Mushroom Pest and Disease Control Methods and Technical Key Points

With the further development of the mushroom industry, standardizing mushroom pest and disease control has become very necessary. The following recommendations on mushroom pest and disease control are hereby proposed:

1. Mushroom pest and disease control must establish the principles of prevention first, integrated control, and scientific use of chemical agents. Specifically, the following should be done:

1. Conscientiously carry out environmental sanitation work in and around the mushroom house. The environmental sanitation of the mushroom house is crucial to the occurrence of pests and diseases. The following must be done: ① The mushroom house and its surroundings must be clean and hygienic, with thorough sterilization and disinfection. Chicken coops and pig pens should be kept away from the mushroom house. ② After the spring mushroom season ends, the waste material from the mushroom beds should be promptly removed and absolutely must not be piled up in or near the mushroom house. ③ Old mushroom houses should have their bamboo shelves dismantled and soaked in 5% lime water for disinfection for 7-10 days, then sun-dried for later use. ④ Empty mushroom houses should first be flushed with large amounts of water, then fumigated with 1 kg of dichlorvos per 111 sq m plus 2-4 kg of 40% formaldehyde per 111 sq m for 48 hours.

2. Mushroom houses should be equipped with screen doors and screen windows to effectively prevent flies and mosquitoes carrying mites, eggs, and pathogen spores from flying into the mushroom house. This method is simple and effective and must not be underestimated.

3. Strictly carry out post-fermentation of the compost to kill or reduce the occurrence of pathogens and pests. Quickly move the compost that has been pile-fermented outdoors into the house while still hot and load it onto the shelves, stacking it except for the bottom layer in an increasing thickness from thin on top to thick on the bottom. Use a homemade stove with coal or firewood to rapidly raise the temperature so that the internal temperature of the compost reaches 58-62°C, maintain for 6-8 hours, then lower to 48-52°C and keep warm for 4-7 days. This step must be done conscientiously and thoroughly, otherwise later efforts will yield half the results with twice the effort.

4. Properly handle the casing soil. It has currently been found that many pathogen spores, larvae, and egg masses are introduced through the soil, so the soil should preferably be sun-dried on a concrete surface during the hot summer for 2-3 days. When mixing the soil, add 7.5-10 kg of 40% formaldehyde solution per 111 sq m, add 1-2 kg of dichlorvos per 111 sq m (about 6000-7000 jin of soil), seal and fumigate for 48 hours, then air out the odor before use.

5. There should be dedicated water vats outside the mushroom house for use in watering and spraying chemicals. The water in the vats must be clean tap water. Never use wastewater or dirty water, and certainly do not use miscellaneous wastewater accumulated in dug pits.

6. Cultivate at the appropriate time; do not blindly rush to start early. Off-season cultivation should have good insulation and moisture retention conditions. Cultivating too early makes it easy to encounter high-temperature weather, and high temperature and high humidity easily promote the occurrence of pests and diseases, with severe cases even resulting in total crop failure. The suitable sowing season in Fuyang, Hangzhou is mid-to-late September, casing in early October, and the harvest period in late October.

7. The use of pesticides must be scientific and reasonable. ① Do not blindly use fungicides, especially during the harvest period, to avoid affecting mushroom growth. ② The target of control should be confirmed, emphasizing science over experience. ③ Emphasize practical effectiveness; do not repeatedly use the same type of pesticide in excess, and do not blindly use new drugs. ④ Strictly prohibit highly toxic and high-residue pesticides, and vigorously promote high-efficiency low-residue pesticides and pollution-free pesticides.

2. Two Major Pest and Disease Control Measures

1. Mites (commonly known as mushroom lice). Mites are very small and difficult to see with the naked eye. There are mainly two types: Pyemotes and Tyrophagus. The Pyemotes, which are light brown in body color, tend to gather or cluster, and crawl slowly, cause more serious damage; the Tyrophagus, which are white and bright in body color, do not form clusters, and crawl relatively quickly, cause less serious damage. There is no need to panic at the mention of mites; the key is to control the population numbers.

① When disinfecting empty mushroom houses, in addition to fumigation with dichlorvos, spray with 1000x Uranus solution to disinfect the bed frames and mushroom house again. ② At the end of post-fermentation when keeping warm, fumigate with 1-1.5 kg of dichlorvos per 111 sq m. ③ When leveling the compost surface before casing, spray with 2000x Uranus solution. ④ In addition to adding dichlorvos to the casing soil, 1 kg of Uranus solution per 111 sq m can also be added for pest control. ⑤ If mites are still present after casing the mushroom beds, fumigate with aluminum phosphide, using 1-3 tablets of aluminum phosphide per cubic meter of space, i.e., (10 mg/m3), increasing or decreasing according to the degree of damage and the airtightness of the mushroom house. When applying aluminum phosphide, great attention must be paid to the safety of humans and livestock. During application, it is best to ask professional personnel from grain depots to place it, to ensure safety. In addition, sugar-vinegar plus dichlorvos or Uranus can also be used for trapping and killing. ⑥ If Lan's Brennandania mite (listed as a quarantine object by Zhejiang Province) is found, it should be promptly reported to the municipal plant quarantine station, and corresponding measures should be taken to eliminate infection.

2. Brown rot (commonly known as taro mushroom). It is introduced through the soil by Mycogone perniciosa and triggered under high temperature and high humidity conditions. Infected fruiting bodies rapidly grow into malformed mushrooms resembling taro and emit a putrid odor. In recent years, the damage has been relatively severe. ① Thoroughly remove waste materials and waste and keep them away from the mushroom house, flush with large amounts of water and thoroughly disinfect. Dismantlable bamboo shelves should be soaked in 5% lime water for 7-10 days, then sun-dried; the mushroom house should be fumigated with 2-4 kg of 40% formaldehyde per 111 sq m for 48 hours. (According to our tests with 6 commonly used fungicides, formaldehyde has the best effect against brown rot.) ② Obtain new soil. Brown rot is a soil-borne disease, so the casing soil must be strictly controlled. Soil should be taken from fields where mushroom waste material has never been applied. ③ When treating the casing soil, use 7.5-10 kg of 40% formaldehyde per 111 sq m, mix well and seal for 48 hours. Note that crushed soil is more easily penetrated by formaldehyde than coarse or fine soil, improving control efficacy (this has been confirmed by experiments). ④ If "taro mushrooms" are found growing on the mushroom beds, do not blindly apply fungicides. The correct handling method is: a. First stop watering, strengthen ventilation, reduce humidity, and slow the spread. b. Promptly and thoroughly remove the diseased mushroom mycelium and destroy it, then sprinkle a small amount of carbendazim powder or lime powder for disinfection. c. For localized occurrence, spray with 200 ppm stabilized chlorine dioxide or 1:1:100 Bordeaux mixture or 500x asparagus green solution, etc. d. When there is severe damage over a large area, consider replacing the casing soil layer.

3. Vigorously promote pollution-free mushroom production technology. While effectively controlling mushroom pests and diseases, we should also attach great importance to pesticide contamination of mushrooms. While strengthening publicity, we should comprehensively prohibit the @#@136@#@ and use of highly toxic and high-residue pesticides, and adopt administrative penalty measures, mobilizing agriculture, technical supervision, industry and commerce, and health and epidemic prevention departments to jointly manage, and conscientiously carry out pesticide residue testing of mushrooms; we should strengthen training, standardize cultivation, implement standardized production, to ensure quality improvement and build brand reputation; apply pesticides scientifically and reasonably, do not overlap the use of the same type of pesticide and do not use excessive amounts, prohibit the use of: carbofuran, methamidophos, omethoate and other highly toxic and high-residue pesticides, as well as "bleaching powder" used in chemical papermaking, and promote the use of: Uranus, fenvalerate, dichlorvos and other pollution-free pesticides, as well as biological pesticides.