Mushroom growing kits make it easy to have plenty of lovely and delicious mushrooms with minimal effort. They’re fun for freshmen just learning learn how to grow mushrooms and seasoned cultivators alike.
A kit is just mushroom mycelium rising on some form of material, called a substrate. While you buy a mushroom kit, a lot of the hard work of rising the mycelium and getting ready the substrate has been done for you. For many individuals, having to do less work to grow mushrooms far outweighs the cost of the kit.
Mushroom kits can come with different substrates. Some examples are:
A block of sterilized sawdust and wood chips (most common)
A log or piece of wood
A bag of pasteurized straw
Loose and crumbly sawdust that you simply use to inoculate different substrates (also called mushroom spawn).
Read on to study more about mushroom growing kits including how they work, advantages and disadvantages, and the place to purchase them. They’re a great gift for curious kids, elderly nature lovers who need an easy project, bored gardeners within the winter, or just anyone who loves mushrooms!
Most mushroom rising kits are like a low-upkeep boyfriend or girlfriend. All they really want is fresh air, water, a good location, and a little patience. ๐
Because the kit already has growing mycelium, all that you must do is create the suitable conditions for it to produce mushrooms. This normally includes exposing the kit to a cold temperature for a day, after which keeping it watered.
The cold simulates fall temperatures, encouraging the mycelium to create mushrooms as a way of reproduction before winter.
Keep in mind that the mycelium is alive and won’t survive if left in a box without air or water. Mushroom growing kits do have a definite shelf life, so use it as quickly as you’ll be able to after it arrives.
This is roughly what to expect to do with numerous substrates. The instructions that come with your kit will go into more detail.
Sawdust/wood chip block – Submerge the block in cool water and put within the refrigerator for twenty-four hours. Remove the block and place in a well-ventilated, low-light area. Mist with water a few times a day and cover with plastic to keep up the humidity level. Mushrooms will fruit in a couple of weeks or less.
Mushroom log – Soak the log in cold water for 24 hours. Place it someplace off the ground in a shady spot either indoors or outdoors. Mushrooms will fruit in just a few weeks or less, provided that the log is commonly soaked every few weeks.
Loose sterilized sawdust – Technically considered mushroom spawn, these kits are probably the most work but also essentially the most versatile. They must be mixed in with another substrate and allowed to colonize before they can begin fruiting. Different substrates embody cardboard, pasteurized straw, out of doors compost beds, wood chips, etc. It’s still fairly simple!
After your mushroom kit has fruited once, keep watering it per the directions. Most kits will have a number of flushes. Some will proceed to develop mushrooms each few weeks for 2 months as much as a year.
You may still get some use out of your kit after it stops producing. Just because the nutrients in the substrate have been used up doesn’t mean that the mycelium isn’t nonetheless alive. Throw it outside on a bale of straw, a bed on wood chips, or in a compost pile. You may have mushrooms in that spot subsequent spring!
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