High-yield Wild-simulated Cultivation Technique for Oyster Mushrooms in Winter and Spring

Oyster mushrooms produced using wild-simulated cultivation techniques not only taste as delicious as wild ones, but also truly achieve ecological, high-quality, high yields. Even in the cold winter and low-temperature early spring seasons, they can be grown in a relatively enclosed shade shed, making full use of ground heat to produce thick, tender, high-quality oyster mushrooms. This method increases yield by more than 60% compared with conventional cultivation methods, and by more than 40% compared with cultivation methods such as mushroom walls, with a biological conversion rate reaching more than 220%. The specific techniques for high-yield, high-quality wild-simulated cultivation of oyster mushrooms in winter and spring are as follows:

1. Mycelium culture: Use high-pressure or atmospheric-pressure sterilization, inoculate according to conventional methods, and culture until physiologically mature mycelium is obtained. Mycelium can also be cultured using fermented material obtained by treating raw materials with high temperature and strong alkalinity. The specific method: when mixing materials, add 4% quicklime, added to the material in the form of limewater, and mix the material thoroughly. Then pile it in heaps of 1000 kg each and let it ferment. When the material temperature reaches above 60°C, maintain it for 24 hours, then turn the pile. Repeat this 2 to 3 times. When the raw material feels sticky and moist in the hand and elastic, is tea-brown in color, has no off odor, has a pH of about 7.5, and a moisture content of about 65%, spread it out to cool, then bag the material for spawn running (or press into blocks for spawn running) and culture it into uncontaminated fully colonized bags. Whether using sterilized material, fermented material, or raw material fully colonized bags, the raw materials used can be cottonseed hulls, corncobs, or other substitute materials. The spawn used should be high-quality spawn that has been tested and shows good overall traits locally.

2. Construction of the shade shed: Choose high-quality land such as a vegetable garden, courtyard, or sandy loam soil to build the shed. Inside the shed, use beds 20 m long, 1.3 m wide, and 0.22 m deep. Two beds form one shed, with a walkway left between the beds, and the surroundings of the beds packed firm. When building the arches, use moso bamboo with a diameter of more than 4 cm, folded in half to form the arch, then reinforce with horizontal bamboo, cover with plastic film, and cover with straw mats (shade materials woven from various stalks can also be used).

3. Arrangement of the mushroom bags: Remove the plastic film from bags 30 cm long (long bags can be cut open), and place the mushroom bags at a 75° angle until the bed is full. When placing the bags, carefully check whether the bags are contaminated by foreign microorganisms. If so, remove the affected parts with a sharp tool to prevent spread and contamination.

4. Treatment of the casing soil: Loam soil is best for the casing material. In late autumn, winter, and early spring, treat with 1% lime powder; in late spring, early autumn, and summer, treat the soil with 3% lime powder. The treatment method is to mix the lime powder evenly into the soil, striving for no large clods. The treated soil can be used to cover the arranged mushroom bags, with a soil thickness of 1.5 cm on the upper end of the bags being appropriate, and smooth it with a broom.

5. Watering requirements: Groundwater can be pumped up with a water pump or other clean water sources can be used. Flood irrigate from one end of the bed until the bed is fully penetrated, and let the water remain in the bed for about 12 hours (if the bags have already produced mushrooms, they tend to float up, so they can be pressed flat again after the water has penetrated). After this flood irrigation, part of the overlying soil may sink. After the water in the bed has fully infiltrated, spread another layer of soil and smooth it, then sprinkle nutrient water (2% urea, 0.2% magnesium sulfate, zinc, and Gaomeishi or other growth regulators, high-efficiency liquid compound fertilizers, etc.), so that the newly spread soil is moist but not sunken, and can be stuck up when the surface is slightly dry.

6. Principle of high yield: In conventional oyster mushroom production, the main factor limiting high yield is that after the first flush of mushrooms is harvested, it is difficult to replenish the lost and consumed water and nutrients, the mycelium tends to age, and it is difficult to produce good second and third flushes. With this technique, nutrient water can be irrigated once after each mushroom flush, so that the mycelium remains relatively sufficient in nutrients and water, effectively extending mycelial life and the mushroom-producing period. About one week after casing and irrigation, new mycelium connects the entire bed of mushroom bags into one integrated whole. During mushroom production and growth, the soil continuously supplies nutrients and water to the mycelium, so when producing the second and third flushes, the mushrooms are still large, tender, and have strong staying power. In addition, because the humidity in the shed is suitable and the shading is good, from the formation of small mushroom primordia to mature harvest, the mushroom-growing environment is just like moist shaded woodland, overcoming the drawbacks of conventional cultivation, where space humidity is difficult to control and it is difficult to supply nutrients and water to the mushroom bags. Moreover, trace-element fertilizers, hormones, and growth regulators can seep into the soil with irrigation water, making it easy for the mycelium to absorb and utilize them, thus achieving stable, high yields, high quality, and high efficiency.