Stone mushrooms are a form of popular cultivated mushrooms that can be bought in the supermarket all year round. However, you can also grow the tasty mushrooms in the garden, on the balcony or even in the basement without much effort - completely free of harmful substances and in organic quality.
How can you grow stone mushrooms yourself?
To grow stone mushrooms yourself, prepare a substrate of straw or hay, inoculate it with mushroom spawn, place it in a shady place and keep it moist. It takes a few weeks to months until the first fruiting bodies appear.
For newbies: Using ready-made hatches
You can make it particularly easy for yourself and buy so-called ready-made broods (€26.00 on Amazon) from specialized retailers, which are delivered in a cardboard box with already inoculated substrate. There are always detailed instructions attached so that you can't go wrong and gain your first experience as a mushroom grower. When using such a ready-made brood there are actually only three things to consider:
- The substrate must first be completely permeated with the mushroom mycelium at a minimum of 18 °C and a maximum of 24 °C.
- Then initiate the formation of the fruit bodies by lowering the temperature to 10 to 18 °C.
- The substrate with the mycelium must be kept moist, but must not be waterlogged.
Breeding stone mushrooms – this is how it works
If the method of growing mushrooms described above is too boring for you, you can grow your own stone mushrooms in the following way:
- First the substrate is prepared.
- You can use different materials for this, but the easiest way is straw or hay.
- Cut loose straw into small pieces and pasteurize it in boiling water beforehand.
- Straw bales are well moistened with plenty of water.
- Now inoculate the straw with the mushroom spawn.
- Crumble them and incorporate them evenly into the material.
- Now place your mushroom cultivation in a place with a maximum temperature of 18 °C.
- This can also be completely dark, as fungi do not photosynthesize.
- A shady spot in the garden or a cool cellar is ideal.
It takes a lot of patience to grow mushrooms
Now you have to wait until the straw is completely covered in mycelium and the first fruiting bodies finally appear. Be patient: Depending on the temperature, it can take a few weeks to months for mushrooms to actually grow until the first wave of harvest. Until then, always keep the straw slightly moist. Unfortunately, mushroom cultures are quickly colonized by fruit flies and other insects that are attracted by the intense mushroom smell. This can be prevented by covering the growing box with fly gauze.
Tip
Instead of buying ready-made mushroom spawn, you can also take normal supermarket mushrooms and place them on the moistened straw - the spores they contain inoculate the material in a completely natural way. However, with this method it takes much longer before you can harvest.
