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Azurescens Outdoor Grow Kit Instructions

Azurescens Outdoor Grow Kit Instructions

Growing Azurescens mushrooms may seem difficult, but if you follow the next steps carefully, you are one step closer to growing them in your garden or balcony.

Step 1: Prepare the substrate

Take a container of +/- one litre and fill it up 3/4 of the way with woodchips.

Boil enough water to soak the wood chips

Submerge the woodchips in the boiling water

Leave to soak for 12 hours in a dustfree clean environment

Step 2: Prepare the Azurescens spawn

First, wash your hands and disinfect using alcohol

Take the container with the spawn (Azurescens mycelium) and open the lid.

Pour the mycelium into a clean ziplock bag and close it.

Break apart the substrate into pieces by crushing it with your hands through the bag.

Now, you can inoculate the wood chips with the Azurescens spawn pieces.

Step 3: Inoculate the woodchips

Get your tub of sterilized wood chips

Add the azurescens mycelium to the wood chips.

Disinfect a fork with alcohol and mix the mycelium with the wood chips.

Distribute the mycelium chunks evenly through the woodchips. If there are mycelium chunks all around the substrate, the mycelium will start growing again and will cover the woodchips (colonize) much faster.

Step 4 Colonization of the woodchips

Cover the tub of woodchips and mycelium with a piece of wet cardboard and put the lid on top. Do not close the lid; just leave it on top. The substrate should be covered, but the mycelium must be able to breathe and grow. Without air, there is no growth.

Keep the container in a dark, clean, dust-free, and draft-free area of your house. Ensure it is not extremely cold (below 5C or hot above 28C).

Leave the container to colonize for 4-5 weeks until the Azurescens mycelium fully colonizes it.

When all the woodchips become white, they are colonized, and you are ready for the next step.

Step 5: Prepare the extra woodchips

Get the rest of the wood chips and pour into a large container

Boil enough water to submerge the woodchips

Submerge the woodchips in water. Alternatively you can boil the woodchips with the water in a pot (large pan) on the stove, let it simmer for 30-40 minutes.

Let the woodchips soak in the water and cool overnight (12 hours)

Drain all the water from the woodchips. The wood chips should be moist, not wet

Step 6: Make the mycelium bed in a box (and an alternative)

You will need the cardboard box (the size of all the woodchips together), the colonized woodchips and the moist woodchips form step 6. (previous step) Ensure the cardboard box is closed at the bottom. Some extra tape can help.

Wash and disinfect your hands

Add both batches of woodchips to the cardboard box and mix them gently, but very well, together.

The colonized woodchips should be mixed evenly between the moist woodchips. Now, you are ready to plant your Azurescens mycelium outside!

Step 7: Bury the Azurescens mycelium outside

You will need a shovel, the cardboard box with mycelium, soil or extra woodchips, leaves, and branches. Select a patch of ground that is always away from direct sunlight, in the shade. And that can go undisturbed for a long time. This is where you make your Azurescens mycelium bed.

Dig a hole that fits the box

Make sure the box stays open and bury the cardboard box

Add 1 cm of moist earth to your Azurescens mycelium bed

You can add some grass seeds to the soil to make it a nice garden patch. Alternatively, cover it with more woodchips, leaves, moss or branches

Now you wait while the mycelium is spreading underground, forming its network even further. You both wait until autumn/ fall for the ideal temperatures to fruit and harvest.

Taking care of your Azurescens outdoor patch

An Azurescens patch that is grounded properly will last you year after year, but it will need some care.

Moisture

Moisture is the key factor to an everlasting Azurescens mushroom patch. On hot summer days or long times with no rain, it's important to keep your Azurescens patch moist. Look and feel the soil; stick a finger in the soil to see if it's still moist 3-4 cm under the surface. Not moist? Add water to your Azurescens patch!

Nutrients

The mycelium feeds of the woodchips and other organic material in the ground. It should have enough nutrients to last years. If you have poor ground, clay, or sand with little organic material, it is good to enrich the soil with more woodchips, leaves, or branches after two years of growing. Add fresh woodchips in the spring. This gives the Azurescens mycelium enough time to colonize it and give you mushrooms in autumn/fall. Do not use fertilizers or pest repellents.

Weather

Protect your Azurescens patch against frost and snow. Add a layer of woodchips on top of the mycelium bed or cover it with branches. This protects the mycelium against the frost and adds extra nutrients.

Harvest

Important warning: Over time, the Azurescens can be contaminated by other mushroom species. Only harvest the Azurescens mushrooms and remove all others. If you are not sure about the mushroom's identity, do not use it!

Harvest time

From September until December (first frost), you can expect the Azurescens mushrooms to grow in your garden. The mushrooms will appear when the temperature is below 10°C and the weather is wet enough. Depending on the weather conditions, it's possible to harvest 1-3 flushes. Now it's time to harvest and pick some Azurescens mushrooms.

When do you harvest the Azurescens Mushrooms?

Azurescens mushrooms, like the cubensis, are picked for harvest when mature. This is when the veil of the mushroom breaks. However, the conditions of outdoor cultivation are not ideal, and you never know when it will happen. So it's best to pick the Azurescens mushrooms when they 'look mature'. Every Azurescens mushroom with an open cap is ready to pick. Is the cap slightly open or about to be? Pick them!

How do you harvest the Azurescens mushrooms?

The Azurescens mushrooms are easy to harvest. Pick them one by one or a whole cluster at once. Grap the mushroom at its base, as close to the ground as possible. Gently twist, and the mushroom is released from the mycelium. Check your patch daily for new mushrooms