How to increase oyster mushroom yields? Moisture retention is key

   At present, the reason why oyster mushrooms grown in rural areas do not yield much is that the moisture content of the oyster mushroom growing substrate is too low after harvesting. So how to keep the oyster mushroom substrate moist and produce more mushrooms becomes the key factor determining whether oyster mushrooms can achieve high yields.

Oyster mushroom

    1. Moisture retention by wall-style soil covering of oyster mushroom logs. Inside the shed where oyster mushrooms are grown, lay a soil ridge along the length of the mushroom bags, with the ridge 15-20 cm thick. Remove the plastic bags from the mushroom logs that have fully colonized with mycelium and are about to fruit, and arrange them neatly on the soil ridge. Each layer must be covered with soil 3-4 cm thick, and both sides of the soil must be sprayed with water and smoothed over with mud. Then arrange the second layer of logs and cover with soil; 6-9 layers can be arranged, and the topmost layer must still be covered with soil and smoothed over with mud. After stacking into a wall, spray heavily once so the covering soil absorbs enough water. This method can increase oyster mushroom yields by 50% to 90%.

    2. Moisture retention by covering the bag openings with nutrient soil. Take 45 kg of fertile soil and 5 kg of plant ash; the amount of water added is appropriate when a handful of the mixed soil, released from a height of 1 m, breaks apart upon hitting the ground. For the bagging and cultivation management method, put 2-3 cm of nutrient soil into each end of the mushroom bag. During the fruiting period of oyster mushrooms, spray the nutrient soil with water 1-2 times a day. This method can increase oyster mushroom yields by 50%.

    3. Moisture retention by soil covering in a sunlit bed. After bag-cultivated oyster mushrooms finish producing a flush of mushrooms, remove the bags and sun-dry the logs for 1-2 days so that a skin can form on the surface of the logs, preventing the invasion of pests and diseases and inhibiting the formation of too many fruiting bodies. Use a sterilized kitchen knife to cut the logs lengthwise, and arrange the logs on the sunlit bed with the cut surface facing up. Fill the gaps with fine sand, then cover with fine soil 2-3 cm thick. Finally, pour in an aqueous solution with added monopotassium phosphate, calcium phosphate and white sugar, in a ratio of 2:0.2:1:100. This method can increase oyster mushroom yields by 80%.