Water Hyacinth for Growing Mushrooms
Many unusual products, including water hyacinth, work well as a medium for growing mushrooms. Water hyacinth grows very rapidly and offers a continuous source of material for growing edible mushrooms. Does this Spark an idea?
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Description
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Water hyacinth grows as an invasive aquatic weed where it often takes over rivers and streams, crowding out and killing other vegetation. Since the problem plant reproduces profusely, it makes a good, inexpensive and abundant medium for growing mushrooms. The plant gets used in place of straw and other substrates to grow several types of mushroom.
Types
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Two types of mushrooms use water hyacinth as a growing medium. Straw mushrooms, typically grown in a straw substrate, thrive when grown in water hyacinth. Oyster mushrooms also grow well in water hyacinth.
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Future
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In southern and eastern Africa, mushroom production using water hyacinth continues to grow. Many of the rivers in Malawi contain water hyacinth, making it easy and inexpensive to grow mushrooms in the weed.
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References
Resources
- Photo Credit Brand X Pictures/Brand X Pictures/Getty Images
