mushrooms to prolong their youth, so in most Asian countries, shiitake is referred to as the "imperial mushroom". The homeland of this organism is the forests of China and Japan, where the culture breeds on the trunks of hardwood trees.

The calorie content of this product is relatively low - 34 kcal per 100 grams of wet weight. Dried shiitake is considered an exception, since their calorie content is about 300 kcal per 100 grams.

In terms of nutritional value, this representative of mushrooms is a real find, because it contains a large amount of zinc, complex carbohydrates, an almost complete list of amino acids, as well as leucine and lysine in sufficient quantities. By consuming shiitake, you can lower cholesterol levels in the body, as well as reduce blood sugar levels and overcome allergies.
Also, the consumption of this organism in a dried form can help in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases or liver disorders.

Did you know? Mushroom spores can wait decades for an opportunity to germinate. At the same time, the necessary climatic conditions can comprehend the spore in the most unexpected places: on a cone, a bag of grain, a wall, or elsewhere.

The product also has some dangerous properties. For example, people who are prone to allergic diseases should be very careful about consuming shiitake. Also, do not eat this mushroom during lactation and pregnancy (the product includes a large amount of biologically active substances).

Shiitake Growing Methods

This type of organism belongs to the class of saprotroph fungi, which actively grow on parts of dying wood when the necessary natural conditions arise.
Mushroom growers note one striking feature of the cultivation of this organism - the relatively slow maturation of the mycelium, as well as poor competitive qualities in the struggle for survival in the wild (in relation to mold and bacteria colonies).

But if you follow all the necessary growing procedures and maintain complete sterility at all stages, you can get a fairly large yield with minimal cost efforts.

There are two main ways of cultivating shiitake mushrooms: extensive and intensive.

Extensive Method

It is based on the maximum copying of natural processes of fungus germination on wood. For this, the trunks of suitable tree species are harvested and sterilized and infected with the mycelium of the shiitake mushroom in a special way. This method will bring the most positive results in regions with a suitable climate (temperature and humidity levels).

The highest level of fruiting is observed in the second year of mycelium introduction into wood raw materials. Now about 70% of the world production of shiitake mushrooms is based on this technique.

intensive method

It is based on the use of a specially prepared substrate from wood chips, sawdust of deciduous trees, straw of cereal crops with the addition of grain, bran, hay or mineral additives. This mixture must be properly sterilized or pasteurized, and then added to the substrate mycelium of the fungus. After some time, the blocks are completely colonized and the mushroom grower receives the first fruits.

intensive method

Mycelium for shiitake cultivation is intensively produced and sold on the specialized market in two main types:

sawdust- breeding of mycelium occurs on sawdust-bran mixture. Such a substance is perfect for growing mushrooms in a homogeneous substrate. The normal ratio of mycelium and sawdust substrate for intensive ripening of shiitake is 5-7% of the mycelium of the substrate mass.
grain- represents a placer of grain in which spores of the fungus developed. Also, the grain is excellent nutrient medium to accelerate the formation of high-quality mycelium. For effective breeding of shiitake with this type of mycelium, it is necessary to add 2% of the infected grain by weight of the substrate.

Experts in the field of growing mushrooms recommend using grain mycelium, since such sowing will preserve the maximum number of genetic characteristics of the organism, and any negative properties of the product are better visible on such a grain substrate.

The best solution is to buy a package of mycelium, weighing 18 kg, grain type, and its further packaging in plastic bags with a special latch (200 grams each). Packaging should take place in a clean room without ventilation. You will also need a table and a basin, cleaned with a rag soaked in a solution of whiteness. The very procedure for the distribution of mycelium should be carried out in several stages:

Stage 1- extraction of a part of the substrate into the pelvis. Separating it by hand into individual grains;
Stage 2- backfilling of mycelium in 200-gram portions in bags with latches;
Stage 3- production of a kind of air filter from toilet paper (addition of a multilayer square with a dimension of 30 × 30 mm);
Stage 4- equipment of bags with a mycelium filter (insert a bag into the latch, and close the remaining space with a latch);
Stage 5- fastening the top of the bags with a stapler with further gluing it to the bag with adhesive tape.

This preparation can be stored in vertical position(filter up) in a household refrigerator for up to 6 months, and is also convenient enough for inoculation (infection of the substrate with grain mycelium).

Preparation of mushroom blocks

The most appropriate container for cultivating shiitake are plastic bags of a standard shape, as well as an acceptable volume of 1 to 6 liters. The main material for the manufacture of such a package should be polypropylene or high-density polyethylene (so that the prepared block can withstand significant temperature loads during the sterilization of the substrate).

Important! Oversterilization can trigger negative processes in the substrate, which will create a toxic environment in relation to shiitake mycelium. Therefore, it is important to carefully monitor the parameters of the sterilizer and the time of the operation.

Bags that do not have filters equipped must be closed with a cotton-gauze stopper with a ring (should be made of heat-resistant material and have a diameter in the range of 40-60 mm). On sale there are also special packages for growing mushrooms. A feature of these products is the presence of special microporous filters.
Therefore, after filling the prepared container with the substrate, the bag is tightly sealed and gas exchange occurs exclusively through these filters, and the need for a ring and a cork is completely eliminated.

Before sowing mycelium in such blocks, it is necessary to thoroughly sterilize the substrate prepared in advance. There are two main ways to carry out this operation:

packaging of unsterilized substrate into bags (formation of blocks) with further sterilization. Such a process requires the use of an autoclave, where blocks with a substrate are placed (parameters for an autoclave: steam pressure - 1-2 atm., temperature - 120-126 ° C). The procedure will require relatively little time - 2-3 hours.
sterilization of the substrate before packaging in bags (blocks). To sterilize the substrate using this method, you will need a clean 200-liter barrel (installed above the fire on solid heat-resistant supports), into which you need to fill the substrate, pour it with boiling water and cook on the fire for several hours (4-5). Next, the substrate must be removed into a clean container and allowed to cool. After these procedures, you need to pack the sterilized mixture into bags. It should be noted that when using this sterilization method, ordinary plastic bags with the installation of the filter components described above can be used as a container for creating blocks for the substrate.

When using an intensive mushroom cultivation method to create a substrate, you can use buckwheat husks, grape or apple leftovers, straw, rice bran, sawdust and hardwood bark, as well as flax husk or sunflower husk.

Important! The components of coniferous tree species cannot be used to create a plant mixture, because they consist of a large amount of resin and phenolic substances, which negatively affects the development of mycelium.

55-90% of the mass of the mixture for the cultivation of shiitake mushrooms should be occupied by sawdust with a size of 3-4 mm. Smaller components can harm the process of gas exchange, which will slow down the growth of fungi. It is recommended to add wood shavings and chips to the substrate to form an aerated mixture structure.
Many mushroom growers actively use cereal straw as one of the components of the substrate for shiitake. This element will benefit in the process of growing mushrooms only if the straw meets the following requirements:

straw collection should be carried out in warm weather with low air humidity (preferably at the same time as harvesting);
the place where the straw grows must be environmentally friendly;
the amount of straw should correspond to a two-year suitability, since after one year of storage, the straw doubles the content of useful elements (nitrogen), and is also easier to grind.

An important function in the substrate is performed by useful impurities, which are responsible for regulating the level of nitrogen in the mixture, providing the desired pH level, accelerating the development of mycelium, and also reducing the density of the mixture. Nutrient components should be from 2% to 10% of the total mass of the substrate.

These impurities include grain, bran of wheat or other cereals, soy flour, various food waste, as well as chalk and gypsum.
Substrate mixtures for the cultivation of shiitake mushrooms are distinguished by a wide variety. The most popular and effective substrates are the following:

41 kg of sawdust of recommended tree species with 8 kg of cereal bran. Also with the addition of 25 liters of water and 1 kg of sugar;
bark and sawdust (ratio 1:1 or 1:2 by weight);
substrate from bark, sawdust and straw (1:1:1);
rice leftovers and sawdust (4:1).

Did you know? In 2003, a mushroom was found inside a working nuclear reactor in Japan by a special research robot.

It is useful to enrich the substrate of bark and sawdust with flour from corn or soybeans.
The process of preparing the substrate for inoculation consists of three successive stages:

Grinding. Allows you to make the mixture more compact, which favorably affects the spread of the mycelium (large areas of voids are very difficult for the mycelium to overcome). Also, the chopping process is of strategic importance when using fresh straw. At home, it is enough to chop the straw up to 5-10 cm.
Mixing. Enough milestone to form a quality substrate. This event will show the greatest efficiency with a relatively homogeneous composition of each of the added components.
Treatment. This stage ensures the creation of a free living space for the fruit-bearing components of shiitake, since in an aggressive environment it is inferior in terms of viability to the main colonies of mold and bacteria. Substrate processing occurs by sterilization or pasteurization and is directly related to the formation of mushroom blocks. Therefore, the sterilization procedure is described in detail above.

Inoculation

This procedure is considered the most responsible, therefore, it will require maximum concentration and preparation. The main task of this stage is the correct introduction of shiitake mushroom mycelium into the prepared plant mixture. All actions must be performed in sterile containers using a clean, disinfected set of tools.

Before direct inoculation, it is necessary to grind the acquired mycelium to individual grains, as well as disinfect bottles and bags with special solutions (70% alcohol or 10% sodium hypochlorate).

The procedure must be carried out extremely quickly: open the package, add mycelium, close the package. The norm of mycelium is about 2-6% of the total weight of the substrate. It is necessary to make the mycelium evenly in order to intensify the maturation processes. The best solution is to prepare a kind of central channel in the substrate in advance and determine the mycelium using it during the inoculation process.
In addition to grain mycelium, a sawdust or liquid component can also be used. Such a mixture will show the best performance with homogeneous structural elements. The application rate of the sawdust product is 6-7%.

Liquid mycelium matures on a special substance (for example, beer wort). The use of such a substance is possible only under conditions of exceptional sterility of the substrate. For liquid inoculation it is necessary to use a special dispenser. The norm is 20-45 ml per 2-4 kg of substrate.

Incubation

This period is characterized by intensive development of the plant mixture by the fungus and the absorption of the necessary components for the formation of fruits. The optimum room temperature for mycelium maturation is 25°C. The units are installed on elevated surfaces (from 20 cm above floor level) or suspended in the air for maximum gas extraction.
If the temperature of the host environment of the containers during the incubation process exceeds 28°C, then the probability of mycelium death increases many times due to the creation of the best possible conditions for the active life of competitive organisms (for example, Trichoderma or Neurospore mold).

During this period, maturation should take place in closed containers, so the moisture index is not of great importance. Incubation can be carried out for 40-110 days, depending on the volume of the introduced mycelium, the composition of the substrate and strain properties.

Did you know? There is a specific class of predatory mushrooms. These organisms are capable of setting traps on the surface of the mycelium (rings that look like a sticky web). The more the victim tries to escape, the faster the ring tightens. The process of absorption by a careless organism takes about 24 hours.

The process of colonization leads to a change in the color of the substrate (it becomes white). This is the stage of the white substrate, which is accompanied by the absorption of nutrients. After that, white swellings form on the block.
Further, the block begins to acquire a brown tint, which indicates the activation of maturation processes. Most often, already at 40-60 days, the entire block has a brown color. This is the phase of the "brown" block - the body is ready for fruiting. This color is formed due to the work of a special enzyme - polyphenol oxidase, which is activated with stronger light and the presence of oxygen.

Also, a kind of protective layer of mycelium is formed on the surface of the substrate, which prevents microorganisms from entering the substrate and drying it out. Therefore, during the incubation period, formations can be illuminated for 7-9 hours (light - 50-120 lux) to accelerate the appearance of primordia.

Fruiting and harvesting

Fruiting is divided into several stages, each of which requires specific microclimate conditions:

Stage 1- induction of fruit formation. During this period, it is necessary to ensure the air temperature at the level of 15-19 ° C, increase the ventilation of the room, and also ensure free access of light for 8-11 hours a day.
Stage 2- fruiting. When primordials start active educational processes, then become easily susceptible to any negative effects of the microclimate. Need to support temperature regime at the level of 21°С - for heat-loving strains or 16°С - for cold-loving strains (it is necessary to check with the seller of the mycelium). The optimum humidity during the fruiting period is about 85%.
Stage 3- fruiting. During this period, there is an active creation of large single fruit formations of shiitake. The fungus forms protective cuticles, so air humidity can be reduced to 70%. After finding the visual correspondence of the fruits to the parameters of ripe mushrooms, it is necessary to make the first collection. To do this, it is important to lower the humidity of the air, since the harvested fruits in such conditions will be best transported and stored.
Stage 4- transitional period. During this period of time, the mycelium re-collects nutrients from the substrate. In order to speed up this process, it is important to raise the temperature to 19-27°C. It is also important to maintain a relatively low air humidity of 50%, and to carry out a thorough procedure for removing the remains of the maturation of the previous offspring. An important element in ensuring a good "harvest" of shiitake mushrooms is the proper treatment of blocks against possible pests and diseases. There are about 2-4 waves of fruit ripening from one package every two to three weeks after the previous harvest.

Extensive Method

Cultivation of shiitake by the extensive method holds a confident leadership among the existing mechanisms, providing humanity with high-quality mushroom products for 65% of the total production.

This method is most widespread in regions where there is a relatively warm and humid climate, and the mushroom "gardens" themselves are placed in places protected from direct sunlight and wind.

When creating a mushroom "garden" of shiitake in a household, bran of hardwood trees is used. The wood must be healthy, clean, have a whole bark and a relatively large core. The moisture content of the bran is also important. It should be at the level of 35-70%.

The best solution would be to select trunks with a diameter of 10-20 cm and cut them into bran 100-150 cm. It is important to isolate these "natural substrates" from any contact with the ground or external contamination.
Instructions for growing shiitake mushrooms in an extensive way at home are as follows:

It is necessary to place the cut on the prepared surface (table or trestle) for effective sawing and drilling of holes. The holes should not have a large diameter (2-3 cm is enough). It is also important to control the depth of the holes at the level of 8-12 cm.
After creating holes, you need to as soon as possible fill these formations with sawdust or grain mycelium, hammer with wood components, and also seal the holes hermetically with wax or paraffin.
At the next stage, it is desirable to place the bran in a room where artificially it is possible to provide a normal microclimate for the growth of mushrooms - a temperature of 21-25 ° C and a humidity of 75-80%. If there is no access to the premises, then it is necessary to find a place in the forest or any other shelter from direct sunlight.
Germination of mycelium occurs from six months to one and a half years. You can check the cut for shiitake fruit formation by visually inspecting the cross section (white zones should form there), and with a light physical impact on the cut, it should not “ring”;

There are several artificial ways to speed up the process of fruit ripening. For example, to intensify the first wave of fruiting, it is necessary to dip cuts with mycelial spots in water in available water sources or water them with special devices. In the warm season, this procedure should be carried out for 9-20 hours, in the cold - 1.5-3 days. The duration of the litter period is about 1-2 weeks, and the number of waves is limited to 2-3 or more.

Experts recommend covering bran between fruiting waves (during dormant periods) with special protective materials that should let light and air through. The main task of this action is to ensure a stable temperature regime at elevated rates (temperature - 16-22 ° C), as well as to ensure a humidity of 20-40%. After 1-3 months, the bran must be soaked in water again and exposed to activate fruiting processes.
To predict the possible "yield" can be guided by the rule of experienced mushroom growers - the sum of all fruiting should be about 17-22% of the mass of wood. And the fruiting itself can last from 2 to 6 years.

Growing shiitake mushrooms is very exciting and cognitive process, which will allow the most efficient use of waste from the woodworking industry. This mushroom culture will not only serve to increase the diversity of the diet, but also help to obtain the necessary nutrients for a good level of general immunity of the body and support the liver, heart, kidneys with a relatively small investment of time and effort.

Video: shiitake - how to grow mushrooms, substrate and sowing

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Artificial cultivation of shiitake, so popular today, began in China, Japan and Korea. Actually, these countries were and are those in which this mushroom grows in the wild.

Shiitake mushroom, or black mushroom, is a delicacy. AT natural conditions grows on the trunks of a tree called castanopsis long-pointed.

For the first time, this type of fungus was grown on logs that underwent special processing. These logs were placed in the mountainous regions of eastern countries such as China, Japan and Korea. The climatic zone was chosen with a temperate climate. These eastern countries are actively growing shiitake mushrooms to this day.

In recent years, shiitake has become extremely popular not only in the countries where it grows, but also in many others. According to the latest data, the global export and production of this fungus has increased by more than 30 times. Its approximate volume was 400 tons per year.

Around the 70s, its cultivation began in the United States. Domestic countries are actively engaged in the possibility of organizing mass cultivation of the so-called black fungus.

Valuable properties of the mushroom

This tree fungus has excellent taste qualities, as well as an indescribable aroma that resembles porcini mushrooms and champignons at the same time.

There are many uses for shiitake. They are actively used in the following areas:

in cooking recipes
for medical purposes.
for cosmetic purposes.

Its main value for cooking is a special property that allows, in combination with other products, not to interrupt their taste, but to saturate it, giving special notes to the dish.

Shiitake is used in alternative medicine for the treatment of a number of diseases: cardiovascular, diabetes. It destroys a large number of different types of viruses and strengthens the immune system. But you need to be careful with it, because this fungus can cause a serious allergic reaction.

For cosmetic procedures, it is also indispensable, because it is saturated with lipids, proteins, vitamins and trace elements that saturate the skin, making it healthy and radiant.

Now it is clear why the black mushroom is so valued not only in the countries where it grows, but also in most others, where it is exported in large volumes.

Industrial cultivation of shiitake

In order to grow a mushroom, it is necessary to study the conditions that will become most favorable for this process.

Farms that grow these mushrooms in large quantities use the extensive method. It is the cultivation of a mushroom on tree stumps of such tree species as oak, beech, chestnut, birch, poplar, maple. The volumes of such farms for growing mushrooms can be very different, ranging from a few tens of such stumps to several hundred thousand.

Growing conditions in such farms are as close as possible to natural ones. They work seasonally and require the most minimal investment.

To organize such a farm, it is necessary to choose a region in which there are quite humid climatic conditions. When the location of the farm is determined, you need to start preparing the stumps.

Trees are cut down at a time when they have already thrown off all the leaves, but the movement of juices has not yet begun in the trunks. At this point, the trunk contains a very high amount of sugars, which are so necessary for the growth of the fungus. The tree trunk must be sawn into stumps, the length of which will be from 100 to 150 cm. Their diameter should range from 10 to 20 cm.

It is possible to sow the stumps with shiitake mycelium or its pure culture almost immediately, but no later than three months after harvesting the stumps. For sowing, it is necessary to make recesses in the stumps with a drill. Arrange them in a checkerboard pattern. The mycelium is pushed tightly into these recesses. Pre-prepared wood corks are hammered with a hammer, and tightly covered with beeswax on top.

A woodpile is built from ready-made stumps and placed in the most favorable conditions for growth.

After this, an incubation period begins, which can take place in the forest, special greenhouses or hangars equipped with a canopy. This period is quite long and takes from 6 to 18 months. Duration incubation period will depend on the amount of mycelium placed in the stumps, as well as on which strains were chosen for growing the shiitake mushroom. It is necessary to provide good irrigation to stumps with mycelium in order to stimulate its growth. The size of the stumps will determine the fruiting period, which can range from 2 to 5 years. In the warm season, the harvest from stumps can be harvested up to two times.

In this article, we will tell you in detail how to grow shiitake mushrooms, what you need for this, and what profit you can count on.

Creating conditions for growing shiitake or Japanese mushroom is quite simple., because it is unpretentious in care and is not picky about temperature and humidity.

This allows you to adapt almost any room, whether it be a garage, basement, attic, shed or even a living room.

In addition, shiitake can be grown in a greenhouse.- create here the necessary conditions even easier. The room must have an area of at least 20 square meters, must be equipped with heating and ventilation.

Where to get shiitake mycelium

Mycelium- this is seed material, that is, from which mushrooms will subsequently grow. On average, one kilogram of mycelium is enough to grow two to three kilograms of mushrooms, and sometimes more: as a rule, the yield is about 30-40 percent of the volume of the substrate, that is, the nutrient material.

You can buy mycelium in specialized stores, on the Internet, as well as on large mushroom farms, which, among other things, also produce seeds for sale. Of course, you can grow mycelium on your own, but this is a rather laborious process, and the technology is very complicated, so it is easier to buy mycelium, especially since it is even more profitable with small production volumes.

It is best to store purchased mycelium in the refrigerator.: at a temperature of 0 to 5 degrees, shiitake seeds can be stored for up to six months, while at a temperature of about 20 degrees - no more than three weeks.

What to look for when buying mycelium

Mycelium should have a pronounced mushroom smell. If it has an unpleasant sour smell, the packaging can be thrown away. Outwardly, the mycelium should look uniform and have a uniform white color.

Shiitake mushrooms: cultivation

The preparation of the substrate for the Japanese mushroom depends entirely on how you will use it - on straw, in stumps (trunks) or in sawdust.

The technology of growing shiitake mushrooms in trunks

Stumps of hardwoods are optimally suited: oak, beech, hornbeam, chestnut and others. You can use both hemp and sawn-off trunks.

The trunks are sawn into slices of 40 centimeters in length, after which they must be boiled for one hour - this will not only destroy pathogens, but also moisten the wood: at the time of sowing the mushroom colony, its humidity should be about 35-60 percent.

In sections at a distance of at least 7-9 centimeters from each other, it is necessary to drill several small holes 6-7 centimeters deep and about one centimeter in diameter. Mycelium is laid in these holes, after which the holes are clogged with moistened cotton wool. Sometimes the mycelium for this growing method is sold in the form of wooden choppers.. In this case, it is enough to carefully drive the chopstick into the hole.

The temperature in the room where they will be should vary from 15-16 degrees during the day to 10-11 at night. On trunks, a Japanese mushroom can live for several years, until the wood is completely depleted.

How to grow shiitake with straw

Oat or barley straw must be boiled for two hours to reduce to minimal risk infection of the colony with other fungi or bacteria. After that, the straw must be poured into the container, alternating in layers with mycelium.

The resulting mixture must be decomposed into plastic bags - approximately 4-6 kilograms per bag.

Ventilation holes must be made in the bags, and then placed in a container with water under a press so that the bags do not float, and the substrate with mycelium is in the water all the time.

When the mushrooms begin to germinate (after about a couple of weeks), the bags are removed from the water and cut. In the future, the straw will need to be regularly moistened, preventing drying out.

Technology of growing shiitake in sawdust

Mycelium is planted in blocks with a volume of approximately 2.5-3 liters. To prepare one such block, about one kilogram of sawdust is needed. Sawdust should be large enough, preferably hardwood.

Conifers are best avoided., since the high resin content in sawdust will not allow the mycelium to develop normally.

Sawdust must be boiled for one hour, and then mixed with bran or compound feed to improve nutritional qualities. After that, the mixture is poured into containers (you can use wooden boxes), where the mycelium is settled.

Then the blocks must be covered with plastic wrap and left for about five days at a temperature of 20-22 degrees Celsius. When the mycelium germinates, the temperature should be reduced to 17-18 degrees during the day and to 13-15 at night.

In such blocks, a mushroom colony can exist on average for about six months, after which it is necessary to prepare a new mixture and plant the mycelium again.

Costs and profits

The cost of breeding a Japanese mushroom is minimal: you will need to purchase enough mycelium, as well as everything that is required to create a substrate. The amount of investment will not exceed $200.

Shiitake is a delicacy mushroom, its price is about 20-25 dollars per kilogram.. Net profit will be about 750-900 dollars per month with minimal labor costs.

As you can see, shiitake at home is very beneficial. This business is perfect for both beginners and experienced entrepreneurs.

Shiitake mushroom (aka shiitake) comes from eastern countries, the Chinese and Japanese value it no less than the healing ginseng root, due to its high content of nutrients.

The cultivation of shiitake mushrooms in artificial conditions began precisely in those parts, gradually the technology “migrated” to us, the mushroom is bred both for amateur and commercial purposes. Shiitake is not capricious and subject to certain conditions gives good yields, it is one of the most fragrant, tasty and rich in composition of mushrooms.

About shiitake

AT wild nature Shiitake mushroom actively grows in the foothills of Japan, Korea, and China. He does not like lowlands, excessive heat and frost. It is practically not found in Europe and hot countries, and in Russia it can be found only in some regions of Siberia and the Far East.

Shiitake belongs to the group of saprophytes, that is, it feeds on the organic matter of the wood on which it grows. Gradually, the stumps with mycelium are destroyed.

Outwardly, it is an ordinary medium-sized hat mushroom. The diameter of the caps varies from 5 to 20 cm in diameter, the legs of the fruit are thin. The cap has a patterned tortoiseshell color and ranges from cream to dark brown.

The mushroom is fleshy, very fragrant, contains a large amount of trace elements and vitamins.

Shiitake mushroom (shiitake)

Growing shiitake mushrooms at home gives good results, the mushroom is unpretentious if placed in the right environment.

Due to the fact that shiitake prefers high mountainous regions, sea air and a temperate climate, it is very difficult to grow it in nature (in gardens, on plots) in our area. For artificial reproduction, it will be necessary to allocate a separate room: a basement, a barn, a hangar, in which it will be necessary to create special conditions. Some people manage to grow shiitake right in the apartment, on the balcony.

How to grow shiitake mushrooms at home

The most optimal way to grow shiitake mushrooms in artificial conditions is to use bags and a substrate. The blocks are placed in a prepared room and the conditions for the reproduction of fruits are observed.

Room preparation

Shiitake indoors requires good ventilation, lighting of at least 100 lux, and an air temperature control system. Mushrooms love warmth during the day and coolness at night. The optimum daytime temperature for them is + 15-18ºC, at night - +10 ºC. During the sowing period and until fruiting, the temperature is raised to +25 ºC. Humidity is maintained within 70-80%. A drip irrigation system is recommended for irrigation.

The room should be clean, completely disinfected; for the convenience of placing myceliums, it is better to use racks with shelves.

Mycelium shiitake

Since the mushroom grows only in a certain region of our country, it is not possible to collect its mycelium on your own in the wild. The easiest way to buy seed is in a store or at an enterprise engaged in industrial cultivation of shiitake.

The seller is obliged to indicate on the packaging the date of harvesting the mycelium, the shelf life and the conditions necessary for the content of the material.

Shiitake mushroom cultivation technology

Substrate preparation

For the substrate, you can use sawdust of trees mixed with dry leaves, hay, sunflower husks.

The material must be sterilized to destroy all harmful microorganisms. To do this, the mixture is placed in water and boiled for about two hours, then cooled and squeezed.

Packets also need to be processed. The easiest way is to rinse them in a chlorine solution. The substrate is laid out in bags in its raw form, alternating layers with mycelium (each block should account for no more than 8% of mycelium). The end of the package is tied with a rope.

Then the mushroom blocks are laid out on the shelves at a short distance from each other. On each bag, cuts are made with a clean, sterilized knife or blade (up to 20 holes on each block).

All work should be carried out with gloves and in the most sterile conditions so that harmful microbes do not get into the mycelium.

Incubation period

The cultivation of shiitake mushrooms largely depends on the correct observance of the conditions for incubation, which lasts an average of about three weeks. All this time, the temperature in the room is maintained no higher than +25 ºC and the humidity is about 80%. The room at this time is not ventilated and not illuminated.

As soon as the first fruits appear, the air temperature should be lowered to +18 ºC during the day and lowered even more at night. They begin to ventilate the room, irrigate the mushrooms daily and maintain a humidity of about 70%. Mushrooms also need light daily, at least for 5-6 hours.

Shiitake crop on a mushroom block

Mushroom pickers actively bear fruit for a month. The fruits are harvested in the usual way - cutting off the legs. After the first harvest, the blocks continue to be cared for, after 30-40 days a second wave of harvest can be expected.

Each mycelium can bear fruit for 5-7 years. But periodically they need to be given rest, immersed in "hibernation". To do this, the temperature in the room is reduced, active watering is stopped. After a month, care is resumed and a new crop is expected.

Shiitake harvest on mushroom block

Growing shiitake mushrooms at home in the country

You can try growing shiitake outdoors in your yard. To do this, you need stumps or bars. If there are no stumps on your site, then find bars of coniferous or deciduous trees and dig them into the ground.

Planting is best done in May, then in the fall there is a chance to get the first harvest. Stumps 2-3 weeks before the planting of mushrooms should be moistened, but not much, pouring them with water. At the time of seedling, the moisture content of the wood should be about 50%.

Indentations are made in wood with a drill or a hacksaw. Shiitake mycelium is placed in the holes. From above the stump is thrown with wet sawdust. Stumps (bars) should be kept moist, but not more than 40%. When the mycelium begins to bear fruit, they need to be watered more often.

Growing shiitake mushrooms at home in the country

Such mycelium can take root only in those regions where short, not too frosty winters and moderate summers. In the remaining areas for the bars, you will need to create greenhouses.

Now you know that growing shiitake mushrooms is not such a complicated process, unlike, for example, breeding mushrooms or truffles. Shiitake does not create a symbiosis with trees, and has a "flexible" nature, so its cultivation is becoming increasingly popular. In addition, it is also a very tasty, juicy mushroom from which amazing dishes are obtained.

Currently, the deterioration of the ecological situation and the frequent poisoning of wild mushrooms have led to a surge in the popularity of cultivated mushrooms. Oyster mushrooms and champignons, which are unpretentious in their care, flooded the market and slightly pressed meat on the tables. A few years ago, exotic shiitake mushrooms appeared in our latitudes - they came to us from the Far East, where they have long been successfully grown on an industrial scale.

According to statistics, shiitake is the most cultivated edible mushroom in the world. To taste, it resembles champignons, as well as porcini mushrooms. High the nutritional value, pleasant taste, as well as the discovered healing properties of shiitake, determine its popularity in the cuisines of different peoples of the world. In Japan and China, for two millennia, these mushrooms have traditionally been grown on fallen trunks and stumps of shii trees (an analogue of our oak) and other deciduous trees. With the development of cultivation technology on sterile sawdust, it became possible to grow shiitake at home.

How to grow shiitake

Shiitake mushrooms are saprotrophic mushrooms that naturally grow on dying wood, and according to the conditions of cultivation, they resemble oyster mushrooms. Distinctive feature compared to other cultivated mushrooms, there is a rather long maturation of shiitake mycelium, low competitiveness compared to colonies of bacteria and mold. Experienced shiitake growers argue that, subject to sterile planting conditions, as well as growing technology, it is quite simple to obtain fruiting bodies of mushrooms.

There are two main methods of growing shiitake:

extensive - the natural growth of the fungus on wood is copied on specially prepared cuttings of trunks, which are forcibly infected with mycelium. This method is suitable for regions with a humid climate. The greatest period of fruiting occurs in the second year of the development of wood raw materials by mushrooms. More than two-thirds of the world's shiitake production is grown using this technology;
intensive - the basis for the growth of mushrooms are chips and sawdust of deciduous trees, as well as cereal straw. To increase the nutritional value of the subtrat, grain, bran, hay, mineral additives (chalk or gypsum) are added to it. The substrate is carefully sterilized or pasteurized - and the sowing mycelium is added to it, which colonizes the blocks and after a while begins to bear fruit.

Intensive Shiitake Cultivation

Intensive (industrial) cultivation of shiitake is produced on substrates consisting of 60-90% of hardwood sawdust with a diameter of 2-3 mm. For this purpose, sawdust of oak, maple, beech, birch and other hardwoods is suitable. In addition, the substrate may include wood chips (it increases the friability of its structure), as well as dry and clean, crushed to a size of 1-2 cm, cereal straw, hay.

To accelerate the colonization of the mycelium and improve fruiting, grain, bran, legume flour, tea leaves and beer production waste, as well as chalk or gypsum to optimize acidity, are used as nutritional supplements. The resulting mixture is moistened with clean water, bringing the moisture level of the substrate to 60-65%.

It is important to note that too small sawdust diameter hinders the gas exchange of the substrate, an excess of nutrients creates an environment favorable for the development of microorganisms - competitors of shiitake, often displacing mushrooms. Therefore, for the optimal development of mushroom mycelium, preliminary sterilization or pasteurization of the substrate is required, packed in polyethylene or polypropylene bags with a volume of 1-6 liters with special biofilters for gas exchange. After heat treatment and cooling, the substrate mixture is inoculated (inoculated) with fungal mycelium, which in a warm place gradually colonizes the substrate, turning it into a dense block - for about 1.5-2.5 months. Next, the mushroom blocks are removed from the film or container - and placed for fruiting in a cool room with high humidity.

How to grow shiitake mushrooms

The method of growing mushrooms on wood cuttings is more laborious. It is suitable for a humid Asian climate, unlike the local continental one. The extensive method of mushroom cultivation is more expensive than the intensive method. Planting mycelium is easier to organize on substrates made up of sawdust, wood chips and straw. Such a nutrient substrate can be stocked up without any special material costs. The most suitable is dry clean straw of oats or barley, golden in color, with no visible signs of decay. To grow shiitake at home, you will need a room in which you can maintain a certain temperature and humidity, and intense lighting. You also need to prepare bags of dense polyethylene or agril (non-woven material for covering beds). Experienced mushroom growers recommend packing mushroom blocks of about 2.5 kg. The first harvest of shiitake can be obtained in 60-70 days.

Preparation of mushroom blocks

Before sowing mushroom mycelium, mandatory sterilization or pasteurization of the substrate is required in order to destroy various microorganisms in it, which otherwise can multiply and seriously compete with shiitake mushrooms. For sterilization, you need a barrel, into which the straw is tightly packed, poured with boiling water. The barrel is placed over the fire - for heating for several hours, after which the straw is laid out in a clean container and left to cool, and then packaged in bags, shifting the substrate and mycelium in layers (at the rate of 2-7% of shiitake mycelium from the mass of the substrate), trying spread the mushroom material evenly.

Sowing mycelium is made of two types:

sawdust - it is grown on a sawdust-bran mixture, it is specially adapted to the appropriate substrate. The sowing rate of such mushroom mycelium is 5-7%;
grain - is a scattering of grain overgrown with mycelium, which is also a nutrient medium. The sowing rate of such mycelium is 2%.

If you did not purchase special bags with porous filters along with the mycelium, then in ordinary plastic bags you need to make side holes with a diameter of several centimeters through which the gas exchange of mushroom blocks will take place. After filling with the substrate with mycelium, the bags must be closed on top with a cotton plug or sealed (in the case of bags with micron filters). The blocks prepared in this way are laid indoors at a height of at least 20 cm from the floor, since the sprouting mycelium actively releases carbon dioxide, which descends.

Distillation of fruiting bodies of mushrooms

During the incubation period, it is necessary to maintain the temperature in the room within 25 ° C - this temperature is considered optimal for the germination of the mycelium. At temperatures above 28-30 °C, there is a possibility of damage to the substrate by competitive microorganisms (mainly trichoderma and neurospores - green and orange mold). A change in the color of the substrate block to white will indicate the germination of the mycelium, while nodules and swellings of various shapes will begin to appear. The brown color of the block indicates the beginning of ripening and early fruiting of mushrooms.

The mushroom blocks are removed from the bags and placed in cold water for two days, and then returned back. Two weeks after such a procedure, shiitake fruiting bodies usually appear, which will grow to full-fledged mushrooms for another half a month. Shiitake requires high humidity (80-95%) and poor ventilation to start fruiting, keeping carbon dioxide levels high. For the period of mushroom picking, the humidity is reduced to 50-70%. Shiitake fruits in waves, on one mushroom block you can expect two or three harvests of fruits.

Shiitake mushrooms photo

How to grow shiitake mushrooms - video

Shiitake are mushrooms with medicinal properties that grow well at home. They are picky, so experienced gardeners get decent profit from their sale. In this article, we will explain in detail how to grow shiitake.

Shiitake fruit continuously from May to October, but this will have to create acceptable conditions. In early spring, prepare the substrate, for this, select whole stumps or blocks of wood. Choose trees without visible damage to the bark, do not use stumps on which other mushrooms grow. Try to cut the branches even before the buds appear, it is at this time that the wood has the most useful substances and vitamins. Do not let the wood dry out. Before sowing the culture, it is necessary to boil the substrate or hold the sawn trunks for about a day in water. This will allow the wood to saturate with moisture, which will speed up the growth of the shiitake.

Please note that the daytime temperature in the room where mushrooms grow should not exceed +16°C. At night, the temperature can be reduced to +10°C. Changing the heating level favorably affects the growth of the culture. Now drill holes 6 cm deep in the trunks. The distance between the recesses should be no more than 10 cm. Pour mycelium into these holes and cover the holes with wet cotton wool. If you plan to grow mushrooms in the garden, bury the trunk 2/3 of its length into the ground. This will prevent the wood from drying out and allow the mushrooms to grow for several years.

If you do not have the opportunity to use logs to grow mushrooms, you can try growing a crop in sawdust. To do this, mix sawdust with pomace or bran. This will enrich the environment for growing mushroom colonies. Before planting the mycelium, boil the sawdust in water for 1 hour, this will destroy bacteria and other fungi.

To plant a mycelium, simply place it on the substrate and cover the container with foil. At the initial stage of mushroom germination, the temperature should be +20°C. After mushrooms appear on the surface of the sawdust, you can reduce the heating to + 16-17 ° C. When the culture finally takes root, the substrate will turn white. It is possible to use bags with a substrate for planting mycelium. Before planting the mycelium, it is necessary to make indentations with a long stick and fill them with mycelium.

You can use straw as a substrate. To do this, it is boiled for 2 hours in a fabric bag, and then the mycelium is planted in it. It is best to lay the mycelium in layers. Place the mycelium on a layer of straw and cover it with a substrate. You can sow in three rows. In this case, you need to wait for 2-3 waves of the harvest.

On sale there are special blocks for growing shiitake. They already contain all useful substances and fertilizers in their composition. There is no need to boil them before planting the mycelium.

Compared to oyster mushrooms, shiitake grows slowly, so it can take 6 months from planting to harvest. Reduce the humidity level to 50% before picking mushrooms. This will allow a dense film to form on the surface of the caps, which will prevent damage to the mushrooms.

Edible lentinula (Lentinula edodes) is an agaric that grows on a tree. Its light or dark brown hat in diameter reaches 30 centimeters. It is mounted on a white fibrous leg, cylindrical in shape. Shiitake can be translated as "mushroom from the broadleaf tree". The zone of its growth is Japan, China, Korea. "Black Forest Mushroom" can be called one of the main ingredients of most dishes in countries South-East Asia. Studies have revealed in it a large number of useful and medicinal elements. Growing shiitake mushrooms in the open air takes from 180 to 360 days, in a greenhouse the ripening period is much lower.

Business organization at home

The name of the cultivated crop indicates the features of the choice of soil - it is used for shiitake wood. To grow mushrooms on your own plot, you can choose intensive or extensive methods. Growing one crop in conditions close to natural takes from six months to a year. At the same time, each square meter of rotten, damp wood used for planting will bring 250 kg of delicacy mushroom every year.

Shiitake mushroom picker freely tolerates frosts down to -25 ° C. When spring comes, the mushroom planting site must be covered with a film to warm it up as soon as possible and maintain the necessary moisture content of dead wood.

The optimum moisture content of the substrate is 60%, with an increase or decrease in this indicator, the yield of the mushroom place decreases.

Growing Japanese fungus on trunks of rotten wood with a one-time replanting of mycelium into the trunk is more profitable. The fruiting of the mycelium will last from 3 to 5 seasons. Regardless of where the planting of mushrooms will be, in a horizontal or vertical position, in tiers or in one row, it is necessary to maintain the temperature and humidity of the logs.

The intensive method, which requires special conditions for the forcing of mushrooms, reduces the ripening period to 1-2 months. The method of accelerated germination requires strict maintenance of the temperature and humidity of the soil (substrate). After the first growth, the fruiting of the mycelium lasts for several more weeks. Only the yield with intensive forcing is no more than 20%, despite the fact that the soil is sawdust of deciduous trees and residues after threshing grain crops.

Attention! Coniferous wood species are not used for growing mushrooms. The optimal choice of substrate or logs for planting shiitake mycelium is oak, maple, beech.

Which mushrooms are more profitable for a home business: shiitake or cherries

Growing cherries and shiitake on logs of deciduous trees that have begun to decompose from high humidity is similar only at first glance. Daily fluctuations in air temperatures in central Russia are not terrible for the Korean forest mushroom. Fruiting lasts from May until the time when there were no serious frosts on the soil. As a rule, this time coincides with the Feast of the Intercession (November 14). At this time, the last root crops are harvested from the fields.

Cherries are more whimsical, their yield is lower.
Shiitake mycelium grows much more slowly than oyster mushroom mycelium.
Due to the length of the formation period of Japanese mushrooms, the mold begins to compete with the mycelium.
The fruiting of oyster mushrooms is provoked by a decrease in temperature.
For shiitake, you just need to water the bed regularly.

After weighing all the pros and cons, it turns out that shiitake is more convenient for home cultivation. Cherries require expensive climate control equipment.

Chinese way of growing shiitake

The Chinese way of growing mushrooms on tree trunks is different in that logs are located, with a diameter of 7-15 cm in a horizontal position. Until the middle they sink into the ground. For convenience, the trunks of fallen trees are divided into segments of 100-120 cm. If it is necessary to save space on the site, the trunks are folded according to the principle of well rings, with the difference that there is a gap between adjacent logs on each side.

Preparation of trunks for planting is as follows:

the trunks during the preparation period must spend several years outdoors in the rain, snow;
the constant moisture content of the wood by the time of planting the mycelium should be 38-42%;
the lack of moisture in the woody soil is compensated by abundant irrigation before the introduction of planting material;
holes with a diameter of 1.2 cm are drilled on the trunk to a depth of 4 cm;
the distance between the holes in each row is 10 cm;
the rows are located at a distance of 7 cm from each other.

Mycelium is introduced into ready-made, sufficiently moistened holes. The height of the woodpile, which is essentially a mushroom garden, does not matter. For 30 days, this vertical mushroom plantation must be covered with a plastic film in order to create a greenhouse effect under it during the incubation period. The temperature for germination can range from +20 to +26ᵒС.

Advice! The carbon dioxide in the wood prevents good fruiting of the shiitake. A 12-hour soak in water at t° from +13° to +18°C will help get rid of it. The absence of air bubbles at the end of the water procedure indicates the absence of CO2.

You can determine the readiness of trunks for fruiting by the following signs:

the absence of a sonorous sound when hitting the barrel with a hammer or other hard object;
mycelium is visible on sections of the trunk;
when using halves of the trunk, white islands of mycelium on the cross section.

Growing mushrooms on trunks dug into the ground makes it easier to maintain the required moisture, which contributes to the natural debate of wood. Accordingly, the temperature inside the trunk is higher than that of the soil surrounding it. This means that the frosts of an impromptu mushroom ridge are not terrible.

To obtain mushrooms with dense pulp, caps and tender (to taste) stems are formed at low temperatures for this fungus from +10 to +16 ° C and air humidity from 60 to 75%, which is uncharacteristic for many regions with a temperate climate. Daily fluctuations in air temperature also contribute to the improvement of taste and appearance shiitake. Therefore, during the fruiting period, mushrooms are not covered with a film.

After collecting mushrooms of the first growth, it is necessary to change the climate for the trunks, lowering their humidity to 30-40% and raising the air temperature. During the 2-month recovery period, daily temperature fluctuations should be in the range from +16 to +22 ° С.

Interesting! You can use the same logs for growing shiitake for 3-5 years. During this period, mushrooms weighing 5 times less than the mass of wood used will be harvested from them. Conclusion: beech and oak have a greater density and weight, which means that with the same area of the birch and oak ridges, more mushrooms will be collected from the first.

Growing at home

When used for growing lentinula edible premises with controlled modes of temperature, humidity, illumination, fruiting will be year-round. Accelerating the forcing of mushrooms to a greater extent is achieved due to the heat treatment of the substrate.

Not all stages of industrial bending can be reproduced at home, which affects the result. Stages of work:

sawdust substrate is enriched with essential nutrients.
The soil is poured into bags made of agril, a material for covering beds.
Substrate bags are placed in hot water for a quarter of an hour.
The soil is sterilized for 24 hours at a temperature of 60°C.
He must spend 72 hours in an environment with a temperature of 50 ° C.
The cooled sawdust, inoculated with mycelium, are transferred to sterile 3-liter jars.
Glass incubators are sealed with cotton plugs.
For 2 months, the jars are moved to a room with a temperature ranging from +17°C to +20°C.
The substrate with germinated mycelium is returned to breathable bags.
Two weeks no procedures are carried out. During this time, the mycelium will collect the substrate into a single dense block.
After that, it must be sent, for about a day, to water for moistening.

After soaking the substrate collected by the dense block mycelium, in two weeks you can wait for the first harvest.

Making substrate blocks for home mushroom farming

To grow mushrooms, it is wood that is needed, so all the leaves are removed before the branches are crushed. Processed raw materials do not require additional processing, they are used immediately for the preparation of the substrate. The amount of soil is determined by the volume of the polypropylene or agril bag used.

The substrate is heated and pasteurized. Only after that the mycelium is planted in it. The package is an ideal environment for the development of mycelium, it is similar to greenhouse conditions. The size and shape of the package determines what the substrate block will be.

Sample calculation:

when stuffing a bag with a width of 25.5 cm, the block will turn out to be 16 s in diameter;
optimal height - 28 cm;
volume - 5 l;
wet mass has a weight of 2.2 kg.

To moisten 5 liters of sawdust substrate, 200 ml of water is sufficient.

Attention! Barley in the composition of the substrate increases the yield. It is recommended to add 250 gr. to each package. barley grains. To moisten grain-enriched sawdust, 350 ml of water per block is required.

You can use blocks 2 times smaller in volume for growing shiitake. For them, low-pressure plastic bags are suitable. They withstand heating temperatures up to +110 °C.

Formation of blocks with mycelium:

a thoroughly mixed mixture of sawdust, grain, water is packaged in bags;
from 30-40 cm strips of synthetic winterizer 5-7 cm wide (not used), tight rolls 2-3 cm in diameter are rolled;
they are wrapped with threads;
a homemade cotton plug is fixed at the top of the bag with twine or twine.
for 8-12 hours, sealed bags are left for uniform distribution of moisture, grain swelling;
when sterilizing the substrate in an autoclave, it is necessary to set the temperature regime to + + 110 ° C for 3 hours.
after the substrate has cooled, it is necessary to introduce mycelium into it and close it again with a cotton plug.

Attention! Sterility should be at all stages of planting mushrooms. To transfer the mycelium to the ground, it is better to use a spoon treated with a chlorine-containing composition.

One package requires 1 tablespoon of grain mycelium. It can be poured into a bag, after tying it around a cotton plug, the mushroom seeds are distributed throughout the entire volume of the substrate by vigorous shaking. It remains only to give the package with loose soil a certain stable shape. The corners bent at the bottom of the package can be fixed with tape.

Growing in a greenhouse

Growing shiitake in a greenhouse is justified in areas with cold, short summers. After thermal preparation of the substrate, the introduction of nutrients into it, high-quality moisturizing, the blocks with mycelium are left for germination in a closed form. After 6-10 weeks of being in greenhouse conditions at a temperature of +17°С to +22°С in an environment with a humidity of ≈ 55%, the bags are opened and additionally moistened.

With the frequency of watering, the first growth of mushrooms will not keep you waiting. Shiitake will appear in 2 weeks. But before that time, it is necessary to release the substrate bound by the shiitake mycelium from polyethylene and lower the air temperature to +10°C to +16°C. From each block, which is at this temperature for 3-6 months, you can regularly harvest.

The main threat to the crop is mold inside the blocks with mushrooms and other microorganisms that can kill or weaken the mycelium. It is to combat their pathogens that a long-term heat treatment substrate before planting mycelium in it.

If it is necessary to sterilize a large mass of the substrate, an alternative to heat treatment of the packaged soil is to roast it in bulk. True, for all other stages, packaging, distribution of mycelium, a sterile room will be required, otherwise all efforts will be in vain, because microorganisms develop much faster than shiitake mycelium.

In greenhouse cultivation, as well as at home, dense plastic bags with a volume of 1 to 6 liters and cotton plugs are used to ensure air circulation.

Attention! For planting mycelium, the temperature of the substrate should be between +20°C and +30°C.

Planting material preparation

To grow shiitake mushrooms in a greenhouse or at home, they need to infect some organic matter. The most suitable material for this is cereals. It is most convenient to germinate mycelium in wheat or barley grain. The mycelium envelops the grains, germinating in them, resulting in the formation of dense grain blocks infected with the mycelium.

Before inoculation - the introduction of grain mycelium into the substrate, these blocks must be crushed into grains. The proportion of grains to the mass of soil is 2-5%.

Purchase of mycelium

The purchase of mycelium must be made in specialized seed stores. Here you can also purchase nutrient compositions to enrich the substrate. In the Leningrad Region, shiitake mycelium is sold in seed stores in Peterhof at 63 Krasnykh Kursantov Boulevard and in Otradnoye at the addresses: Centralnaya Street and Novaya Street 10.

You can buy mycelium for growing shiitake in Chelyabinsk and Nizhny Novgorod, Cheboksary and Novosibirsk.

Substrate preparation

Substrate composition rules for shiitake - base, nutritional supplements, acidity optimizers. The basis is sawdust of deciduous trees, their size should vary within 2-3 mm. Alder, aspen, birch, poplar, maple, beech, oak and other local wood species are suitable for chipping. Mushrooms do not grow on coniferous trees, so pine and spruce sawdust are not allowed as part of the substrate.

Such a strict criterion for the size of sawdust is justified by the fact that small ones will create a too dense layer that makes air exchange difficult, and there will be a lot of oxygen between large elements of wood soil, which is a favorable environment for the development of competitive microorganisms and mold, given the necessary humidity and temperature of the growing medium shiitake.

No fertilizer is required to grow mushrooms! Nutrients for shiitake are cereals (their grains or flour), organic residues after threshing. Depending on what crops grow in the area, you can use beans, corn, rice, barley. Rye, wheat, millet and so on.

The substrate may contain gypsum or chalk. They are required to normalize the acidity of the soil. They can be from 10 to 40% of the total volume.

Sales channels

An edible Japanese mushroom, reminiscent of white champignon in taste and aroma. Its peculiarity lies in the fact that it is spicy, so the shiitake dish does not need to add pepper. This makes it possible to sell it to factories that produce semi-finished products of mushroom soups, sauces, seasonings for main courses. In dried form, edible lentinula retains its beneficial properties and aroma, but somewhat loses its taste. Sharpness is preserved if the raw material does not undergo repeated soaking in hot water.

Raw mushrooms are used in almost all dishes of national Japanese, Chinese, Korean cuisine. The second most priority sales channel will be restaurants specializing in the preparation of national dishes of Southeast Asia. Shiitake can be used, after pre-soaking, in European dishes as an alternative to porcini mushrooms.

The Japanese mushroom is widely used in pharmacology and traditional medicine - this is another opportunity to establish a permanent distribution channel. The spectrum of action of useful substances contained in shiitake is quite wide - it is:

fever reduction;
fight against viruses;
treatment of the heart and stomach;
blood purification;
increased immunity and stress resistance;
normalization of blood circulation;
sugar reduction;
breakdown of cholesterol;
removal of toxins from the body;
strengthening potency.

As an adjunct to the main drug treatment, shiitake is recommended in the treatment of upper respiratory tract, poliomyelitis, smallpox, influenza, HIV. In Japan, this microelement-rich mushroom is called the elixir of longevity. Fungotherapists recommend this mushroom for:

cleansing the gastrointestinal tract;
reduction of excess body weight;
to maintain normal blood sugar levels in diabetics.

points Catering Specializing in dietary nutrition can also be considered as potential customers.

Business costs and payback

The competition for growing shiitake in Russia is extremely low compared to this moment explains the high cost of the product. The price of fresh mushrooms varies from 700 to 1000 rubles. per kilogram (with wholesale). For a kilogram of dried Japanese mushroom, you can get from 2.5 to 3.5 thousand rubles. With the maximum return from one square meter of wood at the lowest prices, it will turn out to help out 175,000 rubles.

For homeowners in the private sector, harvesting the wood needed to grow shiitake will cost the cost of firewood. Deadwood is wood, for which you will have to pay a purely symbolic price when drawing up a contract for the sale of forest plantations, provided for by the Civil Code of the Russian Federation. For every family living in a house with stove heating, the state assumes the consumption of 15 cubic meters of hardwood per year.

Prices in each region are set by local authorities, on average, along with delivery, you will have to spend 5-6 thousand rubles to purchase wood.

To install 3-4 square mushroom "wells", 1 cubic meter of wood is enough, which in its pure form can be equated to 400 rubles.
Buying mycelium from 180 to 400 rubles,
oats - 250-350 rubles.
A spacious greenhouse with a polycarbonate coating (when buying in winter) costs around 15 thousand rubles.
Agrospan (agril) roll - 360 rubles.
The cost of a synthetic winterizer depends on its density. The price of a running meter varies from 20 to 70 rubles.

All costs for the arrangement of a mushroom plantation fit into the 20,000-th budget, if the farm has an enclave and a well with drinking water. Under the most unfavorable circumstances, the payback of all costs is ensured from one successful transaction. Established distribution channels guarantee the success of a home business.

Technology of planting shiitake on stumps