Hydroponic Mushrooms – Amazing Soilless Mushroom Cultivation

Are you facing loss due to diseased and delayed mushrooms? Want to earn more in less time? Want healthier mushrooms? The answer to all these questions is Hydroponic Mushrooms!

Can mushrooms be grown hydroponically? Yes, you can grow your mushrooms in hydroponics farming using growing media and nutrient solutions instead of soil based and compost based substrate that is used conventionally.

There are a plenty of reasons why hydroponically grown mushrooms are in trend, to name some are, it takes less time to grow and mature than usual, rich in nutrients, less prone to soil borne diseases and so on.

Mushroom Hydroponics Industry Overview

Mushroom farming is the best option whenever someone wants to start an agri-business with low investment and space. Mushroom farming has been in trend and proved to be a successful business for many.

Some of the mushroom varieties which have successfully established their roots in mushroom farming are mentioned below:

S.No.	Name of Farm	Place	Source of information
1.	Philips Mushroom Farm	Kennet Square, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.	DCED, Pa
2.	Greenwood Farm	Millville, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.	Forbes
3.	Ellijay Mushrooms	Georgia, U.S.A.	Ellijay Mushrooms
4.	R&R Cultivation	Minnesota, U.S.A.	R&R Cultivation
5.	Cascadia Mushrooms	Bellingham, Washington, U.S.A.	Starter Story

Importance of Mushroom Farming

Mushroom farming in is gradually increasing as an alternative source of income for many people as it requires less space and low investment. Hydroponic mushroom cultivation not only acts as an extra income source but also it serves the purpose of:

Recycling of farm residues
Creates self employment opportunities
Innovative food products
Medicinal use and more

The demand for mushrooms has increased as mushroom is highly nutritious because it contains handsome amount of protein, majority of the minerals and vitamins along with most of the essential amino acids, like leucine, valine, tryptophan, lysine, theonine and methionine.

Hydroponics Mushroom

Importance of Hydroponics Mushrooms

In farming of mushroom in hydroponically, plants are grown in nutrient solution and are completely soil-less. Being soil-less makes the plants free from soil borne diseases and produce healthier and nutritious crop. Hydroponic crops are easy to manage and more profitable. This system of farming is a wise choice for developing countries where food safety is a major concern.

Some of the merits of hydroponics over conventional farming are:

Excellent yield
Herbicide and pesticide free
Less water consumption
Lower contamination
Adaptable to adverse conditions

Steps to Hydroponic Mushroom Farming

1. Hydro Mushroom Growing Set-Up

A hydroponic mushroom growing setup should contain a tank filled with growing media and nutrients along with this there must be an air pump for proper aeration. The setup should be installed in a dark place.

2. Selection of Mushroom Suitable for Hydroponic Farming

Some of the mushrooms suitable for growing in a hydroponic system are button, cinnamon cap, oyster, shiitake, nameko and enoki.

3. Nutrient Solution For Hydroponic Mushroom

A mixture of unbleached flour along with perlite and vermiculite is best nutrient for mushrooms grown in hydroponic system. The ratio of vermiculite to perlite in mixture is roughly 1:1.

Hydroponics Mushroom — Oyester mushrooms grown hydroponically (*Photo: Nature and Earth*)

4. Climatic Requirements for Hydroponic Mushroom Farming

Temperature should be 24-27^OC for germination and 27-29^OC for growth. The humidity should be maintained at 90% for best results. Mushrooms grow well in cold water and one can harvest a plenty amount of crop in very less time.

5. Harvesting

The best way of harvesting the mushrooms is to gently hold the caps with forefingers and lightly twist them off. The mycelia threads and nutrient residues from the base of the stalk must be chopped off.

Hydroponic Mushroom

Methods of Growing Mushrooms Hydroponically

There are two methods of growing mushrooms hydroponically

Populating a growing medium with spores
Using a mushroom growing kit

Populating a Growing Medium with Spores

First of all the mycelium has to be grown carefully, from which the fungi will grow. To grow the mycelium one can use a purchased mushroom culture or cereal seeds coated with mushroom spores. These cultures or seeds are kept in a petri dish in a dark place.

The thread like mycelium will grow out of this. Mycelium, in the initial stages is susceptible to bacteria therefore the environment should be sterilized properly. The mycelium is then transferred to the growing media and after a few weeks fungus starts to develop and your mushrooms are ready to be harvested.

Using a Growing Hydroponic Mushroom Kit

A mushroom growing kit can be easily purchased from a local gardening supply store. The mushroom blocks or cakes are to be kept in a container containing cold water. It should be completely immersed in the water for growing mushrooms in water. Water should cover the top of the block completely.

Let the block soak in water for 4-6 hours to make it completely saturated. The container should be kept in a cool and dark place. The mushrooms are ready to be harvested in 3-5 days.

A single block can be reused multiple times until it gives off no more mushrooms. A block can be reused after every week. Once the block is completely out of nutrients it will no longer produce any mushrooms and then it can be decomposed off into compost for gardening purpose.

Merits of Hydroponic Mushrooms Farming over the Conventional Mushroom Cultivation

There are multiple reasons as to why hydroponic mushroom farming is better than the conventional cultivation. Some of them are mentioned below:

Efficient and less use of water
Hydroponic mushrooms are of high quality
Preparation and sterilization of soil is eliminated
Higher and faster yield in smaller place and low investments
Cost of pesticides are eliminated as the environment is controlled
Improved taste and quality
Chemical free product

hydroponic mushrooms — Merits of Hydroponic Mushrooms over Conventional Mushrooms (*Photo: Startupbiz*)

Conclusion

Hearing about growing mushrooms hydroponically might surprise many because everyone is quite familiar with the cultivation of plants using hydroponic systems.

Hydroponic mushroom cultivation might seem a bit difficult to carryout but once you get familiar with it, it can earn you double your profit in half the time, with higher quality mushrooms.

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