Read also:
- How To Grow Mushrooms On Logs
- Best Vegetables To Grow Indoors Under Lights
- How To Grow Mushrooms In A Jar
- How to Grow Mushrooms At Home Without Spores
It’s never been easier to grow button mushrooms, and you don’t even need a kit. All it needs is a little time and the correct components.
Button mushrooms are high in fiber and low in fat and cholesterol. They are available at your local grocery shop or farmers’ market. They’re also affordable when compared to other veggies such as potatoes or carrots.
If you enjoy growing mushrooms, keep reading to learn everything you need to know about growing button mushrooms without a kit.
How to grow button mushrooms without a kit?
Button mushrooms are excellent source of both taste and nutrients. They may be eaten raw or cooked, making them useful in a variety of cuisines.
However, button mushroom kits may not always be accessible where you live (or may be prohibitively expensive), so how do you go about cultivating these delectable vegetables?
Here’s a simple method for growing button mushrooms without a kit:
Step One: Purchase compost, vermiculite, and spores from your local nursery or gardening store (these can be bought online as well).
To get started, you’ll also need planting containers. Each one should carry at least one gallon of dirt.
Step Two: Fill the pots with the soil mixture in.
You may purchase this compost and vermiculite at your local gardening store, or you can use standard garden soil provided it does not include additives that will inhibit mushroom development.
If you’re using standard garden soil, add around 5% coarse sand to give the soil additional drainage capacity so water doesn’t pool.
Step three: Once the dirt has been placed, wet it well with water (but not soggy).
The drainage capacity of your growth medium should guarantee that mushrooms do not become too moist while forming their subterranean mycelium network. This may lead them to deteriorate or perish.
Step four: Scatter the spores over the wet soil.
This is known as inoculation, and it may be accomplished by applying the spores directly on top of your growth media with a tiny pressured sprayer or a fine paintbrush.
It may take many weeks for mushrooms to appear, but once they do, they grow swiftly.
Depending on the circumstances you offer, the time between planting and harvesting might be as short as four weeks.
Step Five: When your mushrooms are old enough to harvest, cut them off at the base with a sharp knife or pair of scissors (don’t forget to disinfect them before using them) and compost the remaining growth media.
Step Six: Once your mushrooms begin to sprout, water them every day until they are ready to harvest.
The optimal time is early in the morning while it is still chilly outside; this guarantees that their pores (called gills) do not stay wet all day and decay.
Step Seven: You may also feed your mushrooms with compost or, depending on the sort of mushroom you’re growing (some perform better than others), a general all-purpose garden fertilizer.
Use it gently so as not to harm their sensitive subterranean mycelium network.
If you do this too often, your mushrooms may develop a foggy look and darken in color.
Another strategy to protect the mycelium network is to avoid rival fungus from growing around or near it.
This may be accomplished by removing any leaves that may have fallen on top of the soil and thinning out plants with illnesses that could be communicated to the mushroom mycelium.
How can we cultivate button mushrooms at home?
You may grow them at home by filling a tray with an equal mix of compost and manure. Then sprinkle spores on top and wait for mycelium to grow, which is a network of filaments from which mushrooms shoot. After a few weeks, you’ll see the growth of little white button mushrooms.
Can you cultivate your own button mushrooms?
White button mushrooms do not require sunlight to grow, which is especially convenient for the indoor gardener whose windows are already overflowing with plants.
They may also be cultivated at any time of year, with winter being preferred, providing an excellent gardening chance when everything else is cold and gloomy outside.
What are the requirements for the growth of button mushrooms?
Mushrooms prefer chilly, gloomy environments, so choose a location that is between 65 and 75 degrees Fahrenheit. It must also be protected from light and other disturbances. Many mushroom growers like to cultivate their white button mushrooms in a basement or crawlspace.
Conclusion
If you have limited space or time, button mushrooms are excellent choice. Their growth cycle is quick, they need little effort, and their fruiting bodies taste great.
