Blushing bolete mycelium is an easy-to-use kit consisting of high quality spawn on grain and the detailed growing instructions of this species. It will allow you to introduce tasty, quickly growing forest mushrooms to your garden with minimum effort. Properly planted mycelium produces numerous, large fruit bodies for even 3 - 5 years. What makes things even easier is that they do not require any care apart from watering in the summer drought periods.

The blushing bolete (Leccinum melaneum), also known under the name Leccinum roseofractum look similar to the popular rough-stemmed bolete. These two easily cultivated species differ mostly in the size and colour of the fruit body. Ripe specimen of the blushing bolete grows 10 - 15 cm tall, while its cap reaches diameter of 3 - 15 cm. Broad, conical stem of this mushroom is greyish-white and covered with tiny, dark brown scales, while its cap takes form of a convex pillow. It is covered by smooth, velvety, black-brown or brown-grey skin. The tubes and pores take on pale grey colour. Small, yet appetizing and aromatic mushrooms may be eaten steamed, grilled, fried, dried, preserved or added to soups and thick, rich sauces. They are firm and display a tender, pleasant taste similar to the taste of the scaber stalk.

Cultivation of mycorrhizal forest mushrooms is an easy and satisfying task. Complying with producers instructions and the right choice of the site are the keys to success. You should remember that blushing bolete lives in mycorrhiza with birch trees, so it is advised to place its mycelium close to young birch trunks, no farther than 5 m away. You may plant it the whole season long, starting mid-April. One mycelium package will be enough for planting three holes, 30 - 40 cm wide and 15 cm deep. Place the mycelium on a layer of garden soil mixed with peat and cover with the same kind of soil. Water the ground around the holes (you may use a sugar solution in proportion 10 g of sugar per 10 l of water). Finally, cover the culture with moss, leaves or needles. You will harvest first mushrooms from June to October in the second year of cultivation.

The package contains ground biological spawn (mycelium) on grain. Detailed growing instructions have been included in the package information. The producer estimates the probability of successful blushing bolete development for 85 - 87%. The emergence of mushrooms depends on the environmental conditions and proper site preparation: blushing bolete grows on bright sites in coppices and on forest edges in the neighbourhood of birch trees.