Growing porcini mushrooms on a windowsill at home (+15 photos)

Mushrooms are a common ingredient used by home cooks in a variety of dishes. Porcini mushrooms are the most commonly used. They can be purchased at the store or picked in the forest, but the best option is to grow porcini mushrooms at home on your windowsill. This is a very interesting activity that can eventually become a hobby.

But it's also a very painstaking and labor-intensive endeavor, requiring a significant amount of time and attention. Growing mushrooms at home has mixed reviews—some people succeed, while others never achieve the desired results. Despite these varied results, growing mushrooms is definitely worth a try.

Methods for obtaining mycelium

First, to grow a full-fledged fruit, you need to obtain the necessary growing material. You can find it yourself or purchase it.

To harvest the material yourself, you need to collect old or overripe fruit parts in the forest. Even dried and wormy ones will do. About 10 fruit parts are needed for cultivation. The collected fruits are separated at home, separating the stem from the cap.

Next, prepare a container with water and add alcohol—3 tablespoons per 10 liters of water—another 1 g of potassium permanganate, and 50-60 g of granulated sugar. The separated caps are crushed in your hands and divided into smaller pieces. After this, they are added to the water and ground even more thoroughly until a homogeneous mass is obtained.

The resulting mixture is left to steep for 10-12 hours, then carefully strained through a fine sieve or cheesecloth. The water will contain the necessary mushroom spores, while the crushed caps are discarded. This procedure should only be performed with freshly picked mushrooms, as frozen ones lose their potency.

Another good method is to grow the mushroom using mature mycelium. Dig it up in the forest along with the soil, then plant it in a container with soil at home. If the mycelium is too large, it can be divided into several pieces.

Additionally, mycelium for planting and growing can be purchased. Vendors offer two types of ready-made mycelium: dried grains and pre-germinated mycelium on wood. Experts recommend purchasing mycelium only from trusted sources and reputable vendors. When choosing ready-made planting material, pay attention to its condition. For example, normal mycelium is orange with yellow patches, while an unpleasant odor or brown color may indicate spoilage.

Conditions for growing on a windowsill

To grow mushrooms indoors on a windowsill, you need to create certain conditions that will allow the mushrooms to thrive. First and foremost, mushrooms prefer air with a high humidity level, which should be maintained at at least 90%.

The temperature should be moderate, between 10 and 15 degrees Celsius. Sunlight should be limited, and direct sunlight is highly discouraged. Maintaining a consistent temperature regime is crucial, as fluctuations in temperature will negatively impact fruit growth.

The conditions described above are not comfortable for human habitation, so before you begin growing, it's important to plan and select a suitable growing location. A separate room or even a glassed-in balcony can be an excellent location, as it allows for the creation and maintenance of the necessary conditions.

A step-by-step guide to growing mushrooms at home

To grow mushrooms at home on a windowsill, you need to follow a certain algorithm:

1. Once the mycelium has been prepared, it needs to be planted. Since mushrooms thrive in symbiosis with plants, they can be planted in a pot with houseplants. Experts say that mushrooms grow best with lilies, but you can also try with other houseplants.

   

   

2. Sowing is done as follows: the previously prepared liquid containing the spores is poured into the flower pot in the maximum quantity possible, ensuring that as many spores as possible are absorbed into the substrate and take root. After this, the seedlings must be provided with all the necessary conditions and wait until the fruit parts begin to form and grow. The first harvest can be expected within 12 months, provided all the instructions are followed. Typically, the first year's harvest is quite small, perhaps consisting of only a few mushrooms.

   

3. Mature mycelium can fruit for about four years. However, some experts claim that regularly watering the mycelium with the addition of special microorganisms (available in specialty stores) can extend the fruiting period several times.

White varieties can also be grown in a special substrate. To do this, you'll need to bring soil from the forest, as it's rich in all the nutrients the fruiting bodies need for healthy growth. You'll also need to gather some shredded leaves and branches from the area where the soil was collected.

A small amount of humus and steamed sawdust are added to the forest soil mixture. The resulting mixture is thoroughly mixed and left to steep for a week. The steeped mixture is then placed into containers, usually wooden ones. The mixture is disinfected with alcohol or a potassium permanganate solution is added. Then, spores or store-bought prepared mycelium can be injected into the substrate.

Answers to frequently asked questions

Growing mushrooms at home is considered a hot topic, so many questions arise on this subject:

Growing porcini mushrooms at home is considered not only an interesting endeavor, but also very labor-intensive and challenging. To ensure a successful harvest, you must follow strict care guidelines and consistently maintain specific conditions. In any case, it's worth a try, as eating homemade produce is much more enjoyable than buying it.