Growing porcini mushrooms: from scratch, where to start? Photo with step-by-step instructions for growing on the site, in open ground

The porcini mushroom is called the king of the forest, because even the youngest specimens look quite impressive due to their thick stem and fleshy cap. Unfortunately, in recent years fewer and fewer boletus mushrooms have been found in forests. This happens both due to climate change and due to the fact that some mushroom pickers do not collect correctly, which damages the mycelium and reduces yields.

If you don’t have time to go to the forest and look for boletus mushrooms, this does not mean that you will have to give up delicious wild mushrooms. You can easily grow them in your garden if you use the helpful tips and growing instructions provided in our article.

What to do to make the mycelium take root

How to grow porcini mushrooms in open ground

Overview of types of porcini mushrooms

Spruce mushroom. The most common type. The hat is dark brown. The leg is thick and strong.
Oak mushroom. The cap is brown, but not as dark as that of the spruce species. The leg is long and dense.
Pine mushroom. The hat is chocolate-colored and can reach a fairly large size in diameter. The leg is also brown.
Birch mushroom. The hat is light beige. The leg is quite long, barrel-shaped.
Net mushroom. The size of the cap of this mushroom can reach a maximum of 30 cm. The surface has cracking in the form of a mesh.
Semi-white mushroom. The cap is yellow or creamy-brown in color. The leg is elongated, long, cylindrical.

Farming

Champignons are very popular mushrooms, grown by large mushroom farms. But just like that, every summer resident can grow them.

You should know that this mushroom is unpretentious and when cultivating it, the planting location is not so important as the correct growing conditions. At the dacha, mushrooms can be grown in any suitable room or outdoors

First, let's talk about how to grow champignons in a greenhouse. But before that, it’s worth keeping in mind that there are several types of them. This is a white mushroom, cream and brown. The most demanding is the white variety, but the other two are less capricious, but produce much lower yields. And so, a greenhouse for porcini mushrooms is the most optimal place for growing, because maintaining the necessary conditions in it is quite simple.

The most important thing in planting mushrooms is the soil mixture, which must be able to pass moisture and air, be maximally saturated with nutrients, and the presence of carbon dioxide in it must not exceed acceptable standards, otherwise we will receive a substandard product. Forest turf is considered the best soil for a greenhouse. If it is impossible to create such soil, sawdust can be added to the existing soil.

For planting, mycelium is used, which we purchase at a seed store. Or you can cook it yourself. Finely chop old mushrooms that are unsuitable for food and add water at room temperature. Over the course of the day, spores will be released into the water. Before planting them, we warm up the greenhouse to a temperature of twenty-two degrees. And only then we evenly water the ground with the resulting liquid. Next, sprinkle with a centimeter layer of soil. For faster germination of spores, you can cover the sown soil with film.

Further care of the crops consists of maintaining a temperature that should not exceed twenty-six degrees Celsius, constant ventilation and moderate watering. Remember that the mushroom does not tolerate heat well, so do not allow it to overheat. After the first shoots appear, replace watering with spraying, twice a day. But we water abundantly once a week to prevent rot. Remove the ripe mushroom with its roots so as not to deplete the mycelium. We get a harvest several times during the season.

You can also grow champignons in the garden at your dacha. This process requires a certain approach. Taking into account the fact that champignons do not like bright light, we select the area least illuminated by the sun. We are preparing a bed, over which we must install a canopy to protect the mycelium from sunlight and precipitation, in the form of rain. Excessive amounts of moisture in the soil will lead to rotting of the roots of the fungus.

Let's consider the sequence of stages of growing champignons in the beds. First of all, we prepare the compost. Chicken manure is suitable for this, but horse manure can also be used. First, shake the manure thoroughly, then fill it with urea and water and tamp it, take hot water. Ten days later, we shake it up again and add chalk, but we don’t lay it down so tightly, just squeeze it on the sides. Again, after ten days, we add superphosphate to the manure, compact it as much as possible and leave it until the compost is completely ripe. The substrate is ready when it turns yellow-brown and crumbles in your hands.

We place ready-made manure on the beds at a height of thirty-five centimeters. We plant the mycelium in a mixture that has a temperature of no higher than twenty-seven degrees, and the air should be heated to twenty-two degrees Celsius. The bed can be divided into squares, with a side of twenty centimeters. We plant the mycelium in holes five centimeters deep; it should be no smaller than a chicken egg. Next, we fill it up and water it, after which we cover it with film to create a greenhouse effect. Approximately on the twentieth day, a mycelium will appear, remove the cover, and fill the bed with turf soil and peat.

You can get the harvest in three weeks; the harvesting season lasts for two months. When the mushroom ripens, its plates are colored pale pink, this is a signal for collection. Picking mushrooms on time and watering the beds twice a week will make it possible to get a harvest of up to five kilograms of champignons from one square meter of mycelium.

Beneficial properties of porcini mushrooms

Boletus contains protein, which is quite easily digestible. They are rich in vitamins and a large number of microelements: vitamins B, C, and D, carotene, riboflavin, potassium, calcium, iron, selenium, manganese, phosphorus, chromium. But they may not be useful to all people.

Young children should avoid eating mushrooms. And people with gastrointestinal problems and a tendency to allergies should eat them carefully, taking into account the characteristics of their body.

Growing porcini mushrooms in the country

You can grow porcini mushrooms at home either in open ground directly under your own trees growing on the site, or in a closed place, for example, in a greenhouse or basement.

Recommendations for growing may differ depending on the location where boletus mushrooms will be planted. You must first prepare the substrate and material for planting.

The material used is mycelium or porcini mushroom caps. Mycelium can be obtained independently while going to the forest or purchased in a store.

Optimal conditions

Regardless of which method you choose to grow mushrooms, it is important to provide optimal conditions for the crops. The main requirements are the following:

Mycelium should be planted in open ground from April to September.
A suitable place on the site should be in dense shade.
In the spring, a growth activator is added to the soil.
The mycelium should be planted early in the morning or in the evening after sunset.
You cannot plant mushrooms closer than 50 cm from the tree trunk.
When the mycelium begins to actively grow, it needs to be watered abundantly.

Learning to plant porcini mushrooms in open ground

Perhaps the simplest and most effective method is to grow porcini mushrooms in your garden. Many connoisseurs of porcini mushrooms want to be able to collect porcini mushrooms not only in public places, such as forests, but also on their personal territory.

How to grow porcini mushrooms in the country is a question that worries many lovers of quiet hunting. The main difficulty is to achieve those necessary factors that will bring the conditions on the site closer to growth in a natural environment in the forest. That is, you need soil that is approximately the same as in the forest.

Ready-made soil can be purchased at the store. But in order to save money, you can prepare the necessary substrate yourself. For this you need dried grass and leaves of birch, oak or acorn, as well as spruce and pine needles. Dried moss is very good for a substrate.

All components must be dried, after which they must be crushed. Into the resulting mixture you need to add sifted sand, as well as dry clay (4 to 1). Next, let it brew in a dry and warm place for about two weeks.

How to obtain material for sowing

With mushrooms it is somewhat easier than with growing garden plants - I obtained “seed material” in three different ways:

Controversy. Fungi reproduce using spores - they can be called distant ancestors of the seeds of flowering plants. The spores are located in the sponge of the cap - it is impossible to collect them manually, they are so microscopic. Therefore, I turn the caps of the required mushroom into pulp - this is how a kind of “seedling” turns out.
Mycelium. One of the most difficult materials to obtain - I went into the forest, looked for the fruiting bodies of the mushrooms I needed, dug them out along with the mycelium. But, as practice has shown, forest dwellers take root more easily in the garden if you use this method.
Mycelium. The simplest, but already paid method. Mycelium of the variety of mushrooms you need can be purchased at a large garden center or ordered online from reliable suppliers.

The choice of one or another “seed” depends on the type of mushrooms that you want to grow.

growing champignons from mycelium

Conditions for growing porcini mushroom:

Use of trees available on the site. Spruce, pine, birch, and oak are good choices.
It would be ideal if the dacha adjoins the forest.
The recommended age of tree species is at least ten years.
Mushroom material is planted in the spring.

Growing porcini mushrooms from mycelium

Mycelium is available to those interested in the store. Or you can get it in the forest yourself by carefully digging out the mycelium.
Around the tree that will be the symbiont, you need to remove a layer of soil, about 15 cm deep. This layer will still come in handy.
Next, you need to put fertilizer on the prepared area: peat or compost.
After which the pieces of mycelium are laid out in the prepared place no closer than 20 cm from each other.
Finally, you need to use a layer of soil and carefully cover the mycelium with it.
Then moisten the soil well at a rate of at least 20 liters for each tree. Because lack of moisture is detrimental to the mycelium.
Carry out subsequent waterings as the soil dries out.
The mycelium is protected from frost with moss and a layer of fallen leaves.
In spring, this protection must be carefully removed with a rake.

Collection

A month later, the first harvest appears. It is recommended to carefully twist it instead of cutting it with a knife. This way the mycelium will remain intact.

And the resulting hole needs to be sprinkled, then a new mushroom will grow in this place.

Growing porcini mushrooms from caps

For this method, you need to collect about ten fresh boletus mushrooms with fairly large caps from the forest. Mature mushrooms are needed, over-ripeness is allowed, but not spoiling.
It is very important to remember under which tree the mushrooms found grew. Because if a boletus, for example, was found in the forest under a spruce tree, then the planting of spores or mycelium will need to be carried out under the spruce.
You will need about ten caps, but only without legs. It is better to soak hats in rainwater.
Next, add three to four tablespoons of water. spoons of sugar (based on 10 liters of water). You can use alcohol instead of sugar.
The mushrooms remain soaked for a day and should be kept in a warm room.
After this time, the caps are ground until smooth.
Cut the soil around the tree where you plan to plant it. The depth is determined by the tree roots found.
Next, the roots are watered with water containing spores.
Afterwards, you need to cover the sowing area with a layer of soil that was cut off earlier.
Watering should be according to the weather. In dry times it is quite abundant, since the mycelium does not tolerate drought.
Straw can be used to maintain moisture.

This method takes longer than the first option in terms of obtaining results, since the mycelium of the porcini mushroom is grown, and not the use of ready-made material.

Landing

At the first stage of planting, drainage and soil are placed in the planting containers so that the mushrooms can breathe. Then a substrate of approximately 28-32 centimeters is distributed on top. The top is slightly pressed down.

After which the planting material is evenly distributed and sprinkled with the substrate again, but without pressing down. During planting, the temperature in the room should be kept at 25-27 degrees and remain so until the first shoots.

Learning to plant porcini mushrooms indoors

Raising boletus indoors is a more difficult task. It is not always possible to recreate suitable natural conditions. But if success is achieved, then it will be possible to obtain one advantage - the harvest will be possible not only in the summer-autumn months, but throughout the year.
Before you start planting mycelium, you will need to disinfect the room.
To treat surfaces, use a 0.4% sulfate solution; a 1% chlorine solution is also possible.
The required temperature is 10-12 degrees. above zero, and during the ripening process - at least 20 degrees.
Required humidity is 60-80%.
The room where mushrooms grow requires ventilation.
After emerging from the soil, boletus mushrooms need light. Different types of lighting may be relevant: both natural and artificial.
When planting boletus indoors, they are planted in beds, which can be placed on racks or pots.
You need special mycelium, especially for closed places.
Regular watering of growing mushrooms is necessary.
Among connoisseurs of artificially grown boletus, a variety from Holland is popular: it germinates well even in less than ideal conditions.

Breeding boletus in the basement

In basements or garages, boxes filled with nutritious soil and installed on multi-tiered racks can be used for planting boletus mushrooms.

Experienced mushroom growers recommend adding buckwheat or sunflower husks, hay, deciduous or pine sawdust, and chopped corn cobs to the soil mixture.

The period of formation of the mycelium takes place in complete darkness, but with the appearance of the first small mushrooms you will have to take care of additional lighting.

It can be either natural or artificial: fluorescent lamps or more economical LED lamps are best suited. The total daylight hours should be 5 hours or more.

Porcini mushroom business

Growing porcini mushrooms as a business is quite often considered by some entrepreneurs. Because prices for boletus mushrooms always remain consistently high. And the demand for them is generally higher than the supply.

You can sell fresh or dried, frozen or canned mushrooms, as well as sell mycelium. The result will not always be obtained quickly.

Difficulties may arise both during the cultivation process and in obtaining registration and the necessary permits. Therefore, it is recommended to first collect all the necessary documents to implement this business.

It is important to note that sometimes quite a long time can pass between the costs of growing boletus and receiving the first income, which can upset those who want to make a quick profit from this business.

Soil preparation

The key to successful engraftment of the “seed material” is a properly prepared soil mixture. I’ll tell you about the most suitable substrates for mushrooms.

Straw

This material can be used both as a mushroom substrate and as mulch. But mushrooms will not grow in straw alone - it must be mixed either with forest litter or with rotten organic residues collected from the garden.

A fertile substrate for champignons is also prepared on the basis of straw:

50 kg of last year’s manure - horse, cow;
15-20 kg of straw;
12 kg of gypsum;
12 kg of lime.

I put all the ingredients in a pile - I also add organic waste to it. It is important to compact the mass thoroughly, pour water on it and wrap it in film. The heap matures in 15-20 days. I can judge its readiness by the strong smell of ammonia.

Logs

I'll tell you about how I grow mushrooms on a log:

I take only healthy wood - I soak it in water for 2-3 days.
Then I move it to a warm and dry place - either in a heated garage, or on a tarp in the sun. I wait for the excess moisture to evaporate.
I cut out small holes in a checkerboard pattern of 10x10 cm - 4 cm deep, 0.5-1 cm in diameter.
I place the seed in them and wrap the log in film. I make several holes in the polyethylene for air access.
I transfer it to a warm (10-20 C) and humid room: for 2-3 months the log will be wrapped in mycelium - a thin white cobweb.
In a place protected from the wind, in partial shade, I make a hole for the log - I bury it vertically to 30-50% of its length. To disinfect, I sprinkle the soil around with ash. I “plant” the log as soon as the air temperature rises to 15-25 C.
In dry weather, I water the soil around the log once every 2-3 weeks.

I don’t dig up a log with mycelium in the fall - I insulate it for the winter with compost and rotten leaves.

growing oyster mushrooms on stumps

Sawdust

A popular type of soil mixture for mushrooms is based on sawdust. You can mix them in equal parts with compost, garden soil, and rotted plant debris. Be sure to treat the mass with disinfectant suspensions - potassium permanganate, copper sulfate, boric acid. It wouldn’t hurt to spill it with a solution of a growth stimulator.