Detailed Explanation of the Key Technical Points of Bag Cultivation of Straw Mushroom

The straw mushroom, also known as the orchid mushroom or the bulb-foot mushroom, originated in Nanhua Temple in Shaoguan, Guangdong, and China began artificial cultivation 300 years ago. Below we introduce the bag cultivation techniques of the straw mushroom.

1. Soaking the straw and mixing

Cut the rice straw into 2-3 sections; if conditions permit, it can be cut into about 5 cm pieces, and soak in 5% lime water for 6-8 hours. Scoop out the straw and drain off the excess water, then add the supplementary materials and mix evenly.

2. Bagging

For the thoroughly mixed material, choose polyethylene plastic bags, tie one end of the bag tightly with a slip knot using thick cotton thread, tied at 2 cm from the bag opening. Put the mixed culture material into the bag, pressing it tight while filling, with each bag holding 2-2.5 kg wet weight of material.

3. Sterilization and inoculation

Use atmospheric-pressure sterilization; after loading the pot, keep the temperature inside the pot at 100°C for about six hours, then stop the fire and take it out of the pot, and move it into the inoculation room. During inoculation, untie the string at one end of the plastic bag, inoculate with straw mushroom spawn, and tie the string tightly again.

4. Mycelium growth management

Move the inoculated mushroom bags into the culture room. The stacking height of the mushroom bags should be determined according to the season; when the temperature is high, the number of layers should be fewer, and when the temperature is low, the number of stacked layers can be appropriately increased. Under suitable conditions, the mycelium usually grows throughout the entire bag in 10-13 days.

Bag cultivation of the straw mushroom is a relatively new cultivation method and also a high-yield cultivation method; its yield per unit area is about 1 times higher than that of traditional straw-pile cultivation. The biological efficiency can reach 30%-40%.