Growing mushrooms is not as complicated as you may think. If you equip yourself with the appropriate knowledge, you will avoid most mistakes. While making mistakes helps you learn, knowing what to avoid can help your mushrooms thrive and grow at a fast rate. Discussed are the ten common mistakes mushroom growers make.
1. Impatience
Most people have no patience and are in a rush to get the final product. The mushroom growing process requires determination and patience, so incomplete preparations and shortcuts will increase the contamination risk. If you intend for your mushrooms to succeed, follow each step.
2. Sterilization
This is a vital process in growing mushrooms because contamination can destroy or slow down your farming. While unsterilized substrates lead to contamination, incorrectly sterilized substrates have a higher risk of contamination. Therefore, before starting the work, ensure that you use alcohol to treat all your gloves, tools, work surface, and equipment.
3. Environment
You must check the idle environment of your mushrooms because it is necessary for their growth, and moisture or the wrong temperature can lead to their failure. Therefore, depending on the type of mushroom you are growing, check on their idle temperature.
4. Shortcuts
Avoid taking shortcuts to cut costs. Instead, invest in the proper equipment from the get-go, and you will be in a better position to succeed. This way, this process will be inexpensive. It is also vital to grow your mushrooms under the capacity of your equipment.
5. Cleanliness
This is essential for the successful growth of your mushrooms. You will have mold or blotch if you ignore cleaning the fruiting room. Improper cleaning leads to contamination, meaning you will have to start over from scratch.
6. Inoculation
This mistake is often a result of impatience. For instance, after sterilizing the substrate, you could inoculate it too early. Doing this means that the heat will kill the mycelium, ultimately leading to contamination. It is also worth noting that too much spawn will lead to your substrate blocks overheating, and too little will lead to contamination.
7. Substrate
A common mistake is people using the same substrate to grow different mushroom species. While the mushroom will grow, they will not grow to their full potential. You could be losing out on a higher yield by growing different species on the same substrate.
8. Mushroom Species
There are different mushroom species, so you ought to know what species you are growing. This is because each species behaves differently and will require something different.
9. Lighting
The mycelium needs no light. On the contrary, the room needs to be as dark as possible. However, you will need light to initiate the pinhead's formation when the mycelium colonizes the substrate fully. Once the initiation is through, they do not require light throughout the day, but they need some light.
10. Mushroom Life Cycle
Another common mistake is ignoring the mushroom's life cycle. There are several phases each mushroom species goes through in its life cycle, and you need to pay attention to each phase if you intend to have a successful yield.
Growing mushrooms requires patience, and you will learn that most mistakes can be avoided. Therefore, equip yourself with knowledge before you start mushroom farming to avoid making specific mistakes.
