How to grow shiitake mushrooms at home. Growing shiitake at home - preparation, planting and care

Since the development of home gardening, people began to cultivate many plants. In the beds and gardens you can find outlandish bushes, trees and fruit crops, which 30-50 years ago grew only in forests and swamps. Recently, you can often find home mushroom farms. Gardeners began to grow honey mushrooms and shiitakes in gardens or on balconies.

• Shiitake mushrooms are widely used in cooking. Per 100 grams of weight of this product there are only 34 kcal. Therefore, it can be classified as dietary food. Mushrooms have a slightly spicy, pleasant taste and are similar in structure to meat. They are included in a large number of recipes, such as soups, omelettes, sandwiches, salads and so on. They can be eaten raw, and the mushrooms will have their own unique taste. When cooking, some nuances are lost, but a pleasant spiciness and aroma remain.
• Mushrooms are also used for medicinal purposes. Due to their unique composition, they are often used in the treatment of cancer. Although research in this area is still ongoing, the positive effects have been noted by many doctors. They are also recommended for use in other serious diseases.
• Shiitake mushrooms are used in the cosmetics industry. Based on them, various creams, masks and lotions are prepared, which are aimed at increasing the elasticity and firmness of the skin. Also, these drugs nourish the skin, improve complexion, restore water balance, and rejuvenate cells.

No harmful properties of these mushrooms have been identified. Doctors do not recommend using them during pregnancy and for those people who suffer from bronchial asthma. Otherwise, they have a beneficial effect.

Shiitake mushrooms have been studied by world laboratories and the results exceeded all expectations. This product contains a large number of substances and microelements that not only have a beneficial effect on the body, but can also cure some complex diseases.

In China, he is considered the emperor of all mushrooms.

It helps in the treatment of viral diseases, reduces the amount of cholesterol in the blood and increases blood circulation. Due to the content of large amounts of amino acids, vitamins and hormones, it helps reduce cancerous tumors. These mushrooms can be used for diabetes, stomach diseases, allergies and other diseases. At the same time, your health status will improve significantly.

Growing shiitake mushrooms at home is not difficult. The necessary materials can be purchased in specialized stores, and the whole process is so simple that even a novice gardener can handle it with ease. As a result, you can get environmentally friendly, healthy and tasty products.

More information can be found in the video.

Shiitake is one of the most popular artificially cultivated mushrooms. It is especially loved in the countries of Southeast Asia and especially in Japan and China. This mushroom is loved not only by gourmets for its excellent taste, but also by mushroom growers for its high yield and relative ease of cultivation. In Russia, shiitake is also known, but is inferior in popularity to champignons and oyster mushrooms. In other words, competition among its manufacturers in our country is not yet very high.

The shiitake mushroom (a more correct transcription is shiitake) is also known as Japanese forest mushroom and edible lentinula.

Shiitake is medium in size: the cap is from five to twenty centimeters in diameter, and is brown or coffee in color. The shape of the cap is convex or slightly flattened. The outer skin is dotted with small light scales. Old mushrooms have uneven and bent edges of their caps.

The underside of the cap is covered with white plates, which, when damaged, darken, taking on a brown tint. The leg is also brown, but always noticeably lighter than the cap. Its length ranges from three to nineteen centimeters with an average diameter of about a centimeter.

The pulp has a light creamy or yellowish-whitish hue, as well as a pleasant taste (even when raw) and smell. In the cap the flesh is fleshy, in the stem it is much tougher and fibrous.

In their natural environment, Japanese shiitakes are found in deciduous and mixed forests in Japan, Korea, northern China and Russian Primorye. These are typical saprotrophs living on dead tree trunks, especially preferring Castanopsis acuminate, Mongolian oak and Amur linden. Small groups of shiitake appear after rains throughout the warm season.

On the territory of the Russian Federation, shiitake is found only in Primorye, so it is basically useless to look for it outside this region. In Primorye itself, only three types of mushrooms grow, which theoretically can be confused with shiitake. We are talking about mushrooms of the champignon genus - dark red, forest and August. They have a similar color scheme and scales on their caps.

An experienced mushroom picker will never confuse shiitake with champignons, if only because the Japanese forest mushroom grows only on dead wood, and the mentioned champignons grow on the ground. Their fruiting dates also differ. Champignons appear in the summer and fall, and shiitake is available for harvest in the spring.

However, even if a novice mushroom picker still confuses shiitake with champignons, no big harm will come of it, since all these mushrooms are edible.

The Japanese forest mushroom is deservedly considered the leader in taste characteristics among all artificially cultivated mushrooms. In terms of taste, it is often compared even with boletus. In Korean, Chinese and Japanese cuisine, shiitake is perhaps the main mushroom.

The Japanese mushroom performs well in any mushroom dishes and lends itself to all types of culinary processing. In Asian cuisines, it is also very common to make powder from dried shiitake and then use it in soups. Dried shiitakes retain their natural flavor surprisingly well, making them excellent as an aromatic seasoning. However, when dried, these mushrooms noticeably lose their taste, so many Japanese gourmets prefer them only fresh.

It should be noted that shiitake has a slightly pungent taste, and this often scares away Europeans who are not accustomed to it. But during heat treatment, a significant part of this pungency disappears, so the taste of shiitake cannot be considered completely exotic.

These mushrooms have found no less widespread use in folk and modern medicine. For centuries they have been used as a rejuvenating agent that, among other things, strengthens male potency. Shiitake was also used directly for medicinal purposes: to reduce fever during fever and to cleanse the blood of toxins.

In the modern world, it is also widely used for medical purposes. With its help they fight against viral infections, heart and stomach diseases. In addition, shiitake helps lower blood sugar levels and break down cholesterol in blood vessels.

The great benefits of shiitake also manifest themselves in cosmetology medicine, where products are made on its basis to combat certain skin diseases.

Growing shiitake at home

The Japanese and Chinese grow shiitake on logs, which to a certain extent makes this technique similar to growing oyster mushrooms. But there are significant differences here. Firstly, shiitake mycelium grows much slower than oyster mushroom mycelium, which makes it difficult to fight mold that competes with the mycelium.

Secondly, oyster mushroom fruiting is provoked by a decrease in temperature, which should imitate the arrival of autumn, and shiitake begins to bear fruit after watering the “bed,” which imitates the rainy season. Thus, although growing shiitake requires precise adherence to special technology, growing it at home is easier than oyster mushrooms, which require a climate control system.

There are two approaches to growing shiitake - intensive (industrial) and amateur. The industrial method can significantly reduce the ripening time of the crop and involves heat treatment of the sawdust substrate. Fruiting occurs all year round in a temperature-controlled room.

With the amateur method, mushroom growers try to follow the general outline of the industrial method, but using available materials and having to neglect sterility at some stages.

The basis for the nutrient substrate is formed from oak, maple or beech sawdust. Alder, birch, poplar, aspen sawdust, and in exceptional cases other types of trees are also allowed. Coniferous trees are completely unsuitable for growing shiitake mushrooms.

You should also pay attention to the size of the sawdust: optimally two to three millimeters. Smaller sawdust impedes air exchange in the substrate, which slows down the development of the fungus. But you shouldn’t take too large sawdust either, since an increase in oxygen content turns the substrate into a favorable environment for the development of competitive organisms.

To accelerate the growth of mycelium and increase productivity, sawdust is diluted with nutritional supplements. This role is usually filled with grain or bran of wheat and barley, bean flour, or other organic waste of this type. Gypsum or chalk is also mixed into the substrate to maintain optimal acidity. In general, all these additives can account for from 10 to 40% of the substrate volume.

After adding all additional components to the sawdust, the substrate is thoroughly mixed and then water is added to ensure the humidity of the nutrient medium is not lower than 55%. However, the main difficulty is to create optimal conditions for growing shiitake, while preventing the development of mold and other competitive organisms in the substrate. To combat them, before inoculating the mycelium, the substrate is sterilized or pasteurized. Only after this the mycelium is placed into the disinfected and cooled mixture.

Usually the substrate is sterilized using autoclaves, having previously been packaged in bags. But there are also alternative methods, when the substrate is first sterilized as a whole, allowed to cool, inoculated, and only then placed in bags. True, in this case everything will have to be done under sterile conditions, which will require additional costs.

Speaking of bags. It is best to use thick plastic bags with a volume of one to six liters. Having placed the inoculated mycelium in them, they are closed and sealed with a plug of cotton wool and gauze through which air will circulate.

Inoculation, that is, sowing of mycelium, must be carried out only in a sterile substrate and only under the conditions of a special sterile box in order to avoid the entry into the substrate of competitive organisms that develop faster than shiitake mycelium. It is important that the temperature of the substrate at the time of inoculation is not less than 20 and not more than 30 degrees Celsius.

The properties of the shiitake mushroom are such that it is better to germinate the mycelium in wheat or barley grain. By the time of inoculation, this planting material consists of tightly stuck together blocks. For this reason, grain blocks must be ground back into individual grains before inoculation. The sowing rate of grains infected with mycelium is from two to five percent of the total mass of the substrate.

After sowing, the mycelium develops in a room at room temperature for 6-10 weeks, after which the substrate, formed into dense lumps and overgrown with mycelium, is removed from polyethylene, transferred to a cooler and more humid room, where it is left in this “bare” form. The harvest from these blocks is obtained within three to six months.

Amateur technology

Since it is impossible to achieve complete sterility when growing shiitake mushrooms at home, the effectiveness of amateur technology is significantly lower than industrial technology.

The substrate is made using the same sawdust or shavings of hardwood. It is also recommended to use standard types of additives, since they are not difficult to obtain. The substrate mixture must be packaged in agrilic bags. Agril is a special “breathable” material designed for covering garden beds.

Then these bags should be placed in hot water for 10-15 minutes, after which pasteurization is performed: at a temperature of 60 degrees, the mixture is kept for about a day and another three days at 50 degrees. After the substrate has cooled, it is removed from the bags and placed in sterilized 3-liter jars, having previously inoculated it with mycelium. The jars are sealed with a cotton stopper.

Jars with inoculated substrate are left to become overgrown with mycelium at a temperature of seventeen to twenty-two degrees for two months. After this, the mixture must be removed from the jars again and returned to breathable bags, leaving it like that for another two weeks. During this time, the mycelium will form a dense block from the substrate, which must be soaked in water for several hours (up to a day). After this, after two weeks the first mushrooms should appear.

Methods of intensive and extensive cultivation of shiitake. In its homeland, Japan, shiitake is considered one of the most valuable mushrooms. Its healing properties and excellent taste have long been noted there. A long time ago, it was grown on Japanese plantations that grew around areas where shii trees grew, where its spores were carried by self-sowing.

Gradually, the places where the mushroom settled were furnished with log houses of the same type, and the borders of the plantations were protected by a high fence. Thin, fresh trunks, one and a half meters long, were placed crosswise, fixing the vertical position with the help of support on a raised horizontal leg. Over time, fungal spores were carried by winds from neighboring logs with ripened shiitakes. Caring for such plantations came down to timely harvesting and periodic replacement of fruit-bearing logs with new, fresh logs.

Over time, the fame of shiitake has spread far beyond Japan. Of course, modern methods of growing this mushroom have become significantly improved. The methods of intensive cultivation of shiitake used today can achieve effective results, but require a more thorough approach.

In the conditions of the middle zone, shiitake can be grown both in artificial conditions and in an open environment. At the same time, in addition to the traditional log house, it is possible to use various substrate blocks of your own or purchased ready-made from manufacturers.

Growing shiitake in log houses

Thanks to a specific enzyme that decomposes tannins (tannase), shiitake has a significant advantage over other types of mushrooms when developing wood. To grow it in the Russian climate, oak logs, as well as other local tree species, are mainly used.

Log houses are prepared in late autumn (a month after leaf fall) or early spring before the weather warms up and the buds open. During this period, the maximum amount of carbohydrates available to the fungus accumulates in the wood. In addition, the bark is attached tightly enough, which minimizes the risk of infection by mold fungi.

In autumn, oak can be cut down when its foliage turns reddish. It is advisable to select trunks with a diameter of 10 to 25 cm. After this, the prepared log houses should lie for about a month and a half, after which they are sawed into meter-long logs.

Sowing shiitake spores into wood (inoculation) is carried out using grain mycelium. To do this, you need to drill 20 mm holes along the side surfaces of the chocks, 6-8 cm deep with an interval of 6 cm.

With clean hands, grain mycelium is stuffed into them and compacted so that it is recessed by 1 cm relative to the surface. The mycelium consumption will be at least 0.2 kg/1 linear m. To prevent the mycelium from spilling out, cover the infected areas with wood shavings and cover them with garden varnish or seal them with tape.

An alternative to this method of infecting wood is to use wooden wedges or wood chips contaminated with mycelium. To do this, they must first be kept in a substrate with developing fungal mycelium, or use a commercial ready-made option.

To introduce infected wood fragments into chocks, deep splits are made along them in a fan-shaped manner, reaching almost to the center. You can prevent infection of the inoculation site by tying the log house with plastic film.

Growing shiitake on substrate

The yield of shiitake on substrate blocks is significantly higher compared to the results of growing on logs. You can purchase ready-made substrate mixtures or prepare them yourself.

First substrate option. To prepare the substrate, you need to mix chopped straw, sawdust from deciduous trees (preferably oak, hornbeam) and rice bran in equal parts. Then starch, corn and soy flour are added to the mixture in a volume of 0.5% by weight of the substrate. To soften these components, slaked lime (0.5%) and water (70%) are added.

Second substrate option. Wheat straw, chopped into pieces 5 cm long, is kept in water for several days. After this, 10% gypsum (based on the weight of dry straw) and bird feather flour (3%) are added to it. The mixed mixture is poured with water (80%).

The soaked components of the substrate absorb a sufficient amount of water within 5 minutes, adding about 30% of the original weight. Excess water is drained through a colander, and the remainder is carefully squeezed out by hand.

The prepared substrate is packaged in polyethylene rectangular bags (25x40 cm). Each of them can hold approximately 1.5 kg of moistened substrate mixture.

Before tying the top of the bags, you need to prepare padding polyester plugs. To do this, the synthetic winterizer is cut into strips measuring 40x7 cm and rolled into tight rolls, fixing their condition with a winding of thread. These plugs are inserted into the neck of the bags and then tied with twine.

At the next stage of preparing substrate blocks, they must be pasteurized to destroy fungal mold spores. To do this, the bags with the substrate are placed in a lidded boiling pot with boiling water and boiled for 2-3 hours. In this case, it is necessary to maintain a constant volume of water so that its level is just below the place where the neck is ligated. Then the substrate is removed and left to cool for a day. To be on the safe side, it is recommended to repeat this procedure the next day.

When the substrate has completely cooled down to ambient temperature (25°C), the neck of the bag is untied and about 20 g of grain mycelium is added per block weighing 2.5 kg.

After this, the padding polyester roll is reinserted into the neck of the bag and tightened with a rope. To maintain normal air exchange, holes of 5 mm in diameter are cut on the sides of plastic bags at intervals of 3 cm.

Method of intensive cultivation of shiitake

The most effective results from growing shiitake can be achieved by keeping infected substrate blocks in greenhouse conditions. This method is more labor-intensive and expensive, but also more reliable.

To incubate shiitake mycelium, infected substrate blocks in bags are placed in boxes and transferred to the greenhouse. Here they should be kept at a constant temperature of 15-17°C and regular ventilation. Creating such optimal conditions allows you to avoid souring and overheating of the substrate. The light mode at this stage is not so important. The duration and intensity of illumination does not affect the development of the substrate by mycelium.

After 2 months, the mushroom mycelium will begin to protrude on the surface of the substrate, forming white spots. And by this time the substrate itself will turn into a monolithic mass (block). Now is the time to remove the substrate blocks from the boxes in which they were previously located, moisten them and place them on the racks.

From this moment on, the greenhouse regime is set to a temperature of 18°C ​​and a humidity of 90%. Now illumination plays an extremely significant role. Normal development of fruiting bodies occurs when daylight hours are more than 12 hours. To do this, it is necessary to turn on additional lighting with fluorescent lamps with an intensity of 120 lux.

In addition, you must not forget about regular air exchange and arrange regular ventilation or turn on ventilation. This is necessary to get rid of the gases released by the mycelium, the accumulation of which leads to inhibition of the development of fruiting bodies.

After the formation of fungal primordia, the humidity of the environment is reduced to 80%. In more humid conditions, the stems of the mushrooms become very elongated, and the caps remain underdeveloped and small.

The temperature conditions for further cultivation of shiitake in a greenhouse depend on the specific race of the mushroom. For example, the cold-loving race develops well at 18C. In conditions of elevated temperatures, fruiting deteriorates significantly, as does the quality of the mushrooms themselves. Their caps become thin, brittle, and their taste deteriorates.

Under greenhouse growing conditions, the shiitake mushroom bears fruit in waves. The first harvest is the most abundant. It accounts for up to 70% of the weight of the total harvest. The second wave of the harvest reaches only a quarter of the previous one. Coming in a few months, the last harvest wave will be represented by literally a few units of fruiting bodies. Without waiting for final ripening, as soon as the caps become convex, you can cut off all the mushrooms at the base of the stem.

When using this method of effectively cultivating shiitake, the average yield is about 20% by weight of the wet substrate.

Growing shiitake in the garden
Shiitake mushroom is quite adapted to the open climatic conditions of the middle zone. It is successfully grown in garden plots during warm seasons.

On the log house

Logs infected with fungal mycelium through drilled holes are immediately installed in a permanent fruiting place. The duration of incubation can be from 1 to 3 years, and the lifespan of shiitake on log houses is 5-8 years.

The material prepared in this way is laid on the ground, covered with a layer of peat or straw and covered with plastic film. The log houses are periodically moistened. When the daytime air warms up to 25°C, the mycelium begins to germinate.

In the fall, logs mastered by mycelium are brought into a cool, dark basement for winter storage. In the spring they are returned to their original places. With the onset of warmth, active formation of fruiting bodies begins. Wave fruiting will last until mid-autumn, but the most abundant and high-quality shiitake crop is harvested in the spring.

At the end of the third year of fruiting, the logs are moved to a dry, dark room, where they are laid out in stacks. After keeping them for two months, they are watered abundantly and again taken out into an open, illuminated environment for fruiting.

This method is quite simple, but its effectiveness depends significantly on the season, weather conditions and other external factors. The maximum yield of shiitake when grown in log houses in open conditions does not exceed 15% of the weight of the wood.

On substrate blocks

Substrate blocks prepared over the winter, infected with shiitake mycelium, will bear fruit in open conditions from the beginning of April to the end of October. Dense blocks can be moved, changing the growing area, watered, immersed in water in between harvest waves. Collected mushrooms can be frozen and dried, significantly increasing shelf life.

The principle of installing substrate blocks for growing shiitake in open conditions differs from the technique described earlier. In this case, before installation, the substrate blocks are removed from plastic bags and washed under running cold water. After this, they are immediately placed in a permanent place directly on the ground.

For growing mushrooms, it is advisable to choose a shaded place. When caring for substrate blocks, daily watering is necessary, especially after the formation of fruiting bodies.

In the hot, dry season, to stimulate the development of mycelium, plastic caps (inverted, untied packaging bags) are placed over the blocks. When the first mushrooms appear, they are removed and the substrate is abundantly moistened.

To simplify the pasteurization procedure for self-prepared blocks for growing shiitake in open conditions, this process can be done locally. To do this, use a 200 liter metal barrel placed on a fire. It is filled ¼ with water, above the level of which the grate is securely fixed (for example, on bricks). Substrate blocks are laid out on it in several tiers. Then the barrel is covered with a lid and the fire is lit. Thus, the substrate is steamed in a water bath for 6 hours.

When picking mushrooms, first cut off their caps and then remove the remaining “stumps”. If, after the final harvest of the first harvest wave, the weight of a substrate block with a volume of 2.5 liters is less than 0.8 kg, it needs to be soaked for several days until its weight increases to 2 kg.

The operational life of the substrate block is up to 6 waves of fruiting. Then it begins to crumble and fruiting stops.

On a summer cottage it is becoming increasingly popular for a number of understandable reasons. This is an opportunity to organize a family business, and an area of ​​practical application of one’s hobbies, and an activity that allows one to preserve natural resources. One of the promising areas for creating mushroom farms is growing shiitake at home. Today, two methods of artificial reproduction of the culture of this fungus are used, intensive and extensive.

The use of intensive technology makes it possible to obtain environmentally friendly products regardless of weather conditions and changing seasons: all the conditions necessary and mandatory for effective production are provided and strictly controlled by the mushroom grower himself.

The growing process must go through the following stages sequentially.

Substrate preparation

To grow shiitake at home using the intensive method, it is necessary to use multicomponent substrates, the basis of which is certainly sawdust from deciduous trees, preferably hardwood. To increase nutritional properties and improve physical performance, grain, bran, food and agricultural waste, and calcined mineral additives are added. The options for the qualitative composition of the nutrient medium where the mycelium of shiitake mushrooms will develop are varied, but in any case, growing on a substrate containing at least 2-5% oak or beech sawdust will have a positive effect on the future harvest.

The substrate is packaged in polypropylene bags equipped with gas exchange filters, and then sterilized under pressure. A milder disinfection option is also possible - pasteurization for 8 to 12 hours with hot water.

Sterilization is mandatory to increase the resistance of shiitake mycelium to the effects of competing microorganisms and eliminate the possibility of mold development.

Introduction of mycelium

The heat-treated substrate is cooled to a temperature of 20-30 ° C. This is done either in an autoclave using a cotton filter installed at the air inlet, or by passing air through a filter in a special box. Then the substrate is evenly laid out in 3-5 kg ​​pieces in plastic bags. In this case, preliminary treatment of their internal surface with an antiseptic is necessary. Only after this is inoculation carried out: either grain or sawdust mycelium is added there.

Grain mycelium is individual grains of millet or wheat overgrown with mycelium. It crushes well, is evenly distributed throughout the volume of the substrate, and the grain itself feeds the mycelium. The sowing rate for such mycelium is 2% of the volume of the substrate.

Sawdust mycelium is grown on a mixture of sawdust and bran. The mycelium develops quite quickly in the environment to which it is already adapted. It should be applied in an amount of 5-7% of the volume.

At the end of inoculation, the bags are immediately sealed.

Incubation

The optimal temperature at which mycelium grows is 25°C. Overheating of packages (blocks) is unacceptable: at 28-30°C and above, the shiitake mycelium weakens. There are no humidity requirements: throughout the entire period, which lasts 20-40 days, the inoculated substrate is kept in sealed bags. The blocks must be illuminated for 6-8 hours a day at an intensity of 50-100 lux to stimulate the appearance of embryos of fruiting bodies.

During incubation, the mycelium goes through the following stages:

• colonization (“white block” – the color of the package, indicating complete colonization) with the absorption of nutrients from the substrate;
• ripening when the packet enters the “brown block” phase, which means it is ready to bear fruit.

Throughout the incubation period, the bags should be handled with extreme caution, avoiding their rupture and contact with cutting surfaces. It is best to store them individually on shelves, or stagger them on top of each other in 2-3 rows.

Fruiting

With the onset of the “brown block” phase, bags with mycelium are placed in a separate fruiting chamber, where a certain microclimate must be maintained. In this case, the following parameters must be maintained:

• air temperature 14-20°C;
• humidity 80-95% at the initial moment, 50-70% at the collection stage;
• illumination intensity 100-200 lux for at least 8-12 hours;
• CO 2 content in the air is not higher than 0.2%.

The cycle itself consists of the following stages:

• induction of fruit formation;
• fruit formation;
• fruiting;
• rest period.

There may be several periods (waves) of fruiting throughout the year. For each of them, the microclimate is formed individually.

For the first wave, induction is carried out in the fruiting chamber, where blocks from the incubation box are moved. Provide the following conditions:

• the substrate temperature must be reduced to 14-18°C;
• CO 2 level should be from 1000 to 2000 ppm;
• stimulation with lighting with an intensity of 100-200 lux for 8-12 hours.

To carry out induction for the second and subsequent waves, the blocks are soaked for 12-48 hours in water at a temperature of 10 to 16 ° C, ensuring an increase in substrate humidity to 75-80%. If necessary, the water is disinfected; before and after soaking the blocks, the containers must be disinfected. Old and new blocks are induced separately from each other, after which they are dried for several days. Fruit formation begins when the substrate moisture level drops to 65%.

Harvesting

It is best to collect shiitakes at the stage of “technical ripeness”, not quite ripe: their taste at this moment is much better.

4-6 hours before the start of collection, air humidity must be reduced to 60% so that the cuticle of the caps becomes rigid. This increases the shelf life of collected mushrooms. Remove shiitakes in such a way that the stems do not remain in the substrate, attracting pests or activating the formation of mold. At the end of the harvest, the mycelium should accumulate nutrients for the next fruiting period. To speed up this process, the air temperature must be increased to 20-25°C.

Intensive cultivation of shiitake mushrooms at home is financially expensive, technically difficult, and requires sufficiently spacious and specially equipped isolated rooms. Another difficulty is the fact that almost all stages of cultivation require maintaining the sterility of premises, instruments, and personnel clothing.
Another method that allows you to grow these mushrooms on your own is more accessible and quite effective.

Extensive cultivation method

The principle of extensive technology for growing shiitake at home is to create an environment for the growth of the mushroom that is as similar as possible to the natural one.

The introduction of mycelium is done using freshly cut fragments of tree trunks. For this, oak, beech, chestnut, hornbeam, and birch are usually chosen. Preparations are made during the period of the highest concentration of sugars in tree sap: after the leaves have dropped and before the sap begins to flow. Pay attention to the absence of signs of damage by xylotrophs and pests. The trunks are sawn into logs from 1 to 1.5 m long and 10–20 cm in diameter, kept in open space for 1 to 3 months, then inoculated.

Taking into account the climatic conditions of the area where shiitake is grown, it is advisable to inoculate with the appropriate strains.

1. Heat-loving (summer) fruits well in a humid, warm climate from May to September at temperatures from 14 to 27°C.
2. For cold-loving plants (autumn-spring), the optimal temperature will be from 7 to 16°C. The strain bears fruit from March to May and from September to November. The mushrooms are of good quality, although they develop rather slowly.
3. The mycelium of all-season strains grows quickly in wood, fruiting occurs in a wide temperature range from 10 to 25°C from May to November. In enclosed spaces with the ability to control the microclimate, the use of this strain allows you to obtain a year-round harvest.

The inoculation process itself is carried out as follows. In seasoned chocks, holes are made in the floor with a diameter of 2 cm to a depth of 1.5 cm, placing them in a checkerboard pattern. Shiitake grain mycelium is placed in them and filled with wax. The logs sowed in this way are stacked in shaded areas on cleared areas.

The incubation period (time of mycelium growth in wood) depends on the volume of seeded material, the quality of the mycelium, temperature, air humidity and lasts from 6 to 18 months. The optimal air temperature for germination is 24-28°C with a humidity of 70-90%. In the middle zone and southern regions, the mycelium tolerates wintering well: it is enough to cover the logs with straw or move them to the basement.

After complete germination of the mycelium, fruit formation is stimulated. To do this, the logs are soaked in water for 24-72 hours, then placed vertically or at an angle in a shaded area, but not in complete darkness. The first rudiments of fruiting bodies appear after 7-10 days.

The fruiting period of shiitake usually occurs twice a year. At the end of each wave of fruiting (during the dormant period), to maintain stable environmental parameters, the chocks are covered with breathable material. Depending on the size of the chocks, the yield lasts from two to five years. The average number of mushrooms collected using this growing method from 1 m² of wood over the total time ranges from 200 to 250 kg.

This is how shiitake, the imperial mushroom, has been grown for a long time, but has not yet been fully studied, modest in appearance, but possessing an exquisite taste and, due to the totality of its qualities, deserving the close interest of an enthusiastic person.

Artificial cultivation of shiitake, so popular today, began in the countries of China, Japan and Korea. Actually, these countries were and are those in which this mushroom grows in the wild.

Shiitake mushroom, or black mushroom, is a delicacy. Under natural conditions it grows on the trunks of a tree called castanopsis long-pointed.

For the first time, this type of mushroom was grown on logs that underwent special treatment. These logs were located in the mountainous regions of eastern countries such as China, Japan and Korea. The climatic zone was chosen with a temperate climate. These eastern countries actively cultivate shiitake mushrooms to this day.

In recent years, shiitake has become extremely popular not only in the countries where it grows, but also in many others. According to recent data, the global export and production of this mushroom has increased more than 30 times. Its approximate volume was 400 tons per year.

Around the 70s, its cultivation began in the USA. Domestic countries are actively studying the possibility of organizing mass cultivation of the so-called black fungus.

Valuable properties of the mushroom

This woody mushroom has excellent taste, as well as an indescribable aroma, which is reminiscent of porcini mushroom and champignons at the same time.

There are many uses for shiitake. They are actively used in the following areas:

• in culinary recipes,
• for medical purposes.
• for cosmetic purposes.

Its main value for cooking is its special property, which allows, in combination with other products, not to interrupt their taste, but to saturate it, giving special notes to the dish.

Shiitake is used in alternative medicine to treat a number of diseases: cardiovascular, diabetes. It destroys a large number of different types of viruses and strengthens the immune system. But you need to treat it with caution, because this mushroom can cause a serious allergic reaction.

It is also indispensable for cosmetic procedures, because it is rich in lipids, proteins, vitamins and microelements that nourish the skin, making it healthy and radiant.

Now it is clear why the black mushroom is so valued not only in the countries where it grows, but also in most others where it is exported in large volumes.

Industrial cultivation of shiitake

In order to start growing mushrooms, it is necessary to study the conditions that will be most favorable for this process.

Farms that grow these mushrooms in large quantities use an extensive method. It involves growing a mushroom on tree stumps of such tree species as oak, beech, chestnut, birch, poplar, and maple. The volume of such farms for growing mushrooms can be very different, from several dozen such stumps to several hundred thousand.

Growing conditions in such farms are as close to natural as possible. They work seasonally and require minimal investment.

To organize such a farm, you need to choose a region with fairly humid climatic conditions. When the location of the farm has been determined, you need to start preparing the stumps.

Trees are cut down at a time when they have already lost all their leaves, but the movement of juices in the trunks has not yet begun. At this moment, the trunk contains a very high amount of sugars, which are so necessary for the growth of the fungus. The tree trunk must be cut into stumps, the length of which will be from 100 to 150 cm. Their diameter should range from 10 to 20 cm.

You can sow the stumps with shiitake mycelium or its pure culture almost immediately, but no later than three months after harvesting the stumps. For sowing, it is necessary to make indentations in the stumps using a drill. They are arranged in a checkerboard pattern. The mycelium is firmly pushed into these recesses. Pre-prepared wood plugs are hammered in and covered tightly with beeswax on top.

A woodpile is built from the finished stumps and placed in the most favorable conditions for growth.

After this, an incubation period begins, which can take place in the forest, special greenhouses or hangars equipped with a canopy. This period is quite long and takes from 6 to 18 months. The length of the incubation period will depend on the amount of mycelium placed in the stumps, as well as which strains were chosen to grow the shiitake mushroom. It is necessary to provide good irrigation to stumps with mycelium to stimulate its growth. The size of the stumps will determine the fruiting period, which can range from 2 to 5 years. In the warm season, the crop can be harvested from stumps up to two times.