How to Grow Tea Tree Mushroom? A Detailed Guide to Tea Tree Mushroom Cultivation Techniques

The tea tree mushroom can be found in many places, and it is currently widely distributed in our country, with fairly good sales on the market. This has attracted many people who want to cultivate it in order to increase their economic returns. However, it cannot produce high yields just by being grown casually; many techniques need to be mastered along the way.

Tea Tree Mushroom Cultivation Techniques

1. Preparation of the culture substrate. When mixing ingredients, weigh the materials accurately according to the formula. First pour the main ingredients such as wheat straw powder, rice straw powder, cottonseed hulls, and bagasse into the mixing yard and pile them into a cone shape, then scatter the auxiliary ingredients such as bran, rice bran, corn flour, and gypsum from the top of the pile to the surroundings, and turn and mix them dry 2 to 3 times until evenly blended. Dissolve the water-soluble sugar and superphosphate in water and sprinkle the solution onto the dry materials, stirring evenly. A mixer or manual stirring can be used. Manual turning requires 3 to 4 rounds, striving for two evennesses and one sufficiency, that is, even material-to-material mixing, even material-to-water mixing, and sufficient water absorption by the material, and finally the moisture content and pH are measured. To measure pH, use universal test paper with a pH range of 1-12, insert a small strip into the culture substrate for 1 minute and then take it out, compare the color against the color chart to read the corresponding pH value. Generally, the pH value of freshly mixed substrate should be 7.5—8, and the moisture content should be 60%-65%.

2. Bagging and sterilization. Use polypropylene or low-pressure polyethylene plastic bags with specifications of 17 cm × 33 cm × 0.05 cm. Fill each bag with 300 to 400 grams of dry material. After filling, use a round tamping stick to make a hole about 10 cm deep in the center of the material, then tie the opening with string, tying a slip knot, so that after sterilization both ends can be inoculated; alternatively, use gusseted bags, fill material at one end, put a ring on the bag opening, seal it with a cotton plug, newspaper (or kraft paper), and inoculate at one end after sterilization. For normal-pressure steam sterilization, maintain 100°C for 12 to 14 hours; for high-pressure steam sterilization, maintain a pressure of 0.137 MPa for 1.5 to 2 hours.

3. Inoculation. The inoculation room must be kept clean and hygienic. Disinfect thoroughly before use. Inoculate when the temperature of the material bags drops below 30% to promote the germination of the mycelium. Perform inoculation aseptically: first remove 1 to 2 cm of aged spawn from the surface, and break the spawn into pieces the size of broad beans. The mycelium of the tea tree mushroom grows somewhat slowly, so the inoculation amount should be increased, with each bottle (or bag) of spawn inoculating 1-5 bags. With a large inoculation amount, the spawn quickly colonizes the surface of the substrate after germination, which can reduce contamination by miscellaneous fungi.

How to Grow Tea Tree Mushroom

1. Use scientific formulas. If the nitrogen content of the tea tree mushroom culture substrate is too high, the contamination rate is high and fruiting is delayed; if the nitrogen content is too low, the yield is low. The following two formulas are recommended: sawdust 36%, cottonseed hulls 36%, bran 20%, corn flour 5%, tea seed cake 1%, light calcium carbonate 1%, sugar 1%, pH 7 to 7.5; or cottonseed hulls 87%, wheat bran 10%, lime 2%, sugar 1%, moisture content 56% to 60%, pH 7 to 7.5.

2. Scientifically arrange the bag-making season. The mycelium of the tea tree mushroom can grow at 5 to 35°C, and the optimum temperature for fruiting body differentiation is 22 to 26°C. Below 20°C, the fruiting bodies grow slowly, the flushes turn slowly, the stipes are short, and the yield is low; above 28°C, the fruiting bodies grow quickly and the caps open easily, affecting quality. In Gaochun County, mid-to-late May and mid-to-late September are most suitable for the formation and growth of tea tree mushroom fruiting bodies; counting back 55 to 60 days gives the reasonable bag-making period, generally arranged in early-to-mid March and early-to-mid July.

Pest and Disease Control of Tea Tree Mushroom

During the process of making the mushroom bags and managing cultivation, the tea tree mushroom often suffers from contamination by miscellaneous fungi and invasion by pests and diseases. Therefore, during cultivation, pest and disease control must be strengthened.

1. Do a good job of environmental sanitation and eliminate sources of pests and diseases: maintain good environmental sanitation inside and outside the mushroom house, clean up garbage promptly, especially rotten mushrooms, mushroom roots, and discarded culture substrate, to prevent the growth of miscellaneous fungi or adult insects from coming to lay eggs, eliminate sources of pests and diseases, and reduce pests and diseases.

2. Light trapping and killing: the adults of mushroom gnats and mushroom flies are phototactic and can be trapped and killed with black light lamps or high-voltage electrostatic insect-killing lamps.

3. Chemical control: use a 1500-fold dilution of 5% fipronil to spray directly on the mushroom bags. The pesticide fipronil has contact, stomach-poison, and systemic translocation effects on mushroom gnats and flies; if larvae damage is severe, spray once more after three days.

Harvesting of Tea Tree Mushroom

Harvest in time when the cap of the fruiting body is hemispherical, 2 to 3 cm in diameter, the color gradually becomes lighter, the partial veil has not ruptured, and the spores have not yet been released in large quantities. If overripe, the partial veil ruptures, the gills turn brown, and mature spores are released and fall on the caps, reducing commercial value. When harvesting, gently hold the stipe with the hand, rotate the mushroom bag, and pick the whole cluster, without damaging the cap and stipe. Place the harvested mushrooms as whole clusters in a basket lined with cotton cloth, handling them gently so as not to squeeze the fruiting bodies or break the stipes.

Before planting tea tree mushrooms, a formula must be prepared well to ensure their nutrition. Then sterilization treatment must also be carried out, and after these are done, they can be planted. Tea tree mushrooms are very susceptible to pest invasion, so pest control work must be strengthened in the later stages of cultivation. Only in this way can high-yield, high-quality tea tree mushrooms be cultivated.