Wine Cap (Stropharia Rugosoannulata)

This overview contains the ideal breeding conditions Wine Cap described. We do recommend that you use the ideal conditions as much as possible.

1. Choose a substrate
1. Wood chips: wood chips can produce mushrooms for several years. Soft hardwood chips (elderberry, willow, soft maple, magnolia, etc.) work best. Hardwood chips (oak, etc.) must be left outside for a few months to mature for a few months. Liller wood chips may not be used. If the wood chips are dry, spray them with water until they are well wet before you continue.
2. Straw: straw beds can produce mushrooms faster, but have a shorter overall lifespan. Clean, weed -free straw (or oats or wheat) is the best. Give the straw water until it is evenly wet or let it soak for 2-3 days to hydrate and conditional it, and then let it drain before you continue.
3. Mix of both: the best of two worlds! Read about applying straw and wood chips in step 3.
2. Select a location for your Wine Cap Beds and think carefully about moisture maintenance. Shady areas are the best because beds are less likely to dry out and need less water. Full sun beds are possible, but require more water. We like to plant in fertilized areas, under trees, on the shade side of houses or in and around ornamental plants. The bed must have a bottom or a so -called mulch layer, free of weeds and turf.
3. Lay the bed. Beds are made in layers, whereby the breeding between layers of substrate is sandwiched. Lay your first layer of substrate, sprinkle the brood on top and cover the brood with another layer of substrate. More layers is even better. If you use straw and wood chips, alternate layers of straw, breeding and wood chips. NB! The top layer must be wood chips. The depth of the bed depends on the surface that you use and the location of the bed. Wood chips dry out less quickly, so the bed depth must be 3-5˝. Straw is more susceptible to dehydration, so we recommend a bed of 7.5 - 12.5 cm. The sunnier the location of the bed, the deeper it must be. Always make a thicker top layer of substrate, because that will protect the breeding underneath against dehydration.
4. Check the bed regularly by digging in with your fingers. It must be moist, but not soaked. If it feels dry, water with a sprayer. A general rule of thumb is that 2.5 cm water per week is ideal, but that depends on the bed depth, sun exposure and wind. A well -made bed in an ideal location may need little to no maintenance. When digging in the bed, pay attention to white, branched, wire -like material that we call Mycelium - a bit like the roots of the mushroom. That is a great sign of successful Wine Cap Growth.
5. Harvesting the Wine Cap is usually possible 2 to 11 months after the bed. You can pick them when they are young in the button form or wait another day or two for the cap. Just pick them off the bed with your hands by cutting the bottom of the handle.