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What to do when mushrooms are infected with cottony mold

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Cottony mold is also known as powdery mildew and variable powdery mildew (Oospora variabilis). This fungus is mainly introduced into the mushroom house by manure clumps in the compost. In the early stage it mostly spreads between the soil particles and quickly grows to the surface of the soil layer; its hyphae are short and fine, growing in clusters, appearing like individual cotton balls or layers of rotten cotton wadding, a vast expanse of white, and later gradually turning orange-red. In the affected area, mushroom mycelium grows very poorly, and the young mushrooms and primordia produced wither and die in large numbers. Control measures: the compost must be fermented thoroughly. When this fungus grows to the surface of the soil layer, spray 1:500 carbendazim at

Cottony mold is also known as powdery mildew and variable powdery mildew (Oospora variabilis). This fungus is mainly introduced into the mushroom house by manure clumps in the compost. In the early stage it mostly spreads between the soil particles and quickly grows to the surface of the soil layer; its hyphae are short and fine, growing in clusters, appearing like individual cotton balls or layers of rotten cotton wadding, a vast expanse of white, and later gradually turning orange-red. In the affected area, mushroom mycelium grows very poorly, and the young mushrooms and primordia produced wither and die in large numbers.

Control measures: the compost must be fermented thoroughly. When this fungus grows to the surface of the soil layer, spray 1:500 carbendazim at 0.7 kg per sq m, or spray 1:500 50% wettable thiophanate at 0.5 kg per sq m (if this disease occurs year after year, mix 1:800 carbendazim into the compost). However, the application must be carried out before the young mushrooms emerge from the soil, to prevent the chemical from killing the mushroom mycelium.

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