Detailed Explanation of Key Techniques for Bag Cultivation of Lion's Mane Mushroom (Hericium erinaceus) on Raised Beds

1. Seasonal arrangement. Lion's mane mushroom belongs to the medium-low temperature type of fungi, with constant-temperature fruiting characteristics. The mycelial growth temperature is 6-30°C, with the optimum around 25°C; the suitable temperature for fruiting body growth is 6-25°C, with the optimum 18-20°C. Under suitable temperatures, the fruiting bodies are white, large, firm-fleshed, unbranched, with spines of moderate length and good commercial quality. The suitable seasons for artificial cultivation are: August-October in Northeast China, September-November in North China, October-December in the Yangtze River basin, and November-December to January of the following year in southern regions.

2. Formula. ① Cottonseed hull 36%, sawdust 40%, wheat bran 20%, gypsum powder 2%, superphosphate 0.5%, sucrose 1%, urea 0.1%. ② Corncob 54%, wheat bran 10%, rice bran 10%, cottonseed cake 8%, cornmeal 5%, sawdust 12%, gypsum powder 1%.

3. Inoculation and mycelial growth. After atmospheric pressure sterilization, inoculate aseptically when the substrate temperature drops below 30°C. Incubate at suitable temperature. During the mycelial growth process, carefully inspect. When the mycelium has grown to 2/3 of the substrate, the bags can be moved into the shed for primordia induction and fruiting management.

4. Fruiting management. Lion's mane mushroom can be cultivated by directly stacking bags without removing the plastic for fruiting, or by removing the plastic and casing with soil for fruiting. Alternatively, the former method can be used for 1-2 flushes first, then cased with soil, rehydrated, and fruited again. Take the bags that have reached physiological maturity, open the bag mouths, arrange two rows of bags per mushroom wall with the fruiting end facing outward, stacked 5-7 layers high, maintain relative humidity at 85%-90%, temperature at 15-20°C, and ventilate for 30 minutes in the morning and evening. Under suitable temperature and humidity conditions, after primordia appear, spines grow in about 8 days. If spines do not grow for a long time, remove them as soon as possible. Because the bag opening is large in bag cultivation, multi-headed mushrooms are easily formed, so thinning of primordia is necessary, leaving one well-formed fruiting body. When the spines reach 1-1.5 cm in length and spores are about to be discharged, harvest in time. When the mushroom bags have lost water severely, they can be removed from the plastic, cased with soil, irrigated, incubated, and fruited again.