Czechs are a nation of mushroom pickers and as soon as the season comes, the forests are full of people with baskets. They rely on their tried-and-tested spots to bring home a decent haul. But not everyone goes into the woods. Many people have discovered that it is not always necessary to spend long hours searching for mushrooms in the woods. It’s better to have them literally right under your nose. How to do it? Just grow them. And you don’t need particularly specific conditions. In fact, we can say that you can grow mushrooms in your garden, just like you can grow anything else here. So you only need to take a few steps to get a full basket.
Mycelium – mycelium
The basis for growing mushrooms is, of course, the mycelium, or mycelium. Without mycelium, mushrooms cannot grow. When collecting mushrooms, we actually collect only the less important part of the mushroom, the fruiting body. The most important part remains in the forest soil. However, neither the fruiting bodies nor the mycelium have chlorophyll in their tissues, so they cannot nourish themselves like other plant species.
That’s why fungi have evolved a different way of getting energy. This is by symbiosis with the roots of herbs and trees. The hosts provide the fungi with access to photosynthesis, while the fungi in turn benefit by transporting water, minerals and other valuable compounds into the plant tissues. This is all provided by a vast underground system of fungi called the mycelium. To grow mushrooms in your garden, you must allow them to build up this seemingly complex system.
How to get started
You should look for a moist and shady spot on your plot if possible. If you have any trees growing in your garden, the mushrooms will be most comfortable under them. It will still take some time to build up the mycelium, usually 2-3 years. The easiest way to build a mycelium in your garden is as follows:
- Collect fallen leaves, needles, or bits of rotten bark in the woods, preferably in places where mushrooms grow. Dump material from the forest in the garden.
- Repeat similar supply visits to the woods several times.
- Dispose of mushroom parts that have been cut off, but not the wormy ones, on the part of the garden with forest needles and leaves
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The results should be visible after four years at the latest.
Source: https://www.thompson-morgan.com/how-to-grow-mushrooms