How to cultivate King Stropharia in the garden?

February 06, 2021

Stropharia rugosoannulata, wine-red stropharia, king stropharia or rough ring stropharia

The rough-ringed stropharia is very little marketed, and yet it is an excellent mushroom. Its limited storage (3-4 days) compared to other mushrooms such as shiitake or button mushrooms probably explains this difference.

With its incredibly vigorous mycelium, it grows naturally and generously on piles of wood chips.

It is a good growing mushroom for novices because it colonizes substrates very quickly and can give good results in outdoor cultivation.

It fits well into an organic vegetable garden or permaculture for example.

What substrate for King Stropharia?

It is generally grown on straw, wood shavings or sawdust.

Favor soft woods and avoid softwoods (or mix them at a maximum of 25%).

You can make a mixture of different carbon materials. The straw will provide quick food for the mycelium, the wood shavings will be provisions for the long term, and the sawdust will fill the voids and maintain more humidity in the substrate.

Avoid branches that are less suitable for this fungus. For logs, think about oyster mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms for example.

The stropharia is a primary and secondary decomposer. This means that it will attack not only fresh materials (fresh wood shavings, straw) but that it can also develop on materials which have already been partly decomposed by bacteria or other fungi ( dead leaves, old shredded material).

It is therefore robust and has little fear of contamination. The stropharia appreciates being stimulated by the microbiology of the soil and is poorly cultivated in sterile laboratory conditions. However, to maximize the chances of success, we advise you to use the freshest materials possible and to initially avoid materials that are already decomposing. Soaking the straw or shavings overnight in water will, on the one hand, thoroughly moisten the substrate, and on the other hand, will rinse and partially clean the substrate. By adding a cup of lime for 50 liters of water, you will basify (make more alkaline) the substrate and thus limit the risk of contamination by bacteria or mold while enriching the substrate with limestone.

In terms of depth, 15-20 cm is the optimal depth. A deeper bed will be able to produce over a longer period, but may take longer to produce the first mushrooms.

Where to install it?

Like most mushrooms, the stropharia prefers indirect light and semi-shaded places, but it can tolerate a few hours of sun per day. However, it fears drought, so favor naturally humid places in your garden.

Examples:forest edges, fruit tree bases, wood chip path, vegetable mulch with dense foliage which will provide shade (potatoes, squash, etc.).

When will I harvest?

In terms of timing, the stanza is very flexible. It can fruit from spring to fall, with a temperature range of 10 to 22°.

They usually fruit within 2 to 4 months after inoculation.

How much mycelium for what surface?

We generally recommend using +-10% mycelium relative to wet substrate.

Example: a bale of straw weighing 8 kg. Once humidified, it weighs between 25 and 30 kg (the straw rises to +-70% humidity). A 3 kg bag of mycelium therefore allows you to sow 1 small bale of straw, which can spread over +- 1.5m².

Interview

Once it is well established, the mycelium requires little maintenance other than occasional watering. It can stay in place for several years if you maintain it by providing it with new materials to decompose regularly.

It is rather unpredictable, it quite often happens in subsequent years to find mushrooms several meters from the place where the mycelium was implanted.

During periods of prolonged drought, you can water it regularly (without flooding it, however).

You can take some healthy mycelium when it has grown to seed other places and new material with a ratio of +-20% mycelium.

The most favorable periods for sowing are spring and autumn. When planted in the spring, it generally grows 2 months later just before summer and sometimes a second time in the fall. It can then last for 2-3 years, depending on the type of materials and the quantity used.

How to do ?

Mycelium

Choose your substrate (straw, shavings, sawdust) as fresh as possible.

The stropharia bed

This is our most recommended method and is suitable for most substrates.

Roughly clear the ground. Some grow it semi-buried and therefore dig a small trench, which will allow it to better retain humidity. Others cultivate it on the surface and cover it with a layer of soil.
We usually start with a layer of cardboard, but this is not obligatory.
Then put a first layer of shavings/straw of 5-10cm.
Crumble the mycelium by distributing it over the entire surface.
Put a layer of substrate on top.
Moisten with a 10L watering can per square meter. Depending on the dryness of the location, cover with a thin layer of earth (2-3cm), cardboard, tarpaulin or shade sail.

When grown in a greenhouse we recommend the use of a drip irrigation system.

The “Straw Bale” Method

Very easy method, but more risky.

Moisten the bale of straw. You can soak it in water overnight, or water it with a watering can 2-3 times a day for 2-3 days.
Seed the bale by inserting small handfuls of mycelium all over the inside of the straw bale.
To prevent the straw from drying out, it is possible to partially cover the bale of earth, cover it with a tarpaulin/shade sail and water regularly. Place the bundle in a shaded area or under a shade sail.

The risk of this method is on the one hand the drying out of the bale which will prevent the development of fungi, and on the other hand too wet straw which will suffocate the center of the bale and bring in bacteria or mold. Make sure that the bale is not damp but not soggy, and that the center of the bale remains ventilated.

Growing in pots

Select pots of approximately 20 to 40 cm in diameter and height. Clean them well with soapy water. This method allows you to grow indoors or on a terrace, for example.

Soak clean straw in a basin of water overnight. You can also add a cup of lime for 50 liters of water, which will basify the substrate and thus limit the risk of contamination, while enriching the substrate with calcium.
Mix the straw with the mycelium at a rate of 5 to 10% mycelium by fresh weight.
Fill your pots, leaving 5 cm of space at the top. Pack the straw as much as possible.
You can stack several pots one on top of the other. Close the top with a lid to limit drying out.
After 2 to 3 weeks, the straw should be colonized. You will now add a casing layer. This can be a mixture of peat, sand and soil, or simply potting soil. This layer not only maintains constant humidity, but also provides bacteria which will stimulate the mycelium to produce fruit.
Keep moist. 2 to 3 weeks later you should appear stropharia.

Identification

The rough-ringed stropharia is an easy-to-recognize mushroom with the characteristics you will find below. Note, however, that like all mushrooms, its appearance can vary depending on environmental conditions.

If in doubt, refrain from eating it and first ask a connoisseur for confirmation.

Its cap generally measures between 5 and 10 cm, but it can be up to 20 cm in diameter for the largest specimens. Convex at first, it flattens as it ages. As its name suggests, it has a wine-red color initially, which can tend towards light brown or beige when ripe, especially if it is dry.

Its stem is wide when young and appears smaller and smaller as the cap evolves. The color of the spores is dark brown/purple.

Its flesh is white, firm and thick.

Wikipedia description:

"The cap, which can measure up to 20 cm in diameter, is first bell-shaped or convex, then spreads out while often remaining slightly umbonate. It is a little viscidulate and irregularly covered with whitish velar remains, then becomes crackly with age. It is mahogany to vinous purplish when fresh, and progressively paler, tan, or even almost cream as it ages, more yellow when dry. The margin is very clearly rolled then curved, and long appended with remains velar. The blades are adnate and white, then grey-purple. The stipe, which is equal or sometimes clavate towards the base, measures between 5 and 18 cm long and 1 to 3 cm thick. It bears a persistent upper ring , ample and membranous, which is often segmented or toothed below and furrowed or streaked above. This is white, but quickly blackened by sporea. The base of the foot is connected to numerous white mycelial cords. Its surface is ochraceous yellow and finely scaly above the ring, and glabrous or fribrillous below. The flesh is white, thick and quite firm. It has a sweet or slightly bitter and raphanoid flavor. Its smell is initially quite indistinct, more or less metallic, then similar to that of dried porcini mushrooms as it ages. The sporea is very dark gray-purple."

Source: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stropharia_rugosoannulata

What is the mycelium sac made of?

We supply the mycelium on a mixture of sawdust, straw and grains. Thus, the mycelium having already encountered and digested these materials, it will be able to recognize and colonize them more quickly thereafter. Indeed, when the mycelium encounters a new material that it does not yet know, it can take a few days to find the right decomposition enzymes. However, the objective is for it to colonize its substrate as quickly as possible to avoid competition with other fungi. Adding grains to the substrate will also boost the vigor of the mycelium to give it a greater chance of establishing itself quickly.