The key to a bountiful spring mushroom harvest lies in winter mushroom bed management

After the autumn mushroom harvest, if no heating is applied for winter mushroom production, the mushroom bed enters the winter management stage. The quality of winter mushroom bed management greatly affects the spring mushroom yield of the following year.

Heat preservation and ventilation: In winter, keep the mushroom house temperature above 3°C so that the room does not freeze, preventing the mycelium from freezing damage. Before winter arrives, check the four walls of the mushroom house one by one, plug air leaks, and hang cloth curtains on doors and windows to prevent cold wind from entering. On warm days, pay attention to ventilation to keep the indoor air fresh. At noon, open the south windows of the mushroom house for 2 to 3 hours. When the weather is warm and windless and the outdoor temperature is above 8°C, open both the south and north windows to allow air convection. When the outdoor temperature at noon is below 5°C, ventilation should be suspended.

Watering and topdressing: Determine the number of waterings based on the degree of soil dryness and moisture, keep the soil moist, and prevent the bed surface from becoming too wet due to overly frequent or excessive watering, so as to avoid freezing damage to the sprouting mycelium. Combine watering with topdressing: boil manure water, filter it, and apply it as a liquid fertilizer at a concentration of 20%.

Loosening the soil and removing old roots: If the mushroom house conditions are good and the mycelium grows vigorously, the fine soil on the mushroom bed can be scraped open and the coarse soil loosened, and the loosened area can be larger. If the mushroom house conditions and mycelium growth are average, there is no need to scrape open the fine soil on the bed; simply loosen the coarse soil directly. If the mushroom house conditions and mycelium growth are poor, the soil may not be loosened in winter; before fruiting in March to April of the following year, gently loosen the coarse soil and fine soil once. When loosening the soil, the white mycelium must not be stripped off, especially the mycelium wrapped around the coarse soil; stripping off too much will affect the spring mushroom yield. Remove old roots and dead mushrooms from the mushroom bed, and then spread the coarse soil and fine soil flat again. One week after the final soil loosening, when the mycelium sprouts, cover the mushroom bed with a layer of soil 2 to 3 cm thick. Before earthing up, water and apply topdressing 2 to 3 times to supply sufficient water and nutrients and promote mycelium sprouting and growth.