The wine cap mushroom is a fungus in the family of Hymenochaetaceae. It grows on trees and wood. The mushrooms are characterized by their funnel shape caps that are brownish-red in colour. They have long stalk with no ring or veil under their caps, unlike other mushrooms.
This kind of mushroom is very easy to grow, they can be grown just about anywhere, including indoors using logs, stumps, sawdust spawn, hardwood chips etc. Let’s take a look at the steps on how to do it, shall we?
Step One
Gather materials needed for growing wine caps mushroom
First, you will need your supplies which includes but are not limited to fresh wine caps, sawdust spawn, sterilized drill bit, plastic container for growing the fungus, soil or compost mix.
Step Two
Drill holes on the wine caps
Use a drill to bore holes 1½ inches apart on freshly cut wine caps into your selected wood substrate. Sawdust spawn can be used to inoculate these pieces of the fresh mushroom cap.
Step Three
Enclose in a plastic baggie
Place inoculated pieces of thin wood inside a large clear plastic baggie and seal it tightly by folding over the open end multiple times until no air can escape. Leave it like that until you see white mycelia appear around the fresh sawdust spawn holes.
Step Four
Transfer inoculated plastic bag into the woods
Transfer your inoculated plastic bag into a shady wooded area where there are dead logs or fallen trees. Make sure to choose an area with no direct sunlight, this prevents uncontrolled growth of mould. And make sure it is under 80% humidity to promote fungal growth.
Step Five
Harvest time!
When you see mushrooms growing out from the fresh sawdust spawn holes, then you know that they are ready for picking after their veil has torn apart during fruiting. It’s always best to pick them before they come in contact with the soil because this will cause premature rot and endanger other nearby shrooms which can be damaged by mishandling.
Do not worry if you are not able to gather all of the wine caps mushrooms during your first few tries. With time you will be able to produce enough for yourself and maybe even others too.
This is just one way on how to grow wine caps mushrooms, there are other ways as well, so feel free to take a look around on various websites that contain helpful information such as university sites or online gardening forums.