Detailed introduction to the new oyster mushroom variety Nongke No. 5

The new oyster mushroom strain, Nongke No. 5, was bred by the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The Wuhe Edible Fungi Research Institute of Anhui Province introduced it for demonstration cultivation in August 1998. Through 3 years of multi-site comparative trials, it showed extraordinary superior traits. This mushroom has thick flesh, a short stalk, a round and regular cap, smooth and glossy, with a very strong fresh appearance, delicate and delicious flesh, extremely tolerant of CO2, and a soft yet firm fruiting body. It thus overcomes the drawback of conventional varieties being easily broken during long-distance transport. When the outside temperature drops below 15°C, the cap is even blacker than black wood ear, making it a typical black food at present. When launched on the market, it caters precisely to the current new fashion in the culinary world for black foods with nourishing and beauty-enhancing effects, and therefore it is highly favored by urban consumers. This strain is quite broad in its choice of substrate, with strong ability to decompose substrates. Various crop straws such as rice and wheat straw, corn stalks, corn cobs, peanut shells, and cotton stalk powder can all be used for cultivation (cottonseed hulls are of course better). The yield is high; generally, each kilogram of dry substrate can produce more than 3 kg of fresh mushrooms. The mycelial growth temperature is 1-32°C, and the fruiting and growth temperature is 2-26°C. It is suitable for indoor, outdoor, and plastic greenhouse cultivation. If outdoor field cultivation is used, the yield is even higher. It also has advantages such as rapid mycelial growth and strong disease resistance. Therefore, this strain is currently the most ideal new replacement strain for oyster mushroom development.