How to promote high yield when shiitake mushrooms do not fruit due to low winter temperatures?

    In winter, due to low temperatures, bag-cultivated shiitake mushrooms often fail to form primordia and have low yields. To achieve high yield, in addition to continuing variety renewal and improvement, several points should be done well:

Shiitake mushroom inoculation

    1. Scientific inoculation: Deep inoculation holes mean more spawn is loaded, which helps enhance the drought resistance of shiitake mushroom mycelium and reduces the stimulation of external temperature differences on the shiitake mushroom spawn blocks at the bottom of the inoculation holes. Shiitake mushroom mycelium germinates quickly under relatively constant temperature and humidity conditions, with a high survival rate. Therefore, making deep holes allows the shiitake mushroom mycelium to absorb sufficient nutrients, and the yield will be greatly increased.

    2. Hot water primordia induction: Soaking spawn blocks in hot water to induce primordia can double the yield of shiitake mushrooms. Block selection: After the spawn blocks with well-developed mycelium have fully changed color and dried, select uncontaminated, intact spawn blocks. Soaking: Soaking spawn blocks in hot water is one of the good methods for inducing primordia in winter shiitake mushrooms. When soaking, first heat the water to 33 degrees C, then pour the spawn blocks into the pool, add 33 degrees C hot water and soak for 3~5 hours. If the water temperature drops, add hot water to keep the water temperature at 18 degrees C~33 degrees C. Remove the soaked spawn blocks, place them on the fruiting site, cover with plastic film to maintain humidity, and ventilate only after the spawn blocks form primordia. During the fruiting period, if the temperature is low, you can directly spray 18 degrees C~33 degrees C hot water on the spawn blocks, then cover with plastic film to raise the temperature inside the film, so as to facilitate normal growth of shiitake mushrooms. Harvesting: After the soaked spawn blocks are covered with film, heat preservation should continue, and the mushroom primordia will soon push out of the spawn blocks. At this time, ventilation should be strengthened and the relative air humidity increased, and the first flush of mushrooms can be harvested in 10~17 days. After harvesting, uncover the film and let the spawn blocks dry fully, then soak them again in hot water for the second time after 7~15 days. Nutrient supplementation: After harvesting the second flush of mushrooms, supplement a certain amount of nutrients to the spawn blocks in time.

    3. Fruiting management and care: Shiitake mushroom fruiting bodies take about one week to mature. During this period, management should achieve the following: keep the room temperature at about 15 degrees C, relative air humidity at about 90%, and carry out alternating wet and dry conditions and cold-heat stimulation. After each flush of mushrooms is harvested, uncover the film and ventilate for 8~10 hours to let the surface of the spawn blocks dry slightly, then spray water on sunny days. During the day, cover the film tightly to allow the mycelium to recover and strengthen; after 12 midnight, uncover the film and ventilate for 1 hour to let low temperature stimulate the mycelium and promote the occurrence of mushroom primordia; this can be done for 3~4 consecutive days. Generally, one inoculation can produce 3 flushes of shiitake mushrooms.