The Accidental Smallholder Forum

Growing => Vegetables => Topic started by: princesspiggy on December 18, 2010, 05:34:27 pm

Title: mushrooms
Post by: princesspiggy on December 18, 2010, 05:34:27 pm
i tried growing mushrooms this year, got spores (mr fothergill) and followed instructions - use well rotted horse manage, stir and cover with compost layer, keep moist at 14 degrees (neva mentioned daylight but i covered it anyway) we waited 1 month, then 2 , then 3 but got nothing. any ideas what we did wrong? i moved it somewhere colder after but no luck.
Title: Re: mushrooms
Post by: Fleecewife on December 19, 2010, 12:31:04 am
I've tried kits several times but only once have I had a crop (eternal optimist  ;D ).  Even when I got a crop it was very small - would have cost about £1 in the Co-op.  I think it takes quite a long time for the mycelium to grow before you get any mushrooms appearing, and moisture level is critical.  I doubt you have killed the spores - should you let it keep going for a bit longer?
Title: Re: mushrooms
Post by: princesspiggy on December 19, 2010, 06:52:21 pm
got fed up after 4 mths and put soil in garden but we get an awful lot of wild mushrooms and toadstools where we live and alot "look" normal, so wudnt risk harvesting them outdoors. iv promised to grow some for nursery school, will look bit daft if nothing grows. i tried a polystrene pack from Woolworths once and got 2 giant mushrooms and then 2 more. this time not even a hint of growth.
Title: Re: mushrooms
Post by: OhLaLa on January 05, 2011, 01:36:04 pm
I've tried a couple of the mushroom boxes in the past, not really worthwhile, tried spawn, grain, but again no success, tried to impregnate cut tree trunks with the kits, no joy there either. Then a couple of years ago a huge puffball grew on the muckheap, unfortunately I didn't spot it until too late (chuck yours by the muck/compost heap when you are done with it, you never know). This last year I spotted loads of what I think are field mushrooms in the paddocks but I'm no expert so didn't dare risk it. I've got a few good books on the subject but it appears I am a bit of a mushroom thickie (this mushroom is close, that one is faaaar away......).    :D
Title: Re: mushrooms
Post by: princesspiggy on January 10, 2011, 07:28:20 pm
well iv got mushrooms growing on muckheap already but no idea where they came from and whether they are safe,
whats a puffball, is it a black round thing that spores come out if you touch it? cos wev got them aswell - i am very ignorant on this subject tho so apologises   :o
Title: Re: mushrooms
Post by: OhLaLa on January 10, 2011, 09:21:28 pm
Type 'photo puffball mushroom' into google and you see loads of images of them. Ours was about the size of a football.

Title: Re: mushrooms
Post by: suziequeue on February 12, 2011, 05:33:42 pm
Glad to see it's not just me who hasn't had any success with growing mushrooms from kits. 
Title: Re: mushrooms
Post by: norcalorganic on February 12, 2011, 09:25:41 pm
Back in my WOOFING days, I was briefly on with a farmer who had a successful shitake setup. He'd take hardwood logs roughly firewood-size in girth but a meter or so each in length and inoculate them as per the kit instructions (a rather lengthy and protracted process involving drilling a multitude of small holes spaced evenly all over the log, then tapping in the wood pegs containing the inoculant). After that, they were stacked, tarped, and left to sit in the cool damp for (if I recall correctly) a full year before they would begin to yield. Once mushrooms became visible the logs were removed and rearranged for harvesting. Obviously dealing with a spore innoculant on manure is a different game.
Title: Re: mushrooms
Post by: Blonde on March 05, 2011, 06:13:00 am
For Mushroom production you need to have a house that is both warm and dark.   Insulated by plastic and polystyrene sheets.  Does not matter how big or small it is.

You need a load of straw and a load of chicken manure.  You mix these together and compost them turning every few days to keep the temperature down.  dont want it to get too hot other wise it will cook the bedding and the nutrient base wont be any good then.You add a spray of water as you are turning  it and keep a thermometre in the heap.  (I am now unsure of the temperature as it is any years since I have been around a good mushroom farm)

Leave until the temperature drops and you can handle it with your hands. 

Take the composted straw and  chicken manure to the house that you have built and with a frame lay the compost in a triangle down on the floor using the triangle as a guide.  Dont want the bed too thick in one spot and too thin in the other.   When you are done leave a couple of days and then sporn the whole bed with the grain that contains the mycelium, give a light sprinkle with water.    Close up the house again and go each day for a look, it does not take too long for the mycelium to take hold and cover the bed. when this has happendd cover with a loam that is local ( make sure it has been steralised to keep unwanted probnlems out of the bed)( sterilize either by heat via a furnace or by chemical such as Methyl Bromide- this is extremly dangerous and should be handled with care)

Spread the loan across the bed thinly and watch the buttons form thourgh the loam.  Keep the mushroom buttons damp but not sooking wet as mould will appear. Keep the house close up and it will be humid, warm and dark.  When buttons begin to open up and appear flat they may be picked.  The bigger the better. some will reach dinner plate size in a week or so.

 Pick and enjoy.....