hey all, i gut a friend who grows good dung/straw loving mushroom strains. do you think that this would give good stuff if i compost it in with other stuff? i just kind of wanted more info about the way mycelium works. Im pretty sure mushroom fungus differs from plants because it desires more complex nutrients and likes to break down the nutrients itself, whereas plants require valuable miucroorganisms to break the complex nutrients down in the soil in order for the plant to get them. is this remotely close to how it works? if this was true dont you think it would be useful to consider a plant/fungus hybrid type operation? for example, composting mycelium and left over manure/straw casings and using the compost as plant material? how do you think rotted down casings would compare with regular compost?
Probably noone has used this for MJ, so you would be entering new territory. It will be interesting to see how it works out, though.
yeah i think it will have a valuable place in the compost pile. i mean using horse manure and straw as additives should give nice concentrations of nitrogen and other nutrients that may be readily available to plants so i think it could be a great additive.
will do, unfortunately, compost time here isnt for another 3 or 4 months so i hope you dont mind waiting
I don't have a compost pile so I'll be adding the "shrooms" from a bottle (if I can find it here!). That's a cool idea to add horse shit and straw (...) in your compost pile. I'll be adding some sea weed (I go get) to my holes this year. That and free horse manure. To come back to the mushrooms, from what I gathered, once you have a compost heap and it's steamy and all, then the mushrooms are in there already. You probably have everything necessary in there! We're gonna grow monster buds I think next summer.
I have mushroom compost in all my grow holes this year so far. It came highly recommended my the garden supply and only cost $5 US per 40lb. bag.
i bought 7 tons of it last year... half in my garden,and 1/2 in the watermelon patch. its great stuff, but i wouldnt plant anything in it as it is. just mix it in. its pretty hot for MJ. 50/50 mushroom-mulch and peat-moss with perlite added and alot of lime would make easy and fairly cheap planting soil... just hit it with bloom ferts a little in july or august depending on ur strain
I don't have "mushrooom compost" over here. I'll use horse manure and seaweed instead and 50 peat moss, some rich potting soil if necessary. Happy growing!
yeah corto i dont buy mine either. i have a friend who grows the hpoo lovers and straw lovers strains. i think that aftere the mycelium from the mushrooms is done with the dung/straw i think the nutriewnts left are more readily available to the plants. i think it will owrk and im down to give it a try. he also uses coco coir and vermiculite for a casing layer so that will also be helpful in the garden. i dont plan on just planting in it lol. that would seem odd b/c he throws out blocks of mycelium after he harvests his mushrooms. so it has to be composted. the heat of a compost pile in the summer would definetely kill off any mycelium, atleast form the mushrooms. i think they can only last up to something like 120 degrees and the inner part of a compost pile usually gets much hotter than that.
I'm reading on "mushroom compost". It has mostly N and K. I confused the mushroom compost you're talking about with the micorhyze something that can be added to stimulate the roots and help the plant. Can someone explain the difference between mushroom compost and mycorhyze? Will you guys also be adding growth hormones like OP's superth.? Thanks GC and Greenmeany!
mycoryze? hmm never hear of it. the mushroom compost sold in bags at stores in old rotted down mushroom substrate. it isnt any good for actually growing mushrooms because most of the food sources are depleted for the mushrooms to absorb but like i said earlier, they may be able to be used for adding nutrients to plants because plants require a different kind of food source. maybe mycoryze is something used to stimulate the growth of mushrooms not plants. seeing how myco is a word related to mycelium or mycology- the study of mycelium, mushrooms or fungus'. ryze may be related to rhizormophic activity by the fungus itself. typicall a more rhizomorphic myceiul is better because fruits will be formed there as oposed to the fluffy cottony areas on mycelium. hope i didnt confuse everyone!
Corto is correct. it is basic organic material with negligible n p k (0.7% - 0.3% - 0.3%) This gardener has a negative review on mushroom compost. http://www.simplegiftsfarm.com/mushroom-compost.html But it couldn't hurt...
great link old skool. the only thing is that he only does one crop of mushrooms from his casing, he gets his manure from someone he knows and they do not treat the manure, he buys the straw from the local garden shop and leaves outside forra while just in case there are any chemicals on it, then he pastuerizes his manure/straw mix before adding in colonized birdseed jars. So by only doing one flush, having no chemicals in it plus the nutrition of the birdseed, i think it would have a higher NPK value because the mushrooms would have absorbed less nutrients (since their were less mushrooms). i can definetely relate to what this guys is saying tho but he does say it could work but it is too expensive and potentially hazardous because of the chemicals they may use. but since its free why the hell not throw it in there!
I read something on the mushroom compost Greenmeany: N: O,71 % P: 0,3 % K: 0,26 % Contains all trace elements Use 1- 1,5 kg per square meter. Added to argilleous, heavy soils. Contain a lot of gypsum (rich in calcium). Use on very acidic soils. Using mushroom compost can cause a lack of Magnesium in the soil (if too much in there I guess, they didn't say more).
yeah i read that link old skool provided. the only thing is that i dont get my mushroom compost from a bulk grower. i get it from a friend who uses horse manure, straw coc coir vermiculite and maybe some pickling lime to keep the PH down. so i dont think there can be guarenteed analysis but i bet it would be healthier than most mushroom compost out there.
MYCORRHIZA-BENEFICIAL FUNGI Forms natural symbiotic associations with the roots of most plants.. These long term associations / partnerships have specific beneficial exchanges. The external mycelium of MYCORRHIZA acts as an extended or extra root system. This effectively INCREASES the uptake of water and nutrients. This stuff is the shiznat! http://www.biocult.co.za/home.html On the mushroom compost topic. I can get the stuff dirt cheap, I would also like to know if it is a good additive for my soil.
thanks for the definition of mycorhyze: an extended root system for better water and nutrient in take: I like that. About the shroom compost, yes you can use it but not too much. It's also very rich in Calcium (good). Not very rich in NPK but has all the trace elemnts. It raises the pH (lowers acidity). Use on heavy and acidic soils. Too much will cause lack of Magnesium intake from the soil and a high pH (base). The recommended proportions are 1 to 1,5 kg per square meter of old mushroom compost.