Detailed Explanation of the New Technique for Cultivating Oyster Mushrooms with Sweet Potato Vines

Sweet potato, also known as red sweet potato or hongshao, has vines (dried) that contain 8.1% crude protein, 1% crude fat, 28.5% crude fiber, 1.55% calcium, 0.11% phosphorus, and trace amounts of lysine, methionine, isoleucine, and others. Sweet potato vines with appropriate supplements added can be used to cultivate oyster mushrooms, making them a good raw material for high quality and high yield. The specific method is as follows.

1. Raw material processing. After harvesting and digging up the sweet potatoes, transport the vines to the yard and chop them into 2-3 cm lengths, sun-dry them, and pack them in woven bags for later use.

2. Culture material formula. Add 2 kg of lime to 100 kg of water, immerse the whole bag of dried vines and weigh them down with stones, soak for 1 day, then remove and drain. For every 100 kg of dried vines, add 10 kg of wheat bran or fine rice bran, 2 kg of superphosphate, 7.5 kg of gypsum powder, 0.5 kg of urea, and 100 g of carbendazim. Dissolve the carbendazim and chemical fertilizers in water, mix the gypsum powder and wheat bran well, moisten with the above solution, and finally mix with the sweet potato vines, pile up for fermentation, and turn the pile 2 times.

3. Bagging and inoculation. First cut plastic tube film or plastic mulch tube material with a width of 80-100 cm into 100 cm lengths, and tie one end tightly; or use the folded-corner bag form, folding each side in half and securing the folds with pins. Place the large bag on sterilized level ground, evenly sprinkle a small amount of spawn on the bottom layer, then fill with fermented material cooled to room temperature to a thickness of 20-25 cm. Gently lift the whole bag to open up the plastic around the bottom opening, then place it back on the ground, press the culture material tightly along the bag wall to form a round shape. Continue filling with culture material, pressing tightly after every 25 cm, until the bag can be closed at the top, then press the surface tight and smooth. Then use a wooden cone rod or steel bar rod with a diameter of 2-3 cm (the tip of the cone should be flat) to punch a hole every 5-8 cm on the material surface, with the hole reaching the bottom of the bag (do not puncture the bottom film), place spawn into the holes, fill full and press tight. After punching each hole, fill it full of spawn before punching the next hole, until the whole bag is done, then evenly sprinkle some spawn on the surface and gently press flat. Finally, fold the bag opening diagonally in alternating fashion and secure with pins. In this way, fill and inoculate bag by bag, placing every two bags side by side in rows, with a row spacing of 40-50 cm.

4. Spawn running management. 2-3 days after inoculation, the mycelium begins to germinate; after 5-7 days, open the door (do not open the windows) every morning for 30 minutes of ventilation. After 15 days, open the doors and windows for 0.5-1 hour of ventilation. After primordia appear, open the bag openings, spray toward the walls and floor to raise the relative air humidity to 85%-90%, and strengthen ventilation and air exchange to promote the formation of mushroom buds.

5. Timely harvesting. 7-8 days after primordia appear, the first flush of mushrooms can be harvested. After harvesting, clean the material surface, use a wooden stick with a diameter of 2 cm to punch one hole 10-15 cm deep every 10 cm on the surface of the spawn bag, and pour in nutrient water. After the standing water on the surface dries, seal the bag opening well. Subsequent management is the same as for the first flush, except that the type of nutrient solution used should be rotated, and a total of 3-4 flushes of mushrooms can be harvested.

6. Follow-up cultivation. After harvesting 4 flushes of mushrooms, in order to tap the production potential of the culture material and improve production efficiency, the following methods can also be used to make it continue to produce mushrooms. ① Turning method: turn the bottom and top of the spawn bag to swap positions, and as before, open the bag opening, punch holes, pour in nutrient solution, and manage for mushroom production, and another 2-3 flushes can be harvested. ② Layer rack method: use bamboo poles or thin sandalwood strips to build a simple layer rack, with 2 raw material poles per layer, place the spawned bags after removing the film on top, with 10-15 cm between bags, arranged in 2-3 layers in total, so that mushrooms can grow all around the spawn bags. ③ Cutting the tube and casing soil method: move the spawn bags outdoors, remove the plastic tube, use a sharp knife or wire saw blade to cut them crosswise into 3 sections, arrange them on the bed, fill the gaps with fertile soil, and cover the surface with soil 1-2 cm thick.

7. Waste material utilization. After the mushrooms are all harvested, sun-dry and crush the spent mushroom bed material; it can be used as a feed supplement.