Content
Oyster mushrooms in bags are grown at home under the necessary conditions. The required temperature and humidity indicators are maintained in the room. With proper preparation, you can get a good harvest in a few months.
Features of oyster mushrooms
Oyster mushrooms are mushrooms native to the temperate and tropical climates of Europe and Asia. They can be found on dead wood as gray or white clusters. The size of the cap is 5-25 cm. The main advantage of these mushrooms is their unpretentiousness to external conditions: they germinate on any cellulose material.
Oyster mushrooms contain various useful substances. One of them is lovastine, which helps lower blood cholesterol. With their regular use, the immune properties of the body increase and the risk of developing atherosclerosis decreases.
Oyster mushrooms are rich in vitamin C and group B. In terms of the content of phosphorus, iron and calcium, these mushrooms are superior to beef and pork. Their calorie content is 33 kcal, which allows them to be used to fight obesity.
When consumed excessively, mushrooms are harmful to the body. Therefore, it is recommended to include them in the diet in small portions. In this case, the mushrooms are necessarily subjected to heat treatment in order to eliminate toxic substances.
You can grow oyster mushrooms for your own use or for sale. Unpretentiousness and high nutritional quality make these mushrooms a popular source of income.
Preparation for growing
Before starting to grow, you need to prepare the room and, if necessary, purchase additional equipment. Be sure to prepare the substrate and mycelium.
Room selection
For growing oyster mushrooms in bags, a cellar, basement or pit in the garage is suitable. First you need to disinfect the room. For this, a 4% lime solution is prepared, with which all surfaces are treated. Then the room is closed for a day. After a specified time, it is ventilated until the smell disappears completely.
In its natural environment, oyster mushroom grows at high humidity. Such places should be well ventilated. At home, the mycelium germinates at the following rates:
- humidity at the level of 70-90%;
- the presence of lighting (natural or artificial);
- temperature from +20 to +30 degrees;
- constant supply of fresh air.
Bag selection
One of the main points when deciding how to grow oyster mushrooms is the choice of a suitable method. At home, bags are used for these purposes.
For these purposes, any plastic bags are used. Their size is chosen depending on the size of the crop that needs to be grown and the size of the room.
Bags must be durable, especially if they are hung indoors. How many bags are required depends on the volume of plantings. The minimum capacity of the bags should be 5 kg.
Seed material
Mycelium for obtaining oyster mushrooms can be purchased at specialized enterprises that grow these mushrooms. In industrial conditions, the period of use of seed is no more than a year.
Therefore, the mycelium is sold at retail at low prices, although it still retains the ability to bear fruit. For beginners, this is a great opportunity to try their hand at growing oyster mushrooms.
At the initial stage, it is not recommended to purchase too much oyster mushroom mycelium. Before disembarking, it must be stored in the refrigerator so that it does not deteriorate. Purchased mycelium is yellow or orange.
Immediately before planting, the mycelium is left for a day at room temperature. Then the planting material is carefully crushed by the bases of the package opening and transferred for a short time to the room where it is planned to grow the mushrooms. This will allow the mycelium to adapt to changing conditions.
The bag is opened in a clean room using gloves. Planting and germination of oyster mushrooms is recommended to be carried out in different rooms to avoid infection of the mycelium.
High-quality oyster mushroom mycelium is obtained in laboratory conditions, but you can grow it yourself. For this, the upper part of the fruiting body of the fungus is taken, which is treated with hydrogen peroxide. Then part of the mushroom is placed in a test tube located above the flame. It is pre-filled with a nutrient mixture.
The containers with oyster mushrooms are closed and placed in a dark room, where the temperature is maintained at 24 degrees. In two weeks, the mycelium is ready for planting.
Substrate preparation
To grow oyster mushrooms, a substrate is required, the functions of which are performed by sunflower husks, sawdust, corn cobs, and cereal straw. These mushrooms germinate well on hardwood sawdust.
The mixture is preliminarily subjected to the following processing:
- The material is poured with warm water (temperature 25 degrees) for 20 minutes and stirred periodically.
- The water is drained, the mixture is wrung out, and the container is filled with hot water (temperature 70 degrees). Oppression is placed on top of the material.
- After 5 hours, the water is drained, and the substrate is wrung out.
- To improve the nutritional properties of the material, it is necessary to add mineral components: 0.5% each of urea and superphosphate and 2% each of crushed limestone and gypsum.
- The moisture content of the substrate should remain at 75%.
Another way of processing the substrate for oyster mushrooms is to boil it. To do this, it is placed in a metal container, water is added and boiled for 2 hours.
It is allowed to use a mixture of the specified components. When growing mushrooms on sawdust, the content of other substances is not more than 3% of the total mass of the subrate.
If self-preparation of the substrate is difficult, then you can purchase it ready-made. The main requirement for materials is the absence of mold. When buying, you need to pay attention to its composition. Usually, the packaging indicates which mushrooms it can be used for. Ready-made substrates for oyster mushrooms, champignons, honey agarics and other mushrooms can vary significantly.
Equipment purchase
To obtain stable yields, you need to equip a room for growing oyster mushrooms. If the mushrooms are sold, then the purchase of equipment will be an important investment in the future business.
To maintain the temperature, you need to purchase a heater. For cold rooms, additional insulation is required. Walls and floors are subject to insulation. It is necessary to control the temperature with a thermometer.
Oyster mushrooms do not like direct sunlight, however, to arrange lighting, you need to purchase daylight devices. Spraying of plantings is carried out with a conventional spray bottle. To maintain the required microclimate, fog generating installations are used.
Supply and exhaust ventilation will help to provide an inflow of fresh air. In a small room, a household fan can cope with this task.
Obtaining mushroom blocks
Oyster mushrooms are grown at home in the form of mushroom blocks, resembling beds. Their composition includes a prepared substrate, which is placed in bags in layers.
For every 5 cm of material, 50 mm of mycelium must be planted.In this case, the substrate should remain the bottom and top layer. Materials are packed tightly, but without tamping. The bag should be 2/3 full.
The bags are tightly tied, after which small holes are made in them through which the mycelium will grow. The size of the holes is no more than 2 cm, and they are placed every 10 cm in a checkerboard pattern or in an arbitrary manner.
Then the prepared containers are placed for two weeks in a dark place where a constant temperature is maintained (from +19 to +23 degrees). Oyster mushroom bags can be hung or stacked on top of each other in several rows.
Airing of the room is not required during the incubation period. The carbon dioxide content increases the humidity, which allows the mycelium to develop faster. Within 10 days, active growth of oyster mushrooms occurs, the mycelium becomes white, a pronounced smell of mushrooms appears.
After 20-25 days, the room with oyster mushrooms is ventilated or transferred to another room. Further plantings require lighting for 8 hours a day.
Oyster mushroom care
After germination, the necessary care is provided for the mushrooms. The list of actions how to care for oyster mushrooms includes maintaining temperature and humidity.
Maintaining conditions
Grow oyster mushrooms necessary at a certain temperature. Throughout the entire period, its indicators should remain constant.
The permissible temperature change is no more than 2 degrees. With significant fluctuations, seedlings may die.
Ambient temperature affects the color of mushroom caps. If its value was about 20 degrees, then oyster mushrooms are distinguished by a light shade. When the temperature rises to 30 degrees, the caps become darker.
When caring for oyster mushrooms, you need to maintain the required level of illumination. In the absence of natural light in the room, lighting devices are installed. For 1 sq. m you need to provide lighting with a power of 5 watts.
Every day, in the room where the oyster mushrooms are grown, cleaning is carried out using substances containing chlorine. This will prevent the spread of mold and disease.
Watering
For the active growth of mushrooms, it is necessary to maintain optimal moisture levels. This is provided by the irrigation system. During the incubation period, it is not necessary to water oyster mushrooms in bags.
When shoots appear, the mycelium will need regular watering. It is watered once or twice a day with warm water.
To maintain humidity at the level of 80-100%, you can put containers with water in the room. The walls and ceiling are also sprayed.
Harvesting
Oyster mushrooms appear next to the holes made in the bag. In order for the mushrooms to accurately enter the holes, they need to be widened. When oyster mushrooms begin to appear in the holes, they can be removed after about a week.
The first crop is harvested 1.5 months after planting. How to cut oyster mushrooms correctly? They are removed at the base with a sharp knife. In this case, it is important not to damage the caps and mycelium.
After the first harvest, the second wave of mushrooms will appear in 2 weeks. The third time, the mushrooms can be cut after another 2 weeks.
In total, oyster mushrooms are harvested three times. The first wave accounts for 70% of the total harvest, then you can get another 20% and 10%. How much the crop will be depends directly on the volume of the substrate. During the entire growing period, you can collect 3 kg of mushrooms from one bag with a capacity of 10 kg.
Oyster mushroom storage
If oyster mushrooms are not used immediately, then you need to prepare a storage container. Proper storage prolongs the shelf life of mushrooms and retains the necessary nutrients.
Further storage largely depends on the way the mushrooms are processed. It is not recommended to soak oyster mushrooms, as they become watery and lose their beneficial properties.After collecting, it is enough to rinse them with running water.
The best way to store oyster mushrooms is to use the refrigerator. Mushrooms are pre-wrapped in paper or placed in plastic containers for food. One container can store up to 1 kg of mushrooms. At a temperature of -2 degrees, the shelf life of mushrooms is 3 weeks. If the temperature rises to +2 degrees, then this period will be reduced to 4 days.
Oyster mushrooms can be frozen. Clean mushrooms without deformation and damage are stored for 5 months.
When the temperature drops to -18 degrees, the storage period increases to 12 months. Before freezing, it is not recommended to wash them, just wipe them with a cloth and cut off the legs. Re-freezing is not allowed.
Conclusion
Oyster mushroom is a healthy mushroom that can be obtained at home. For this, bags are purchased, the substrate and mycelium are prepared. To simplify the process, you can purchase ready-made components, but then additional costs will be required. Cultivation includes two stages: the incubation period and the active growth of the mycelium. The harvested crop is sold for sale or used for their own purposes.
