Among the thousands of mushroom species which exist
in nature, only 30 edible species are cultivated and even fewer on systematic commercial scale. The
most well-known cultivated edible mushrooms are the White mushroom (Agaricus bisporus), Shiitake (Lentinula edodes), Pleurotus (Pleurotus ostreatus), as well as other
lesser known species like Ganoderma.
Each type of mushroom has completely different requirements both on its substrate preparation and production conditions, with the cultivation of Pleurotus mushroom being easier compared to these of the other mushrooms. It is good, therefore, that someone who wants to learn how to cultivate mushrooms to start at first with Pleurotus.
The word Pleurotus comes from the ancient Greek words "πλευρικός ούς", which means "lateral ear", and the term describes the way the
particular mushroom is grown in its natural environment. In nature, Pleurotus
mushrooms grow laterally on tree trunks, without forming a stem and without
reminding morphologically the other mushroom
species which grow on the ground. Pleurotus is extremely delicious while
their particular aroma and flavor resemble these of wild mushrooms.
The cultivation process of Pleurotus
begins with the preparation of their growth substrate, consisting of a straw
mixture of various cereals and legumes such as wheat, barley, corn and
chanterelle, which should have a content moisture of around 70% and be slightly
acidic (pH 6.5-7). This raw material is pasteurized or sterilized in a natural
way by heating, so that all micro-organisms and possibly other organisms are
killed. Then, the sowing of "Pleurotus ostreatus" mycelium is applied
to the substrate in a quantity of 2% of
its total weight, and its packaging is made in 40 cm height plastic bags which
are placed in a dark place with a constant temperature of up to 30 °C. It will
take about one month for the mycelium to pick up all the nutrients from the
straw, to ripen and be ready for our mushrooms.
Then, in a closed cool space without
strong light of 10 sq.m. and 6-25 °C, we place 25 previously prepared bags of
substrate in which we have opened some holes, that will start in 12 days to
incubate the first mushrooms of our first production, which is usually 50% of
the total production. After 10-14 days, the second production cycle will start
and so on. Within 10-12 weeks we will harvest most of our total production
and therefore we can change the crop.
So, the small space of 10 sq.m. will produce 125 kg of mushrooms within 3
months time.
If someone wants to become a systematic mushroom producer and have a steady production on a weekly basis to
supplement his income by selling it on the market, he must create at least
10-12 such 10 sq.m. spaces to produce 125 kg of Pleurotus mushrooms each week from
a total area of 100-120 sq.m.