Growing porcini mushrooms at home for beginners. Technologies in detail, photos, videos

Benefits of porcini mushrooms

Porcini mushrooms are similar to boletus in composition and taste characteristics. But white ones are absorbed by the human body better and faster.

Mushrooms have beneficial properties:

• A large amount of vitamins has a positive effect on brain function. Eating porcini mushrooms helps with headaches.

• With their help, the human body recovers faster from illness. The beneficial substances contained in mushrooms increase endurance, which is why they are often used by athletes.
• Porcini mushrooms contain antioxidants and amino acids that can remove harmful toxins from the human body.
• Porcini mushrooms help improve immunity.

This product stimulates metabolic processes in the human body, due to which you can quickly get rid of excess weight; the low calorie content of mushrooms becomes even lower during heat treatment.

Benefits of dried porcini mushrooms

The main benefit of dried porcini mushrooms is the prevention of cancer. Nutritionists recommend eating dried mushrooms, because the proteins they contain are almost 100% absorbed by the human body. A large number of minerals and vitamins also indicate the benefits of porcini mushrooms for the body.

They contain folic and ascorbic acid and these are not all the beneficial substances that are part of mushrooms. Porcini mushrooms also contain enzymes that can break down glycogen. Dried mushrooms have only one drawback - individual intolerance to the product. This is the best natural sorbent that absorbs many toxic substances.

Harm of porcini mushrooms

Porcini mushrooms enhance the taste of various dishes, but are poorly digestible due to fiber, which contains chitin. Mushrooms increase the secretion of digestive juice, so they are not recommended by nutritionists for proper nutrition. For people who suffer from pancreatic diseases and gastrointestinal diseases, mushrooms are contraindicated.

It is forbidden for those with hypertension to consume mushroom broth . In general, porcini mushrooms are a product for healthy people. But you need to know that they may also develop disorders in the body due to the large number of mushrooms eaten.

What are mushrooms

Mushrooms are neither plants nor animals. This is a special kingdom of nature. They need dead organic matter for nutrition. The cells contain chitin, exactly the same as that of insects.

The cells of the fungal body are united into threads. Moreover, they do not grow chaotically, but in a certain order. The result is certain shapes of stems and caps with different colors and structures.

Important! Mushrooms reproduce by spores that ripen on the fruiting body.

Animals that feed on edible mushrooms carry the spores far from the place of growth, where myceliums subsequently form.

Porcini mushroom seedlings

Before planting mushrooms, you need to buy seedlings.

Many novice mushroom growers do not know that porcini mushrooms can be grown in different ways:

• mycelium;
• mushroom cap;
• root system.

These are the main components when planting porcini mushrooms. If you plan to plant mushrooms using mycelium, then it is better to choose a summer cottage or vegetable garden. Mycelium grows well in nature near tree trunks.

Methods for obtaining and planting mycelium

Growing porcini mushrooms at home using mycelium is a method in which you don’t want or don’t have the time to walk through the forest looking for mycelium.

Porcini mushrooms can be grown using mycelium. For beginners, there will be a training video at the end.

Additionally you will need:

• coniferous trees;
• moss, branches, old leaves;
• compost.

First you need to choose a place for mushroom growth. Below under the tree it is necessary to remove a small layer of earth with a diameter of approximately 1.5 m. Then put compost, and on top the seeds of porcini mushrooms in the form of mycelium. It must be laid out at intervals of 30 cm. Then the mycelium is covered with the same soil that was removed, watered and straw placed on top to maintain moisture.

The first mushrooms will appear in about 1 year and will continue to delight for another 3 years.

The sale of mycelium is carried out by specialized private enterprises for breeding mycelium and spores of various types of mushrooms.

Sellers offer:

• Ready-made bags of seeds that can be planted with a substrate.
• Pure seeds without impurities.

In the first case, a businessman can save a lot, while the second requires an investment of money and involves a complex process

It requires:

• substrate preparation - sawdust, compost;
• mixing the main workpiece with mycelium;
• filling boxes with substrate;

The price of 1 kg of mycelium is 3 thousand rubles, and packaged bags with substrate are 250 rubles. One bag of the finished product requires 10 kg of substrate and another 200 g of mycelium. With the help of the purchased mushroom bag, you will be able to collect 2 good harvests, after which the briquette must be disposed of. It is necessary to change spent mycelium once every few months.

Purchasing activated spores

Porcini mushroom spores are very popular; due to their dense shell they can grow in any area and substrate. So, a mushroom picker can make myceliums far from the trees themselves. Just 5 ml of activated spores costs approximately 900 rubles.

Using the root system

Growing porcini mushrooms at home is possible using mushroom roots. The process is complex, but real. You will need some kind of container in which to plant the roots. It should not be deep, the main thing is length.

After harvesting, you should dig up the roots without damaging them and carefully transplant them into a prepared container, water them generously and sprinkle them with a little soil from the forest. Growing the product using this method will not give a large harvest, maybe 2 or 3 mushrooms.

From tubular layer

For this method of propagation, you will need ripe mushrooms, the tubular layer of which is cut off, cut into cubes 2 cm in size and dried for 2 hours. Using a special shovel, lift a layer of soil near the tree, place the blanks and close them back with good watering.

Growing from caps

You can plant porcini mushrooms with caps in the same way as described above. Only their tops will be needed for planting. It is necessary to plant mushroom caps in a certain place. First you need to remove a small layer of soil, dig small holes, put the caps, cover, and water well.

Mushrooms can be bought at the market, but be careful when purchasing and look at the condition of the product. A cap that is not damaged is suitable for planting mushrooms using this method.

Substrate

The substrate can be purchased at a specialized store, or you can make it yourself. To do this you will need the following ingredients:

• sawdust from trees such as oak, aspen, birch, aspen and maple;
• pine bark and needles;
• dried moss;
• buckwheat pulp;
• cereal straw;
• sunflower seed husks;
• corn cobs and stalks;
• purified sand and clay (in a ratio of four to one).

All of the above ingredients are mixed, crushed in a special garden harvester and filled with hot water (but not boiling water) for 4 hours.

After that, all that remains is to strain and cool until the mixture springs slightly when squeezed in a fist and does not release liquid. Before planting, you must leave the substrate in a dry and warm room for two weeks.

Conditions for growing on a windowsill

Before growing mushrooms indoors, it is necessary to provide them with certain conditions for growth. Mushrooms love humid air, which should be at least 90%. The temperature in the apartment should not be higher than 15 °C. The room should be dark and it is important to maintain a constant temperature regime without changes.

Under such conditions for growing the product, it will be uncomfortable for a person to live, so you need to think in advance where to grow mushrooms. A separate room is quite suitable if all conditions are met.

There is a certain algorithm for growing this product:

• Mushrooms love to grow with plants, so you can plant mycelium in a flower pot.

• Mushrooms should be planted like this: sprinkle the prepared liquid with spores into a flower pot in large quantities so that a lot of spores get into the substrate. Mushrooms can be harvested a few months after planting if all the rules are followed. Usually the first year the harvest is small, just a few mushrooms.
• Such a mycelium can produce crops for 3-4 years in a row, but if you water it with the addition of microorganisms, then the mushrooms will produce crops for up to 7 years.
• The substrate is best suited for growing mushrooms. It is necessary to bring soil from the forest, as it contains substances useful for the development of mushrooms. You will also need crushed forest leaves. A little humus and sawdust scalded with boiling water are added to the ground. This mixture is infused for a week and laid out in wooden containers. Next, they are disinfected with alcohol and spores or store-bought mycelium are introduced into the substrate.

Basic techniques for growing mushrooms

There are several ways, which are divided primarily by location. Outdoors – an extensive technique, indoors – intensive.

In any case, a person must work hard to create the most favorable conditions for plants. Therefore, first of all, you need to choose a method of growing that is convenient for you, purchase everything you need and equip a place for planting mushrooms.

In addition, there are two known most productive approaches to growing mushrooms, including boletus mushrooms.

Canadian technology for growing mushrooms

The technology is considered universal and low-cost, which ultimately does not lead to large financial losses.

• It is often used in the absence of experience, as an experiment, or simply for growing mushrooms in small quantities.
• All you need is a small box, a properly selected nutritional concentrate and a convenient place in the house.
• No harmful chemicals are used, and the final product is completely safe for health.

Dutch technology for growing mushrooms

This technology requires significant investment and special equipment, which is justified by an intensive approach.

• It is required to properly equip the room, with strict adherence to all standards for lighting, humidity, and temperature.
• With this approach, you can expect large and multiple harvests within a given season.
• Most often, in Dutch technology, mycelium is used when planting. You should choose planting material meticulously.

The presence of an ammonia smell indicates that the product is overdried, which means that mushrooms will not grow.

Growing porcini mushrooms in a greenhouse

You can grow porcini mushrooms at home in any greenhouse. Light should enter it as little as possible, which is why many people install greenhouses in basements.

Greenhouse preparation

It is necessary to allocate a certain place in the greenhouse for this product and completely block the access to sunlight with dark agrofibre. Porcini mushrooms require high humidity.

In the greenhouse, it is provided using a special device, and containers with water can also be installed at regular intervals. Mushrooms in a greenhouse need good ventilation, so you need to ventilate it periodically.

How to prepare beds

In order for mushrooms to sprout, the soil must be properly prepared. This process is long and takes a lot of effort. To plant the product, first prepare a substrate taken from the forest where the mycelium was.

The soil at the dacha and the forest soil should be mixed well, and manure and sawdust should be added to the resulting mixture. The mixture is infused for a week, placed in a wooden box and placed in a greenhouse. After several months or even a year, the harvest may not appear, you need to wait, sometimes mushrooms appear after 2 years of waiting.

Microclimate requirements

It is much more difficult to harvest mushrooms in a greenhouse than in a natural environment. When planting mushrooms, it is better to use mycelium, but you can also use spores. A popular variety of porcini mushroom is Dutch, it is resistant to such an environment.

You can control the temperature in the room using specialized equipment. If it is not possible to purchase this equipment, then it is necessary to install basins with water and sawdust around the entire perimeter of the room, so the moisture will remain longer.

Disinfection

In order for the mushrooms to sprout and grow, the room must be sterile. Surfaces should be treated with 1% chlorine to prevent mold from appearing. This treatment must be done daily due to high humidity.

Growing from mycelium

Mycelium has been bought in stores lately. During the purchasing process, you should take a good look at the mycelium. When healthy, it is red in color, sometimes with yellow spots. If there is an unpleasant odor of ammonia, it means the mycelium is damaged. Store the product in the refrigerator for no more than 3 months at a temperature of 4°C. To plant mycelium, prepare the area using one of the above methods.

Next, compost is made from sawdust and leaves. If the mycelium is from the forest, then soil taken from the place where the mycelium was placed is placed at the bottom. The mycelium is placed on top at a distance of 30 cm from each other, sprinkled with earth and watered well.

Growing from spores

Growing porcini mushrooms at home can be done not only with mycelium, but also with spores. They are formed in large quantities, so it makes sense to use this method. In a mature porcini mushroom, all the pulp is removed from the cap; these are the spores.

The pulp is turned into a homogeneous mass and placed in a two-liter bottle, sugar is added to taste, 20 g of yeast are added, the mixture is filled with purified water and placed in a dark place for several days. Next, the finished mixture is diluted with water, filtered and poured into a watering can. Water the area near the roots of coniferous trees with this solution. If all conditions are met, the harvest will be in about a year.

Landing

Mushrooms can take root well if you use some recommendations:

• When subsequently planting mushrooms, it is necessary to choose those places where they previously sprouted. If there is an oak tree at your dacha, then you need to look for mushrooms under it. In the case of different trees, it is better to collect material for planting in different containers.
• When the mushrooms are collected, they need to be soaked and sown the next day. It is not recommended to store the product for more than 10 hours before soaking, it quickly decomposes.
• The mycelium will take root better if you add alcohol or sugar when soaking.

Fertilizers and care after planting

In mushroom growing there are many recipes for preparing substrates:

• Compost: straw, manure, urea, chalk, gypsum, ammonium sulfate.

• Semi-synthetic compost: straw, manure, chicken afterbirth, chalk, gypsum, urea, ammonium sulfate.
• Synthetic compost: straw, chicken manure, gypsum, chalk, urea.

Harvesting

About a year after planting the mushrooms, the first shoots appear. The mycelium bears fruit for about 4 years. Also, these products will begin to multiply on their own if a suitable environment is constantly maintained in the place where they grow.

The necessary conditions

Basic requirements for growing outdoors:

1. A tree (birch, oak, pine or spruce) should be located nearby, since during symbiosis with it the fungus receives organic substances.
2. It is advisable to have other mushrooms nearby.
3. The soil should be sandy loam, loamy and at the same time drained.
4. Litter in the form of moss and lichens is desirable.
5. Good humidity (at least 70 percent).
6. Temperatures range from 8 to 18 degrees.

When the site is ready, you can start planting the mushroom. This is best done from late summer to early autumn.

Basic requirements for growing indoors:

1. Heating system to maintain the temperature around 18 degrees.
2. Hoods for ventilation.
3. Shelving for efficient space filling.
4. Lamps with diffused light for good lighting.
5. Containers for growing. These can be plastic pots or 6-liter bottles and other similar utensils.
6. Treat the room with a sulfate solution and cover the walls and ceiling with a mixture of lime and copper sulfate before planting the mycelium. You can additionally use a smoke bomb.

How to grow porcini mushroom from a symbiote tree

Seedlings of porcini mushrooms, which are located in the ground, are in close contact with deciduous trees, grow together with them, and thus all the conditions for the growth of the product appear. Coniferous trees feed the mycelium with everything it needs. This process is called symbiosis.

There are several methods for growing mushroom rows from wood:

• Pieces of mycelium are placed in recesses under the tree species where the mycelium was, they are covered and moistened.
• Mushroom caps, as mentioned above, are laid out under the forest floor. After a few days, the pieces are removed and the litter is moistened.
• Dry pieces of the product are also used for growing. Here they lift up a layer of soil near the roots with a shovel, lay in several pieces of dried mushrooms, cover and water.

All these methods are not theoretically justified, but in reality it is possible to harvest if the weather is suitable. The main thing is to choose a place similar to where the main material was taken.

Harvesting

If conditions are good, you will be able to harvest after three weeks. The duration of fruiting of porcini mushrooms is about forty-five days.

It is also important to harvest correctly: twist the mushroom, trying not to damage the root system, and sprinkle the hole with substrate.

We talked about what you can do with porcini mushrooms after harvesting here.

Remember that boletus mushrooms are a rather capricious type of mushroom - they rarely take root in the soil, so be prepared that you may have to replant them several times.

Methods of growing in a garden plot in open ground

Natural conditions are best suited for sowing mushrooms.

There are 2 landing methods:

• Disputes. You can bury pieces from the caps of mature mushrooms or grind them, add water, sugar, let it brew for several days and pour the solution over a small area.
• Mycelium. In this case, the manufacturers have already taken care and prepared the substrate.

Step-by-step algorithm for growing mushrooms

To get a forest harvest on your plot in the open ground, you need to take care in advance of preparing the soil and planting material.

Step by step process:

• Near a pine or spruce tree, at a distance of 2 m, they dig a ditch 15 cm deep and 30 cm wide.
• Mycelium is scattered over the ditch or pieces of caps are placed, or a prepared solution of spores is poured over it. You can bring soil from the forest, the one under which there was a mycelium, and add it when planting.
• If planting took place in the spring, then by autumn you can expect the first harvest of mushrooms; if not, then the place is covered with spruce branches for the winter.
• In the spring they continue to water.

Methods for obtaining mycelium

First of all, in order to grow a full-fledged fruit, you need to obtain growing material. You can find it yourself or purchase it.

To harvest the material yourself, you need to collect old or overripe fruit parts from the forest. Even dried and worm-eaten ones will do. For cultivation you will need about 10 fruit parts. The collected fruits are separated at home - the stem is separated from the cap.

After this, prepare a container with water and add alcohol there - 3 tablespoons per 10 liters of water, another 1 g of potassium permanganate and 50-60 g of granulated sugar. The separated caps are crushed in the hands and divided into smaller parts. After this, they are added to water and crushed even more thoroughly until a homogeneous mass is obtained.

The resulting mass is left for 10-12 hours and allowed to brew, then carefully filtered through a fine sieve or cheesecloth. The water will contain the necessary mushroom spores, but the crushed caps are not needed and are thrown away. This procedure must be done exclusively with freshly picked fruits, since frozen ones lose their properties.

Another good way is to grow using mature mycelium. So, in the forest you need to dig it up along with the soil, and at home plant it in a container with soil. If the mycelium is too large, then it can be divided into several parts.

Mycelium

In addition, mycelium for planting and growing can be purchased. Sellers offer two types of ready-made mycelium - dry in the form of grains and already sprouted on a wood base. Experts recommend purchasing mycelium only in trusted places and from trusted sellers. When choosing ready-made planting material, you need to pay attention to its condition. Thus, normal mycelium has an orange color with yellow areas, and an unpleasant odor or brown color may indicate spoilage of the product.

Tips for beginner mushroom growers

Growing porcini mushrooms at home implies several rules for their cultivation.

No matter how a beginner plants mushrooms, the following must be observed:

• For breeding, choose a dark place.
• Plant mushrooms a few centimeters from the roots of coniferous trees.
• In the spring, feed the soil with a growth activator.
• All summer months are best suited for breeding.
• Plant mushrooms at an air temperature of no more than 15°C.
• Monitor the soil moisture level and water additionally if necessary.

Porcini mushrooms grow only under coniferous trees, but if there are none, then mushrooms should be planted near wooden buildings on the dark side. At your dacha, you can plant young trunks of coniferous trees already with mycelium, but this process is complicated and will not be suitable for those who have a small dacha. Much needs to be taken into account for mushrooms to sprout: choose the right soil and seeds.

If a novice mushroom grower can grow mushrooms at his dacha, then their taste will not differ from other types of mushrooms. You can be sure that such a product does not contain harmful substances, unlike mushrooms sold in markets.

Room requirements and growing conditions

When choosing a room, you need to familiarize yourself with some of the requirements for it.

Size

The place where you plan to grow mushrooms may be small. A couple of square meters will do for starters. If your goal is to generate additional income from growing, you will have to select a room of at least 10 m2.

Walls and floors

It is good if the floor and walls have a smooth surface. This will make it easier to process them and maintain the required sanitary condition. They can be sheathed with plywood, plasterboard or simply whitewashed. If you have the opportunity, cover the floor with linoleum or lay out tiles.

Disinfection of the premises

Before planting boletus mushrooms, disinfect the room. Pay special attention to the walls and ceiling. This is a guarantee that you will not lose your harvest due to pathogens and mold. There are special disinfectants. This is about:

• sodium hypochlorite or, in other words, “Whiteness”;
• ready-made complex preparations, for example, “Bianol”;
• bleach solution - you need to prepare it yourself.

Growing conditions

To get a harvest without loss, provide the following premises:

• ventilation. This will provide clean air and remove spores and pathogens. Select the ventilation system according to the size of your area. A split system is suitable for home conditions;
• heating. The porcini mushroom is sensitive to temperature and grows well at 18-28 degrees;
• lighting. Fluorescent lamps are ideal. It is enough for them to work 3-5 hours a day. Lighting should be distributed throughout the entire growing perimeter. While there are no shoots, the mycelium does well in the dark;
• humidity. If you want a high yield, then the figure should be from 40 to 60 percent. If the number of seedlings is small, you can also by hand spraying using a spray bottle. Large areas require the installation of a drip system.

Marketing of mushroom harvest

Growing white mushrooms even in small quantities is always a matter of selling the finished product.

There are several sales channels for porcini mushrooms:

• Retail trade. It is possible to sell goods through stores. You can offer a product for sale to another businessman who has his own outlet. You can rent a place in the indoor market and sell it. Access to hyperstores will be closed, as store directors work with serious businessmen and multi-ton deliveries.
• Wholesale trade. This option may be of interest to an entrepreneur at the base or a businessman at a vegetable store. This will save time and effort, but the loss in price is obvious.
• Restaurants and cafes. The owners of such establishments are interested in fresh and high-quality food products, so they will be happy to buy mushrooms.

• Recycling. The disadvantage is the seasonality of demand. In winter, there is a high demand for mushrooms in Russia, but in summer it’s the opposite. To avoid interruptions, you need to offer their purchase to processing enterprises. Mushrooms can be dried or frozen.

Documents required when selling mushrooms

In order to sell such a product to stores or sell it on a simple market without any problems, you must:

• Conclusion of Rospotrebnadzor. For testing, mushroom samples should be submitted to the laboratory. Here they will give a protocol, after seeing which everyone can be sure that the products do not contain harmful metals.
• You should also obtain a certificate of product quality from Rosstandart.
• Established rules for transporting and preserving mushrooms.

When deciding to create an artificial cultivation of porcini mushrooms at home, you need to be prepared for disappointment - such mushrooms do not always bear fruit in an artificial environment. There is a much better chance of growing them in a summer cottage.

Article design: Oleg Lozinsky

How to grow mushrooms using soaked caps

Planting porcini mushrooms on your own plot and getting a harvest is not an easy task. First you need to prepare planting material:

• The caps of picked mushrooms are separated from the stems.

Attention! Mushrooms whose caps will be used for germination must be overgrown. They should be collected in the forest only under those trees under which further planting is planned.

• Suitable caps are immersed in a bucket of soft (possibly rain) water, to which several crystals of potassium permanganate have been added.
• Add a little sugar (100 g per bucket of water). This creates a nutrient medium.
• The hats are kneaded well by hand. This is done to ensure that the spores get into the water.
• The resulting pulp is left for a day.

White mushroom mycelium
Mushroom spores are sown at the end of summer, about a meter from suitable trees. Approximately 15 cm of soil is cut off from above with a shovel, trying to expose but not damage the roots. Mushroom paste is poured here. The area where the spores were sown is covered with previously removed soil and well moistened.

Attention! The planting should be watered very carefully so that the planted material is not washed away. In the future, this place should be regularly watered without letting the soil dry out.