Rachel BairdWine cap mushrooms (Stropharia rugosoannulata) are fun and unique mushrooms that you can grow right in the home garden. They can withstand some sun and are also cold hardy, meaning they overwinter outdoors in many climates. Planting just one bed of these mushrooms should provide you with a bountiful supply for years to come if you care for your beds. Discover how to grow wine cap mushrooms in your home garden and reap the rewards of this red garden giant.
Why Grow Wine Cap Mushrooms in Your Garden?
Also known as king stropharia, garden king, and Godzilla mushroom, wine cap mushrooms grow to a surprising size in comparison with shiitake or oyster, for example. On average, the cap width spans from 1.5 inches to 5 inches, and the stalk is at least ½ inch thick. One mushroom may weigh up to a whopping 3 pounds, meaning this mushroom produces a high-yield crop.
Once you have an established bed, you should have more than enough to share with friends and family, and even sell at the local farmer’s market. Wine cap mushrooms are also easy to transplant and will move around the garden on their own or with a bit of help.
Wine cap mushrooms are one of the only types of mushrooms that can handle some sunlight. This makes them ideal for planting in your vegetable gardens, under the shade of your other plants. Growing mushrooms outdoors also means no fussing with buckets or bags, or worrying about sterilizing the environment.
There are a host of benefits to interplanting mushrooms and vegetables. Wine cap mushrooms are fantastic decomposers, breaking down organic material and quickly enriching the soil with vital nutrients, such as nitrogen. They also eat parasitic nematodes by immobilizing and then digesting them, similar to a carnivorous plant. So, adding these mushrooms to your vegetable garden can greatly increase the health and vitality of your other crops.
Who to Purchase From and What to Buy
There are many online suppliers of mushroom spawn. It is best to purchase mushroom spawn from a local distributor for a compatible spawn, as well as to reduce the shipping distance. For this bed, we used the Wine Cap Outdoor Mushroom Kit from Grow Mushrooms Canada. The kit arrived as an approximate 5-pound bag of sawdust spawn, which is enough spawn for a 3-foot by 3-foot bed.
Wine cap mushrooms also come in a liquid culture. However, this is generally better suited for indoor growing in bags or containers. Sawdust spawn is the easiest way to create an outdoor wine cap mushroom bed.
Where to Plant Wine Cap Mushrooms
Since wine cap mushrooms grow on either straw or hardwood chips, they are one of the easiest mushrooms to grow in the garden alongside your other crops. You can dedicate a separate garden bed in the shade for your mushrooms. Or, to reap all those benefits of co-planting, you can plant them in the rows between your vegetables or even under a fruit tree. Often, the shade from other vegetables or trees is enough for them to thrive.
Keep in mind that since spores spread mushrooms, you may find the wine cap mushrooms moving around your yard and creating their own beds where you least expect them. However, being overrun with the mushroom isn’t too much of a concern. Local wildlife, particularly the squirrels, will be happy to lift a few off your hands.
When to Plant Wine Cap Mushrooms
Spring is the best time to start a mushroom bed, as it gives the mycelium the most time to form prior to the cold weather and the best chance for fruiting mushrooms in the first season. However, you can start a wine cap mushroom bed in summer or fall. You just might not have any mushrooms popping up until the following year.
Wine cap mushrooms are quite cold-hardy. There is no need to wait until after the chance of frost to plant.
Do not plant any edible mushrooms near other competitor fungi. Wine cap mushrooms can compete quite well with other fungi. However, it makes it much safer and easier for mushroom identification if you only have one type of mushroom growing in the bed.
How to Prepare the Bed
Once you have selected an area for your mushroom bed, you will build a lasagna garden bed. Wine cap will grow on most wood chips and sawdust, but prefer at least 50% hardwood. They also grow well on straw, but straw does not sustain a long-term bed as well as woodchips. If using straw, it’s best to cut into 1 to 3-inch pieces, and also mix with some woodchips for balanced nutrition. You can wear gloves to protect your hands. However, if you prefer to garden without gloves, there is no need to create a sterile environment required for indoor growing.
- Lay about 1 to 2 inches of straw or hardwood chips
- Sprinkle half of your crumbled-up wine cap mushroom spawn over the top
- Lay another 1 to 2 inches of straw or hardwood chips
- Sprinkle the rest of your crumbled-up wine cap mushroom spawn on top
- Lay a final layer of 1 to 2 inches of straw or hardwood chips
- Water thoroughly overtop
Caring for Your Mushroom Bed
Once you have laid your lasagna bed, there is minimal care required for upkeep. During the warm summer months, when there is no rain, water the bed every other day. You can do this in combination with watering your vegetable gardens. Depending on when you planted your wine cap mushrooms, you can expect to see the fruiting body sprouting up through the straw or sawdust in two to 11 months. Once you have an established bed, wine cap mushrooms can produce from spring until fall, as long as you water them regularly.
In the fall, cover your bed with 2 to 4 inches of straw or hardwood chips to protect them over winter, and give them new organic material to break down in the spring. You can expand your bed by moving some of the mycelium-covered straw or hardwood chips to a new bed. This is best completed in the spring or fall, but you can also do this in the summer.
Harvesting Wine Cap Mushrooms
Button-sized are Burgundy-red
One of the reasons wine cap mushrooms are a great beginner crop is that they are easy to identify. Growing them in your own garden also gives you the benefit of knowing what you planted. You also know where you planted the spawn, and can observe it as it grows.
When the fruiting mushroom first emerges from the ground, the cap will be a distinctive burgundy-red color. This is one of the easiest ways to confirm that you have successfully grown wine cap mushrooms. This mushroom also has gills, which are covered with a veil when the mushrooms are button-size.
Mature Wine Cap Mushrooms are Brown
As they age, the cap flattens and becomes larger, and the color of the cap fades to a brown color, similar to the size and color of a portobello mushroom. Depending on the climate, this process can happen quite quickly, within 24 to 48 hours. So, it’s important to keep a close eye on your mushroom beds, especially after a heavy rain, to see if you have any popping up. Observing them in this early stage is a great way to have peace of mind that you are harvesting wine cap mushrooms.
For the best-tasting mushroom, harvest wine cap mushrooms before the veil separates from the stem and before the cap becomes concave. They have the best flavor during the button mushroom stage. However, slightly larger mushrooms also make an excellent substitute for portobello mushrooms. They are still edible when more mature, but they will have less flavor, and the stems may be stringy.
For Best Flavor Harvest in the Button Stage
Harvest mushrooms with a hori hori knife, cutting near the base of the stem. You can also twist and remove the mushrooms by hand, you just may remove more of the mycelium than needed. As with other mushrooms, be sure to thoroughly cook them before eating. They are a meaty mushroom with a nutty flavor that some describe as tasting similar to a potato. While the entire mushroom is edible, do not eat this particular mushroom for more than two days in a row, as this can cause intestinal upset.
Key Identification Features:
- Cap is a burgundy-red color when young, fading to brown over time
- Gills attached to the stalk, with a veil covering them when young
- Veil breaks, leaving a large ring on the stalk when mature
- The stalk flesh is white in color
Add Wine Cap Mushrooms to Your Garden Today
Wine cap mushrooms are a high-yield mushroom crop that are ideal for planting in your garden. With proper care, they will return year after year for a bountiful supply of delicious mushrooms that you can easily substitute for cremini or portobello in recipes. In addition to being a great bumper crop, they can also help your other crops thrive.
Have you tried growing wine cap mushrooms in your garden? Tell us about it in the comments!
Sources:
- Grow Mushrooms Canada: Growing Wine Cap Mushrooms
