Currently, the deterioration of the environmental situation and frequent poisoning with forest mushrooms led to a surge of the popularity of cultured fungi. Unpretentious in the care of oysteries and champignons flooded the market and slightly sweat meat on the tables. Several years ago, the exotic Mushrooms Shiitak appeared in our latitudes - they came to us from the Far East, where they have long and successfully grown on an industrial scale.

According to statistics, Shiitake is the most cultivated edible mushroom worldwide. To taste, he resembles champignons, as well as white mushrooms. High nutritional value, pleasant taste, as well as discovered healing properties of Shiitake, determine its popularity in the kitchens of different peoples of the world. In Japan and China, now for two millennia, these mushrooms have traditionally grown on the stems and the stumps of the "Shiya" trees (analogue of our oak) and other deciduous trees. With the development of cultivation technology on sterile sawdust, the possibility of growing shiitake at home appeared.

Methods of growing Shiitaka

Shiitake are mushroom-saprofrops, in natural conditions growing on dying wood, for the conditions of cultivation resemble an oyster. A distinctive feature compared to other cultivated mushrooms is quite a long-term aging of mycelium Shiitake, low competitiveness compared to the colonies of bacteria and mold. Experienced shiotakovodashod argue that when observing sterile landing conditions, as well as technology of cultivation, the fruit bodies of mushrooms simply simply.

There are two main method of growing Shiitake:

• extensive - natural growing mushroom on wood is copied on specially harvested trunks, which are forcibly infected with mycelium. This method is suitable for regions with a wet climate. The greatest period of fruiting occurs in the second year of mastering of wood raw mushrooms. According to this technology, more than two thirds of the global production of shiitake are grown;
• intense - the basis for the growing of mushrooms is chips and sawing of hardwood of trees, as well as the straw of cellars. To increase the nutritional of the subtrarate, grain, bran, hay, mineral additives (chalk or gypsum) are added to it. The substrate is carefully sterilized either pasteurize - and seal to it sowing mycelium, which colonizes blocks and after a while begins to be fron.

Intensive cultivation Shiitake

Intensive (industrial) growing Shiitake is produced on substrates consisting by 60-90% of sawdust of hardwood wood with a diameter of 2-3 mm. Oak, maple, beech, birch and other hardwoods are suitable for this purpose. In addition, the substrate may include wood chips (it increases the looseness of its structure), as well as dry and clean, crushed to size 1-2 cm of the straw of cereals, hay.

To speed up the colonization of mycelium and improve fruiting as nutrient additives, grain, bran, bean flour, tea brewing and beer production waste, as well as chalk or gypsum to optimize acidity. The resulting mixture is moistened with clean water, bringing the level of humidity of the substrate to 60-65%.

It is important to note that too small diameter of sawdust makes it difficult to gas exchange substrate, the oversupply of nutrients creates an environment favorable for the development of microorganisms - Shiitake's competitors, often displacing mushrooms. Therefore, for the optimal development of mushroom mycelium, preliminary sterilization is required or pasteurization of the substrate, packed in polyethylene or polypropylene packets of 1-6 liters with special biofilters for gas exchange. After heat treatment and cooling, the substrate mixture is inoculated (seeded) by a mushroom mycelium, which in a warm place gradually colonizes the substrate, turning it into a dense block for about 1.5- 2.5 months. Next, mushroom blocks are removed from the film or capacity - and placed for fruiting in a cool room with high humidity.

How to grow shiitak mushrooms

The method of cultivating mushrooms on wood trimming is more time consuming. It is suitable for a wet Asian climate, unlike local continental. The extensive method of cultivating mushrooms is more costly compared with an intense way. Landing mycelium is easier to organize on substrates composed of wood sawdust, chips and straw. Such a nutritional subtreth can be stocking without much material costs. The most suitable is the dry clean stall of oats or barley, golden color, without visible signs of rotting. To grow shiitake at home, you will need a room in which you can maintain a certain temperature and humidity mode, intensive lighting. It is also necessary to harvest bags of dense polyethylene or agry (nonwoven material for embedding beds). Experienced mushrooms recommend packaging mushroom blocks by about 2.5 kg. The first harvest of Shiitake can be obtained in 60-70 days.

Preparation of mushroom blocks

Before sowing mushroom mycelium, mandatory sterilization is required or the substrate pasteurization in order to destroy various microorganisms in it, which otherwise can multiply and make a serious competition of Shiitak mushrooms. For sterilization, the barrel is needed, into which the straw is tightly tightly, poured it with boiling water. The barrel is placed over the fire - for heating for several hours, after which the straw is laid out into the clean capacity and leave for cooling, and then pack the substrate and mycelium to the packages, shifting the layers of the substrate and mycelium (at the rate of 2-7% mycelium shiitake from the substrate mass), trying Equally distribute the fungal material.

Sowing mycelium make two types:

• swording - it is grown on the sawing and bran mixture, it is specifically adapted to the appropriate substrate. The sown rate of such a mushroom mycelium is 5-7%;
• grain - represents the injection of the mass of the grain, which is simultaneously the nutrient medium. The sowing rate of such mycelium is 2%.

If you didn't buy special packages with porous filters together with mycelium, then in conventional polyethylene packages it is necessary to do side openings with a diameter of several centimeters through which the gas exchange of mushroom blocks will be carried out. After filling in the substrate with mycelium packages, it is necessary to close on top of a cotton cork or stuck (in the case of packets with micron filters). The blocks are prepared in such a way in a room at an altitude of at least 20 cm from the floor, since the germinating fungus actively selects carbon dioxide, descending down.

Examination of fruit bodies mushrooms

During the incubation period in the room, it is necessary to maintain temperature regime in the range of 25 ° C - this temperature is considered optimal for germination of the mushroom. At temperatures above 28-30 ° C, there is a likelihood of a substrate lesion by competitive microorganisms (mainly tripides and neurosor - green and orange mold). Changing the color of the substrate block onto the white will testify to the germination of the mushroom, and the various forms of the nodule and bloating will begin to appear. The brown color of the block indicates the beginning of the ripening and the raw fruction of mushrooms.

Mushroom blocks are removed from the packages and placed in cold water for two days, and then return back. Two weeks after such a procedure, the fruit bodies of Shiitake usually appear, which will grow to full-fledged mushrooms during a half months. To start the fruction of Shiitake, high humidity is required (80-95%) and weak ventilation, maintaining a high level of carbon dioxide. At the time of the collection of mushrooms, humidity is reduced to 50-70%. Shiitake fruits waves, two or three crop fruits can be expected on one mushroom block.

Shiitake Mushrooms - Photo

How to grow shiitake mushrooms - video