Key Technical Points for Intensive Cultivation Management of King Oyster Mushroom
King Oyster Mushroom, also known as Pleurotus eryngii, gets its name because it has the fragrance of almonds and a thick, abalone-like texture. It is a rare new edible mushroom variety successfully developed and cultivated in recent years, combining food, medicinal and dietary therapeutic uses. There are relatively many King Oyster Mushroom products on the market, such as the commonly seen Baishanzu mushroom side dish -- King Oyster Mushroom, King Oyster Mushroom extract, ready-to-eat small-pack King Oyster Mushroom, and individually packaged small packets of King Oyster Mushroom, etc. The King Oyster Mushroom has thick flesh and a crisp, tender texture; in particular, the stipe tissue is dense, firm and milky white, and the entire mushroom can be eaten, with the stipe being even crisper, smoother and more refreshing than the cap. It is called the “King of Oyster Mushrooms” and the “Scallop Mushroom”, and has a pleasant almond fragrance and an abalone-like texture. It is suitable for fresh preservation and processing, and is deeply loved by people.
The fruiting bodies of the King Oyster Mushroom grow singly or in groups. The cap is 2-12cm wide, initially arched-round, then gradually flattening, and at maturity becoming shallowly depressed in the center to funnel-shaped, with a silky luster on the surface, smooth, dry, and finely fibrous; when young, the cap margin is inrolled, and after maturity it becomes wavy or deeply cleft; the flesh is white, has an almond flavor, and no milky juice is secreted; the gills are decurrent, dense, slightly broad, milky white, with flat edges and sides, and small gills; the stipe is 2-8cm to 0.5-3cm, eccentrically inserted or lateral. The King Oyster Mushroom belongs to the medium-low temperature fruiting type of fungi. The suitable temperature range for fruiting body development is 10-15°C, and indoor shelf cultivation in fungus bags is usually adopted. The main cultivation materials include cottonseed hulls and sawdust, and other auxiliary materials include wheat bran, sugar and calcium carbonate; material: water = 1:1.4-1.5.
King Oyster Mushroom: it is a rare new edible mushroom variety successfully developed and cultivated that integrates food, medicinal and dietary therapeutic uses. The mushroom body has an almond fragrance, thick flesh, a fresh and tender taste, a light and fragrant flavor, and is rich in nutrients; it can be used to cook dozens of delicious dishes. It also has effects such as lowering blood lipids, lowering cholesterol, promoting gastrointestinal digestion, enhancing the body's immune capacity, and preventing cardiovascular diseases. It is extremely popular, and its market price is 3-5 times higher than that of oyster mushrooms.
Key points for intensive cultivation management of King Oyster Mushroom
The King Oyster Mushroom is mainly consumed for its stipe. Because of its fresh and tender taste and pleasant almond fragrance, it is greatly favored by the market. It is understood that in recent years the market has remained in a state of supply falling short of demand, and seasonal selling prices are very high, so both production and operating benefits are considerable, making it one of the key edible mushroom varieties for development.
King Oyster Mushroom varieties are divided into two types of strains. One is the bowling-pin shape, whose fruiting body form has an enlarged base of the stipe, tapering gradually upward, with a relatively small cap at the top, and only the junction with the stipe opening slightly, generally about 0.3-0.8 cm; the other is the columnar mushroom, that is, its stipe is basically the same thickness from top to bottom, and the cap is also relatively small. The former has a good shape, white color and high value, but its biological efficiency is relatively low; in general commercial production, the biological efficiency is about 40-60%. The latter has a higher mushroom yield, with biological efficiency generally above 80%, and the highest can exceed 120%. However, because mushroom farmers do not understand its biological characteristics very well, its commercial mushroom rate is not high, making it difficult to obtain ideal production benefits.
Intensive cultivation management can achieve high-quality and high-yield results. According to our research, implementing the “three-step” tactic in management can ensure production results to the greatest extent:
Step one: comprehensive and balanced nutrition in the base material is the foundation. Phenomena such as uneven fruiting and low yield in production are directly related to insufficient and unbalanced nutrition in the base material. We can tell mushroom farmers very clearly: practice has proved that even when cottonseed hulls are used as the base material, a large amount of nutrient elements are likewise lacking, and artificial blending and supplementation are necessary to give the mycelium sufficient nutritional support, to improve mycelial vitality (decomposition capacity), and to ensure mushroom yield. The basic formula is: cottonseed hulls 150 kg, sawdust 70 kg, wheat bran 30 kg, soybean cake powder 5 kg, superphosphate 5 kg, gypsum powder 5 kg, lime powder 1 kg, urea 0.75 kg, sucrose 1 kg, edible mushroom three-dimensional nutrient essence (mixing type) 1 bag. Or sawdust 150 kg, cottonseed hulls and wheat bran 45 kg each, corn flour 10 kg, soybean cake powder 5 kg, superphosphate 6 kg, gypsum powder and lime powder 1.5 kg each, urea 1 kg, edible mushroom three-dimensional nutrient essence 1-2 bags. Notes: the lime powder in the formula should be mixed with water and then mixed evenly with sawdust, wheat bran, etc.; after piling and fermenting for 2 days, mix with the other raw and auxiliary materials, and finally add the edible mushroom three-dimensional nutrient essence. Bagging, sterilization, inoculation, etc. are all conventional. Step two: full and complete mycelial after-ripening is the guarantee. Research found that although King Oyster Mushroom does not need the longer after-ripening period of white lingzhi mushroom, after completing colonization, regulating the temperature to make it fully mature, completely mature, and uniformly mature is an important guarantee for neat and uniform fruiting. The basic operation is: after the fungus bags are fully colonized, regulate the temperature to keep it below 20°C; when conditions permit, regulate it to about 12°C, so that the mycelium undergoes “lateral development” under low-temperature conditions. After about 10-20 days, the mycelium becomes noticeably thicker and stronger than before, laying the foundation for improving its decomposition capacity. Then, raise the temperature to above 25°C but not exceeding 33°C, so that the mycelium is once again in an active period, fully absorbing and transforming the nutrients in the base material, and accordingly increasing mycelial mass, that is, accumulating biological energy and laying a good material foundation for the next step of fruiting. This stage takes about 10 days or so. Step three: timely and appropriate bud thinning management is the condition. King Oyster Mushroom bud thinning is a technical step missed by most mushroom farmers; it is an important condition for ensuring high quality and high yield. With proper operation, the commercial rate of the mushrooms can be increased to above 95%. Bud thinning is very simple: first, prepare a wallpaper knife, or grind a hacksaw blade into a small sharp-edged knife; second, at the budding points, choose the dense young buds, determine that each fruiting surface retains 2-3 young buds, and cut off the tips of the remaining buds with the sharp knife. But note two points: first, the retained young buds should have suitable spacing to avoid crowding when they grow larger; second, do not injure the retained buds when thinning. Finally, after completing the bud thinning operation, promptly spray the shed walls, ground, ventilation openings and other places once with an 800-fold solution of Baibing Qiwuzong, and lightly spray the mushroom shed space once with a 1500-fold solution of Mushroom Bingling to prevent the wounds from bud thinning from being infected by viruses and pathogens. During fruiting body growth, maintain a shed temperature of 15°C, shed humidity of 85-95%, relatively fresh ventilation and weak scattered light. The rest of the management can be conventional.