How to Cultivate Enoki Mushrooms for High Yield? A Detailed Guide to Growing Techniques
The scientific name of the enoki mushroom is Flammulina velutipes, also known as velvet foot, winter mushroom, and by various other names; in English it is called “Enoki Mushroom”. Its botanical name is Flammulina velutiper (Fr.) Sing. Because its stipe is slender and resembles golden needle vegetable, it is called enoki mushroom; it belongs to the order Agaricales, family Tricholomataceae, genus Flammulina, and is a type of fungus-alga-lichen organism. The enoki mushroom has high medicinal and dietary value. It is widely distributed in nature, found in China, Japan, Russia, Europe, North America, Australia and other places. In China, it is suitable for growth from Heilongjiang in the north to Yunnan in the south, and from Jiangsu in the east to Xinjiang in the west.
The enoki mushroom does not contain chlorophyll, does not carry out photosynthesis, and cannot manufacture carbohydrates, but it can grow completely in a dark environment. It must absorb ready-made organic substances from the culture medium, such as carbohydrates, proteins and fat degradation products. It is a saprophytic nutritional type, a heterotrophic organism, belonging to the basidiomycetes. The enoki mushroom is a wood-rotting fungus, easily growing on the dead trunks and stumps of broadleaf trees such as willow, elm, and white poplar.
Guannan in Jiangsu, Hebei, Anyang, Linzhou, and others. Lingshou in Shijiazhuang, Hebei, cultivates large quantities of white enoki mushrooms, and every November and December they are sold at equivalent volumes to various places. According to measurements, the enoki mushroom is very rich in amino acids, higher than ordinary mushrooms, especially in lysine, which is particularly high; lysine has the function of promoting children's intellectual development. Dried enoki mushroom contains 8.87% protein, 60.2% carbohydrates, and up to 7.4% crude fiber. Regular consumption can prevent and treat ulcer disease. Research has also shown that a substance contained in enoki mushrooms has a good anti-cancer effect. The enoki mushroom is both a delicious food and a relatively good health food, and its domestic and international markets are increasingly broad. The artificial cultivation technique of enoki mushrooms is not complicated; as long as environmental conditions are well controlled, it is easy to obtain stable and reliable yields.
How to cultivate enoki mushrooms for high yield?
1. Change from wide-bag cultivation to narrow-bag cultivation
Many people believe that using 25 cm × 50 cm plastic bags to cultivate enoki mushrooms is better. But in reality, wide bags are more susceptible to contamination by foreign bacteria, and when there are few mushroom buds the fruiting bodies tend to bend, affecting product quality and failing to meet the requirements of small caps, long stipes, light color, and plump tenderness. Therefore, 17 cm × 33 cm plastic bags are still better.
2. Change from high-pressure sterilization to extended atmospheric-pressure sterilization
The enoki mushroom grows faster on a culture substrate rich in vitamin B1 and vitamin B2, and produces fewer oidia. However, vitamin B1 is not heat-resistant and easily decomposes when the temperature reaches above 120°C, so the culture substrate should be sterilized at atmospheric pressure. To ensure the spawn is not contaminated by foreign bacteria, the sterilization time can be extended from 10-12 hours to 13-18 hours.
3. Change from traditional vertical fruiting to horizontal fruiting from both ends
After filling with substrate, inoculate at both ends of the plastic bag and leave about 15 cm of plastic film at each end, fill lightly and press lightly, then tie the bag mouth tightly and place it horizontally for about 4 layers for mycelial growth. This method not only ensures fruiting quality but also saves mushroom house space, and can increase the yield per square meter of mushroom house by more than 70%.
4. Change from one-time bag opening to controlled bag opening
When carrying out closed bag-tied mycelial culture at both ends, because the oxygen concentration inside the bag is low, if the conventional method is followed one should wait until the mycelium matures and yellow balls are extruded before opening the bag, which will inevitably affect its growth. Therefore, one should always pay attention to the mycelial growth inside the bag; once the mycelium grows slowly, the bag should be opened in time. But at this time do not fully spread open the bag mouth; instead slowly spread it open as appropriate, and wait until the stipe grows to about 8 cm before fully spreading open the bag mouth, to ensure the temperature, humidity and oxygen concentration required by the fruiting body during the fruiting process. During this process, one should prevent the fruiting body from being pressed and thus growing bent.
5. Change from letting the stipe elongate freely to red weak-light induction
The enoki mushroom fruiting body has strong phototropism, so after the fungus bags have completed mycelial growth and are put on shelves, a 15-watt red bulb can be hung about every 4 meters directly above the center of two rows of walls; the vertical light produced by the bulb can induce the mycelium to grow horizontally in bundles toward the light direction. But at this time doors and windows should be shaded to prevent the fruiting bodies from growing randomly, lodging and bending.
6. Change from randomly adding nutrients during the fruiting period to scientific application
Many mushroom farmers apply growth regulators and other nutrients during the fruiting period to promote fruiting body growth, but often because they do not use the right method the effect is not obvious or even inhibits fruiting body growth.
Practice has proved that spraying a 0.5% triacontanol solution during the fruiting period can increase yield by more than 17%, but special attention should be paid to the concentration used. After harvesting two flushes of mushrooms, inject manure water diluted 500-1000 times into the bags, which can increase yield by 15%-20%.