Cultivation Techniques for Intercropping Button Mushrooms in Winter-Warm Greenhouses with Cucumbers
To increase greenhouse income, we used the temperature and humidity conditions and limited space inside the greenhouse to carry out a three-dimensional planting trial of vegetables and button mushrooms. From October 1996 to May 1997, in a 420 sq m greenhouse, without affecting vegetable cultivation, we grew 200 sq m of button mushrooms, producing 2080 kg of button mushrooms, ...
To increase greenhouse income, we used the temperature and humidity conditions and limited space inside the greenhouse to carry out a three-dimensional planting trial of vegetables and button mushrooms. From October 1996 to May 1997, in a 420 sq m greenhouse, without affecting vegetable cultivation, we grew 200 sq m of button mushrooms, producing 2080 kg of button mushrooms and increasing net income by more than 6500 yuan.
1. Greenhouse Construction
The greenhouse is built in the same way as a general winter-warm greenhouse, about 60 m long and 7 m wide, and should be built in a place with fertile soil, convenient irrigation and drainage, and unpolluted water quality. After the greenhouse is built, apply heavy organic barnyard manure and potassium and phosphorus fertilizers, deep-plow and level the soil, and water thoroughly once. Then evenly spray every corner with 0.5% dichlorvos and dicofol, and fumigate with 6 kg of sulfur for 3 days to thoroughly kill the miscellaneous bacteria and insect pests in the greenhouse.
2. Cucumber Cultivation and Management
The cucumber variety selected is Xintai Mici. In early October, after the cucumber seedlings in the seedling bed have grown their first true leaf, graft them onto pumpkin seedlings with fully expanded cotyledons as rootstock, and transplant them into cucumber beds 1.2 m wide that have been watered thoroughly. Two rows per bed, with a row spacing of 40 cm and a plant spacing of 25 cm. After they survive, set up trellises and carry out normal management.
3. Button Mushroom Cultivation
1. Preparation of compost: fermentation of the compost is carried out in early October. For every 100 sq m, prepare 1500 kg of wheat straw, 2000 kg of wet cow manure, 500 kg of chicken manure, 20 kg of urea, 50 kg of superphosphate, and 50 kg each of lime and gypsum powder, then mix and ferment, turning the pile 4 times in total, which takes 25 days. Well-fermented compost is coffee-colored, has a pleasant aroma, a pH value of 7.5, and a moisture content of 65%.
2. Moving the compost into the greenhouse and spawning: at the end of October, move the fermented compost into the greenhouse. Before that, spray the compost with an appropriate amount of dicofol, deltamethrin, and 400-fold prochloraz, and pile it up to rest for 24 hours. When moving it into the greenhouse, spread the compost on both sides of each cucumber row, 20 cm on each side, in a wave shape, forming cultivation beds running north-south. Practice has proved that this method gives high yields and good mushroom quality. After the compost is all moved into the greenhouse, sow by broadcasting at 1 bottle per sq m, and gently press the surface of the compost flat.
3. Casing soil: about 20 days after spawning, when the mycelium has run through 2/3 of the compost, carry out casing. Before casing, water the reserved irrigation ditch thoroughly once, and the next day dig down 7 cm, and evenly cover the dug-out soil on the wave-shaped compost surface to a thickness of about 3.5 cm.
4. Fruiting: about 40 days after spawning (mid-December), pinheads begin to form and mushrooms emerge. At this time, the cucumber vines have grown to more than 1 m, creating a good shading environment for the button mushrooms and favoring fruiting. In management, spray water in a timely manner and correctly control the amount used. When pinheads form, spray fruiting water for 3 days, each day in the early morning and toward evening when the temperature is lower, using 400-700 mL per sq m each time. Then stop watering for 2 days, and then spray quality-preserving water in the same way as above. Button mushrooms and cucumbers can be marketed at the same time before New Year's Day. At this time the temperature is relatively low, which is exactly the off-season for vegetables, so try to extend the fruiting period, allowing the mycelium to rest fully and increasing the total yield.
4. Comprehensive Management
1. Strictly control the temperature inside the greenhouse: when the button mushrooms are fruiting, the air temperature inside the greenhouse should be controlled at 20-30°C during the day and above 10°C at night. When cloudy days cause insufficient light and lower greenhouse temperatures, appropriately use electric lights at night to increase light and temperature, with one 100-watt bulb every 6 m. Because button mushrooms are cultivated underground and are affected by soil temperature, as long as the greenhouse temperature is not too high or too low, there is little effect on button mushroom yield.
2. Correctly control humidity and moisture: the humidity inside the greenhouse should generally be maintained between 60% and 80%. After watering or spraying, if the outside temperature is relatively high, ventilate appropriately. During intercropping, button mushroom mycelium can absorb underground moisture, so spraying should be reduced by 1/3 compared with ordinary mushroom houses; during fruiting, it is enough for the casing soil to remain moist.
3. Rational fertilization: cucumbers should be regularly given additional trace-element fertilizers during watering. After three flushes of button mushrooms, spray the cucumber leaves and the button mushroom bed surface with 0.2% monopotassium phosphate and 0.5% urea.
4. Disease and pest prevention: during the period when fruiting stops, promptly remove mushroom roots and dead mushrooms, level the compost surface, and then carefully and thoroughly spray insecticides and fungicides. During the fruiting period, try not to use chemicals, especially fungicides, to prevent damage to the mushroom bodies.
In short, intercropping vegetables with button mushrooms solves the problem of difficulty in fruiting button mushrooms in winter, while also reducing input, promoting vegetable growth, and improving greenhouse planting efficiency, and has promotional value in rural areas of northern China.