Shiitake mushrooms achieve three-dimensional cultivation through shelving

In recent years, my family has always been growing shiitake mushrooms in a greenhouse, but perhaps due to technical and other reasons, the returns have never been ideal. I heard that shelf-layer cultivation of shiitake mushrooms can bring considerable returns. Could you introduce the shelf-layer cultivation method for shiitake mushrooms?

Tian Shuzhen, Nong'an

Hello Tian Shuzhen:

Shelf-layer cultivation of shiitake mushrooms is currently a new technique for increasing shiitake mushroom yields. Below I will introduce how to choose a good site and variety, and the management points to note, for your reference:

1. Site and setup

Choose a plot for the mushroom shed that faces south, is close to a water source, and avoids the northwest wind, or a spot in front of or behind the house will also do. You can use the walls on both sides of the courtyard to build the shed frame, which not only shelters from the wind but also provides an open-air ecological environment, and is convenient to manage.

The mushroom shed adopts an inverted-V structure, with bamboo, wood, angle iron, stone slabs, cement columns, hard plastic, etc. as the frame. The shelf layers are determined according to the bag arrangement method: 3 layers for vertical leaning placement, and 5-6 layers for horizontal placement. Each layer of mushroom bed is 1.3-1.4 m wide. The mushroom shed is about 2.4 m high, and the length depends on the site.

2. Season and variety

For shelf-layer cultivation, the inoculation period for the spawn bags is conventionally August-September; in the high-cold mountain areas of the south and in the Northeast and Northwest regions, off-season cultivation can be adopted, with inoculation in February. As for varieties, medium-temperature to slightly higher-temperature strains such as You No. 1 and G-04 are more suitable.

3. Bag arrangement on shelves

For bag specifications, 15 cm x 55 cm is commonly used for the vertical leaning type; for the horizontal type, 12 cm x 55 cm or 13.5 cm x 55 cm is suitable. Bag making and cultivation follow conventional methods. Put them on the shelves according to the different arrangement methods: for the vertical leaning type, remove the bags before placing them on the shelves; for the horizontal type, keep the bags on and place them horizontally on bamboo or wooden strips, with a bag spacing of 3-4 cm.

4. Key management points

In multi-layer shelf bed cultivation, because the spawn logs are densely packed and the temperature is high, management differs from that at normal temperature, and the key is to strictly control three stages:

(1) The color-turning stage

For the bag-removed type, spray water for 2-3 days. When spraying, uncover the lower half of the covering film on both sides, and lift the surrounding film at the front and back to allow air circulation. After spraying, cover again to keep warm and moist, promoting color turning. For the non-bag-removed type, spray a very small amount into the air to increase humidity.

(2) The pinhead-inducing stage

Because the temperature difference in a shelf-layer mushroom shed is not large, during color turning you should choose nighttime to uncover for 2 hours, continuing for 3-4 days, to promote primordium differentiation into mushroom buds. During the pinhead-inducing period, also combine this with ventilation, then spray water to increase humidity and speed up pinhead formation. For the non-bag-removed type, once small young buds appear, use a small knife to cut a circle in the film on the bag surface where the mushrooms are growing, so the buds can extend.

(3) The mushroom management stage

Because ventilation is often abnormal, oxygen deficiency in the shed causes mushroom rot. Therefore, during the fruiting period, special attention should be paid to ventilation; every day you must ventilate 2-3 times, 1 hour each time.