How to Grow Your Shiitake Mushrooms in Sawdust
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Thouroughly clean the growing area.cleaning product image by AGITA LEIMANE from Fotolia.com
Create a space in your home or garage suitable for growing shiitake mushrooms. The process of making sawdust blocks from scratch can be complicated, involving tedious sterilization of the raw sawdust and the entire working laboratory. Using premade, sterilized blocks takes much less preparation, however the grow area should still be clean and tidy. Wipe any tools and the work surface with a good cleaner. Additionally, spores require a temperature of 50 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit in order to mature. - 2
Microscopic spores turn into meaty shiitakes in nutrient-rich substrate.planet suite image by Robert Kelly from Fotolia.com
Search the web for nutrient-enriched sawdust blocks; online suppliers sell 3 shiitake mushroom patches for about $65, as of mid-2010. Most sawdust blocks have wheat and rice bran mixed in. The mycelium, or mushroom spores, flourish in this type of nutrient-rich substrate, as they permeate the sawdust easily during the growth cycle. - 3
Proper moisture and temperature is essential to healthy mushroom growth.Gotas de ??gua em pl??stico image by Mauro Rodrigues from Fotolia.com
Maintain optimal moisture and temperature in the mushroom-growing environment during the fruiting stage--about 80 percent humidity at room temperature. Follow instructions carefully regarding plastic bag use, moisture and amount of fresh air allowed for each stage of growth. Different products may require different climate adjustments. - 4
Harvest the crop by cutting each mushroom at its base.mushroom image by Henryk Olszewski from Fotolia.com
A white coating will appear in spots on the sawdust block where spores start to grow. After a few weeks, when the block has flushed, or produced a crop of mushrooms, immerse the block in cold water for 48 hours. After the cold water shock, remove the block from the water. Wait about 10 more days and finish the process by cutting each shiitake mushroom at its base. - 5
Many delicious, shiitake mushroom recipes are available on the web.shiitake image by Silvia Bogdanski from Fotolia.com
After another rinsing, mushrooms may be eaten immediately, sold at the marketplace or dried for later use. Shiitakes will keep for two to three weeks in the refrigerator and for months in a dried state; just add a little water and they'll reconstitute.
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