Mushrooms

 

Day 1

Remove the little bag of casing soil from the packaging, close the growing kit again and set it away at room temperature (20-22° C). Open the bag of casing soil, put the casing soil in a bucket or tray and add 300 ml of clean water. Just shake firmly (do not stir), so that the casing soil does not become too fine. Use your hands to break any large lumps into smaller pieces.

Next, cover the bucket or tray with casing soil (e.g. with aluminium or plastic foil), so that the moisture added can soak well into
the casing soil in 24 hours time.

Day 2

Open the growing kit and put the moist casing soil carefully in an even layer on the compost. Do not press the casing soil. Place the water reservoir on the edge of the white bottom tray with the opening facing down, and close it all off by sliding the cardboard cover back over the unit.

Due to the fact that the water reservoir has now been placed upside down, the cardboard cover will be +/- 5 cm higher. Then store the unit at room temperature for 3 days (20-22° C). The mycelium will now start to grow through the casing soil.

Day 5

Open the growing kit and spray with a plant spray 90 ml of clean water all over the casing soil. Then seal the cultivation set completely again in the same way as described under day 2 and leave this for another 2 days at room temperature (20-22° C).

Day 7

The next phase has now begun, where the growing kit is opened: Open the growing kit and first of all spray again with a plant spray 90 ml of clean water all over the casing soil. Take the separate water tank and as indicated (A) (opening to the top) press into the top of the packaging box and fasten by pressing the points in the top corners of the packaging box inwards.

The lid is fixated now and hangs tight up in the packaging box where it will function as a water tank. Then press the points in the bottom corners of the packaging box inwards (B). The packaging box can now be left, with the points in the bottom corners, on the edge of the white under-tray, leaving the system closed but yet allowing air circulation (C). Through the hole at the top of the packaging box, pour 120 ml water into the separate water tank fastened under it (D). Then seal the hole with the designated cap. During the growing stage, make sure there is always a thin layer of water in the water tank. Set the growing kit carefully away in a suitable place, so that it does not have to be removed again. A place with a temperature of 16-18° C is preferable. The place chosen must be well ventilated, so not in a cupboard or a small place with inadequate ventilation.

Day 10

For a good result it is recommended to 1x daily spray the casing soil slightly damp with clean water starting from the 10th day. Make sure that you do not spray too much water, because this will be harmful to the development of the mycelium and mushrooms.

Harvesting

Depending on the circumstances, the first fungus buds could appear, which will then grow into mushrooms. Harvest the mushrooms when their button is 3-5 cm, or just whenever you think they are nice. Do not wait too long before harvesting because ultimately the mushroom cap will open out, like any other mushroom. Pick the mushrooms by carefully breaking or twisting them out of the casing soil. If you are too rough when harvesting the mushrooms, you will destroy part of the mycelium (in the
casing soil) and you will get less of a harvest. Fill large holes that may have occurred with some damp earth. In roughly one week's time, you will be able to pick the 1st batch or harvest of mushrooms. We call this the 1st run. Each time you finish picking, you must place the packaging box back on the white under-tray.

A	B
C	D

Later runs

After picking the 1st run, remove the packaging box from the breeding tray and again spray the casing soil with a plant spray with 90 ml of clean water. Then put the packaging box back on the white under-tray again. Through the hole at the top of the packaging box, pour a further 120 ml of water into the lid (water tank) fastened under it. Then seal the hole with the designated cap. Once more, make sure there is a thin layer of water in the water tank during the growing stage. For best results, it is recommended to now leave the growing kit at rest for the first 3 days and then slightly damp the casing soil 1x daily with clean water. Again make sure that you are not spraying too much water. After 1-2 weeks new buttons will have grown and a few days later you will be able to pick the 2nd run.

 

Extra runs

After picking the 2nd run, you can still get extra runs in the same way, until the compost runs out and there is no more or hardly any more yield from the subsequent runs. The substrate and the environment of the mushrooms are excellent breeding grounds for other fungi and bacterium. After more than 3 successive runs the growing kit could gradually become more contaminated. In that case, it would be better and more hygienic to cease the growing. The mushrooms that do then grow, however, are just as edible.

Place the growing kit

• NEVER directly in the sun
• NEVER in the vicinity of a heater or radiator
• NEVER in a draught
• ALWAYS in a smoke-free environment

Your growing kit will then not work correctly.