Royal Button Mushroom / Agaricus bisporus — one of the favorite food products not only for its excellent taste, but also because mushrooms are a source of many substances necessary for human health. Royal button mushrooms differ from ordinary ones primarily by the color of the cap — adult mushrooms have a brown cap. Such mushrooms have a more pronounced mushroom flavor and aroma. Many prefer royal button mushrooms to ordinary ones, and sometimes even equate their taste to that of white mushrooms.
Cultivation indoors, in boxes or plastic bags: a layer of 10-12 cm of soil is spread at the bottom, mycelium is sprinkled, then covered with compost not less than 20 cm. In bags where fruiting bodies have appeared, cuts are made.
Mushrooms are grown indoors at a temperature of 12-30°C with natural or forced ventilation.
For sowing, use ready-made or previously prepared compost. Composition of compost: unspoiled dry straw — 12 kg, poultry manure, horse or cow dung (fresh) — 8 kg. Preparation time 22-26 days. A sign of ready compost is the absence of ammonia odor.
Take fresh manure (horse manure from 7-15 days is better), add chopped straw (previously soaked for 2-3 days). All components are moistened and piled into a heap, compacted. On the 4-5th day, the heap is turned over. Turning is repeated 5-6 times until the manure becomes soft and the straw takes the form of a brown, easily crumbly mass.
The moisture content of the ready compost should be 65-70%, and pH 7.0-7.5. Compost can be prepared in an accelerated manner in 3-4 days. Mix wetted (to 70%) straw, brewery grain, peat, and lime (10:10:10:1) thoroughly, and pasteurize with steam (temperature 60-65°C). The next day, reduce the temperature to 53-55°C, and on the 3-4th day — to 22-25°C. Then proceed to sow mycelium, mixing it with compost. The prepared mixture is placed in containers (boxes, plastic bags) and compacted. Throughout the entire period, monitor moisture. Within a few days, white threads will appear penetrating the substrate. At this point, cover the substrate with soil mixed with peat in a 1:1 ratio, 2.0 cm thick.
Keep boxes or bags in a dark place, maintaining air temperature at 18-20°C and compost temperature at 25-27°C. Approximately after 20-30 days, the first mushrooms will appear. At this point, reduce the temperature to 14-16°C, and the relative humidity of the air should not be less than 85%. Fruiting proceeds in waves and lasts for 6 weeks.
Cultivation of Royal Button Mushroom on a home garden plot: prepare soil area of 2.5 — 3 m², loosen it, sow mycelium (in holes 5-7 cm deep, spaced 15-18 cm apart). Spread compost 5-7 cm deep on top. Water by drip irrigation, temperature regime 16-29°C. Fruiting begins after 2-2.5 months. After mycelium has spread (12-15 days), cover the mushroom bed with garden soil 2 cm thick. Once a year, spread a 1.5-2 cm layer of manure or dry plant residues on top of the mycelium as fertilizer.
