What are the reasons why oyster mushrooms do not fruit or fruit abnormally?

During oyster mushroom cultivation, it is fairly common for a fully colonized, mature mushroom bed to delay fruiting, or for a bed that has already produced 1 to 2 flushes to stop fruiting normally. The reasons include the following:

1. Substrate temperature too high. In a mushroom bed with mature mycelium, if there is no influence of lower temperatures, the substrate temperature drops very slowly. If the substrate temperature is above the fruiting temperature range, primordia are not easily formed; this phenomenon is most common in low-temperature strains planted in autumn.

2. Unsuitable environment. If the ambient temperature where the mushroom bed is located is above the fruiting temperature range of the planted strain, or below the fruiting temperature range of the planted strain, the result is failure to fruit or failure to fruit normally after flushing. The former occurs in spring, summer and autumn, while the latter mostly appears in the low-temperature season of winter.

3. Insufficient accumulated temperature. When cultivated at low temperatures, the mycelium remains in a slow-growing state for a long time. Although the colonization period is longer, the mycelium does not reach sufficient physiological maturity because of insufficient effective accumulated temperature, and thus delays fruiting. In addition, regardless of when cultivation takes place, too great a change in temperature difference before fruiting is unfavorable for fruiting.

4. Insufficient moisture. During the colonization period, too many times of uncovering the film, loose covering or moisture absorption by the soil can cause the water content of the substrate to decrease, or the surface of the mushroom bed to lose water and become rather dry. In addition, after the fruiting bodies consume a large amount of water from the substrate during the fruiting period, if too little water is replenished to the mushroom bed, it will also cause failure to fruit or abnormal fruiting after flushing.

5. Excessive vegetative growth of mycelium. If the water content of the substrate is too high, the surface humidity of the mushroom bed is saturated, and the difference between wet and dry conditions is small, the mycelium will grow excessively and form a thick mycelial skin on the surface of the mushroom bed.

6. Impact of pests and diseases. After weed molds contaminate the mushroom bed, they not only compete with oyster mushroom mycelium for nutrients, but also secrete harmful substances that inhibit the normal growth of oyster mushroom mycelium. After insect pests invade the mushroom bed, they bite and eat large amounts of oyster mushroom mycelium and cause the mycelium to break, lose water and die. In mushroom beds with severe pest and disease damage, the normal physiological metabolism and material conversion of oyster mushroom mycelium are disrupted, which in turn causes failure to fruit. This phenomenon can occur throughout the entire fruiting period.

7. Poor ventilation. Poor ventilation of the mushroom bed, poor oxygen supply, excessively high carbon dioxide concentration inside the film and too weak light are all unfavorable for fruiting. This phenomenon is relatively common in underground mushroom sites.

During cultivation, careful management should be carried out according to the characteristics of each growth stage of oyster mushrooms, so as to avoid the occurrence of the above factors causing failure to fruit or abnormal fruiting, and thus achieve stable and high yields.