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When growing champignons, the main costs, almost 40%, are associated with the acquisition of mycelium. Moreover, it does not always turn out to be of high quality. But knowing how to grow mushroom mycelium with your own hands, you can start producing it at home.
Despite the predominant reproduction of fungi through spores, they are also capable of vegetative propagation. This property has been used in the past century in mushroom production. The technology was simple - after collecting mycelium in dumps, it was planted in prepared soil. However, this method did not give large yields, since fruiting was reduced by extraneous microflora present in the mycelium. In the 30s, a method was developed growing grain mycelium, which is used today in the production of mushrooms.
Mycelium production methods
Champignon also, like other types of mushrooms, reproduces by spores. The print of the spores can be seen by placing the cap of a mature mushroom on a sheet of paper with the bottom side down. In the presence of a nutrient medium, spores germinate, giving rise to a new mycelium. Champignons also reproduce excellently in the tissue method - when placed in a sterile environment with an appropriate nutrient substrate.
In the production of champignons, spore and tissue cultivation of mycelium and its selection are carried out in special laboratories equipped with microbiological control, with the ability to maintain sterile conditions, the required temperature and humidity. But many mushroom growers today are fond of growing mushroom mycelium at home and do it quite successfully.
Obtaining a nutrient medium for mycelium
The technology for growing mushroom mycelium requires an appropriate nutrient medium. It is of three types.
Wort agar is prepared using the following technology:
- mixes beer wort in a volume of one liter and about 20 grams of agar-agar;
- the mixture is heated with stirring until the jelly is completely dissolved;
- sterile tubes are filled to one third of their volume with a hot mixture;
- tubes, closed with cotton-gauze tampons, are sterilized for 30 minutes under appropriate conditions (P = 1.5 atm., t = 101 degrees);
- further, they are installed obliquely to increase the surface of the nutrient medium, while the contents should not touch the cork.
Oat agar is prepared from such components as water - 970 g, oat flour - 30 g and agar-agar - 15 g. The mixture is boiled for an hour, then filtered through a gauze filter.
Carrot agar combines 15 g of agar-agar with 600 g of water and 400 g of carrot extract. After boiling for 30 minutes, the mixture is passed through a gauze filter.
Sowing mushroom mycelium
When the culture medium in the test tubes hardens, the second stage of obtaining the mushroom mycelium begins. On the prepared nutrient medium, you need to place the particles of the mushroom body, cut with sharp tweezers from the stem of the champignon. This operation must be performed under sterile conditions. Tweezers can be disinfected with alcohol, hydrogen peroxide, or ignited in an alcohol lamp. Instead of tweezers, a so-called inoculation loop can be used. It is a steel knitting needle with a bent and sharpened end. It is convenient for her to get pieces of the mushroom body of the champignon and quickly add to the test tube.
The whole process consists of several manipulations:
- pre-prepared champignon should be carefully broken into two parts;
- a piece of mushroom tissue must be picked up with an existing device and lowered for a second into a solution of hydrogen peroxide for disinfection;
- open the test tube and quickly place a piece of champignon mushroom tissue on the nutrient medium - all actions must be carried out over the flame of the burner in order to avoid the ingress of pathogenic microflora into the medium;
- the tube is immediately closed with a sterile stopper, holding it also over the flame.
At the time of germination of the culture of the fungus, the tubes should be in a warm, darkened room. It will take about two weeks for the mycelium to fill the culture medium of the test tube. A champignon uterine culture is formed, which can be stored by replanting it into a new nutrient medium every year.
Further reproduction of mycelium
If the task is to further multiply the mushroom mycelium, the contents of the tubes are introduced into large jars filled with substrate by 2/3. This procedure also requires sterile conditions:
- a recess is prepared in the substrate contained in the jar, after which it is tightly closed with a metal lid;
- a hole must be made in it, closed with a soft plug;
- prepared in this way cans are placed in autoclaves for 2-hour sterilization under pressure (2 atm.);
- cool the jars in a clean room;
- when the temperature drops to 24 degrees, you can add champignon stock culture to the substrate.
Manipulations are carried out over the burner flame. Having opened the test tube, a mushroom culture is taken out of it using an inoculation loop. Quickly pulling the cork out of the can hole, insert the mushroom mycelium into the recess in the substrate and close the jar.
Grain mycelium preparation
How to make mushroom mycelium at home on grain? More often wheat or oats are chosen for this purpose, but other cereals can also be used - rye, barley.
Dry grain is filled with water in a ratio of 2: 3. For disinfection, you can add hydrogen peroxide in a ratio of 1:10 to water. The mixture is cooked for 20-30 minutes, depending on the hardness of the grain. It should soften enough, but not cook.
After draining the water, the grain should be dried. A wooden box in which a small fan is fixed is very convenient for this procedure. The box is closed with a metal mesh. On top of the mesh is poured grain with additives of chalk and gypsum. These substances improve the grain structure and regulate its acidity.
Jars are filled with dried grain by 2/3 of the volume and sterilized under pressure. After entering the banks of the mother culture, they are placed in a thermostat at a temperature of 24 degrees and a humidity of about 60%.
The mushroom mycelium must colonize the entire substrate in the jar. The grown grain mycelium can be used for the next seeding of the containers. The resulting mushroom culture is suitable for several crops, after which it must be renewed.
During the colonization process, the banks should be reviewed regularly. If green or brown spots or liquid with an unpleasant odor appear, the contaminated can should be sterilized under pressure for 2 hours.
To prevent the grains from sticking together and accelerate the growth of mycelium, you need to shake the jar from time to time.
It is convenient to pack ready-made grain mushroom mycelium in plastic bags to protect them from foreign microflora. The grain mycelium is stored for up to four months at 0-2 degrees. In contrast, the compost mycelium lasts up to a year.
Benefits of cardboard
Growing mushroom mycelium at home can be easier and cheaper than using compost or grain. At the same time, this material is not alien to mushrooms, which are also grown on sawdust. Colonization of champignon mycelium on cardboard is quick and easy.Often, cardboard is even more comfortable for the mushroom mycelium than sawdust, in which insufficient gas exchange inhibits the development of mycelium.
The advantages of growing mycelium on cardboard are that:
- cardboard is less susceptible to pathogenic microflora;
- the corrugated structure of the cardboard provides effective air exchange necessary for breathing of the growing mushroom mycelium;
- cardboard perfectly retains moisture;
- there is no need for sterilization, which is very important;
- an important argument in favor of cardboard is its cheapness and availability;
- when using cardboard, less time and labor is spent.
Mushroom box on cardboard
To get the mushroom mycelium, the best option would be brown corrugated cardboard, cleaned of glue or paint smudges. And planting material can be selected from mushroom waste.
The technology for obtaining mushroom mycelium on cardboard is very simple:
- cardboard, cut into small pieces, is soaked in boiled, lukewarm water for about an hour or more, and then laid out in a spacious plastic container with drainage holes;
- by hand or with a knife, the champignon should be divided into fibers;
- removing the top layer of paper from the cardboard, it is necessary to spread the pieces of champignon on the corrugated surface, first disinfecting them in peroxide, and cover with removed paper on top;
- slightly compact the layers so that air pockets do not form;
- in order to avoid drying out, the container is covered with plastic wrap, which must be removed every day and aired on the cardboard plantation of the mycelium;
- the cardboard must not be allowed to dry out, therefore, it must be moistened periodically;
- planting the mushroom mycelium should be in a dark and warm place until the entire cardboard turns white from the overgrown mycelium - the process can last up to three months.
Having grown the mushroom mycelium on cardboard, you can plant this mycelium on the next sheet of cardboard. On it, it will grow even faster, since information about the environment is transmitted genetically to the next generation of mushrooms. You can use part of the cardboard mycelium to get a new portion of the mushroom mycelium. The rest can be used to colonize the substrate, for example, to populate bags with pasteurized straw or sawdust with cardboard mycelium. It grows well on other types of substrate - coffee grounds, tea leaves, paper.
Conclusion
It is not difficult to grow mushroom mycelium at home if you have patience and adhere to these recommendations. And high-quality mycelium is the key to a good harvest of mushrooms.
