How to Grow Mushrooms for High Yield? Detailed Explanation of Key Cultivation Techniques

Mushrooms are one of the most popular varieties in the edible fungi market, and their flavor, nutritional value and health benefits are widely praised. As it is currently the composting period, the relevant composting methods are introduced as follows:

1. Composition of mushroom compost. Mushrooms are saprophytic edible fungi, and their growing nutrient soil comes from the compost. Generally, about 5000 kg of compost is needed per 1000 sq ft; of which 3500 kg is manure, 1500 kg is straw, 50 kg is gypsum, 25 kg is superphosphate, 15 kg is urea, and 20 to 30 kg is lime.

2. Composting. For the first pile building, it should be trampled firm with feet, with a pile width of 2 to 2.3 m and a height of 1.5 to 1.8 m, sealed with nylon film to allow sufficient heating, so that the temperature 5-8 cm on the surface of the pile reaches 75-85°C. If it is too low, the moisture may be insufficient, so water should be added. Inside the pile, under oxygen deficiency and high temperature, dehydration of carbohydrates, saccharification and biochemical reactions will occur, softening and decomposing the straw.

3. Turning the pile. The purpose is to exchange the upper and lower, inner and outer positions of the pile, adjust the aeration conditions, replenish water and auxiliary materials, and make the pile heat up again. The usual timing is: for rice straw as the main material, first pre-wet for 2-3 days, carry out the first turning 6 days after building the pile, then the second turning after another 4 days, then the third turning after another 3 days, and after another 2-3 days it can enter the mushroom house for fermentation. Each time the pile is turned, care should be taken to shake it loose. This can thicken the aerobic fermentation zone. A bamboo tube can also be inserted every 40-50 cm to create a chimney effect, increase aeration of the pile, and promote high-temperature sterilization and aerobic fermentation. As aerobic fermentation proceeds, water in the pile is lost relatively quickly, so attention should be paid to moisture regulation when turning. Generally, at each turning, 5-6 drops of water can be squeezed from a handful of material; at the second and third turnings, 2-3 drops; at the fourth, water is present between the fingers but does not drip. As the material decomposes, the volume of the pile will continuously become smaller. Each time the pile is built, the height should remain unchanged and the width appropriately reduced, so as to ensure pile temperature. At the fourth turning, the pile height can be appropriately lowered, and 400-fold dichlorvos or 1000-fold dimethoate solution should be sprayed in, sealed with nylon for 24 hours and then uncovered, so that harmful gases in the material are released.

4. Addition of auxiliary materials. To prevent mutual chemical reactions among auxiliary materials that affect the addition effect, different auxiliary materials should be added to the pile separately at the appropriate times. For example, urea can be added at 30% during pre-wetting and 70% when building the pile, to prevent loss and reduce nutrient loss. Gypsum and superphosphate can improve the material structure. Lime should be added at the third turning, generally first adding 60-70%, and at the fourth turning adjust the pH to 7.5, to prevent the pH in the pile from becoming too high if added all at once.

The standard for the material at the end of fermentation is: soft texture, no raw straw, springy when held in the hand, not sticky, brown or grayish-brown color, no off-odor, no sour smell, pH 7.5, moisture 65-80%.

1. Purpose of fermentation after entering the house: to further sterilize and kill insects, and complete the transformation of inorganic nitrogen into organic nitrogen. Whether its fermentation is good or bad is the key to determining mushroom yield. First, insecticide and lime powder should be sprayed on the floor and surroundings of the mushroom house for insect killing and sterilization. Then, 5 days before loading the material, 0.5 kg of dichlorvos and 3-5 kg of formalin per 1000 sq ft should be used for sealed fumigation. Two days before loading, open the doors and windows to remove the toxic gas. The compost should be loaded into the house while hot and quickly, to reduce heat loss. When placing the material, generally the lower-tier beds are not filled, and it is piled into ridge strips with a material thickness of 20-30 cm. Immediately after loading, close the doors and windows through which the material entered to retain heat. The heating method is to place 10-12 coal briquette stoves per 1000 sq ft, or build one stove at each end of the mushroom house and between the beds, heating from outside the house with firewood or coal. Generally, it is suitable for the temperature to rise to 57-60°C in 10 hours. The temperature control process is a gradual cooling process, and generally a decrease of 1.5-2°C per day is better and more suitable. The whole post-fermentation process takes about 7 days. During this period, ventilation should be carried out briefly every day to prevent gas poisoning. At the end of post-fermentation, the standard for the compost is: the material is covered with white spot-like actinomycetes on the surface, the bottom of the material is covered with white fluffy humus mold, the material is soft and loose, elastic, not sticky, not smelly, without ammonia odor, with a sweet sugar aroma, moisture content about 65%, 2-3 drops of water can be squeezed from a handful of material, pH 7-7.2, and the material is brown to dark brown.

2. Spawning: At the end of post-fermentation, the beds should be turned promptly and the bed surface leveled. While doing so, the material should be cut loose from the bottom to release residual heat and waste gas, and at the same time, raw manure lumps, stones, mud lumps, etc. in the material should be picked out. Before spawning, attention should be paid to the material temperature at one inch below the material surface. If it continues to heat up and the material temperature is above 30°C, spawning cannot be done. Wait until the material temperature drops to 28°C-30°C before spawning. The usual amount of spawn is 6-9 sq ft per bottle for wheat grain spawn, and 4-6 sq ft for cottonseed hull spawn.