GROWING MUSHROOMS: THE FRUITING

  Mushroom cultivation success used to be an activity that very much depended on climatic conditions. The substrate was prepared and sown taking into account the season when the temperature and humidity conditions were favorable. This still happens today for small producers of Shiitake and some species of Pleurotus. For example, French growers of the genus Agaricus, better known as champignon, has found in the eighteenth century the ideal environment for cultivation,  the right temperature and humidity, in the French caves. Growers can adapt different places  for mushroom cultivation, such as…

GROWING MUSHROOMS: THE LIFE CYCLE

  To learn how to grow mushrooms it is essential to know their life cycle in nature. During the cultivation of mushrooms the grower needs to simulate all the conditions that the mushroom would encounter in nature. So, instead of a rotting tree trunk, we will give the mushroom to feed it sawdust or straw that has a similar composition to its natural substrate. Instead of the shade and fresh air that you would find in an undergrowth, we will set up an air-conditioned greenhouse that simulates the conditions of…

GROWING MUSHROOMS: INTRODUCTION and TECHNIQUES

  GROWING MUSHROOMS IS SMART, SUSTAINABLE AND PROFITABLE! Do you plan to grow mushrooms? There are many good reasons to begin  this hobby or activity: if desired, mushrooms are a good, profitable and economically attractive commercial crop. In addition, they are easy to grow even at an amateur level and finally they have important nutritional values. Some species, if that weren’t enough, also carry important medicinal properties. The period between inoculation and harvest can be very short, just three weeks. After the cultivation, the support can still be reused to…