Mushrooms need a dark, moist area in order to grow. But many people don’t realize that one can actually arrange an area that is sufficiently moist and dark in their own greenhouse. The fact that people don’t realize that they can potentially grow mushrooms right in their own greenhouse means that they often don’t use this optimal place, even when they have it at their disposal.
It’s true that a greenhouse may not seem like an optimal location in which to go about your mushroom growing at first sight. But this is a fallacy. A green house can easily be adapted to the task of growing mushrooms and doing so can involve something as simple as covering the greenhouse with a canopy of plastic.
Light and Temperature
So long as you screen out the light your mushrooms should do perfectly well. Other than covering the greenhouse itself to keep light out, it’s possible to raise the mushrooms under a shelf or table in the greenhouse. In this case, you can cover or position the shelf or table to block out the light, while letting light in for your other plants.
Another thing that you’re going to have to see to, if you want to grow mushrooms in your greenhouse, is ensuring that temperatures remain stable.
Mushrooms don’t like too much of a variation in temperature and so this is something that you must try to avoid. If you can keep the temperature around fifty to sixty degrees F or so, your mushrooms should do just fine.
Mushrooms Are Not Plants
Another thing that you need to know about mushrooms is that if you want them to grow reasonably well, or indeed even to grow at all, you can’t begin by planting them in dirt or mud. This is because fungi, which is what mushrooms are, don’t grow in soil. They are an organism that is made up of quite different materials from those of plants, and this means that mushrooms will refuse to grow, unless planted in a medium that is rich in nitrogen.
Lots of dark places to raise mushrooms in this greenhouse!
Such a medium is called a growth medium, and it can either be produced yourself with some effort, or can be bought in a store. If you intend to create the growth medium yourself, bear in mind that this can take some effort and is hardly worthwhile, unless you intend to grow a fairly large quantity of edible mushrooms.
On the other hand, for those in the initial stages of mushroom growing, or those without much experience, I would recommend a ready-made growth medium. This will be more than adequate to your needs until you gain more experience, or alternatively, wish to expand productivity. At that stage, you can always begin producing your own growth medium to reduce the costs of your mushroom growing.
Don’t have your own greenhouse? Amazon has several mini greenhouses that can be used indoors or out. You would still need to cover some of them to keep out the light.
