Growing champignons in the basement as a business: conditions and technology

Growing champignons in the basement is most often perceived not as a business idea, but as a strange hobby amateur horticulturist. However, in this occupation, you can really make a profit! To do this, you just need to competently approach the matter: to draw up a business plan, to calculate profitability and investments, and to assess the risks.

If you are interested in the idea, let's start the "analysis of flights"!

How to start a business?

Growing champignons in the basement of an apartment building is a very real idea for realization. Why not, because the microclimate is fully consistent with the conduct of such activities, and the mushrooms are quite uncomfortable with the conditions.

Step by step algorithm of business organization can be presented as follows:

1. Understand the technology of growing champignons.
2. Prepare a basement for accommodation of seedlings.
3. Carry out disinfection of the room.
4. Buy a mycelium.
5. To buy compost or raw materials for its production.
6. Plant the mycelium in the substrate.
7. Control the temperature and humidity levels.
8. Collect the harvest, observing the prescribed rules.
9. Find outlets and sell goods.

We will analyze each point of the organization of cultivation of mushrooms in own house.

Business Registration

Growing champignons as a business (in the basement) must be officially registered. If, of course, the volume of your production is not limited to the "party itself, the party neighbors."

When it comes specifically to entrepreneurship, and especially about the implementation through retail outlets, cafes, etc., you can not do without documents.

Do not worry if you have not encountered this issue before. It's pretty simple. Imagine your actions in the form of a step-by-step algorithm:

1. It is necessary to register an IP. To do this, you need to go with a passport to the nearest tax inspection.
2. As an indication of the activity, you choose agricultural production and sale.
3. With this kind of work you can count on a single agricultural tax - 6%. This is a very profitable tax option.
4. The premises for growing champignons are subject to inspection by phytosanitary inspection workers. In the basement there should be an acceptable radiation background. After the inspection, you will be issued a certificate.
5. Also in the phytosanitary inspection you will check the goods before the sale. Without a quality certificate, no serious client will cooperate with you. The validity of one certificate is the period of "life" of one batch of compost. You will specify this information upon registration.

In more detail, we will consider the conditions for growing champignons in the basement.

What are the conditions for work

Growing champignons in the basement of a private house follows the same principles as in any other place. More about the technology we'll talk further. And now let's see what conditions are necessary to get a plentiful harvest of champignons.

Growing champignons in the basement of the garage or other premises assumes the presence of sound solid construction. The rest of the requirements will be analyzed in stages:

• Contrary to popular belief, the floor should have a concrete, rather than an earthen coating.
• The room itself is isolated as much as possible from the environment, excluding the possibility of contamination sources coming from outside.
• Another difference from other types of vegetation grown for sale: champignons do not need a constant light source. This gives a substantial savings on equipment and utility bills. It's enough to put one lamp in the basement to work with convenience.
• Even in a small area, you can organize the cultivation of a significant amount of harvest. For this purpose, the containers are installed in "layers", placing in the basement the usual racks. The growth height of champignons is small, which makes it possible to make tiers at a small distance.
• It is important to take into account this feature: compost for mushrooms will emit unpleasant carbon dioxide. It is unpleasant because it leads to stiffness. And mushrooms suffer such an environment badly. To avoid problems, establish an effective ventilation system.
• Do not overdo it with ventilating the room. Skvoznyaki is also the enemy of your seedling. Also on the ventilation holes is to install a mosquito net with small cells to prevent the ingress of insects into the interior.
• To the temperature regime, mushrooms, however, are unpretentious. Try to maintain an "even" level, this is enough. In summer, if necessary, a fan is used. Growing champignons in the basement in winter may require the installation of a heating system (if the room is very cold).
• Monitor the moisture level in the cellar. It can be reduced by means of ventilation, but by a simple spray with water.

What kind of room preparation is needed before growing?

Like many other mushrooms, sensitive to diseases and parasites and champignons. Cultivation in the basement (process technology, in fact, is extremely simple) involves careful preparation of the site before the work begins. Preliminary works consist in disinfection of a premise, surface processing, elimination of a mold and even a chance for its occurrence in the further. If you do not approach the issue carefully, the crop can be spoiled. It's a shame to destroy the case for several months because of simple laziness, right?

If you do not want to check the resistance of fungi to a harmful environment, do the following:

1. Explore the room for insects (actual, if earlier in this cellar stored vegetables). If you have found at least several individuals, be sure to perform the treatment with chlorophos.
2. All surfaces are covered with lime, to which copper sulphate is added.
3. Use the sulfur saber to fumigate the room.
4. Also, the space is sprayed with 4% formalin solution.
5. Want to hedge yourself? Take a deep container with sawdust and pour them with a disinfectant. Place the box at the entrance to the cellar. It will serve as an additional barrier to pests.
6. After carrying out the manipulations, carefully check the basement. Otherwise, you can damage not only the seedlings, but even your own health.

Sometimes a simple airing does not give a special result. This indicates the fact that you need an additional ventilation system. For example, you can put additional fans above the champignon racks. If your business is expanding, it makes sense to invest money in installing cleaning air filters in the ventilation system.

Technology of growing champignons

What is the principle of planting mushrooms? Growing in the basement (process technology, to be more precise) has some features:

• Zoning. It is recommended to divide the basement into two parts - for the incubation period and direct distillation. The fact is that you need to observe different temperature regimes. Zoning space greatly simplifies the task.
• As it was said, each period needs its own temperature. For cultivation - 23 ^o C, distillation - 12-17 ^o C.
• Carefully observe the composting conditions indicated on the package. Horse base is considered the best basis. When it is used, there is an increased yield.
• The substrate, which is done on its own, will always be better than the purchased one. But to save time and effort it can still be purchased.

Cultivation process

When all the conditions for growing champignons in the basement are met, you can proceed directly to the process. The easiest way for beginners is to present it in a step-by-step algorithm:

1. We plant the mycelia in the substrate. As a rule, for growing at home, entrepreneurs acquire a mycelium ready for planting. Most often this is the basis, grown in special laboratories, in which the ideal conditions for sterility are maintained. Buy mycelium for planting through intermediaries - on the Internet, shops "Everything for the garden", as well as directly from suppliers.
2. Calculate the required amount of mycelium is very simple: 1 m ² - 500 grams of "live" Environment. If the mycelium you decided to grow from the spores, 400 grams is needed.
3. The planting process is not very different from the usual: you need to make holes, about 5 cm deep. Correctly prepared compost will be slightly springy in sensations. Between the holes, observe a distance of at least 15-20 cm. Place a part of the mycelium in each well.
4. For landing, there is no need to make holes. The seeds are simply evenly spilled out onto the ground. Mushroom pickers themselves create a "path".
5. During the incubation period, the entrepreneur's task is to monitor the humidity level and the temperature regime. How to do this is described in more detail below.
6. For permanent moistening, the earth can be covered with paper (cloth) and moistened.
7. 10-12 days after planting, cover the substrate with another layer of ground - literally 3-4 cm. The earth is prepared in a special way: peat + lime + soil in a ratio of 5: 1: 4.
8. The incubation period will end after 4-5 days. All this time, regularly moisten the air and soil from the spray.
9. The next period of cultivation is forcing. At this time, the temperature in the basement is lowered to 12-17 ° C. Sometimes it is difficult to achieve this, it is much easier to move the shelves to another room. For this purpose in the section above it was suggested to zonate the basement.
10. Soon mushrooms will begin to grow. Observe the rules of their collection and do not let the champignons overripe.

Sales channels

A rare person in our time does not use champignons. Growing at home in the basement can provide the needs for fungi of one family. But if it comes to business, of course, you need to establish sales channels. It is in the search for clients that the secret to the success of this endeavor lies.

Growing champignons in the basement rarely involves a large volume of collected mushrooms. Therefore, the surplus that family members do not use can be sold in the near market.

If the matter is still put on stream and you want to find a more "solid" market, consider these options:

• It is not necessary to sell mushrooms directly to those who use them. The use of intermediaries can reduce profit, but at the same time it will provide you with a constant stream of orders. Is such a scheme useful in your case, decide for yourself.
• As an intermediary for the sale of mushrooms can act shops, supermarkets, cafes, restaurants.
• If you get a solid harvest, it makes sense to look for the possibility of concluding a contract for supply with producers of semi-finished products (champignons can be part of pancakes, pizza) or cooking.
• A good idea for promotion is to create your own website. On it you will be able to post useful information for the consumer about mushrooms in general and champignons in particular. In the same place the price, potential discounts, conditions of delivery of production to buyers, contact data are underlined.

Calculation of financial investments

Growing champignons in the basement, which is positioned as a business, will cost quite cheaply. Of course, everything depends on the resources available and the planned production volumes. However, the lack of the need to pay for renting a room is a big plus!

It is also important to note that when growing champignons, an entrepreneur frees himself from such a large expense item as buying equipment. The lion's share of the budget in the organization of business is usually used for technology.

Consider the remaining items of expenditure for 1 cycle of cultivation of champignons:

• Raw materials for the production of 1 ton of compost - 1000 rubles;
• Mycelium of champignons - 500 rubles;
• Creating the necessary conditions in the basement - 2000 rubles.

Total we get the sum of 3500 rubles. As you understand, this is a ridiculous payment for starting a modest but own business.

Profitability and profitability of business on mushrooms

If you have correctly considered all the requirements for growing white champignons in basements, each mycelium can bring you 5-8 yields. It is worth noting that the main number will bring only the first three. Typically, the cultivation cycle is 1-2 months.

Follow these rules when harvesting:

• Control the condition of mushrooms - you must not allow them to overripe.
• Determine the right time to collect simply - the mushroom's bottom is covered with a white film.
• Champignons, which are grown at home, do not cut, remember this! They just need to gently twist around its axis and get it.
• When you get out the mushroom, sprinkle the location of its location with earth.
• With the observance of simple rules, the growth of new mushrooms will take several more weeks.

We calculate the estimated profit from the business:

• 1 ton of compost is 200 kg of champignons, if all the conditions were met;
• 1 kg of this type of mushrooms is now estimated at 100-150 rubles;
• Profit from 1 cycle of harvest - 20 000-30 000 rubles.

As you can see, the profitability of the business is 100%. Investments will pay off in a few months.

What are the risks facing the entrepreneur?

Growing champignons in the basement of the house, like any other business, involves certain risks for the entrepreneur. They need to be known and, if possible, minimized negative consequences.

• Although it is impossible to talk about high competition in this area, it is difficult to find a stable sales market. Begin to build a partnership before the harvest, as the product quickly deteriorates. With ideas for finding buyers, you could see above.
• Champignons are not particularly whimsical mushrooms. However, they are prone to disease, as well as other factors affecting yields. Observe compliance with all the rules of cultivation and the state of the mycelium.

Growing champignons in the basement is a worthy option of business at home. At it it is possible to allocate at once a number of pluses: low competition, the minimum starting budget, profitability of 100%, simplicity of landing and care of champignons. However, to receive a decent revenue is real only if the entrepreneur establishes a permanent sales channel. If you find enough buyers or one, but wholesale, you can recoup the investment and make a profit after the first harvest.

And be sure not to be too lazy to make a business plan before starting the idea, in order to make calculations in detail and outline the scheme of work.