Growing porcini mushrooms in the country

Growing porcini mushrooms in the country is not a myth, but a reality. The main thing is to know some of the features and then your work will be productive (it would be surprising if this king of mushrooms did not have his own requirements for caring for him). This article is about how to grow porcini mushrooms in two ways. The first method is growing with mycelium, the second is using fresh mushroom caps.

But first, a little about the mushroom itself

White mushroom is considered to be the most valuable among edible mushrooms. He has a fleshy big hat and a thick, bulging white leg. It is tastier and more aromatic than other mushrooms. And it is called white, because it does not darken during preparation and preparation. Excellent aromatic light sauces, broths and soups, as well as many other dishes are prepared with this mushroom.

All these qualities make it possible to call the porcini mushroom the most desirable in the mushroom picker basket. And if he grows in his own garden, then that is even better.

Well, now about the cultivation of porcini mushrooms in the country.

Growing porcini mushrooms from mycelium

This is the first way to grow in case you don't have time to look for mushrooms in the forest. To grow in this way, firstly, you need to purchase the mycelium of the porcini mushroom. Fortunately, the Internet will help in finding sellers.

In addition to the mycelium, you need:

• growing deciduous or coniferous trees, preferably not very old (about 8-10 years old);
• branches, moss, fallen leaves;
• compost.

By the way, from May to September is the best time to plant the mycelium of porcini mushrooms.

Well, everything is ready, the season is right, we start planting.

First, we will prepare the landing site. To do this, near the tree trunk, you need to remove the top layer of earth (10-20 cm thick) with a shovel in such a way as to obtain an approximately round bare area from 1 to 1.5 m in diameter with a tree in the center.

Then place either compost or 1 to 2 cm thick soil with a high peat content on the bare area, and put pieces of porcini mycelium on top. Insert mycelium in a checkerboard pattern every 25-30 cm. One package of mycelium should be enough for one tree.

After that, cover everything with the layer of soil that was removed at the very beginning. Now water the landing site. Water must be poured carefully through a spray bottle to avoid eroding the soil. One tree needs 2 to 3 buckets of water.

It is recommended to cover the porcini mushroom planting area with a 20-40 cm layer of straw in order to maintain the soil moisture content at 40%. The mycelium should not dry out. From time to time, the area will need to be watered to maintain the necessary moisture. It is recommended to add effective microorganisms to the water during irrigation (for example, Baikal EM-1). This increases the likelihood of seedlings.

To protect against frost, cover the area with mycelium with straw, moss, fallen leaves or spruce branches. Covering radius - about 2m. In the spring, when there will be no more chances of a return of severe frosts, remove the "coverlet".

The first mushrooms will appear a year after the mycelium has taken root. And so porcini mushrooms in the country will delight you for about 3-4 years. If you water the soil with mycelium from time to time with water with effective microorganisms (EM), then you can harvest longer - sometimes even up to 7 years.

As you can see, the technology of growing porcini mushrooms from mycelium is not very complicated.

Growing porcini mushrooms with fresh mushroom caps

As in the first option, you need coniferous or deciduous trees between 8 and 10 years old. If you do not have such on the site, then you will have to look in a nearby forest or forest plantation.

And now it's time to go to the forest for mushrooms, that is, for the so-called "seed material". Such material is the fruiting bodies of the porcini mushrooms and, of course, the caps. Your goal is more mature mushrooms (at least 5-10 pcs.) With caps 10-20 cm in diameter. When breaking, the pulp should have a slight greenish tint. If the mushrooms are infected with insect larvae, it's not scary.

Now let's get down to the planting process itself.

The cultivation of porcini mushrooms using caps is somewhat similar to the cultivation of the previous method, but it also has its own characteristics. To grow in this way, we need:

1. Prepare the harvested mushrooms for sowing;
2. Prepare a place for sowing;
3. Sow mushrooms.

And now more about that.

How to prepare the "seed" of porcini mushrooms?

Place the porcini mushrooms (5-10 pcs.) Collected for sowing in a bucket of water (preferably rainwater) and leave them to soak for a day. After insisting, mash the mushrooms with your hands right in the bucket. You should get a homogeneous mass. Now strain this solution through a sieve or a cloth with rare pores. Do not throw away the pulp that remains. She will also need to be planted. Thus, you got a solution with spores and the mushroom tissue itself.

Preparation of the site for sowing and the "sowing" of porcini mushrooms itself

The sowing site is prepared in the same way as in the previous planting method. But the seeding process is different.

With this method of planting on a bare plot of land, it is necessary to pour the strained solution onto the roots of the tree (about 2 liters per square meter). After watering, place the mushroom tissue on top of the roots that remains after straining. After that, cover everything with earth that was previously removed near this tree, and pour water over it. As with the previous planting method, water very carefully. The amount of water per tree is 4-5 buckets.

Take care of the site, as in the case of planting porcini mushrooms using mycelium. That is, keep the soil moist (especially in summer), and for the winter (and especially before the first winter after planting), cover the ground around the tree. Remove the covering material in the spring.

Watering is enough once a week with 4-5 buckets of water per tree. Although it all depends on the area where you live. If it rains frequently, then, of course, you can reduce the watering.

After a year or two, if the mycelium has taken root, you will collect your porcini mushrooms. They can be from 2 to 5 kg.

By the way, if you "sow" the mushrooms in August, and the mushrooms appear next fall, it means that parts of the caps of the porcini mushrooms have taken root. Well, if the mushrooms appear in 2 years, then the spores have taken root.

As with the mycelium growing method, you will be mushrooming for about 3-4 years. So if you enjoy picking your own porcini mushrooms, plant them again using the same method in a few years.

What do you need to know to increase the chances of mycelium taking root?

Mushrooms can take root better with the following guidelines (some of them work well for both growing methods).

1. When looking for mushrooms for planting, choose mushrooms that grow near the same tree species near which you plan to plant. That is, if an oak grows on your site, then look for porcini mushrooms near the oak too. If you have different trees on the site, then also collect "seed" near different trees, but preferably in different bags or baskets. The trees themselves must be healthy.
2. After picking the mushrooms, they must be immediately soaked (maximum 10 hours after harvest) and sowed the next day. It is impossible to store mushrooms before soaking for more than 10 hours. They decompose quickly. You won't grow anything from frozen mushrooms, so don't even try to freeze them so that you can plant them later.
3. When soaking mushrooms (when preparing seed), sugar or alcohol can be added to the water. This will help the mycelium to take root better. You just need to remember that alcohol is added first, mixed with water, and only then the caps are put to soak. The amount of alcohol is 3-4 tbsp. spoons for 10 liters of water. If you use sugar, then it should only be granulated sugar. Refined sugar cannot be used. You need 50 grams of sugar per 10 liters of water.
4. 2-3 hours before planting the mushrooms, the bare land should be watered with a special disinfection solution. But fear not, these are all natural substances and your eco-garden will not be affected. But pathogenic fungi and bacteria will partially lose their hyperactivity and will not be able to harm your porcini mushrooms.
   A solution of tannins is used to disinfect the site. One tree needs 2-3 liters of such a solution. It can be prepared either from black tea or from oak bark. Watering the area can only be done with a chilled solution.
   You can prepare a tanning solution like this:
   - from black tea
   To prepare 1 liter of the finished solution, you need to pour 50-100 g of low-grade tea with one liter of boiling water and wait until it cools down.
   - from oak bark
   For 1 liter of water, 30 g of oak bark is taken. Boil for an hour. In the process of boiling, add water to the original volume.
5. Mushrooms are planted until mid-September. Later, they will take root worse or not at all. 1-1.5 months before frost, the mycelium can take root and grow. This will provide her with the best wintering conditions.
   The best time for planting porcini mushrooms is August-mid-September.

And again: watch the humidity in the area of ​​the planted mushrooms. In hot summer, water the area with mushrooms with 3-4 buckets of water once a week.

Well, now you know how to grow porcini mushrooms. You will have to work a little, but this is the king of mushrooms and it is worth it. And imagine how you watch the growth of fungi, without fear that someone else will pick them, because they grow on your territory ...

Growing porcini mushrooms in the country will provide you with a personal "forest" harvest.