A Detailed Guide to Types of Edible Mushroom Pests and Control Methods: Master All 8 Key Points

As public demand for edible mushrooms continues to rise, so do the requirements for edible mushroom yields, and growers are paying more and more attention to methods of controlling pests during production. So what types of edible mushroom pests are there? How do you control them? Do you know the 8 key points?

I. What types of edible mushroom pests are there? How do you control them?

1. Mushroom flies

The larvae, also called mushroom maggots, mainly feed on the fruiting bodies, tunneling through them and thus affecting quality; the wounds they create are also very easily infected by pathogens, causing rot.

Different methods should be used to control mushroom flies at different stages. If a large number of mushroom maggots appear before mushrooming, dichlorvos can be used for fumigation at a rate of 0.90 kg per 100 sq m, and at the same time 0.15 kg of 1% potassium chloride or sodium chloride solution (5% salt water can be used as a substitute) should be sprayed on each culture block; if mushroom maggots cause damage after mushrooming, low-toxicity pesticides such as derris extract, chlorfenapyr, and nicotine can be sprayed. (Nicotine can be made at home: take 0.50 kg of tobacco stems, add 5 kg of water, boil, and use the resulting liquid for spraying.) In addition, ventilation should be strengthened and the temperature and humidity inside the shed adjusted to worsen the pests' living environment, so as to achieve the goal of controlling their damage.

2. Mushroom gnats

Mushroom gnats do the most damage in the larval stage; besides boring and feeding on the surface of the substrate, some also spin webs that cover the mushroom buds, preventing the mushroom bodies from growing normally.

Control method: after harvesting, spray trichlorfon at 500--800 times dilution, and at the same time add nylon gauze at the doors and windows of the mushroom shed to prevent adult insects from flying in to lay eggs and reproduce and cause damage.

3. Mushroom mites

These are a type of mite, very small in size and relatively fast at crawling, mainly feeding on fruiting bodies and mycelium and causing damage.

When controlling them, first of all the invasion of pest sources into the mushroom shed should be eliminated, because they mainly come from various feeds in warehouses and feed rooms; therefore, when using warehouses, chicken coops, etc. as mushroom cultivation rooms, they must be thoroughly disinfected, and the walls painted with lime, and fumigated once with dichlorvos before use; if mushroom mites are found during the cultivation period, cotton balls dipped in 50% dichlorvos can be hung up for fumigation, or a 1% nicotine sulfate solution can be sprayed; alternatively, strong-smelling items such as pork bones can be sprayed with pesticides such as parathion and placed near the culture blocks to lure the mushroom mites onto them, then taken out and burned or scalded to death with boiling water.

4. Nematodes

Nematodes are a type of colorless small worm, extremely tiny in body size, only about 1 mm. The larvae attack the mycelium and fruiting bodies; at first the mushroom cap turns black, and afterward the entire fruiting body turns black and rots, with a musty odor.

Control method: when steaming the material, the steam must fully contact the substrate to kill all nematodes. After mushrooming, 50 mg/kg zinc sulfide can be sprayed on the culture blocks to control their damage.

5. Springtails

Also known as ash insects. They have a flexible tail, can bounce freely, and their bodies have a waxy layer, so they are not afraid of water. They are often distributed on the surface of mushroom beds or in damp, dark places, biting and eating the fruiting bodies.

If they appear before mushrooming, dichlorvos at 1:1000 dilution plus a small amount of honey can be used for trapping and killing. Or organophosphorus preparations can be smeared on sweet potato slices for trapping and killing. After mushrooming, pesticides generally cannot be used directly; at this time, 0.25--0.50 kg of fresh orange peel can be cut into pieces, wrapped in gauze and squeezed to extract the juice, then 0.50 kg of warm water added, after which it is sprayed at a 1:20 ratio 2--3 times; the effective rate against springtails is over 90%.

6. Slugs

Commonly known as slugs, they are mollusks with bare bodies and no outer shell. They fear light and heat, hiding during the day under bricks and stones and in soil cracks, emerging one after another after dusk to feed and cause damage, and hiding again before dawn.

Control method: a 15--20 times sodium chloride solution can be sprayed on the ground to repel adult slugs. 9--10 p.m. is when they are most active, so manual capture can be carried out at this time.

7. Thrips

Adults are black, small in size, with slightly flattened bodies and protruding compound eyes; nymphs are orange-red. They mainly suck the sap of the mushroom bodies, and in severe cases can cause the mushroom bodies to shrivel.

Control method: spray with 40% dimethoate emulsifiable concentrate at 1500--2000 times dilution, or 90% trichlorfon or 50% malathion at 1000--1500 times dilution; the control effect can reach 80%--90%.

8. Mole crickets

Poison bait gives the best trapping and killing effect. The formula is 50 g trichlorfon, 1500 g rice bran or wheat bran fried until fragrant, 50 g sugar, and 250 mg white vinegar, fully mixed and then scattered on the ground; mole crickets and mosquitoes die immediately after eating it.

9. Other pests

For false ground beetles, wood-boring beetles, and four-spotted lady beetles, spraying derris extract at 500--800 times dilution or 80% dichlorvos at 1000--1500 times dilution can all achieve relatively good control effects. Termites are a major pest in the south, mainly damaging fungi such as Fuling (Poria cocos). Digging out nests to eliminate termites is an effective way to avoid or reduce termite damage. In addition, the tree-branch method using Ailanthus altissima can also be used: dig a small trench around the mushroom shed, place fresh Ailanthus altissima branches evenly in the trench, and cover them with soil; this has a strong repellent effect on termites.

II. What are the 8 key points for controlling edible mushroom pests?

1. Use fermented or cooked-material cultivation as much as possible to control the pest population in the cultivation site; the cultivation beds for button mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus) should use fermented material. When mixing the material, add 0.5% salt, 3% lime, 5%-8% plant ash, etc., which has a relatively good insect-repellent and preventive effect.

2. Before the mushroom bags or substrate are brought into the shed, empty-shed disinfection must be carried out.

3. When pests occur on the surface of bed-cultivated material, spray a 1%-2% washing powder solution; it has a very strong contact-killing effect on mushroom flies, adult mites, and old and young mites.

4. Taking advantage of the habit of some pests of being active in light-transmitting, cool environments, spray liquids such as miehailing onto light-transmitting plastic film and cover it on the beds, once or twice a day for 3-4 consecutive sprays, which can kill adult flying insects.

5. Install several 15-watt light bulbs or black-light lamps in the mushroom room with pests, place a basin of water below, and drip kerosene into the water; this is extremely effective for trapping and killing adults such as mushroom gnats, fungus gnats, and black-bellied fruit flies.

6. Sugar-vinegar liquid trapping and killing: mix sugar, vinegar, baijiu, dichlorvos, and water in a ratio of 2:3:4:1:90 to make the medicinal liquid, soak gauze or cotton balls in it, wring them dry, and place them on the surface of the material; when pests smell the sweet-and-sour odor, they crawl onto the medicated cloth or cotton and are poisoned to death.

7. Mix foods that pests like to eat with poison, such as mixing vinegar, sugar, insecticide, and fried yellow bran in a ratio of 1:5:10:84, and scatter it around the mushroom beds and on the surface of the material for them to eat; for pests such as mushroom flies, mushroom gnats, and nematodes, plant ash + pyrethrum (1 g/sq m) can also be evenly scattered on the surface of the material for 2-3 consecutive days with very good results, controlling both insects and diseases.

8. In low-temperature seasons, for pests such as mites in the beds, the method of "lure first, then kill" can be adopted: on a clear morning, first spray sugar-vinegar liquid on the bed surface, cover with plastic film, pull open the straw curtains, and raise the temperature; at this time a large number of pests will crawl up from deep layers onto the bed surface or the film; in the afternoon, uncover the film at the proper time, take it out of the mushroom shed, wash off the attached insects with water, and at the same time spray the bed surface with a high-dose, low-toxicity insecticide and then cover with film again. With 3-5 consecutive rounds of this, the damage can be eliminated.