Key Management Techniques for Spring Mushrooms in Log Cultivation of Shiitake

In spring, temperatures rise slowly, relative air humidity is high, and the temperature difference between day and night is large, creating favorable climatic conditions for shiitake production. Spring mushroom production is much the same as autumn mushroom production. When the spring rain season arrives, lay the logs that have long been in a dry state down on the ground, let them catch rainwater and absorb enough moisture; at this time the mycelium activity within the logs also becomes increasingly active, and you can prepare to enter spring mushroom management. In early spring, the mushroom yard should be tidied up, clearing small shrubs and dead branches so as to ensure good ventilation, avoid excessive dampness in the yard and the spread of contaminating fungi, and facilitate harvesting and management. Whether the logs are new or old, they must not be put on the racks until mushroom buds have formed. The method of racking spring logs is almost identical to that for autumn and winter logs; the only difference is that when the logs are racked, they should be placed at a steeper angle so that water drains away as quickly as possible.

The spring rain period is generally mostly cold and overcast, with rainfall gradually increasing; long spells of continuous rain often cause the fruiting bodies to absorb too much water, with too high a water-holding rate, so the fruiting bodies easily turn black and spoil, bringing great difficulty to drying and roasting. Where conditions permit, a polyethylene film rain shelter can be set up over the fruiting racks to prevent the fruiting bodies from becoming too wet. In poorly ventilated mushroom yards, cut off the lower branches of the shade trees to increase ventilation in the yard and prevent inferior mushrooms from developing. In order to let the logs accumulate nutrients after harvesting, stack the harvested logs in a "#"-shaped pattern raised high, with the bottom layer spaced sparsely and the upper layers covered with branches and leaves; let them rest for one month until the next batch of primordia forms, then dismantle the pile, rack them, and manage them as described above.

As temperatures rise, under the warm spring wind and rain thin mushrooms tend to develop, reducing shiitake quality. Spring mushroom production generally ends harvesting from south to north in early May, and follow-up work must be done well. After spring mushrooms finish, temperatures also rise and stabilize above 20°C; apart from a small number of high-temperature-type varieties that will still produce mushrooms, medium- and low-temperature-type varieties almost stop fruiting, and at this time the plum rain season gradually begins. In view of the climatic characteristics of this stage, a relatively dry, well-drained stacking site should be chosen for stacking. Stack separately according to differences in log maturity and log diameter, and the density should be sparse; cover the upper part with branches and leaves to prevent the logs from becoming too wet and allowing moisture-loving slime molds and the like to multiply in the logs. Therefore, in May and June the resting yard should focus on draining moisture, preventing water accumulation, and ventilation; especially after several batches of shiitake have been harvested, the log tissues become soft and loose and their water-absorbing capacity becomes stronger, so to speed up mycelial recovery, even more attention should be paid to ventilation and reducing humidity.