How can you tell good straw mushroom spawn from bad? You need to know these few methods

Before cultivating straw mushrooms, the quality of the spawn must be assessed, and high-quality spawn should be selected whenever possible. The appearance of high-quality spawn is: thick and sturdy hyphae, uniform development of the upper and lower hyphae, and aerial hyphae that are white or semi-transparent.

The specific identification methods are:

1. For spawn used for cultivation, the spawn age is around 30 days, the hyphae are thick, sturdy and dense white, there are light brown chlamydospores on the hyphae, and after removing the cotton plug, the aroma of straw mushrooms can be smelled. This kind of spawn is high-quality spawn; after sowing, it colonises the substrate quickly and grows vigorously. If there are very few chlamydospores, it means the hyphae are still young and tender, and it can be left to continue growing for another week before use.

2. After the spawn age exceeds 40 days, the aerial hyphae become excessively dense, a mycelial membrane begins to form, and the surface appears pale yellow. The chlamydospores are dense and appear reddish-brown, and the vigour of the hyphae shows a trend of weakening. This kind of spawn is medium-to-old spawn and must not be stored any longer; it should be used immediately, otherwise the yield will be affected.

3. If the hyphae in the culture medium gradually become sparse, the surface mycelial membrane turns yellow, the chlamydospores cover the surface of the substrate, and the spawn age exceeds 50 days, the hyphae begin to shrink. This is old spawn, its vitality has clearly declined, and it is no longer suitable for use as spawn.

4. If yellow, green or black spots are found on the spawn or the cotton plug, it means the spawn has been contaminated by moulds. This kind of spawn is low-quality spawn and must absolutely not be used.