Winter Management Methods and Technical Key Points for Mushroom Beds

After the autumn mushroom harvest is finished, if no heating measures are taken and winter mushroom production continues, then the mushroom bed will enter the winter management stage. How well the winter management of the mushroom bed is carried out has a tremendous impact on the spring mushroom harvest of the coming year. Therefore, the winter management work of the mushroom bed must be done well.

1. Do a good job of heat preservation and ventilation in the mushroom house. In winter, the room temperature of the mushroom house is best kept above 3°C, so that the interior does not freeze, in order to prevent the mycelium from being damaged by freezing. In order to maintain this temperature in the mushroom house, before entering winter, the air-leaking areas on the four walls of the mushroom house should be checked one by one and blocked, 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. Ventilation methods: open the south windows of the mushroom house at noon for two to three hours; if the weather is warm and windless and the outdoor temperature is above 8°C, both the south and north windows can be opened to allow air convection; if the outdoor temperature at noon is below 5°C, ventilation should be suspended.

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

3. 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 aside and the coarse soil loosened, and the loosened area can be larger; if the mushroom house conditions and the growth of the mycelium in the soil layer are average, there is no need to scrape aside the fine soil on the bed, and it is enough to loosen the coarse soil a little; if the mushroom house conditions and the growth of the mycelium in the soil layer are relatively poor, the soil does not need to be loosened in winter. Before spring fruiting in March to April of the coming year, gently loosen the coarse and fine soil once. However, whether loosening the coarse soil or loosening the coarse and fine soil, a large amount of white mycelium must not be stripped off, especially the mycelium wrapped around the coarse soil. Otherwise, if too much mycelium is stripped off, the yield of spring mushrooms will be greatly affected. When removing old roots and dead mushrooms from the mushroom bed, the coarse and fine soil should be spread flat and properly again. About one week after the last soil loosening, when the mycelium has already germinated, a new layer of fine soil should be spread over the mushroom bed, 2-3 cm thick. Before covering with soil, it is necessary to water combined with topdressing two or three times, so that the coarse soil obtains water and nutrients, in order to promote the germination and growth of the mycelium.

Many practices have proved that if the winter management of the mushroom bed is done well, a bumper harvest of spring mushrooms is assured.