What is the suitable cultivation season for the button mushroom?

The button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) is a low-temperature fruiting fungus; it only produces fruiting bodies below 18°C, and the optimal temperature for mushroom production is around 16°C. Therefore, the cultivation season is mostly arranged in autumn and winter, continuing into early spring. Because of regional climate differences and variations in local microclimates, the cultivation period for mushrooms can be determined based on local meteorological data.

Generally, the sowing period is when the local autumn average day-night temperature stabilizes at 22-25°C. Counting back about 23 days from this gives the date for building the compost pile: in the Jiangsu-Zhejiang area this is mid to late August, in northern Fujian it is early to mid September, and in the Chongqing area it is late August to early September. In recent years, to prevent a sudden rise in temperature at sowing time and outbreaks of pests and diseases, mushroom-growing areas in the Yangtze River basin often delay building the pile by 15-20 days, that is, building and fermenting the pile in early September.