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Author Topic: mushroom growing  (Read 4976 times)

Scotsdumpy

  • Joined Jul 2012
mushroom growing
« on: October 29, 2013, 09:26:00 am »
Does anyone have any advice on growing mushrooms on a larger scale than an innoculated toilet roll, mushroom box etc but notas big as a dedicated polytunnel or building. What Im thinking is we have a largeish sitka spruce forest/woodland and, at the moment, the forest floor is covered with fungus/mushrooms/whatever youd call it. Obviously ? the conditions are favourable for some form ofmushroom production and Id like to exploite that. Ive checked the googled mushroom spawn suppliers but there is little or no advice on how to move forward. I guess I should phone some of them up - theres a lady near Inverurie which wouldbe a start.
But I wondered if anyone here had any views.

Victorian Farmer

  • Guest
Re: mushroom growing
« Reply #1 on: October 29, 2013, 10:04:17 am »
I used to get the compost it always grows but onley for 1 season.

Lesley Silvester

  • Joined Sep 2011
  • Telford
Re: mushroom growing
« Reply #2 on: October 29, 2013, 09:40:36 pm »
I've tried the toilet roll and the mushroom box but had no success at all. Not that that answers your question but I feel better for getting it off my chest.  :D

cloddopper

  • Joined Jun 2013
  • South Wales .Carmarthenshire. SA18
Re: mushroom growing
« Reply #3 on: October 29, 2013, 11:59:53 pm »
Dumpy ,
Give me a few days & I'll use MSword to try and give you a rundown of what I know and have done.

Do a search of the big seed houses like Fothergill , Unwins or similar for mushroom spawn .

 Mean while start trying to locate some fair quality sieve- able sandy loam , some large tie top black bin bags  , straw based stable muck ,& neat chicken muck and gypsum plaster ( can be out of date but not solid lumps ...... you'll need it if you go ahead.
Strong belief , triggers the mind to find the way ... Dyslexia just makes it that bit more amusing & interesting

Scotsdumpy

  • Joined Jul 2012
Re: mushroom growing
« Reply #4 on: October 30, 2013, 08:51:48 am »
Thanks clodopper I look forward to reading your document!

cloddopper

  • Joined Jun 2013
  • South Wales .Carmarthenshire. SA18
Re: mushroom growing
« Reply #5 on: November 01, 2013, 12:11:38 am »
I did an intense technical ( one to one mainly ) course of study to become the assistant production manager at  a fairly large mushroom farm enterprise back in the early 1980's .

I was just going to start the typing when on a whim I put, " Making mushroom compost " into Google  this link came up ..saves me typing for an hour or so ..it is ideal .http://www.food-from-the-garden.com/mushroom-compost.html
 Give me a few more minutes & I hope to come back with on line words about making the capping / casing and getting it sterile 

Well I never ..found this ..it's self explanatory  ,  it is a fairly definitive guide for small commercial production .
http://mushroominfo.com/growing-mushrooms/six-steps-to-mushroom-farming/
 
If you can follow this you're in business .. To pasteurize the casing  use a ( top cut off)  45 gallon oil drum 1/3 filled with water on a tar burner gas ring ( set the barrel on concrete blocks and make a wind break so the heat works on the barrel and does not get blown away . .

Suspend the fine sieved  capping loam in  hessian or poly prop sacks ( sand bags ??) just above the water. Once it starts boiling cover the drum with some sort of lid to keep the heat in & let it simmer for 4 hrs. , keep an eye on things in case you need to top up the water  ..total sterilization time must be 4 hrs or more over the boiling water to pasteurize it.
 We had a massive diesel fired electric  driven Wicks steam generator that fed a large 12 x 8 foot wide 2 foot deep tarpaulin covered perforated pasteurizing bed full of fine sieved capping loam .)

 
 I/4 fill the black sacks with the finished mushroom compost , press it down faailry firmly , crumble some spawn over the top 1/2 teaspoon full per bag add one inch of pasteurized capping , close bag by folding the top over place in a warm place that has a reasonable air flow . If you have a dark room you can use clear heavy duty new poly bags .
Just make sure that whatever you use you can pick up a bag easily as they weigh about three stone when newly made up.

Keep cats out the area as they love to pee on the bags and any forming mush rooms .( guess how I know  :roflanim: )
 
Depending on the temp depends on when to expect the mushrooms.

 To prolong the harvest of mushrooms after you have picked the first flush always replace any disturbed capping and when it seems no more are going to grow use a fine rose watering can to spray a solution of half an ounce of cooking salt per gallon of warm water over the cappings . It causes the compost to break down further and also helps kickstart the second growth ..sometimes you can even get a third growth using the salt trick.

NOTE WELL

I recommend you use a brand new watering can and rose for the salt solution so that you are 100 % sure there is no chemical contamination in the can as the minutest amounts of all sorts of garden chemicals will kill mushroom spawn/spores .
« Last Edit: November 01, 2013, 12:43:36 am by cloddopper »
Strong belief , triggers the mind to find the way ... Dyslexia just makes it that bit more amusing & interesting

Scotsdumpy

  • Joined Jul 2012
Re: mushroom growing
« Reply #6 on: November 01, 2013, 08:49:30 am »
Wow thanks cloddopper,  Ill have to do some reading now! Very much appreciated - Ill have to give it a go now!

SheepCrazy!

  • Joined Nov 2012
  • Dumfries and Galloway
  • www.hawthornsoaysandjacobs.co.uk
    • hawthornsoaysandjacobs
    • Facebook
Re: mushroom growing
« Reply #7 on: December 08, 2013, 03:06:08 pm »


On Sunday Brunch there was a company growing mushrooms usuing old filter coffee they picked up for free from cafe's they have a website

www.espressomushroom.co.uk

It looked really interesting, might be worth some research! Good luck

shygirl

  • Joined May 2013
Re: mushroom growing
« Reply #8 on: December 08, 2013, 03:24:26 pm »
there was a garden catalogue that sold spore impregnanted logs that you just put in the corner of the garden.
we have woods with a wide range of mushrooms - many look like the edible ones. id be scared to grow mushrooms on the woodland floor incase i pick a wild one by mistake.

i tried the poly box once and only got 2 giant mushrooms  :roflanim:   no success with the packet spores from bnq.

 

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