What technical points should be noted for indoor cultivation of oyster mushrooms?

Oyster mushrooms are welcomed by people for their delicious taste, short production cycle and ease of cultivation. Especially in Northeast China, where the climate is cold in winter and spring and fresh vegetables are scarce, growing oyster mushrooms indoors to supply the market is truly a good way to make money. However, a prominent problem in indoor cultivation of oyster mushrooms is that the air temperature is not easy to control and the surface layer of the substrate dries out easily, affecting oyster mushroom production. After repeated trials, the author believes that casing soil cultivation gives good results.

1. Mushroom house selection. Abandoned or temporarily unused houses can be chosen as the mushroom house (they must be repainted with limewater), and heating and ventilation facilities are required. Set up bed frames indoors, with a layer spacing of about 60cm and the lowest layer 20-30cm above the ground. Box cultivation or pot cultivation can also be used. For every cubic meter indoors, fumigate and disinfect with a mixture of 10ml formaldehyde and 5g potassium permanganate.

2. Ingredients and spawning. Sawdust, wheat straw, rice straw, corncobs, corn stalks, soybean stalks, etc. can all be used as raw materials. Some nutritional ingredients also need to be added, prepared according to the general method, and disinfected (generally, when mixing the substrate, adding carbendazim at 1/800 can effectively inhibit the growth of contaminating microorganisms). Spawning can use hole spawning or layer spawning. After spawning, level and press slightly, cover the substrate surface with a layer of paper, and then cover with plastic film under the paper to keep warm and moist. Spawning starts from the upper bed frame and proceeds layer by layer downward. The entire operation process must be strictly disinfected.

3. Management. After spawning, keep the indoor temperature at about 24°C and the humidity at about 70%. Check the substrate temperature every day; if it is higher than 25°C, uncover the film and ventilate to cool it down. The bed temperature should be kept at about 24°C as much as possible. When the mycelium grows to 2/3 of the substrate, casing soil can be applied.

4. Casing soil. Peat soil is preferred for casing soil; if there is no peat soil, clay can also be used. The casing soil should be moist, and its pH should first be adjusted to 7-7.5, then it can be applied to the substrate surface. Dry soil can also be applied directly, followed by spraying water. A casing soil thickness of 2-3cm is suitable. After casing, strengthen management, keep the soil surface moist, increase ventilation, and gradually lower the mushroom house temperature to 15-17°C, keeping the humidity at about 90%.

5. Mushroom formation and harvesting. After primordia appear on the bed surface, remove the film, increase ventilation and light transmission, control the temperature, and keep the soil surface moist. The oyster mushrooms can be harvested once they have grown. During harvesting, open the doors and windows for ventilation. After harvesting the mushrooms, tidy the bed surface, stop watering for 4-5 days to let the mycelium recover growth, then spray clean water to keep the bed surface moist. After about a week, mushroom primordia can grow again. In this way, generally 3 batches of mushrooms can be harvested.