To avoid the risk of picking a poisonous mushroom at the wild, develop your beloved edible fungi in the home at a fruiting chamber. Different breeds of mushroom can grow together in the same chamber if they have the same growing requirements and also use the identical substrate. As an example, different breeds of button mushrooms can develop together in mushroom compost, but they can’t grow in the same chamber as specialty mushrooms that require a sawdust-based substrate.
Mushroom Strains
The white button mushrooms generally seen in shops are strains of Agaricus bisporus. Brown strains will also be available, sold as crimini mushrooms if picked before the cap opens and as portabello mushrooms once the cap is fully mature. Since these all rise in compost substrate, they could develop in the same fruiting chamber. Specialty mushrooms develop in sawdust. Enoki mushroom (Flammulina velutipes), Maitake or even Hen-of-the-Woods (Grifola frondosa) and also Nameko mushroom (Pholiota nameko) utilize a standard sawdust substrate and can develop in the identical fruiting chamber. Regardless of what strain you’re growing, only purchase mushroom spawn from a respectable business.
Fruiting Chambers
Most mushrooms take a relative humidity of 85 to 95 percent. Nameko mushrooms need the highest humidity and may need misting to activate fruiting. You can purchase fruiting chambers commercially to provide these requirements, or DIY options are accessible. Two homemade choices are combined with tight lids and plastic tents constructed over growing trays. Specialty mushrooms may also be grown in heat-resistant plastic bags that have a filter patch to provide air movement without letting in tissues which could contaminate the mushrooms.
Different Substrates
Composted horse manure and straw is the basic substrate for different breeds of button mushroom. To buffer pH, add 1 pound gypsum per 20 pounds compost. Add nitrogen by mixing in 1/3 pound poultry manure, cottonseed meal or soybean meal per 25 pounds composted horse manure, then let it sit for about a week. For specialty mushrooms, then you can use various kinds of wood, like alder and pine, as sawdust substrate. Avoid redwood, pine or cedar sawdust because these woods inhibit mushroom growth. A standard sawdust substrate consists of two components fine sawdust to one part coarser chips.
Triggering Fruiting
Fungi require a fever change to support the underground mycelium to grow mushrooms. Keep the temperature between 75 and 77 degrees Fahrenheit for 14 to 21 days following planting Cape Coral mushroom spawn, then drop the temperature to 60 to 66 degrees to activate fruiting. The process of temperature change is the same for both button and specialty mushrooms, though Enoki prefer cooler temperatures close to 63 degrees to begin fruiting. Specialty mushrooms need mild to fruit, so transfer fruiting chambers to a room with sufficient light to read by. Button mushrooms grow in the dark.