Detailed Explanation of Key Techniques for Simulated Wild Cultivation of Oyster Mushrooms

In recent years, diseases have occurred frequently during the cultivation of oyster mushrooms. This is mainly because the entire production process is under protected conditions from beginning to end, causing the vitality and disease resistance of the mycelium to continuously decline. Adopting simulated wild cultivation techniques can effectively solve this problem.

1. Substrate preparation and mycelium bag incubation are carried out according to conventional methods.

2. Standardized stacking to build mushroom walls. When primordia appear on individual mushroom bags, the mushroom walls can be built. The mushroom wall is generally 0.8 m wide and 15 m long; the gaps at the fruiting end of the mushroom columns are sealed tightly and evenly with mud, and all other gaps are filled solid with fertile soil, then watered to make it settle firmly. On top of the mushroom wall, fertile soil about 8 cm thick is spread, and a water storage trough is built along with it, with the trough about 50 cm wide. The working path between two mushroom walls is 1.5 m wide to facilitate operation.

3. Erect protective arched sheds. After the mushroom walls are built, arched sheds must be erected immediately for protection, with the arched shed about 1.8 m high. The method is: insert one end of a bamboo strip into the edge of the water storage trough on top of the mushroom wall, and insert the other end into the edge of the water storage trough of the adjacent mushroom wall, then cover with plastic film, thus erecting a small arched shed between two adjacent mushroom walls, with both ends sealed with plastic film, and a movable door set at one end for easy entry and exit. Key points to note: First, the arch frame strips should be inserted deeply to make the arched shed firm; second, the covering material used on the arched shed should be straw mats and the like that are easy to uncover and cover. For example, in March and November, the mats need to be frequently uncovered to raise the temperature; in April-May and August-October, they should be kept tightly covered; during high temperatures, thicker straw mats should be added to prevent the temperature inside the arched shed from rising too high.

4. Management.

(1) Water management. First, a certain amount of water should be kept in the water storage trough so that it slowly seeps downward. The air humidity inside the arched shed can generally be maintained at around 85%, with no need to spray water to increase humidity. However, when it is dry in spring, the air humidity inside the shed is not easy to maintain. Therefore, in addition to strengthening irrigation into the water storage trough, a water storage ditch about 15 cm wide can be dug in advance on each side of the working path inside the arched shed, and filled with clean water so that the water slowly seeps into the ground surface to maintain the humidity inside the shed. In addition, when the outside temperature is relatively high, frequently spraying water on the straw mats and other covering materials can produce an obvious cooling effect.

(2) Pest control. This cultivation method is more likely to attract pest invasion than greenhouse or indoor cultivation, so pest control cannot be ignored. In the field, the special odor of the mycelium easily attracts pests such as mushroom mosquitoes, mushroom flies, and springtails toward the smell. Control measures include: completely burying the mushroom columns in soil, with 8 cm of soil covering the top; the two ends of the mushroom wall must also be coated with 3 cm of mud, and efforts should be made to prevent it from drying and cracking; the entire open-air mushroom wall is completely surrounded and covered by soil, leaving no opening for pests to enter. When entering the shed for operations, observe at any time whether pests have entered. When pests are found in the early stage, immediately spray miewhailing, dibrom, or similar pesticides to kill them, leaving no future trouble.

(3) Temperature management. First, the strain should be selected correctly. Second, thicken the covering materials; for example, covering with double-layer straw mats can effectively block temperature exchange between inside and outside the shed, thereby achieving relative stability of the shed temperature. When the temperature is relatively low in March and November, appropriately uncover the straw mats to raise the shed temperature; the temperatures in April and October are extremely favorable for the growth of oyster mushrooms, so one layer of straw mats can be covered and they can be allowed to grow naturally; when the temperature is relatively high, while thickening the covering materials, spray water onto the straw mats. Third, when the light is intense and the temperature is too high, a layer of shade net can be set up above the cultivation site so that both the arched shed and the mushroom walls are in a half-shaded, half-sunny environment. In addition, on cloudy, foggy, or lightly rainy days, the shed film can be removed, leaving only one layer of straw mats, so that the fruiting bodies are under wild conditions, making their shape, color, and other qualities more characteristic of wild mushrooms.