What are the main pest and disease control methods for mushroom sheds?

1. Mushroom flies

The larvae, also called fungus maggots, mainly feed on the fruiting bodies, boring tunnels that affect quality, and the wounds they create are very easily infected by pathogens, causing rot. Different methods should be used to control mushroom flies at different stages. If large numbers of fungus maggots appear before mushroom emergence, you can fumigate with dichlorvos at a rate of 0.90 kg per 100 sq m, and at the same time spray each culture block with another 0.15 kg of 1% potassium chloride or sodium chloride solution (5% salt water can be used as a substitute); if fungus maggots cause damage after mushroom emergence, you can spray low-toxicity pesticides such as derris extract, permethrin, and nicotine. (Nicotine can be made at home: take 0.50 kg of tobacco stems, add 5 kg of water, boil, then take the solution and spray it.) In addition, ventilation should be strengthened and the temperature and humidity inside the shed adjusted to worsen the pests' living environment, so as to achieve the goal of controlling their damage.

2. Mushroom gnats

Mushroom gnats do the most damage in the larval stage. Besides boring and feeding on the surface of the culture material, some also spin webs that cover the mushroom buds, preventing the mushrooms from growing normally. Control method: after harvesting, spray trichlorfon at 500--800 times dilution, and also add nylon mesh at the shed door and windows to prevent adult gnats from flying in to lay eggs and reproduce and cause damage.

3. Fungus lice

These are a type of mite. They are very small, crawl quickly, and mainly feed on fruiting bodies and mycelium, causing damage. When controlling them, you should first prevent the source of the pests from invading the mushroom shed. Because they mainly come from the various feeds in warehouses and feed rooms, when using warehouses, chicken coops, etc. as mushroom cultivation rooms, they must be thoroughly disinfected, and the walls painted with lime; before use, fumigate once more with dichlorvos. If fungus lice are found during the cultivation period, you can hang cotton balls dipped in 50% dichlorvos to fumigate, or spray a 1% nicotine sulfate solution. You can also take things with a fishy smell, such as pork bones, spray them with pesticides such as parathion, place them near the culture blocks to lure the fungus lice onto them, then take them out and burn them or scald them to death with boiling water.

4. Nematodes

Nematodes are a type of colorless small worm, extremely tiny, only about 1 mm. The larvae attack the mycelium and fruiting bodies. At first the mushroom cap turns black, and later the entire fruiting body turns black and rots, with a musty odor. Control method: when steaming the material, make sure the steam fully contacts the culture material to kill all nematodes. After mushroom emergence, you can spray the culture blocks with 50 mg/kg zinc sulfide to control their damage.

5. Springtails

Also known as soot worms. They have a flexible tail, can bounce freely, and their bodies have a waxy coating, so they are not afraid of water. They are often distributed on the surface of mushroom beds or in moist, dark places, biting and eating the fruiting bodies. If they appear before mushroom emergence, you can use 1:1000 dichlorvos plus a small amount of honey to trap and kill them. Or use arsenite preparations or organophosphorus preparations smeared on sweet potato slices for trapping and killing. After mushroom emergence, pesticides generally cannot be used directly. At this time, you can use 0.25--0.50 kg of fresh orange peel, cut it into pieces, wrap it in gauze and squeeze out the juice, then add 0.50 kg of warm water and spray at a 1:20 ratio 2--3 times. The effective rate against springtails is over 90%.

6. Slugs

Commonly known as slugs, they are mollusks with bare bodies and no outer shell. They fear light and heat, hiding under bricks and stones and in soil crevices during the day, coming out one after another after dusk to feed and cause damage, then hiding again before dawn. Control method: mix rice bran or soybean cake with 2% calcium arsenate or aluminum arsenate to make poisoned bait for trapping and killing, or spray the ground with 15--20 times sodium chloride solution to repel adult slugs. From 9 to 10 at night is when they are most active, and at this time you can catch them by hand.

7. Thrips

The adults are black, small, slightly flattened, with protruding compound eyes; the nymphs are orange-red. They mainly suck the sap of the mushroom bodies, and in severe cases can cause the mushroom bodies to shrivel. Control method: spray with 40% dimethoate emulsifiable concentrate at 1500--2000 times dilution, or spray with 90% trichlorfon or 50% malathion at 1000--1500 times dilution. The control effect can reach 80%--90%.

8. Mole crickets

Poisoned bait gives the best trapping and killing effect. The formula is 50 g trichlorfon, 1500 g rice bran or wheat bran fried until fragrant, 50 g sugar, and 250 mg white vinegar, fully mixed and then scattered on the ground. Mole crickets and mosquitoes die immediately after eating it.

9. Other pests

For false walking beetles, wood-boring beetles, four-spotted lady beetles, etc., spraying with 500--800 times derris extract solution or 80% dichlorvos at 1000--1500 times dilution can both achieve good control effects. Termites are a major pest in the south, mainly damaging fungi such as Fuling. Digging out nests to destroy termites is an effective way to avoid or reduce termite damage. In addition, you can also use the tree-of-heaven branch method: dig a small trench around the mushroom shed, place fresh tree-of-heaven branches evenly in the trench, and cover them with soil. This has a strong repellent effect on termites.