Proper winter management of mushroom beds can avoid affecting next year's harvest

Mushroom cultivation

    After the autumn mushroom harvest is finished, if no heating measures are taken and winter mushroom production continues, then the mushroom beds must enter the winter management stage. How well the winter management of the mushroom beds is carried out has a great impact on the spring mushroom harvest of the following year.

    I. Do a good job of heat preservation and ventilation in the mushroom house

    In winter, the room temperature of the mushroom house should preferably be kept above 3°C, so that the room does not freeze, in order to prevent the mycelium from being damaged by freezing. In order to keep the mushroom house at this temperature, before winter arrives, the drafty spots on the four walls of the mushroom house should be checked one by one and plugged, and curtains should be hung on the doors and windows to prevent cold wind from entering. At the same time, on warm days, attention should be paid to ventilation to keep the indoor air fresh.

    II. Do a good job of watering and topdressing the mushroom beds

    The number of times the mushroom beds are watered in winter depends on the degree of dryness and wetness of the soil particles; generally, keeping them moist is enough. Prevent watering too frequently and too much, which would make the bed surface too wet, thereby avoiding freeze damage to the mycelium that sprouts at low temperatures. Topdressing the mushroom beds can be done together with watering. The manure water used for topdressing is best boiled, filtered through gauze, and at a concentration of about 20%. Unfiltered manure residue must not be applied to the bed surface.

    III. Do a good job of loosening the soil on the bed surface and removing old roots

    This should be determined according to the conditions of the mushroom house and the growth of the mycelium in the soil layer. If the mushroom house conditions are good and the mycelium in the soil layer is growing vigorously, the fine soil on the mushroom bed can be scraped open and the coarse soil loosened, and the loosened area can be somewhat larger; if the mushroom house conditions and the mycelium growth in the soil layer are average, there is no need to scrape open the fine soil on the bed, and it is enough to loosen the coarse soil a little. Much practice has proved that if the winter management of the mushroom beds is done well, a bumper harvest of spring mushrooms is assured.