Edible shiitake tree mushrooms have come to us from Asian countries, where they have been eaten for centuries, appreciating the pleasant taste and healing properties. Today we have the opportunity not only to enjoy dishes with this mushroom in sushi bars, but also to growing shiitake at home.
Application of shiitake
In fact, this mushroom can be used as a component of various dishes, in eastern countries, for example, shiitake powder soup is common, and extracts are also obtained from it, which are added to sweets and drinks. Of the useful properties of the mushroom, one can name the ability lower blood sugar and cholesterol levels. Wise Asians equate it with miraculous effects to ginseng, indicating that it has a beneficial effect on blood circulation, nervous system and the state of the body as a whole. Among the medicinal mushrooms, shiitake is the most popular (read also about the medicinal properties of the chaga mushroom).
Growing mushrooms at home, Mushroom growing!
Scientist Chihara (Japan) managed to isolate lentinan from it, a substance that promotes the formation of perforin. And perforin is effective in fighting cancer cells.
How Shiitake is grown
As with the oyster mushrooms familiar to us, shiitake can be bred in an intensive and extensive way.
Intensive technology:
- For the substrate, you will need sawdust: oak, willow, beech, maple, etc., you can not use only coniferous. The required size of sawdust is about 3 mm, they can be mixed with wood chips. The substrate must be sterilized. You can put it in a bag and pour over boiling water (85-95 ° C), let it cool for 10-12 hours and repeat. Prepare a container for growing, it can be plastic bags, bags, various in size (from 1 to 6 l) . The substrate is mixed with mycelium, in proportion - per 10 kg of substrate 0.5 kg of mycelium, placed in bags, close them using a cotton-gauze stopper with a ring. It will take 1.5-2 months for germination, while the temperature in the room should be 18-24 ° C. To start fruiting, such mushroom blocks are transferred to a cooler and a damp place, previously freed from the film. Harvest will appear within 3-6 months. For their growth, lighting is required - up to 8 hours a day.
Extensive technology:
- For growing shiitake mushrooms, logs are prepared with a diameter of 7-8 cm, about 1 m long. It is best to cut them down in winter, but it is advisable to place mycelium in them in early spring. You need to drill holes in the logs, at a distance of about 15 cm from each other, these the holes are filled with mycelium. The filled logs are placed in a shaded and damp place. White spots will indicate that the mycelium has spread through the wood, but this will only happen after 16-24 months.
GROWING SHIITAKE
Shiitake cultivation by the intensive method can be carried out on various substrates, which are based on sawdust of deciduous trees - alder, willow, birch, oak, aspen and some other species. Sawdust from coniferous trees is not used. To improve the nutritional properties of the substrate, sawdust is mixed with bran or cereal grains - barley, wheat, millet, rice. Here is the composition of substrate mixtures, which, in our opinion, are most convenient when growing shiitake at home or in small industries :one.
For 40 kilograms of hardwood sawdust, add 3 kilograms of rice or wheat bran and 1 kilogram of sugar. 2. Mix hardwood sawdust with rice bran in a ratio of 4:1. The substrate mixture must be soaked in water and then subjected to heat treatment.
As with oyster mushrooms, heat treatment of the substrate for shiitake cultivation is necessary to inhibit the growth and development of mold. In industry, the substrate is treated by pressure sterilization. At home, as in the case of growing oyster mushrooms, you can limit yourself to pasteurizing the substrate.
True, in this case, the yield of mushrooms decreases, but when growing shiitake at home, this method of processing the substrate will fit perfectly. The prepared substrate is placed in a container, poured with boiling water, then covered and kept in this form for 8-12 hours.
GROWING SHIITAKE - INOCULATING
The next step in growing shiitake is the contamination of the substrate with grain mycelium or inoculation. The substrate treated with boiling water is slightly dried to reduce its moisture content.
Mold develops in the waterlogged substrate. The moisture content of the substrate before inoculation should be in the range of 60-70%. You can check the humidity of the substrate in the same way as when preparing the substrate for growing oyster mushrooms - by squeezing it in a fist.
In this case, droplets of water should appear between the fingers. If the humidity is excessive, the water will flow in streams.
The prepared substrate is laid out in plastic bags at the rate of 3-7 kg of substrate in each bag, thus making a substrate block. Then you need to take a wooden clean stick with a diameter of about 3 centimeters and a length of about a meter, and with the help of this stick, a hole is made in the middle of the substrate block to the very bottom of the bag.
Thus, a channel for introducing mycelium is made in the substrate block. After that, grain mycelium is introduced into the channel at the rate of 4-5% of the weight of the substrate. With this method of inoculation of the substrate block, the rate of overgrowth of the block with mycelium increases. The mycelium is taken with hands wearing rubber gloves. Gloved hands should be washed with soap, then, if possible, gloves can be disinfected with 70% alcohol. After that, the bag neck is closed with a cotton plug and tied tightly.
SHIITAKE GROWING - INCUBATION
During the incubation period, it is necessary to maintain the temperature within the range of 20-30 ° C (the optimum temperature is considered to be 25 ° C). When the temperature rises above 30 °C, mycelium may die due to the development of mold.
Humidity during this period is not regulated, ventilation of the room is not performed, lighting is also not needed. The incubation period lasts from 20 to 60 days, sometimes up to 120 days. During this period, the shiitake mycelium colonizes the substrate, and then masters its nutrients for a long period.
Two stages of overgrowth of the substrate by mycelium can be distinguished. The first stage is the white block phase. After complete colonization of the substrate, it becomes white. Then the block becomes brown - the phase of the brown block begins.
As soon as the entire block turns brown, you can begin to initiate fruiting.
GROWING SHIITAKE - FRUITTING
To initiate the fruiting of shiitake, the substrate blocks are carefully removed from plastic bags and placed in cold water for 2-3 days. After that, the substrate blocks are placed in the room for subsequent fruiting.
Blocks must be placed in such a way that fruiting occurs from all sides. During this period, the humidity in the room should be maintained at 85-90%, and the temperature within 20?
The room should be well lit and regularly ventilated. Natural lighting can be used, and when growing shiitake in basements, artificial lighting should be used. After 7-14 days, the beginnings of mushrooms appear, and after another 7-14 days, fully formed mushrooms.
Shiitake, like oyster mushrooms, bears fruit in waves. Each subsequent wave of fruiting occurs within 2-3 weeks. In total, it is advisable to collect up to 3 waves of the crop.
The whole fruiting cycle lasts from 8 to 16 weeks depending on the size of the block. Shiitake mushrooms can be grown in an extensive way, which is carried out on stumps or sawn logs. An intensive method is also suitable when wood or vegetable raw materials and nutrient solutions are used.
For the extensive method, stumps of deciduous trees are needed, for example, chestnut, oak, beech, hornbeam. To grow tasty and healthy shiitake mushrooms, stumps are prepared during the cessation of sap flow in trees, in late autumn or early spring.
It is during this period that maximum nutrients accumulate in the wood. When choosing trees, you need to carefully examine the wood. You can not take trees with traces of damage and disease.
Logs are cut down with a diameter of 10-20 cm, then they need to be cut into stumps 1-1.5 meters long. After that, they are put in a woodpile and covered with burlap. There they need to be left for 1-3 months before sowing.
The logs should be moistened 4-5 days before sowing the mycelium. Shiitake will bear fruit if the temperature of the content was in the range of 13-16 degrees, and the moisture level of the wood was 35-60%. If mushrooms are grown outdoors, then this place should be closed from the direct rays of the sun and wind. Mycelium for sowing should be purchased only from trusted suppliers. Before sowing, holes are drilled in the stumps to a depth of 3-5 cm and a diameter of 1.2 cm.
They are staggered, leaving a step of 20-25 cm, and the distance between the rows should be 5-10 cm. The finished recesses are filled with mycelium. The mushroom picker is covered with wooden plugs with a diameter of 1-2 mm less than that of the holes.
Then the logs with mycelium are again placed in a woodpile indoors or outdoors under a canopy. The development of the mycelium is from six months to one and a half years. For germination, a temperature of 20-25 degrees is required, and the moisture content of the wood is at least 35%. To prevent the woodpile with stumps from drying out, it is regularly watered with water from sprinklers.
The end of the incubation period occurs when white spots of mycelial hyphae appear. Logs should be soaked in water for 12-20 hours in the warm season or 2-3 days in the cold season. Then the logs should be covered with a cloth that protects them from light.
She is removed after education fruit bodies. Fruiting lasts 1-2 weeks. One seeded stump is suitable for growing shiitake up to 5 years.
Growing mushrooms in an apartment
Substrate for shiitake: preparation and varieties
The substrate is the nutrient base on which the mushrooms will grow. The first thing you need to grow shiitake mushrooms is the right wood. Suitable trunks of beech, oak, chestnut or, for example, hornbeam.
It is better to harvest stumps for their subsequent settlement with a mushroom colony at the beginning of spring, when the leaves have not yet begun to germinate and the level of natural sugars in the wood is the highest. The tree should be healthy, without obvious bark defects and not affected by other crops (tinder or lichen). About a week before sowing your mushroom plantation, dry wood should be sawn into bars 30-40 cm long and soaked in water or boiled for an hour.
The main thing is that at the time of sowing mushrooms on it, the moisture content of the tree should be at least 15, but not more than 70%. In order for the wood not to dry out, it can be wrapped with polyethylene.
The temperature in the room where the mushroom colonies will grow should be approximately + 16 ° C, while the mushrooms prefer a noticeable change in temperature day and night (but the temperature at night should not be lower than + 10 ° C). It is necessary to drill in the bar at the same distance ( about 10 cm) apart a series of small holes - about 10 mm in diameter and 6 cm deep. Shiitake mycelium (mycelium) is poured into these holes.
Then the holes are closed with cotton wool moistened with clean water. The process of populating the tree with mycelium is otherwise called inoculation. If the mushrooms are grown in the garden, then you should choose a shaded area, and bury the hemp with mycelium by two-thirds into the ground so that the tree does not dry out. Mushrooms can live on stumps for several years, until the wood is completely depleted and decays into dust.
The technology of growing shiitake on sawdust
If it is not possible to grow shiitake on the bars, then another method will come to the rescue - mushrooms can be grown on sawdust. To harvest one mushroom block with a volume of 2.5 liters, about 1 kg of wood is required.
In order to increase the nutritional value of the habitat of the mushroom colony, bran, pomace remaining during the manufacture of beer, cereal grains are added to the sawdust. A block of such enriched sawdust is not long-term, the entire period from inoculation to the completion of fruiting takes up to 6 months. When choosing a substrate, one should not take sawdust from coniferous trees as a basis, the high resin content in their wood prevents the growth and reproduction of mycelium.
Sawdust for growing shiitake should not be too small - this will make it difficult for the mushrooms to get air. The collected sawdust is subjected to heat treatment to prevent colonization of the substrate by other fungi and bacteria. To do this, it is enough to keep the sawdust in boiling water for an hour. To introduce the mycelium, it is simply poured into a container where the substrate is already prepared, covered with plastic wrap and left for several days.
The optimum temperature, which will greatly facilitate the process of colonization by fungi, will be 20 ° C. In the future, when the mycelium germinate and begin to bear fruit, it can be reduced to 16-17°C during the day and 12-14°C at night. As the mycelium grows, the substrate changes color, when the mushrooms have finally sprouted in the new territory, the substrate becomes white. Shiitake can be grown on sawdust
The technology of growing mushrooms on straw
Some use barley or oat straw as a substrate for shiitake. The technology for growing mushrooms on straw is not too different from the above ways like growing on stumps.
Straw is also subjected to sterilization in boiling water for up to 2 hours to avoid damage by other colonies of fungi or bacteria. So that the straw does not boil soft, it must be placed in a cloth bag. After the sterilized substrate has cooled down, it is mixed with mycelium in the proportion of 30-50 g of planting material per bag.
It is better to fill the bag in layers - a layer of straw, then a mycelium, another layer of straw, and so on. Up to three harvest waves can be expected from one straw block in the future. The resulting mixture is distributed in plastic bags in the amount of 3-5 kg per bag, a number of ventilation holes are made in the polyethylene, and the bag with mycelium is placed in a container with water.
It will be better if the bag is pressed down with a press (a couple of ordinary bricks or ceramic tiles will do) so that the substrate is constantly in the water. The process of colonization and germination of fungi in a straw substrate lasts up to two weeks.
After this period, when the colonization of fungi is completed, two-thirds of the bag must be freed from the film. It is necessary to moisten the straw as needed so that the mushroom colony does not dry out. Shiitake cultivation can take place almost anywhere with proper thermal balance.
A shed, a summer kitchen, a lawn in the garden on which mushroom stumps stand, a forest clearing ... Mushrooms grow rather slowly compared to other similar mushroom crops like oyster mushrooms, but at the same time they are unpretentious, because in the homeland of shiitake, in Central Asia, its period intensive growth coincides with the rainy season. Immediately before harvesting (if mushrooms grow indoors), it is better to reduce the humidity level to 60%.
Through this procedure, the film on the surface of the mushrooms will become denser and tougher, which will allow you to collect mushrooms without damaging them. At the time of inoculation, shiitake mushrooms are susceptible to infections in the form of competing bacteria, but a well-sterilized substrate will save you from this problem. Too high humidity can negatively affect the quality of the crop, so growing shiitake mushrooms in a room where external factors environment easier to control. You can cook many delicious and healthy dishes from shiitake.
Due to its value in many countries, the development of shiitake cultivation technologies has already acquired the nature of stream production. And if you decide to start growing mushrooms on your own, then it will not be difficult to buy shiitake mycelium of different varieties - many mushroom farms and online stores sell it, usually in the form of pressed sticks.
| How to grow shiitake at home | ||||
| Growing shiitake | February 19, 2011 |
How to build a small mushroom business at home, at no extra cost? Shiitake mushroom is the answer to this question. Food products such as mushrooms have always been in demand in the market. This is not without reason, since they are the ones that contain unique minerals, amino acids and vitamins, which are so necessary for the human body. They are almost as good as meat in terms of protein content. All this led to the artificial cultivation of mushrooms, among which oyster mushrooms, champignons and, of course, shiitake are especially popular, it is this mushroom that has best qualities for intensive cultivation. Mushroom growing is developing quite rapidly in our country, but the need for mushrooms is not completely covered by mushroom farms, therefore there is a shortage, and hence the cost of mushrooms on the market. In this material, I want to tell you about how to get cheap shiitake mushrooms, provide for yourself and even make some money on this business. Well, now, we will act in order. So, for starters, we need straw, which at the end of the summer “I don’t want to take”. Basically, it is baled right on the field. The cost of one ton of straw substrate, which is used as soil for the growth of future shiitake mushrooms, is approximately $30-40 plus shipping, and that is about $40-50. Straw should be clean, not rotten and golden. As for the type of cereals from which the straw was obtained, barley and oats are the most suitable. Since the straw of them is small, the germination of the shiitake mushroom mycelium will occur faster. The second step is to order shiitake mycelium (grain infected with spores of the fungus). Basically, the price for it is from $ 1 to $ 1.5 per kilogram. The amount that is needed to produce the entire ton of straw is 36 kg. Why exactly so many? Everything is very simple. About thirty meter bags come out of one bale (special polyethylene blocks 40x100). We will have four bales of straw. That is, 120 mushroom blocks. For each of which you need 300 grams of planting material. So it turns out exactly 36 kg. Shiitake bags and mycelium can be purchased at any mushroom farm in the country, and the Internet will help you with this. The cost of one meter bag is about $0.10. As a result, we need 120 at 0.10, we get $ 12. So, we have taken care of everything you need. Now you can proceed to the very process of filling mushroom blocks. For home production of shiitake mushroom, it is enough to have a couple of two hundred liter barrels in which the straw steaming process will take place (in this way, the substrate is cleaned of other harmful bacteria). For heating, we will use firewood, namely cuttings from sawmills. They are ideal in length for heating two barrels at the same time. Barrels should be packed very tightly. Then we put it on the fire and fill it with water to the top. In winter the heating time is about two hours. After that, you should wait half an hour, and then take out all the straw and place it in a clean bowl. Let it cool down to room temperature. Then we bring it into the room where we will fill the bags. The method consists in layer-by-layer filling of the mushroom block with a substrate and sprinkling the latter with shiitake mycelium. In a meter bag there are 6-7 layers of 50 grams of planting material per one. At the same time, at the exit, the bag should weigh 10-15 kg. Straw should be packed tightly enough. From one barrel, 5 bags are obtained, that is, ten bags can be scored per day. The whole thing (if you score yourself) will take a week and a half. After the mushroom blocks are ready, you need to cut small holes 4-5 cm on the sides, for ventilation of the block and further growth of mushrooms. The room in which the bags will be, I personally had a summer kitchen, but with good heating, it should be not less than 30 sq.m. for 120 bags. Mushroom blocks must be arranged in rows. It would not be bad if the blocks were 20cm higher from the floor. Since, during the incubation period, carbon dioxide, which settles down. The temperature must be maintained within 17-20 degrees. Humidity 80-90. After the bags turn completely white, you need to reduce the temperature to 15-16 degrees. Incubation period is about 3 weeks. Then another 4-5 days and fruiting bodies will appear, which are your future harvest. From one bag, from two waves (mushrooms bear fruit in waves), the yield of shiitake mushrooms will be 2.5 kg. So, let's compare our results. Shiitake mycelium 36 kg for $ 1.5, bags, straw, firewood. We get costs: 48+12+50+20 = $130. The harvest will be approximately 250kg at an average retail price of $2. We get 500 - 130 total $ 370 for a month and a half, plus always fresh mushrooms at home. As for me, it's pretty good. Everyone can, without much difficulty, provide themselves with shiitake mushrooms all year round. | ||
To date, in terms of the global production of shiitake mushrooms, it is in second place of honor, second only to the usual champignons. Unfortunately, in Russia this species has not yet become as widespread as in other civilized countries. Nevertheless, armed with desire and simple instructions from this article, every vegetable grower can independently master the cultivation of shiitake mushrooms.
We prepare the substrate for sowing mycelium
For the cultivation of shiitake, not whole pieces of wood like stumps or logs are better suited, but finely chopped woody substrate. Thus, the mushroom mycelium will receive a sufficient amount of oxygen and develop faster.
The nutrient medium is prepared from chips cut with a garden grinder or freshly harvested twigs with a diameter of no more than four centimeters. The wood of the following species is suitable for this: willow, oak, alder, apple, birch, aspen, yellow acacia, pear and many other deciduous trees. However, oak sawdust or shavings still remain an ideal option. In this case, the size of individual grains should be from two millimeters to two centimeters.
It is better to use the prepared substrate immediately, but you can also dry it in a Russian oven or in an oven and send it to storage.
For every 1.5 kilograms of dry wood and 2.2 kilograms of freshly cut branches, it is useful to add 100 grams of barley grain and 10 grams of chalk. Barley can also be replaced with wheat grain or barley.
Wood waste is placed in a three-liter jar, slightly compacting each layer. As soon as two to four centimeters remain to the neck of the jar, boiling water is poured into it (for disinfection purposes). After a couple of hours, the water is drained, and the jars of wood are kept at room temperature for another 24 hours.
During this period, fresh spores of bacteria and molds appear in the wood pulp, with the destruction of which the last heat treatment should perfectly cope. To do this, drain the remnants of the liquid accumulated in it during the day from the jar, cover its neck with several layers of gauze and put it in the oven, heated to 80-110 degrees, for 2.5-3 hours.
As soon as the jar has cooled, the top chips are slightly moistened with boiled water at normal temperature (from 1 to 1.5 teaspoons). Then, on the surface of the wood with a spoon disinfected with boiling water, spread 20-25 grams of grain or 40-50 grams of shiitake substrate mycelium. The mycelium is slightly pressed into the substrate with the same spoon.
A lid with a hole with a diameter of 1 centimeter is put on the jar (the hole is closed with a piece of medical sterile plaster). After 7 days, the patch is torn off, and a piece of sterile cotton rolled into a roll is inserted into the hole. If you do not perform the last step, then mushroom mosquitoes can climb into the jar and spoil its contents.
Incubation and forcing of mushrooms
In this form, the substrate should stand in a warm place for two months. It is convenient to control the development of mycelium through the glass of the jar. The completion of incubation is indicated by the growth of mycelium over the entire internal volume of the jar, as well as the clarification of the substrate itself (small brownish spots may also appear on it).
Ripe mycelium is transferred to plastic bags measuring 20 by 35 centimeters, or 25 by 40 centimeters. The bags are tightly closed (by twisting them at the top) and put back into the heat again.
After a week, the top of the package is unpacked and a piece of an old hose with a diameter of 2.5-3 centimeters and a length of 4-5 centimeters is placed in it. Through this hole, fresh air will constantly flow to the substrate. Just do not forget to cover the hole again with a sterile cotton swab so that pests do not reach the substrate. Keep in mind that overgrowth is more active if the bags with mycelium are in vertical position, cotton plug up.
Over the next two weeks of being warm, wood chips grow together into a single monolith and are strongly compacted. By this time, a piece of substrate is usually covered with growths of mycelium, resembling popcorn grains in appearance. Immediately after this, the development of the fruiting bodies themselves begins in the form of hard black beans (the so-called primordia). Then it is necessary to move the blocks to a place suitable for fruiting. d
If after three weeks no dark bumps have appeared on the blocks, they can be stimulated by cold shock. This is done as follows: the substrate in bags is transferred to a cold (from 0 to +10 degrees) room for a period of at least three days. Then the blocks are pulled out of polyethylene, put in heat (at a temperature of +15 to +25 degrees) and a piece of film is thrown on top. A day later, another film is removed, and the substrate is transferred to a place prepared for fruiting.
Please note that the blocks do not show signs of incipient mold, such as blue or dirty green spots.
Where and how best to grow shiitake
For the best fruiting of shiitake, it is necessary to provide the following conditions: ambient temperature - +15 ... 18 degrees, relative humidity - from 80 to 90%, duration daylight hours- at least 10 hours. It is also desirable that the place allotted for growing mushrooms be protected from winds of all directions and the southern sun. Thus, mushrooms will feel best in the shade of garden buildings or under the canopy of a garden shed.
Shiitake is also well suited for shade-tolerant plants.
A more plentiful harvest of mushrooms will provide you with the cultivation of shiitake under a specially equipped canopy. Such a canopy is usually placed under the crown of garden trees. To give the structure stability, install a frame from an old greenhouse in the garden. Make one side from agrofiber or any other non-woven material, and make the other three from usually a film. On the greenhouse cover, place pieces of slate, dark film or any other material that does not let direct sunlight through.
Before putting the blocks in the prepared place, take them out of the bags and thoroughly pour cool water from the hose. day. In the greenhouse house, it is not the blocks themselves that are sprayed, but the film walls.
To stimulate the growth of shiitake open space for each block with mycelium, you can throw a spacious cap bag.
The first harvest of mushrooms ripens in the second or third week after the removal of the blocks from the bags. In mushrooms, only the caps are cut off, carefully turned out on the legs with the root.
After that, blocks with an intact mycelium crust should be placed in a pool or shallow pond for moistening. After two or three days, the mushroom blocks are turned over to the other side, and so that they do not unfold in random order, a small weight is fixed to their lower part with the help of a carnation. In general, it is necessary to saturate the block with moisture in such a way that its final weight is 35-65% more than the initial one (that is, if before the first harvest wave the substrate in the bag weighed 1.5 kilograms, then after moistening the weight should already be from 2 to 2, 5 kilograms).
Moistened blocks are returned to their original place and after two to four weeks they begin to bear fruit with new force. In one mushroom season, you can see from five to six such waves of harvest. The mushroom picking is completed when the blocks begin to fall apart. From such residues, you can make an excellent fertilizer suitable for all garden plants.
By the way, did you know that shiitake can grow even in water? To do this, the blocks are simply left in a pool, puddle, barrel or in any other body of water on one of the sides down for about a week, until the first rudiments of fruiting bodies form. Then they are turned over with a wet side up and after a week and a half, the first caps of young mushrooms appear on its surface, and after a couple of days it will be possible to start harvesting.
Of course, shiitake can be grown on stumps (although this method is less productive). But if you choose this option, then by all means watch the video below.
In our territory, interest in the cultivation of shiitake has increased over the past ten years. However, due to poor study, lack of knowledge in the cultivation technology of shiitake and strains (their characteristics), the mushroom is not as popular as, for example, oyster mushroom. Therefore, there are only general recommendations necessary for the first steps in the process of mastering growing at home.
Extensive natural method of growing shiitake
Wood harvesting. As a rule, shiitake mushrooms, which are grown on freshly cut stumps, are based on natural technologies. Stumps of chestnut, hornbeam, beech or oak are perfect. Trees are cut after the leaves fall before the start of sap flow (hibernation time). It is during this period of calm that the level of sugars in the wood is at a high level. The wood itself should not be infected with spores of other fungi (tinder fungus, rot). The dimensions of the bars should be 1.5 m in length, with a diameter of up to 20 cm. The bars should not be with damaged bark, a large core and a thin layer of sapwood (podkor). Humidity should not be below 35% and above 70%. Usually, to maintain it, the bars are laid in the shade, covered with material, preventing contact with the ground. If moss or lichen appears, they are removed with a metal brush from the bark. Sowing mycelium or pure culture can be done within 1-3 months.
Before laying the shiitake mycelium, holes are drilled in the bars so that they are staggered (drills must be treated with alcohol). Holes are drilled every 20 cm in one row, located at a distance of 10 cm. Their depth should be about 40-50 cm, the diameter of the drill should be at least 8 mm. The substrate mycelium is pushed and compacted and immediately closed with wood plugs using a hammer. From above they must be covered with wax or paraffin. All stumps are stacked in a woodpile or well, creating optimal conditions for the development of mycelium in wood. Incubation can be done both in the forest and in specially prepared rooms (greenhouses, hangars). The optimum temperature for incubation is from 20 to 26 degrees. The incubation period lasts from 6 to 18 months. Duration depends on the amount of inoculum, conditions and shiitake strain.
After the mycelium completely colonizes the wood, it is necessary to induce (stimulate) fruit formation. You can determine the time for induction by the appearance of white zones of shiitake mycelium on a cross section. Upon impact, the finished bar should not ring, and the outer edge of the sapwood should be populated with mycelium.
In nature, this process is triggered by seasonal rains, creating the necessary moisture in the wood. To obtain a uniform harvest wave, fruiting is controlled by the mushroom grower. To do this, the stumps are soaked in water or watered from irrigation plants for a long period of time. Can be wrapped in airtight material to stabilize humidity and temperature. Fruiting can last from two to five years, depending on the size of the bars. In the warm season, shiitake bears fruit two or more times. After 2 months, the stumps must be soaked again and rested. This method of cultivating shiitake mushrooms is especially good for regions with a humid climate. Plantations of mushrooms are placed in places protected from direct sunlight, avoiding drafts. A good solution would be to place plantations under the canopy of trees near water sources. Growing shiitake at home is similar to growing oyster mushrooms.
Shiitake is one of the most popular artificially cultivated mushrooms. He is especially loved in countries South-East Asia especially in Japan and China. This mushroom is very loved not only by gourmets for its excellent taste, but also by mushroom growers for its high yield and relative ease of cultivation. In Russia, shiitake is also known, but is inferior in popularity to champignons and oyster mushrooms. In other words, the competition among its producers in our country is not yet very high.
Shiitake mushroom (more correct transcription - shiitake) is also known as Japanese forest mushroom and edible lentinula.
Shiitake has a medium size: a hat from five to twenty centimeters in diameter, has a brown or coffee color. The cap is convex or slightly flattened. The outer skin is dotted with small light scales. In old mushrooms, the edges of the cap are uneven and bent.
On the underside, the cap is covered with white plates, which darken when damaged, taking on a brown tint. The stem is also brown, but always noticeably lighter than the cap. Its length ranges from three to nineteen centimeters with an average diameter of about a centimeter.
The flesh has a light cream or yellow-whitish tint, as well as a pleasant taste (even when raw) and smell. In the cap the flesh is fleshy, in the stem it is much more rigid and fibrous.
In their natural environment, Japanese shiitake are found in deciduous and mixed forests in Japan, Korea, northern China and Russian Primorye. These are typical saprotrophs that live on dead tree trunks, especially preferring spiky castanopsis, Mongolian oak and Amur linden. Small groups of shiitake appear after rains throughout the warm season.
Within the territory of Russian Federation shiitake is found only in Primorye, therefore, outside of this region, it is useless to look for it in principle. In Primorye itself, only three types of mushrooms grow, which theoretically can be confused with shiitake. We are talking about mushrooms of the genus champignon - dark red, forest and August. They have a similar color scheme and scales on their hats.
An experienced mushroom picker will never confuse shiitake with champignons, if only because the Japanese forest mushroom grows only on dead wood, and the mentioned champignons grow on the ground. They also differ in terms of fruiting. Mushrooms appear in summer and autumn, and shiitake is available for harvest in the spring.
However, even if a novice mushroom picker still confuses shiitake with champignons, big trouble will not come of it, since all these mushrooms are edible.
The Japanese forest mushroom is deservedly considered the leader in taste characteristics among all artificially cultivated mushrooms. In terms of taste, it is often compared even with boletus. In Korean, Chinese and Japanese cuisine, shiitake is almost the main mushroom.
The Japanese mushroom shows itself perfectly in any mushroom dishes and lends itself to all types of cooking. In Asian cuisines, it is also very common to make dried shiitake powder and then use it in soups. Dried shiitake retains its natural aroma surprisingly well, so as an aromatic condiment it is just great. However, when dried, these mushrooms noticeably lose their taste, so many Japanese gourmets prefer them only fresh.
It should be noted that shiitake has a slightly spicy taste, and this often scares off Europeans who are not used to such a thing. But during heat treatment, a significant part of this sharpness disappears, so the taste of shiitake cannot be considered quite exotic.
These mushrooms have found no less widespread use in folk and modern medicine. For centuries, they have been used as an anti-aging agent, which, among other things, strengthens male potency. Shiitake was also used directly for medicinal purposes: to lower the temperature during a fever and to cleanse the blood of toxins.
In the modern world, it is also widely used for medical purposes. With its help, they fight against viral infections, diseases of the heart and stomach. In addition, shiitake helps to lower blood sugar levels and break down cholesterol in blood vessels.
The great benefit of shiitake manifests itself in cosmetology medicine, where it is used to make products to combat certain skin diseases.
Growing shiitake at home
The Japanese and Chinese grow shiitake on logs, which to a certain extent makes this technique related to growing oyster mushrooms. But there are significant differences here. Firstly, shiitake mycelium grows much more slowly than oyster mushroom, which makes it difficult to control mold that competes with mycelium.
Secondly, the fruiting of oyster mushrooms is provoked by a decrease in temperature, which should imitate the arrival of autumn, and shiitake begins to bear fruit after watering the "bed", which imitates the rainy season. Thus, while growing shiitake requires precise cultivation, it is easier to grow at home than oyster mushrooms, which require a climate control system.
There are two approaches to growing shiitake - intensive (industrial) and amateur. The industrial method allows you to significantly reduce the ripening time of the crop and provides heat treatment sawdust substrate. Fruiting at the same time goes all year in a room with a controlled temperature.
With the amateur method, mushroom growers try to follow the general outline of the industrial method, but using improvised materials and forcedly neglecting sterility at some stages.
The basis for the nutrient substrate is formed from oak, maple or beech sawdust. Also allowed are alder, birch, poplar, aspen sawdust, in exceptional cases, other types of trees. Coniferous trees are completely unsuitable for growing shiitake mushrooms.
You should also pay attention to the size of sawdust: optimally two to three millimeters. Smaller sawdust makes it difficult to exchange air in the substrate, which slows down the development of the fungus. But too large sawdust should not be taken either, since an increase in the oxygen content turns the substrate into a favorable environment for the development of competitive organisms.
To accelerate the growth of mycelium and increase productivity, sawdust is diluted with nutritional supplements. This role is usually taken from grain or bran of wheat and barley, bean flour, or other organic waste of this type. Gypsum or chalk is also mixed into the substrate to maintain optimal acidity in it. In general, all these additives can account for from 10 to 40% of the volume of the substrate.
After adding all the additional components to the sawdust, the substrate is thoroughly mixed and then water is added to ensure moisture. growth medium not less than 55%. However, the main difficulty is to create optimal conditions for growing shiitake, while preventing the development of mold and other competitive organisms in the substrate. To combat them, before inoculation of the mycelium, the substrate is sterilized or pasteurized. Only after that, the mycelium is placed in the disinfected and cooled mixture.
Typically, the substrate is sterilized using autoclaves, having previously packed it in bags. But there are alternative methods, when the substrate is first sterilized in its entirety, allowed to cool, inoculated, and only then placed in bags. True, in this case, everything will have to be done under sterile conditions, which will require additional costs.
Speaking of bags. It is best to use dense plastic bags with a volume of one to six liters. After placing the inoculated mycelium in them, they are closed and sealed with a stopper of cotton wool and gauze, through which air will circulate.
Inoculation, that is, sowing of mycelium, must be carried out only in a sterile substrate and only in a special sterile box in order to avoid entering into the substrate of competitive organisms that develop faster than shiitake mycelium. It is important that the temperature of the substrate at the time of inoculation is not less than 20 and not more than 30 degrees Celsius.
The properties of the shiitake mushroom are such that it is better to germinate the mycelium in wheat or barley grain. By the time of inoculation, this planting material is tightly packed blocks. For this reason, grain blocks must be crushed back into individual grains before inoculation. The seeding rate of grains infected with mycelium is from two to five percent of the total mass of the substrate.
After sowing, the mycelium develops in a room with room temperature for 6-10 weeks, after which the substrate formed into dense lumps and overgrown with mycelium is removed from polyethylene, transferred to a cooler and more humid room, where it is left in such a “naked” form. Harvest from these blocks is obtained for three to six months.
amateur technology
Since growing shiitake mushroom at home, it is impossible to achieve complete sterility, the effectiveness of amateur technology is much lower than industrial technology.
The substrate is made using the same sawdust or hardwood shavings. It is also recommended to use standard types of additives, since it is not difficult to get them. The substrate mixture should be packaged in agril bags. Agril is a special "breathable" material designed to cover the beds in the garden.
Then these bags should be placed in hot water for 10-15 minutes, after which pasteurization is performed: at a temperature of 60 degrees, the mixture is kept for about a day and another three days at 50 degrees. After the substrate has cooled, it is removed from the bags and placed in sterilized 3-liter jars, having previously been inoculated with mycelium. Banks are sealed with a cotton plug.
Banks with inoculated substrate are left to overgrow with mycelium at a temperature of from seventeen to twenty-two degrees for two months. After that, the mixture must be removed from the jars again and returned to breathable bags, leaving it like that for another two weeks. During this time, the mycelium will form a dense block from the substrate, which must be soaked in water for several hours (up to a day). After that, after two weeks, the first mushrooms should appear.
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.