Planting Time, Methods and Cultivation Techniques for Black Wood Ear Mushroom
Black wood ear mushroom is surely familiar to many people; it is a common food in daily life. At present, it can be seen in many places across our country. Black wood ear mushroom is famous for its high edible value, so it sells very well on the market. Many people now want to grow it, so before planting, understanding its cultivation techniques is essential.
Planting Time for Black Wood Ear Mushroom
According to the temperature requirements for the growth of black wood ear mushroom mycelium, inoculation can be carried out when the natural temperature is stable above 5℃. During this period, contaminating fungi are inactive, while the black wood ear mushroom mycelium can still grow, which both reduces contamination and ensures a sufficient vegetative growth period. Generally, it is best to arrange the inoculation season around the period of “Jingzhe” (Awakening of Insects). Therefore, in the old production areas there is a saying, “cut trees during the nine cold periods, inoculate during Jingzhe.” In recent years, some operations have advanced the inoculation time to February, with very good results, and this is also more favorable for labor arrangements. Even if low temperatures occur, the mycelium will not freeze to death, and when the temperature rises, the mycelium continues to grow.
Planting Methods for Black Wood Ear Mushroom
Black wood ear mushroom spawn is divided into sawdust spawn and wooden plug spawn. Sawdust spawn is easy to produce but troublesome to inoculate, while wooden plug spawn is troublesome to produce but easy to inoculate.
1. Inoculation method for sawdust spawn: First use a 1.3 cm punch hammer, belt punch or electric drill to make holes according to the required inoculation density and depth, then insert a small piece of sawdust spawn, filling to about 80% full, then cover the inoculation hole with a bark cover or wooden plug made with a 1.4 cm belt punch, and gently tap it flat with a small hammer.
2. Wooden plug spawn: Wooden plug spawn is made by first loading wooden plugs and sawdust medium in proportion into bottles to make spawn. When inoculating, there is no need to separately prepare wooden plugs or bark covers. When inoculating, first insert a small amount of sawdust spawn into the planting hole, then tap in one wooden plug spawn.
Cultivation Techniques for Black Wood Ear Mushroom
1. Mixing the substrate. Mix the substrate thoroughly and ensure the water content is about 65%. Planting black wood ear mushroom: bagging. Use mechanical bagging, and low-pressure polyethylene bags of 17 cm×33 cm or 16 cm×52 cm can be used. After filling the 17 cm×33 cm bags, put on hard plastic rings, then insert cotton plugs and tie kraft paper on the outside. The filling method for 16 cm×52 cm bags is the same as for shiitake.
2. Inoculation. When the substrate temperature in the bag drops below 30℃, inoculation can be carried out. Inoculation must be done aseptically. The inoculation procedure for 17 cm×33 cm spawn bags is: put the cooled spawn bags into the inoculation box; wipe the outer wall of the mother spawn bottle with 75% alcohol for disinfection, then also put it into the inoculation box, then fumigate with 5 g potassium permanganate and 10 mL formaldehyde per cubic meter for 0.5-1 hour. During inoculation, light the alcohol lamp, break the mother spawn into pieces with sterilized tweezers, and within the sterile zone of the lit alcohol lamp, face the mouth of the mother spawn bottle toward the bag opening, and evenly sprinkle the spawn onto the surface of the substrate in the bag to form a thin layer. In this way, black wood ear mushroom mycelium germinates quickly and occupies the substrate surface first, thereby inhibiting contamination by foreign fungi. Each bottle of secondary spawn can inoculate about 30 bags. The inoculation method for 16 cm×52 cm spawn bags is the same as for shiitake.
Harvesting and Sun-Drying Black Wood Ear Mushroom
After the wood ear mushrooms grow up, they should be harvested frequently and selected carefully to ensure a bumper harvest. For spring wood ear and autumn wood ear, pick the large ones and leave the small ones, letting the small ones grow before picking them. For summer wood ear, pick all sizes together, because summer temperatures are high, there are many pests, and bacteria multiply quickly, which can cause mature fruiting bodies to be eaten by insects or rot. The best time to pick wood ear is when the fruiting bodies curl at the edges after rain and clear weather, or in the morning when the dew has not dried and the fruiting bodies are moist and soft. After harvesting, they should be spread thinly on drying mats and dried in one go under strong sunlight. During drying, they should not be turned too much, to avoid causing curled ears. If there is continuous overcast and rainy weather, first adopt the method of rushing to harvest and pick, spread the harvested wet fruiting bodies flat on dry thatch or dry wood ear mushrooms, let the dry thatch or dry wood ear mushrooms absorb part of the moisture, and after the weather clears, move them out to dry together. If they cannot all be harvested in time, plastic film can be used to cover the fruiting racks, so that the already grown wood ear mushrooms do not continue to be exposed to rain and absorb water, causing loss from flowing sticks.
In fact, as long as the cultivation techniques for black wood ear mushroom are understood, growing it is relatively simple. Before planting, site selection work needs to be done well, and later management also needs to be strengthened. Only after every step is done properly can good growth and high yield be ensured.