Mushroom kits have become so popular for their versatility. We want to grow our own instead of buying it from the store. So, the mushroom kit is like a half-way measure. Mushroom spores cannot be sold in packets like other vegetables seed. So you have to purchase the mushroom kits which contain semi-unprocessed state of mushroom. It\’s not hard to grow your mushroom kit. All you have to do is to know some methods about planting them and patience. Here are steps on how you can grow your own mushrooms:
- Mushroom kits comprises of a box, compost ad growing medium, mycelium spores and some peat moss casing. Remove the peat moss bag and lightly pour over the compost covering the mycelium once the kit is opened. Then, scarify the surface to enable the spores to grow with a fork or some other instruments.
- Mushroom kits need to be kept at a constant low temperature of 15 to 25 Celsius (60 to 78 Fahrenheit). The mushrooms do not necessarily need to be in the dark. Provided they are kept away from the direct sunlight. Your mushrooms won\’t grow and your kit may struggle to produce at all when the room\’s temperature shifts above or below this range.
- It is advisable for you to start your mushroom kit or delay it for a few weeks but don\’t hold any longer than this. Within 7 to 10 days, you will start to produce mushrooms. In the first yield, almost 50% or half of your fruit will be produced with subsequent production slowing with each harvest until eventually the kit stops producing altogether.
- Once the mushroom kit has expired, there is nothing you can do with it except tossing the growing medium into the compost heap, this will happen in most cases. It is possible to continue growing more of the mushrooms if you have access to more mycelium spores and provided the peat moss casing is replaced and the compost medium is still moist.
- There is a lot of mushroom kit that offers different types of mushroom other than white button mushroom. Such are Shiitake, Portobello, Enoki and many other varieties which are now making their way into the marketplace as gardeners start to experiment with these diverse fungi.
Additional Reading:
http://www.gardeningtipsnideas.com/2009/06/how_to_grow_mushroom_kits.html
Image Credit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/polandeze/465391874/
