Looking for mushrooms in the forest is great fun, but it is also tedious and not always successful. No wonder, then, that there have been repeated attempts to breed the popular porcini mushroom for domestic cultivation. However, since it requires certain living conditions to thrive that cannot be easily replicated in the home garden, no one has yet succeeded in such an attempt. For this reason, you can grow many noble mushrooms in a breeding box, but not the porcini mushroom.
Can you use a porcini mushroom growing box for the garden?
A porcini mushroom breeding box for your own garden is unfortunately not possible, as porcini mushrooms, as mycorrhizal fungi, thrive in symbiosis with certain forest trees and grow in the roots of living trees. Alternatively, other edible mushrooms can be grown in breeding boxes.
Boletus mushrooms need certain living conditions
The reason for this is quite simple: The boletus is a so-called mycorrhizal fungus that is in close symbiosis with certain types of forest trees. You can find it primarily under spruce trees, but associations are also known with oaks, beeches and – more rarely – pine trees. It is not enough to simply inoculate a beech tree trunk with boletus spores - as is done, for example, with the oyster mushroom - because the boletus only thrives in the roots of living trees: both species depend on each other to thrive.
Where to find porcini mushrooms in the forest
Even a single living tree - such as a specially planted beech or spruce in the front garden - is not sufficient for growing your own porcini mushrooms. Instead, depending on the subspecies, the fungus prefers to settle in older deciduous or mixed forests with a thick layer of moss and a loose canopy. Boletus mushrooms are primarily found in sunny clearings and on acidic to neutral soils. You should have good success in your search if you spot the poisonous fly agaric - since the porcini mushroom is often found near it, you just need to take a closer look.
Which edible mushrooms you can grow yourself in a breeding box
In contrast to the porcini mushroom, however, there are a whole range of very tasty edible mushrooms that are not mycorrhizal mushrooms and can therefore be grown quite easily in a breeding box. This is how
- white and brown mushrooms
- Stone mushrooms
- Oyster mushrooms (oyster mushrooms)
- Shii Take
- Lime mushrooms
- Rose mushrooms
- Herb mushrooms
- Brown-capped (Red-brown Giant Träuschling)
- Goldcap (Japanese stick sponge)
- Mu-Err (Judas Ear)
and some other species have been successfully cultivated for centuries. Commercially available ready-made crop sets enable uncomplicated cultivation and quick harvesting.
Tip
There are some types of mushrooms that look quite similar to the sought-after porcini mushroom. However, the chestnut boletus, which is also edible, turns blue, while the inedible gall boletus tastes extremely bitter and can cause gastrointestinal problems.
