Compost for mushrooms: features, composition and preparation

Champignons are a very popular and demanded product, so many are wondering how they can be grown on their own. This is not an easy task as it might seem at first glance. In our article, we will get acquainted in more detail with all the subtleties and features of the preparation of compost for growing mushrooms.

Before deciding to grow mushrooms, you should study the whole process in more detail - from start to result, as these plants are different from other crops. Mushrooms lack chlorophyll to synthesize essential nutrients. Champignons assimilate only ready-made useful compounds embedded in a special substrate.

Horse manure is considered the most suitable medium for growing these mushrooms. The optimal version of the mixture for champignons includes the following useful elements in dry form:

• nitrogen - 1.7%;
• phosphorus - 1%;
• potassium - 1.6%.

The moisture content of the mixture after composting should be within 71%. Without special equipment it will not be possible to fully trace the nutrient content and moisture required for a perfect result.

To obtain compost with an optimal content of all the necessary substances, allowing you to grow mushrooms, there is several variations of its composition... They can be cooked on sunflower husks, with mycelium, and also from sawdust. The main ingredient in the manufacture of such a mixture is horse manure.

In this version, the mushroom compost contains:

• straw from crops of winter varieties - 100 kg;
• dry bird droppings - 30 kg;
• horse manure - 200 kg;
• alabaster - 6 kg;
• water - 200 l.

This composition contains the following ingredients:

• winter straw - 100 kg;
• straw horse manure - 100 kg;
• dry bird droppings - 30 kg;
• gypsum - 6 kg;
• water - 400 l.

This substrate is chemically identical to the mixture using horse waste, but it contains other ingredients, such as:

• straw;
• bird droppings;
• minerals.

Corncob compost recipe:

• straw - 50 kg;
• corn cobs - 50 kg;
• bird waste - 60 kg;
• gypsum - 3 kg.

The sawdust compost contains the following ingredients:

• sawdust (except for conifers) - 100 kg;
• wheat straw - 100 kg;
• calcium carbonate - 10 kg;
• tomoslag - 3 kg;
• malt - 15 kg;
• urea - 5 kg.

Having decided to grow mushrooms on your own, you should know that compost for them can be prepared with your own hands and at home... Next, we will consider in more detail the subtleties of such an operation and the entire procedure for manufacturing a mushroom substrate.

Fermentation time depends on from the starting material, its crushed state and temperature indicators (in hot conditions, this process is faster). Insufficiently crushed raw materials will rot for quite a long time, perhaps even years. To speed up the fermentation procedure, experienced gardeners use whey or yeast. It is preferable that the mixture stood a little longer than the prescribed period than it did not, which means it did not do good.

Compost, consisting of straw and manure, reaches readiness in 22-25 days. The readiness of the substrate can be judged by the disappearing smell of ammonia and the acquisition of a dark brown color by the mixture. In the future, a richer harvest will be obtained from a higher quality composition.

Before starting the main work on the preparation of compost, you should carefully prepare, choosing the necessary components. This will require:

• choose a suitable, preferably fenced-in place with a canopy, fill the site with concrete;
• collect straw and manure in equal proportions, gypsum with chalk, urea;
• you should stock up on a watering can or a hose for irrigation, as well as a pitchfork for mixing the mixture.

The compost area is fenced with boards, the sides of which should be 50 cm high. To soak the straw, keep another container nearby. This component should be soaked for 3 days. Before starting to prepare the mixture, the straw must be sterilized, since it is initially infected with fungi and mold. There are several ways to do this work.

• Pasteurization. Before starting this process, the straw is pre-crushed and treated with steam at a temperature of 60-80 degrees for 60-70 minutes.
• Sterilization using hydrogen peroxide. In this case, the straw is first soaked in water for 60 minutes, then washed with running water. Then it is immersed for several hours in a solution of hydrogen peroxide diluted with water in a 1: 1 ratio.

After all the preparatory work, it's time to start composting. To do this, you will have to do the following work:

• the straw is crushed into 15 cm particles;
• moisten the straw with water, without flooding, and stand for three days;
• dry components (superphosphate, urea, alabaster, chalk) are mixed until smooth;
• hay is placed in a prepared place, then moistened with water;
• a dry composition of fertilizers should be sprinkled on the surface of wet straw;
• the next layer is laid out with manure and again sprinkled with dry fertilizer on top.

As a result, there should be 4 layers of straw and the same amount of manure in the compost bin. Outwardly, it looks like a pile of 1.5 meters in width and 2 meters in height. After 5 days, decomposition of organic matter begins and an increase in temperature indicators up to 70 degrees. This is the principle of composting.

When the temperature in the substrate reaches 70 degrees, the temperature values ​​of the environment will not have any effect on it. Compost can mature at less than 10 degrees.

After 4 days, stir the mixture with a pitchfork, while pouring 30 liters of water on it.... Taking into account the consistency and the ingredients used, during the mixing process, you need to add chalk or alabaster. The compost heap is moistened in the morning and at the end of the day. The liquid in the substrate should not drain to the ground. To enrich the mixture with oxygen, stirring must be carried out every 5 days for a month. After 25-28 days, the substrate will be ready for use.If it is possible to process the mixture with hot steam, then after the third stirring it can be moved to the room for warming up. The next transfer is not done in this case. The high temperature of the steam allows the substrate to be neutralized from pests and pathogenic bacteria.

Then, within 6 days, the mass is at a temperature of 48-52 degrees, getting rid of harmful microorganisms and ammonia. After pasteurization, the mixture is placed in bags and blocks, preparing for planting mushrooms. Compost made according to all the rules will yield a mushroom harvest from 1 sq. m up to 22 kg.

With proper preparation of this mixture, farmers collect 1-1.5 centners of mushrooms from 1 ton of soil.

Preparing the correct and healthy compost, allowing you to get a stable harvest of mushrooms in the future, will not be difficult, if you heed the advice of experienced users.

1. When choosing the ingredients for preparing the mixture, it is necessary to observe the correct ratio, as this affects the maturation of the mycelium. If the content of minerals and trace elements exceeds the norm, the temperature indicators of decomposition will increase, which is why the mushrooms may not survive. But with a lack of these substances, it will not be possible to get a good harvest.
2. The correct compost should contain: nitrogen - within 2%, phosphorus - 1%, potassium - 1.6%. The moisture content of the mixture - 70% will be ideal. Acidity - 7.5. Ammonia content - no more than 0.1%.

It's important not to miss a moment compost readiness. This can be determined by the following criteria:

• the substrate has become dark brown;
• the mixture is moderately moist, without excess water;
• the finished product has a loose structure;
• the smell of ammonia is completely absent.

When squeezed in the palm of your hand a handful of compost should not stick together, while wet droplets will remain on the skin of the hands. If water is released from this substance, the mushroom soil should be mixed and left for several more days. Better a standing mass than a non-virtuous one.

Now, having familiarized himself with the basic requirements and subtleties of making compost with his own hands for growing mushrooms, anyone can cope with such work.

Watch the video on how to compost mushrooms.