How to grow Tricholoma lobayense for high yield and quality? Remember these six keys

Tricholoma lobayense, also known as Tricholoma lobayense Heim and giant white tricholoma, called white matsutake in Japan, is a rare edible mushroom that dominates the summer market. Its fruiting bodies grow in clusters, are thick and elongated, fresh white in color, with crisp and tender flesh, excellent flavor, and rich nutrition. It is praised as the outstanding one among mushrooms for both taste and quality; moreover, it comes to market during the summer when mushrooms are scarce, making it especially favored. In Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hangzhou and other places, fresh mushrooms sell for 14 to 18 yuan per kilogram, with very considerable returns, making it a rare mushroom species with great development prospects. Below is an introduction to the "six keys" for high-yield and high-quality cultivation of Tricholoma lobayense.

1. Production season "two alignments"

Tricholoma lobayense belongs to the high-temperature type of fungi. When arranging the production season, "two alignments" are needed: (1) Align with the strain's characteristics: mycelium can grow at temperatures from 15 to 36°C, with 25 to 30°C being optimal; fruiting body formation adapts within the range of 15 to 33°C, with 23 to 28°C being best. (2) Align with local temperatures: inoculate in spring from March to April when temperatures are not lower than 15°C. After inoculation, the mushroom bags are cultivated for 50 to 60 days, and by summer from June to September, it is exactly the optimal temperature season for mushroom growth.

2. Raw material selection "three requirements"

(1) Require cellulose-rich crop straws, such as cottonseed hulls, corn cobs, rice straw, bagasse, etc. (2) Require no mold or deterioration, and no toxic or harmful substances or pesticides. (3) Require a reasonable formula. Applicable formulas are: (1) 96% cottonseed hulls, 1% gypsum powder, 2% lime, 1% superphosphate; (2) 50% corn cobs, 46% cottonseed hulls, 1% gypsum powder, 2% lime, 1% superphosphate; (3) 76% rice straw, 20% cottonseed hulls, 2% lime, 1% gypsum, 1% superphosphate.

3. Fermentation and sterilization "four standards met"

Tricholoma lobayense is cultivated on fermented material beds or in bags. The fermentation and sterilization of the culture material must meet "four standards": (1) Raw material pretreatment meets the standard. Cut rice straw into small pieces 3 to 5 cm long, put them into a water tank, add quicklime, soak for 24 to 30 hours, then scoop them out to reduce alkalinity. Process corn cobs into pieces the size of soybean grains. (2) Pile fermentation meets the standard. Add lime, superphosphate, gypsum powder and clean water to the raw materials, mix well, and build a pile to ferment for 10 to 15 days. Turn the pile 2 to 3 times during this period. (3) Moisture content meets the standard. The moisture content of the culture material should be 60% to 65%. pH value 7 to 8. (4) Bagging and sterilization meet the standard. Put the treated culture material into 17 cm x 33 cm or 22 cm x 40 cm plastic cultivation bags. Normal-pressure sterilization requires maintaining 100°C for 5 to 6 hours. After stopping the fire, let it sit for another 12 to 18 hours, then unload the bags to dissipate heat and cool.

4. Bag cultivation "five points of attention"

Pay attention to five aspects during inoculation and mycelium cultivation: (1) Inoculate only when the temperature inside the bag drops to 25°C. Use the two-end inoculation method; each bottle of spawn can inoculate 30 to 40 bags. (2) Place the inoculated bags in a clean, dry, dark cultivation room and stack them 4 to 5 layers high for cultivation. (3) Loosen the opening for ventilation: after the mycelium has grown to half of the bag, loosen the plastic film at the bag opening so oxygen can enter the bag. (4) When the cultivation temperature is below 15°C, heating is needed. (5) After 30 to 40 days of cultivation, once the mycelium has fully colonized the bag, it enters the physiological maturation stage.

5. Bed soil casing "six musts"

Tricholoma lobayense is grown by placing bags on outdoor racks and casing with soil for mushroom production. In this step, achieve the "six musts": (1) The mushroom shed must be suitable: facing south with its back to the north, "three parts sun and seven parts shade," and 4 to 5 layers of racks can be built inside the shed. (2) The racks must have a base layer: lay a piece of woven cloth on the bottom of the bed, and spread 2 cm thick fine soil on the cloth. (3) The bags must be cased with soil: after the bags are placed on the racks, open the plastic film at the bag opening and cover with 3 to 4 cm thick humus soil. (4) The surface must retain moisture: after casing, spray water with a sprayer, and cover the casing surface with thatch or newspaper to retain moisture. (5) To induce the base, the mycelium must be suppressed: 8 to 12 days after casing, white mycelium climbs onto the soil surface. When the surface layer is covered with dense white mycelium, remove the thatch or newspaper from the bed surface to promote the surface mycelium to lie down. (6) To promote mushroom buds, the environment must be optimized: control the relative air humidity in the mushroom shed at 85% to 90%, with temperature preferably 20 to 25°C, strengthen ventilation and air exchange, and increase light.

6. Fruiting management "control six passes"

From casing to fruiting generally takes 13 to 18 days. During this period, control the "six passes": (1) Moisture restriction pass during the bud stage: generally do not spray water during the young mushroom emergence period; on dry days, spray water as mist in the air. (2) Moisture increase pass during the development stage: when the mushroom body grows to 3 cm high, spray water 1 to 2 times a day, and the relative air humidity should be 85% to 90%. (3) Moisture stop pass during the maturation stage: stop spraying water when the fruiting bodies enter the maturation stage. (4) High-temperature prevention pass in midsummer: when the temperature exceeds 30°C, thicken the shading materials, irrigate the bed furrows, and spray mist in the air to cool down. (5) Timely harvest pass: from primordium formation to fruiting body maturity takes 12 to 15 days. Harvest when the mushroom stem is thick and long, smaller at the top and larger at the bottom, the cap is flat and spread out, and the surface is smooth. (6) Post-harvest follow-up management and flush transition pass: after harvesting, promptly clean up residues on the bed, level the material surface, stop spraying water, rest and cultivate the mycelium for 5 days, then continue spraying water and apply a nutrient solution once to continue management. After 2 weeks, the second flush of mushrooms appears. Generally, 4 flushes can be harvested, and with proper management, the biological conversion rate can reach 100%.