Growing Mushrooms in the Aquaponics Garden

Introduction to growing Mushrooms in an aquaponics system

With more people living in the urban housing system than ever before, it can be tricky for them to find locally sourced fresh food within their neighborhoods or even to find a plot in which to grow their own food. A soil-less and water-conserving form of gardening where vegetables and fish are raised together comes as a saviour for such dwellers. Can mushroom be grown in aquaponics of course YES! Aquaponics extend the facility to grow almost everything with it and growing Mushrooms in an aquaponic system is no less than a dream coming true. With textures ranging from crunchy to plain, these tiny fungi have the capability to add a unique flavor to your meals and enrich your food with plenty of health benefits. Though, not all mushroom types will always be readily accessible at the market. But when you make a decision to grow your own, you could be enjoying this delicious and healthy item more frequently.

A step by step guide to growing mushrooms in aquaponics

Growing mushrooms in aquaponics gardens are one of the ways you can have this great-tasting ingredient without paying a high price. Mushrooms are considered a superfood for being an excellent source of nutrients and a low-fat level. Many kinds of mushrooms supply the same nutrients found in vegetables. Also, they mimic the taste of meat, which is why they are popular in vegetarian diets as substitutes.

Choosing mushrooms to grow

Mushrooms are biologically fungi they are neither plant nor animal as they fit into their own kingdom – fungi. They lack chlorophyll and so they don’t really require sunlight to photosynthesize or grow which makes them ideal for growing indoors. Fungi play a vital role in the ecosystem as decomposers. They, along with other species in the Fungi kingdom, break down organic matter, eventually producing vital nutrients that the soil needs for increasing its fertility.

The process of growing mushroom in aquaponics starts with choosing the type of mushroom you will be growing. Below are some popular types of mushrooms you can grow in your aquaponics setup:

Shiitake (Lentinula edodes) – not only delicious but also offers plenty of health benefits

Oyster (Pleurotus ostreatus) – most popular to grow among beginners; perfect for Asian cuisine. Oyster mushrooms are not only they have the highest bio efficiency (80%-120%), they are the simplest to grow and always give consistent high production.

Button (Agricus bisporus) – the most commonly available found in many grocery stores

Chanterelle – considered a gourmet mushroom; has an intense flavor

While there are other types that you can produce, most of the experienced aquaponics gardeners recommend growing oyster mushrooms, especially for the beginners. This type of mushroom is adaptable enough to withstand a wide range of temperatures. Shiitake is another option that is also relatively easy to grow.

The easiest way to start is buying spore or spawn of your chosen mushroom from a trustworthy dealer (many can be found online). For the purposes of mushroom growing in aquaponics, think of spores as seeds and spawn as seedlings. Spawn is easier to handle for growing mushrooms at home. Different mushrooms prefer different growing mediums. Shiitake mushrooms are usually grown on hardwoods or hardwood sawdust, oyster mushrooms on straw, and white button mushrooms are grown on composted manure.

Requirements to growing Mushrooms in aquaponics gardens

In case if you miss this: Growing Leafy Vegetables on Terrace.

pH requirements

The pH level influences the proper growth and development of mushroom under different substrates. The mushroom prefers slightly acidic to slightly basic pH of substrates the pH has a great effect on nutrition and morphological development of mushrooms. Each mushroom has its optimal pH range for development, and it is variable though the optimum pH for mycelial growth and subsequent fruiting body development (basidiocarp) is between 6.5 and 7.0

Temperature requirement

The main environmental factors that have an effect on mushroom structure such as stalk height, stalk diameter, and capsize are air temperature, humidity, fresh air, and dense material. Mushrooms prefer cold environments, so to obtain the best quantity and quality of mushrooms in your aquaponics garden, consider maintaining temperatures of 63 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit and humidity of 80 percent or higher. Keeping temperatures constantly over 74 degrees Fahrenheit can result in stunted growth and beyond 86 degrees Fahrenheit can kill the mushroom mycelium (which is the fungi’s vegetative body that produces mushrooms). When substrates were completely colonized, the temperature can be changed to 10–16 °C (cold shock, or with a difference of 5–10 °C) to encourage fructification

Light requirement

Ideally, the growing environment for mushroom production should be kept dark, but permitting some light won’t hurt the mushrooms. Photoperiod is not essential to induce the primordium formation but it is needed for fruiting body production. In fact, the mycelium is encouraged to fruit into mushrooms with a few hours of light – but no more than 5 hours a day. So you don’t have to install grow lights in your system when raising mushroom

Growing media requirement for mushrooms in aquaponics

There is a couple of growing media alternatives you can consider when growing mushrooms in aquaponics gardens. Mushroom spores or mushroom seeds require a growing substrate. Once this growing medium is inoculated with spores, the mycelium will soon build up, fuse, and colonize the substrate. Growing mushrooms will require nutrition and for this, the mushroom growing medium must contain nutrients in some form. A suggested growing medium to utilize for mushrooms is vermiculite. As a source of nutrients, vermiculite is mixed with brown rice flour and a small amount of water and forms a sterilized cake. A mushroom aquaponics system usually consists of a small tank having fishes filled with expanded clay aggregate pebbles, humidity gauge, light, and air pump with an air stone accessory. The best you can do is to imitate how they grow in the wild, which is by:

Providing standing logs in your media bed – the logs must be inoculated with oyster mushrooms to start growing

Installing mound beds in your garden of veggies – in this selection, you can make use of moist gravel or the expanded clay aggregate

Another option and most preferred choice are to purchase mushroom growing kits. Most of the aquaponic growers go this direction and lay the kits on the media bed. Depending on the selection, some kits produce mushrooms that can be harvested within weeks.

Starting aquaponics mushrooms without the kit

If you choose to raise aquaponic mushrooms without a kit then you must be prepared mentally that it is going to be a time taking task. Since you have to start growing some mycelium until it’s adequate and strong enough to sustain a mushroom reproductive cycle. For growing mushrooms you can make use of a fresh mushroom, a culture purchased from a culture bank or seeds. Now you have to keep mushroom, a culture or seeds on a sterilized clean Petri dish, and let mycelium to grow out.

After a couple of weeks, you will observe the development of mycelium on grain like wheat, rye, or millet. And, after approximately 4 weeks mushrooms will grow profusely on the grain. You can use these grain seeds as starters to grow more mycelium. Make sure you are carrying out this procedure in a clean environment to avoid any contamination due to harmful bacteria or other molds which is the greatest threat. It is suggested to clean the growing medium ahead of using it.  To exercise this method of growing healthy mushrooms it is very significant to clean the room and the filter carefully.

Growing aquaponics mushrooms with the kit

This is the most recommended way of growing mushroom in aquaponics and is way simpler too. After purchasing a good quality mushroom growing kit which is usually in form of compact blocks of compressed sawdust which is saturated with good quality mushroom seeds these kits are undergone two classical mushroom cultivation steps i.e. composting and spawning. Make sure you purchase it from an authentic source so that your mushroom culture yields well and for minimizing chances of infection.

The next step is equivalent to the casing which means now you will allow growing kit i.e mushroom spawn to proliferate into mycelium. The mushroom block obtained in the kit is immersed in a container of cold water and soaked for several hours. Then the container is kept in a dark, cool place having a temperature of about 18 to 23 degrees Celsius. Over a phase of six days, about 20 to 25 liters of water is supplied to each block since more moisture is needed. After this, the fungus has two days to grow through the covering layer of the block.

Aquaponics systems for growing mushrooms

You can also consider using integrated Aquaponic Mushroom Cultivation. Starting with substrate cakes of mushrooms directly on top of aquaponic flood and drain media beds by installing a simple humidity tent to maintain the moisture and facilitated by flood and drain system. Flood and drain are one of the best aquaponics systems, for this slight modification to aquaponic flood and drain grow beds has to be done such as the media can be removed from half of the grow bed and the grow bed can be set to flood about an inch or two over the remaining media. The top of the media can be covered with a barrier layer and bulk substrate mixed and then inoculated with mycelium can be placed over the barrier layer, and the bed is drained once till it is saturated and with flood and drain turned off for promoting spawn colonization. After few weeks the final stage after full colonization will be the beginning of pin formation, which will further encourage fruiting by again covering the grow bed with a humidity tent and turning on the flood and drain system for the grow bed to provide requires moisture.

Harvesting aquaponic mushrooms

You should not miss this: Growing Herbs Organically in the Backyard.

The general rule when harvesting aquaponic mushrooms is to harvest it when the convex caps have turned concave or when the heads appear round. Keep in mind that size must not be an indicator of a harvest-ready mushroom. If you have growing kits you don’t have to worry much, the supplier has clear instructions on harvest time. Usually, in week 3 the first flush is harvested. Mushrooms can be simply harvested by hand although hand-picking is a little bit tricky as it must be harvested completely undamaged by simply twisting the stalk. About nine days subsequent to the first flush, the second flush can be harvested. The second flush often consists of larger, but the yield of mushrooms is less than the first flush. After the second flush of mushrooms has been harvested, the blocks are needed to be cleaned.

Mushrooms growing tips in an aquaponics garden

Mushroom care is quite easy but it does require a lot of patience. The following are some of the useful tips that benefit you and the crop while growing mushrooms in the aquaponics system.

• After harvesting store mushrooms in a refrigerator for a week using a paper bag as mushrooms have a very short shelf life and are best when used fresh.
• Do not overwater mushrooms as it can easily absorb the water and over will reduce the growth.
• Brush off any dust or peat moss appearing on mushrooms with your fingers or using a damp towel.
• Make sure you only buy the mushroom spawn and not the spores. Raising mushrooms from spores will take much more time.
• The best control of the major mushroom diseases is achieved through adopting good sanitation practices, that is why growing mushroom outdoors is less preferred, all tools and equipment should be cleaned and thoroughly sanitized between use; maintain beds free of any mushroom waste; those pathogens which are susceptible to low humidity and can be repressed by lowering the humidity in the growing room.
• Verticillium spot causes a common destructive disease that has symptoms like small spotting on mushrooms, mushrooms deformation, its surface appears gray and fuzzy, and severe infection can cause a deformation known as “dry bubble”. The best management for this is to avoid disturbing bubbles by touching and rather it can be destroyed using salt. The salt should be placed in a plastic cup and then placed over the bubbles to dry them out and provide a barrier to avoid spores spreading.

In case if you are interested in How to Make Money from Hydroponic Store Business.