Javier Mansilla loves mushrooms and growing them. He has even built his own laboratory for breeding.
From Vantaa Javier Mansillan, 46, the home’s terrace and study are filled with bags, boxes and boxes of different sizes, especially in summer and autumn. Mushrooms grow in all of them.
Javier, who comes from Spain, has always been interested in mushrooms. He got excited about growing mushrooms about eight years ago after reading about it and researching related foreign websites.
Around the same time, he happened to find a ready-made growing box in a garden store, which contained a growing medium and a mycelium of oyster vinegar. He had to buy a breeding box and try it.
“I was excited when mushrooms appeared in the box. After that, I wanted to research how to grow mushrooms at home continuously and learn how I could manage the growing process myself from start to finish.”
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Javier has grown more than 20 different kinds of mushrooms
Javier has picked most of the mushroom species he grows from the forest. Javier has bought myceliums of some mushroom species by mail from abroad.
Javier has rented a small hobby room for himself, where he keeps his own home laboratory for cloning wild mushrooms and growing mushrooms.
The laboratory includes a storage area, a laminar flow cabinet built by Javier himself that filters mold spores, and a pressure cooker where he sterilizes the growth media.
In the laboratory refrigerator, Javier has 60 mycelia of different mushroom species that can be used to grow mushrooms.
So far, he has grown a total of 22 different types of mushrooms, such as different kinds of crooked, oracle, parasitic and dwarf, as well as shiitake mushrooms.
Mushrooms grow all year round
In practice, Javier transfers a small piece of the mushrooms he picks or buys in his home laboratory to a sterile growth medium, such as straw pellets, wood briquettes or sawdust, where the growth of the mushroom mycelium starts.
After this, he transfers the mycelium to a suitable growth container. Indoors, he grows mushrooms in heat-resistant glass jars and growing bags with an air filter. Outside, mushrooms grow on growing trays.
Javier says that you can grow mushrooms indoors all year round. Dry indoor air is a problem in winter, because mushrooms need moisture. However, according to him, there is a solution to this.
“For example, it’s good to grow mushrooms inside a large plastic box without the whole house being damp.”
Outside on the pallets, the mushrooms grow at the same time as other mushrooms in the forest. The challenges of outdoor breeding are variable weather conditions and in some places pestering fungus gnats.
Growing mushrooms brings joy to life
According to Javier, the feeling of success is the best thing about growing mushrooms.
“Every time it feels incredible when mushrooms start to grow from the mycelium. It’s amazing to see the beginnings of mushrooms and watch them grow into finished mushrooms.”
Growing mushrooms requires interest and patience from the grower, because most of the growth process takes place without being seen.
“Sometimes, it can happen that you lose hope and start thinking that nothing will come of it, but that’s when the mushrooms start to grow,” Javier laughs.
The hobby has helped Javier understand why mushrooms grow and why they sometimes don’t grow at all.
“At first, mushrooms seemed like mysterious and unknown creatures, now they are like familiar pets.”
Javier plans to grow new species every year. He wants to constantly develop his skills and be an even better mushroom grower.
This year, he wants to try growing two new species, the elm trunk claw and the silk cap mushroom, which are not very common in Finland.
“It would be amazing to see if I could get the silkworm to grow, it’s such a beautiful mushroom.”
Javier has started his own Facebook group
Javier has founded a hobby on Facebook with his friend Home cultivation of mushrooms in Finland group with more than 7,000 members.
Javier urges novice hobbyists to join the group, as it provides more information and training tips.
“I have noticed that there are many people in Finland who are interested in growing mushrooms. The members of the group eagerly advise and give tips to each other.”
Javier’s most ardent wish is that people would gain more knowledge about growing mushrooms and that more and more people would take up the hobby.
“I want to spread awareness that you can grow mushrooms for food yourself and that we are not only dependent on forest mushrooms. Everyone should know how to grow mushrooms.”
Do you want to grow your own mushrooms? Try growing bags
Growing mushrooms is easy with growing bags, which cost around one euro each.
“We first put growing medium and hot water in the growing bag. When the contents of the bag are at room temperature, add mycelium and mix well. Then we just have to wait for the mushrooms to grow”, says Javier.
You can also buy a growing medium from the store, which already contains mushroom mycelium.
There is no need to treat the mushrooms in any way during cultivation, when the mycelium spreads in the growing bag.
“When the white mycelium has filled the growing bag, you can put it in the refrigerator for a day. If it’s autumn, you can take the growing bag outside into the cool air. In the cool temperature and humid air, the mycelium understands that autumn has arrived and it starts to grow mushrooms.”
Mushrooms grow very quickly after the first mushroom beginnings have appeared. According to Javier, in just 3-5 days.
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Source: kotiliesi.fi
