How can high yield be achieved in bag-cultivation of tea tree mushroom?

The scientific name of tea tree mushroom is Yangliu mushroom, also called tea tree mushroom or tea mushroom. It grows singly, in pairs, or in clusters, with a thick cap and crisp stipe; eaten fresh, it is crisp and refreshing with a delicious taste. When dried by roasting, it has an even more distinctive flavor, rich and fragrant, sweet and savory, and is a highly popular mountain delicacy at folk weddings and festival banquets. It is suitable for year-round production to supply the market. It has unique therapeutic effects in lowering cholesterol, promoting diuresis, strengthening the spleen, and treating low fever and bedwetting in children. It is a recently introduced newest high-yield strain with high yield, resistance to contamination, beautiful shape, wide temperature tolerance, and high quality. Among them, "Tea Tree Mushroom No. 9" fruits at 12-35°C, with a conversion rate of over 100%, giving stable high yield. It is a replacement variety for tea mushroom. Its cultivation techniques are as follows:

1. Season selection. The tea tree mushroom has a relatively wide growth temperature range. The mycelium can grow at 8-34°C, but 22-26°C is optimal; the fruiting body differentiation temperature is 13°C-32°C, with 20°C-28°C being most suitable. Based on the temperature characteristics of the tea tree mushroom, it can be cultivated in spring and autumn in northern regions, and can be cultivated year-round in southern provinces and regions. However, two key points must be mastered: first, within 40-50 days after inoculation, the local temperature must not exceed 32°C; second, counting 60 days forward from the inoculation date, when entering the fruiting period, the local temperature must not exceed 30°C and must not be lower than 15°C.

2. Cultivation method. Use bag cultivation on indoor tiered shelves, or interplant during the summer fallow period in wild shiitake mushroom sheds. Opening the bags to increase oxygen promotes fruiting flushes and raises the fruiting rate; this is currently a new technique for cultivating tea tree mushroom.

3. Culture medium formula. Broadleaf tree sawdust and cottonseed hulls, etc., can all be used as culture material. Biological characteristics show that tea tree mushroom growth requires abundant nitrogen sources; therefore, a certain amount of wheat bran and corn flour must be added to the culture material.

4. Formula proportions. Sawdust medium (sawdust 73%, cottonseed hulls 10%, wheat bran 15%, lime powder 2%), cottonseed hull medium (cottonseed hulls 73%, sawdust 10%, bran 10%, lime powder 2%).

5. Mushroom bag production. Use 15 cm x 30 cm polyethylene plastic bags. Mix the culture material evenly and adjust the water content to about 60%. Fill each bag with 250-300 g of dry material (500-600 g wet weight). The bag opening does not need a neck ring; simply fold the end of the bag opening downward, or tie the bag opening with tying string. Sterilize at normal pressure, reaching a temperature of 100°C and maintaining it for about 15 hours.

6. Fruiting management. After inoculation, place at 20-28°C and culture for 40-60 days. After the mycelium fully colonizes the bag, the material surface gradually secretes yellow liquid and brown patches begin to appear. At this point, move the bags into the mushroom house, untie the bag openings, and increase the mushroom house temperature. Primordia appear after about 15 days. Spray water once in the morning and once in the evening in the space, maintain relative humidity at about 85%, and strengthen ventilation and scattered light to promote robust growth of the fruiting bodies, deepen their color, and increase the marketable rate.

7. Pest and disease control. Select spawn with vigorous mycelial growth to improve its own stress resistance; before the bags enter the shed, remove parts contaminated by foreign fungi and fruit them separately to prevent cross-infection; the mushroom shed must undergo strict and thorough disinfection treatment; during fruiting management, strive to create environmental conditions suitable for mushroom growth, maintain the growth advantage of the fruiting bodies, and enhance their own immunity; during the fruiting period, toxic pesticides are prohibited to avoid affecting food safety.

8. Harvesting and processing. The fruiting bodies of the tea tree mushroom fall off easily, and flushes are not obvious. Harvest at the right time and do not let them overmature, so as not to affect quality. Maturity is judged by the standard that the veil has not broken. After harvest, light and temperature management must still be strengthened to promote a second flush of mushrooms.