Growing mushrooms in your garden: tips and techniques (+18 photos)

Mushrooms are not only a tasty food rich in proteins, vitamins, and microelements, but also good garden companions. Many trees grow symbiotically with mushrooms, forming mycorrhiza. Thanks to this, they obtain nutrition from each other without competing, as each needs its own nutrients.

Therefore, growing mushrooms in your garden will be both rewarding and interesting. A nice feature: they can be planted throughout the season, from spring to fall. This gives the gardener ample time to prepare and learn the process.

Types of mushrooms suitable for growing in the garden

Growing mushrooms at your dacha or in your garden doesn't mean you can just plant whatever you want. Each species requires specific conditions and companions.

Some species can grow naturally in a garden. These include the rowan mushroom, the white dung beetle, the parasol mushroom, the champignon mushroom, the shiitake mushroom, the pig mushroom, the morel mushroom, the oyster mushroom, the saffron milk cap, and the butter mushroom. Their spores enter the soil in various ways: carried by the wind or birds, and settle if the conditions are right—the moisture and shade of the area, the presence of beneficial plants, and the composition of the soil.

Some mushrooms seek out their own trees because they have a special relationship with them—mycorrhiza. Sometimes they're easy to identify by their names: birch bolete, aspen bolete, oak bolete. Trees need them to obtain water and micronutrients, while mushrooms are attracted to the sweet tree sap. Therefore, by the way, nutrient-rich soil isn't crucial for a mushroom if it's in symbiosis with a tree.

With certain steps, you can grow forest species on your property. The following are the most successful species grown in your garden:

1. The white mushroom and the boletus are the most coveted mushrooms for any mushroom picker. They differ in appearance, and each prefers a different tree species: some species are symbiotic with birch, pine, and spruce. To introduce mushrooms to your plot, it's best to bring a young tree from the forest, but one that grew near an adult, so its roots are sure to be colonized by boletus.

   

   

2. The red-cap boletus can be grown near an aspen or pine tree. It's very distinctive, with a red or brown cap and a spotted, scaly stem. It's very tasty.

   

   

3. The birch bolete is much easier to grow in your garden than the previous varieties, as it's less demanding. True, its fruiting body is less dense, but it produces more fruit.

   

   

4. Honey mushrooms grow on stumps and old tree trunks. They thrive especially well if there's a secluded spot on the property where trees once grew.

   

   

5. Chanterelles are attractive, tasty, and nutritious, and are also used to treat parasites. They often grow near coniferous trees.

   

   

In general, if you are interested in a particular type of mushroom, you need to study its habitat, its feeding habits, and try to recreate these conditions on your property.

Choosing a location

To successfully grow mushrooms in your garden, it's important to choose the right location for the mycelium. The key requirements are high-moisture, nutrient-rich soil, and shade. A forest-like environment with dense shade and soil composed of layered, perennial compost made from fallen leaves, fallen trunks, and old tree trunks recycled by insects is essential.

Many mushrooms thrive only in symbiosis with specific tree species. For example, birch boletes, as the name suggests, prefer birch trees, although they can also be found near aspen trees. Fruit trees, however, aren't particularly attractive to forest dwellers.

But there's a solution here too: modern gardening recommends growing forest gardens, where trees of different species support each other and don't compete for nutrients. In such a planting, mycelium will also find room.

Some mushrooms act as "orderlies," that is, they recycle dead trees. These include honey mushrooms and oyster mushrooms, for example. If you plan to grow them at home, you'll need to prepare a site. This isn't difficult, as it's common to have trees at your dacha that can be cut down—they'll be useful for mycelium.

Technology and step-by-step algorithm

Mushrooms aren't plants; you can't just sow them in a garden bed. It's helpful to understand many nuances. For example, a mushroom consists of a mushroom body (which is precisely the element we need as food) and a mycelium—an underground white network of numerous root fibers. And they can be propagated in several ways.

From mycelium

If you find a mushroom spot you like in the forest and it's prolific, you can transplant it to your plot by cutting out a piece of the mycelium to form a ball of earth. It needs to be moist when transported to your dacha, so it's best to place it in a container or bag, wrap it in leaves, moss, or a cloth, and moisten it for transport.

In a shady spot in the garden, dig holes and compact them with leaves and sawdust to create a loose and nutritious soil. Insert the mycelium fragments into the holes, water them, and cover with turf and leaves. Keep them moist.

When it comes to honey mushrooms, it's important to remember that they are saprophytes, meaning they feed on dead trees. Therefore, you'll need to bring home a piece of a stump or trunk and choose a shady spot for it. Ideally, place a felled tree there to give the mushrooms something to feed on and room to grow.

Growing from spores

The spore sowing option requires preparation, namely fermentation.

This is a process that usually occurs naturally:

• under the influence of the gastric juice of an animal that has eaten the fungal body and passed the spores through itself, leaving feces on the ground;
• rotting until the next season.

At home, you can take an overripe mushroom, even one with worms, separate the tubular or lamellar layer from under the cap, and fill it with water (not tap water, chlorine-free). To speed up the process, add a few spoons of sugar and kvass powder to the mixture, and crush the caps by hand to separate the spores. This fermentation can take anywhere from a few days to several weeks.

Once ready, choose a cloudy day and strain the liquid through a coarse sieve, dilute it with clean water at a ratio of 1:100, then pour it over the selected areas of the garden. You can remove the sod and water the soil, then replace the layer, also moistening it from above.

From mycelium

You can simply buy mycelium at the store. It's usually grown on cereal grains and stored in packages in a cool place. It's best to test it before planting: open the package and keep it in a warm place for a few days, spraying it with water.

The package usually comes with step-by-step sowing instructions, so it's best to follow them. Otherwise, follow these steps:

• In a chosen shady spot, remove the top layer of sod and dig a trench or wide hole 40 cm deep. Its area depends on the amount of mycelium in the bundle;
• fill the hole halfway with wood chips, straw, sawdust, and leaves;
• the last 20 cm is compost and garden soil;
• Sprinkle the wet, pre-heated mycelium over the prepared surface and lightly compact it with gloved hands;
• Cover the area with leaves and sawdust, water.

Keep the hole moist, especially during the first two weeks. Sometimes you can buy a ready-made mycelium and substrate mixture; simply place it in the hole, mulch, and water.

All of the above planting methods may not produce results quickly; sometimes the wait will last a year or two.

Caring for mycelium

A summer cottage's mushroom "bed" also requires attention. The most important aspect of care is watering. The mycelium should always be moist. During hot periods, it needs to be watered, preferably using a drip irrigation system. A suitable location in the shade will help maintain moisture; they benefit from morning and evening sun.

For better survival, the plot should be periodically watered with a sugar-water solution at a ratio of 10 g per 10 liters. This acts as a fertilizer. Harvesting should be done on time to prevent old mushroom bodies from becoming wormy and infecting the entire mycelium.

Answers to frequently asked questions

Growing mushrooms isn't a particularly common practice among gardeners, and naturally, learning about the process raises a lot of questions. Here are a few.

Growing mushrooms at home may involve difficulties and setbacks. But it's still a rewarding experience, and with persistence and diligence, success is sure to come, and the garden will surely delight the owner with fresh mushrooms.