Tips for Increasing Edible Mushroom Yield: Special Methods Help Boost Production

Growing Edible Mushrooms

    When growing edible mushrooms, while strengthening the normal management of the mushroom bed, adopting some special methods can have a fairly good yield-increasing effect, and mushroom growers may want to give them a try.

    1. Applying drugs: When preparing the edible mushroom culture medium, add an appropriate amount of sulfates (calcium sulfate or magnesium sulfate), phosphates (superphosphate or potassium dihydrogen phosphate) and vitamin B1; in the late stage of mycelial growth, spray 0.1-0.2 mg/L triacontanol onto the surface of the culture material, which can promote mushroom emergence and the growth of fruiting bodies, generally increasing yield by about 15%.

    2. Punching holes and filling with sand: On the surface of the edible mushroom bed material, punch holes and fill them with sand. That is, when sowing, use a conical wooden stick with a diameter of 1.5 cm and a length of 30 cm, punch holes in a plum-blossom arrangement at a spacing of 30 cm both horizontally and vertically, reaching down to the bottom of the material. Two days later, fill the holes with yellow sand (which must be soaked and disinfected with a 1% potassium permanganate solution), filling to 0.5-1 cm above the material surface, and at the same time inject 0.3-0.5% limewater into the holes. This method can improve the air permeability of the mushroom bed, enhance the water retention performance of the material surface, allow mushrooms to emerge 3-4 days earlier with evenly distributed mushroom buds, large caps and thick flesh, and increase production efficiency by more than 25%.

    3. Pressure stimulation: Cover the surface of the edible mushroom culture material with old newspapers, gunny sack pieces, fine soil, etc. Through pressure stimulation and heat and moisture retention, this can promote rapid mycelial growth. Using this method generally increases yield by about 15%.

    4. Inserting sticks for contact: Insert sterilized small wooden sticks (1 cm in diameter and 3 cm in length) into the edible mushroom culture material to a depth of 2 cm, at a density of 15×15 cm. When the growing and spreading mycelium touches the small wooden sticks, it can wrap around them to form a uniform and dense mycelial mass, and develop into mushroom buds and fruiting bodies. This method generally increases yield by about 20%.

    5. Scratching the fungus to promote budding: After the fungal material is fully covered with mycelium, use a clean bamboo broom to gently sweep back and forth over the material surface to remove or break the overgrown old surface mycelium. After new mycelium is exposed, promptly spray water and cover with plastic film to retain moisture and heat, and buds will appear in about 7 days. This method not only promotes early mushroom emergence, but can also increase yield by about 10%.