Detailed Explanation of Key Points for High-Yield Cultivation Techniques of Polyporus umbellatus
Polyporus umbellatus is a perennial fungal medicinal material, appearing as irregular black lumps with a brown surface, white interior flesh, and after drying, light brown, hard, slightly elastic, somewhat light, and dense inside. During the growth period, Polyporus umbellatus has three colors: black, gray, and white. During growth, it changes from white to gray, then to black. Black and gray Polyporus are commercial medicinal materials, while white is the young Polyporus in the expansion stage and has no economic value. Like other fungi, Polyporus umbellatus produces fruiting bodies and spores. The spores form clamp connection hyphae, which decompose and absorb nutrients such as lignin on their own. The hyphae knot together to form small white Polyporus. When the white Polyporus stops growing, it turns gray and gradually becomes black, disconnecting from the nutrient source. At this time, it only waits for Armillaria mellea to invade before it begins to grow again. Armillaria mellea does not invade the white Polyporus of the same year. It only invades the dormant gray and black Polyporus and forms a symbiotic relationship.
Economic value and cultivation status. Polyporus umbellatus is a famous traditional medicine with anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, and diuretic functions. It mainly treats nephritis, hepatitis, cirrhosis, difficult urination, general edema, and strangury. The Polyporus polysaccharide preparation isolated from Polyporus umbellatus has good clinical effects on liver cancer, esophageal cancer, lung cancer, and leukemia. The young fruiting body is very delicious and has both edible and medicinal value.
Polyporus umbellatus production used to rely entirely on wild resources. With the development of its medicinal value and its application in food health care and cosmetics, wild resources are increasingly depleted. In the late 1980s, researchers used sclerotium accompanied by Armillaria mellea for imitation wild cultivation and achieved success, but this method had high input, slow growth, and low efficiency, making it difficult to promote. With scientific and technological research and development of Polyporus umbellatus, pure strains made by the spore isolation method were used for artificial cultivation and achieved success. The growth period was shortened from the past 5-6 years to 3 years. Each square meter can yield 10-15 kg of fresh Polyporus umbellatus, and cultivation is not restricted by season. Huge benefits can be obtained. It is suitable for large-scale promotion and planting in broad-leaved forests. It is the preferred poverty-alleviation project for forestry departments and rural economic structural adjustment, developing under-forest economy with forestry as the main sector, and carrying out diversified economic development.
Cultivation methods:
1. Site selection. Site selection is very important for artificial cultivation. It should be considered from many aspects such as topography, terrain, vegetation, and soil. For Polyporus umbellatus growth, choose an altitude of 300-1500 m, a slope of 15-50 degrees. The terrain should preferably be semi-sunny and semi-shady slopes facing east and west. Vegetation should be selected from shrub species such as oak, birch, maple, elm, willow, and poplar. For soil, yellow sandy clay under about 15 cm of humus soil layer is preferable, slightly acidic, with a water content of about 40%. Saline-alkali soil and peat soil sections are not suitable for cultivation.
2. Temperature. At a depth of 10 cm, Polyporus umbellatus can germinate when the average ground temperature reaches 9.5 degrees. It grows fastest at 18-20 degrees. Growth is slow above 28 degrees. Polyporus umbellatus stops growing below 9 degrees or above 30 degrees.
3. Materials. (1) Polyporus umbellatus spawn; (2) Armillaria mellea. For Polyporus umbellatus and Armillaria mellea, choose high-quality strains with thick hyphae, reticular mycorrhizae on the surface, and strong hyphal sprouting ability. (3) Fungus wood: oak, birch, maple, and elm are preferred. Wood sticks with a diameter of 4-10 cm and a length of 60 cm, cut with fish-scale notches for later use; (4) Broad-leaved tree leaves; moist leaves are preferred; (5) A mixture of leaves and decayed soil.
4. Cultivation method. In the selected cultivation site, dig cultivation pits along the mountain. The plant spacing between pits is 30 cm, the row spacing is 50 cm, and there are working paths. The pit specifications are 1 m long, 70 cm wide, and 15 cm deep. Each pit is used to cultivate two layers of Polyporus umbellatus. At the bottom of the pit, spread 2-3 cm of wet leaves. Select fungus sticks about 8-10 cm, use a hole punch or electric drill to drill holes 1.5 cm deep with a hole spacing of 10 cm. Put Polyporus umbellatus spawn into the holes without sealing them, then place one stick in the middle of each pit. Then place the cut fungus sticks on the leaves with a row spacing of 6-8 cm. Place Armillaria mellea fungus segments on the fungus sticks at the fish-scale notches. Break Polyporus umbellatus spawn into 4-6 cm small pieces and evenly place them between the fungus sticks. Cover with wet leaves, then add 2 cm of decayed soil. Carry out the second layer of cultivation according to the above procedure. After planting, cover the top layer of the pit with about 6 cm and form a turtle-back shape to prevent water accumulation in the pit during the rainy season.
Management and processing: Management is simple. No fertilizer and no weeding are needed, allowing it to maintain natural growth. Experiments show that under suitable conditions, Polyporus umbellatus spawn can grow bean-sized white young Polyporus about 50 days after sowing. After another about 40 days, gray and black Polyporus can be formed. After 3 years, each pit yields 10-15 kg of fresh Polyporus. At a drying rate of 40%, this gives 4-6 kg of dry product. The harvested Polyporus umbellatus should have soil and rhizomorphs removed cleanly, then aired, sun-dried, or oven-dried in time, and then stored in a ventilated place for sale.
Benefit analysis: Each square meter is inoculated with 1 bottle of Polyporus umbellatus spawn and 1 bottle of Armillaria mellea spawn, i.e. 15 yuan for spawn, 2 yuan for pit planting labor, and 2 yuan for materials, totaling about 19 yuan. In three years, about 5 kg of commercial Polyporus can be produced. At a market price of 60 yuan per kg, the output value per square meter is 300 yuan. After deducting the investment of 19 yuan, the profit can be 281 yuan. Each mu of land can cultivate more than 300 pits, with a profit of 84,300 yuan. After deducting 10,000 yuan for three years of manual guarding costs, the profit is about 74,300 yuan. The benefits are very considerable.