Artificial Mushroom Cultivation Methods and Key Cultivation Techniques

There are many varieties of artificial mushrooms; here we introduce the cultivation method for enoki mushroom (Flammulina velutipes). To cultivate enoki mushroom, you first need to prepare a mushroom house; the main requirements for the mushroom house are insulation, ventilation and cleanliness. Then prepare the raw materials; once ready, fill bags, sterilize, inoculate after sterilization, and after inoculation move them into the mushroom house and wait for fruiting. After fruiting, simply manage temperature, humidity, ventilation and light.

1. Time: The suitable temperature for enoki mushroom mycelium growth is 7-30°C, with the optimal temperature being 23°C; the suitable temperature for fruiting body differentiation and development is 3-18°C, with the optimal temperature being 13°C. Therefore, in southern regions the best planting time is late autumn, in northern regions it is mid-autumn, in the provinces south of the Yangtze River it is October to November, and in high-altitude mountainous areas it is September.

2. Site: A mushroom house needs to be prepared; the main requirements for the mushroom house are insulation, ventilation and cleanliness. A semi-underground mushroom house can be built; it is recommended to dig a 1 m deep square hole in the ground outdoors, then pile soil around it on the ground to form walls 1 m high, and cover the top with plastic film and straw curtains.

3. Prepare raw materials: Crushed corn cobs (which can be replaced by sorghum husks, sawdust, peanut shells, bean stalks, corn stalks, rapeseed stalks, etc.), wheat bran, cornmeal, gypsum powder, soybean flour, superphosphate and white sugar can be prepared in a ratio of 75:20:3.5:2:1.5:1:1. Then dissolve the white sugar in water, add water to the sugar water and other ingredients and stir thoroughly; the water content should reach about 65%, and after letting it sit for 2-4 hours, fill the bags.

4. Bag filling and inoculation: First, choose plastic bags 15-17 cm wide and 55 cm long for filling; while filling, compact the material as you go. After filling, tie both ends with thin rope into slip knots, then sterilize under high pressure or normal pressure. After sterilization, inoculation can be carried out, and after inoculation promptly move the bags into the mushroom house.

5. Daily management: Under suitable temperature conditions, the mycelium begins to germinate in about 24 hours, and the bags are fully colonized in about 40 days. After full colonization, untie the bag openings and roll them back, stack the bags and cover with film. Every morning uncover the film for ventilation for 30 minutes, and maintain humidity at 85%-90%; in about 7-10 days fruiting will begin successively. After fruiting, ventilation can be appropriately increased. When the stipes grow to 3-5 cm, remove the plastic film and ventilate for 1-2 days; afterward control the temperature at 6-8°C, the relative air humidity at 85%-90%, the carbon dioxide concentration at 0.11%-0.15%, and the light to weak light. In about 10 days the enoki mushrooms will have grown and can be harvested.