Shiitake "White Chinese" — very tasty and nutritious mushroom. It possesses medicinal properties and is successfully used in medicine and cosmetology. It positively affects the work of practically all systems of the body: it has antiviral effects, boosts immunity, reduces cholesterol levels in the blood, enhances resistance to stress. Grows: on dead wood of broad-leaved trees, mostly from beech, oak, chestnut families, etc. Cap: 5-20 cm in diameter, hemispherical, convex, and flattening with maturity.
Cap color is dark brown, lightening with maturity. Cap edges are even, then curling and flattening, often wavy in mature mushrooms. Gills: white, smooth in young mushrooms and toothed with maturity. In young mushrooms, gills are protected by a thin membrane extending from stem to cap edge. Stem: fibrous, central or slightly eccentric. Flesh: thick in the center of the cap, slightly thinning toward the edge, turning brown upon damage. Stem flesh is fibrous and white, turning brown in mature mushrooms, dark brown in overripe ones.
For cultivating shiitake mushrooms, the following compost compositions are used: Variant 1. Fresh, unspoiled, dry straw — 12 kg, fresh poultry manure — 8 kg, preparation time — 24-26 days. Variant 2. Fresh, unspoiled, dry straw — 12 kg, fresh horse manure — 8 kg, preparation time — 22-24 days. Variant 3. Fresh, unspoiled, dry straw — 12 kg, fresh cow manure — 8 kg, preparation time — 23-25 days. Compost preparation: layering straw and manure to form a stack (bur). After stacking, the bur is watered daily to prevent drying out, without forming a swamp. Shake the bur 4-5 times during the entire substrate preparation period to ensure outer layers are inside and inner layers are outside. Readiness of substrate is indicated by the absence of ammonia odor. Ready compost is laid in beds (open ground) at a layer of no less than 10 cm, in boxes and polyethylene bags — at a layer of no less than 20 cm. Variant 4 (no preparation required). 20 kg of ready compost (manure aged over a year, without ammonia odor) of any type except swine manure. Planting norm: Planting depth 5-7 cm. Inoculation is done by sprinkling mycelium into holes spaced 15-18 cm apart. During mycelium colonization, beds are covered with straw or burlap to prevent drying. After mycelium spread (12-15 days), beds (surface of compost) are covered with a protective layer of soil (soil mixed with peat in a 1:1 ratio or plain garden soil), 2 cm thick (6-7 kg). Fruit production: Optimal temperature range 16-29°C, day-night or 4 hours daily lighting in enclosed spaces, favorable air humidity should be no less than 85% (if necessary, water by drip). First mushrooms appear approximately after 20-30 days. Fruit production occurs in waves and lasts 6 weeks, with waves occurring every 7-10 days.
Yield: 18 kg per three waves. Consumption norm: one package is sufficient for 20 kg of compost. Cultivating shiitake mushrooms on a homestead plot. On open plots, shiitake mushrooms grow in shaded areas, in partial shade — under trees, shrubs, in raspberry patches, on strawberry beds, on the shaded sides of buildings and fences, where they are not exposed to direct sunlight. Soil on S=2.5-3 m2 should be tilled. In this process, weeds and grass roots, if they do not harm other crops, should not be removed. Sow mycelium on loosened soil. Then evenly spread compost at a layer of 5-7 cm. The mycelium will begin fruiting after 2-2.5 months, during which no visible changes occur on the soil surface. Fruit production lasts from early spring to late autumn. During this entire period, shiitake mushrooms can be planted. Yield of cultivated shiitake mushrooms is very high — up to 12 kg of mushrooms per square meter per month.
