How to Grow Straw Mushrooms? A Detailed Guide to Two Cultivation Techniques

The straw mushroom production season has now arrived. What are the detailed cultivation techniques for straw mushrooms?

Straw mushroom cultivation includes waste cotton residue cultivation and rice straw cultivation, which are introduced separately below:

Waste cotton residue cultivation

1. Soaking and composting fermentation: Soak the waste cotton residue in lime water, adding about 5 kg of lime per 100 kg of waste cotton residue. After thorough soaking, scoop it out and pile it up, cover with plastic film and ferment for about 2 days, controlling the moisture content at about 70% (when squeezing the material by hand, a small amount of water seeping through the fingers is ideal), with a pH value of about 8.5.

2. Secondary fermentation: Move the material into a disinfected mushroom house and spread it on the bed frames. When spreading the material, lay plastic film underneath, with a material thickness of 5-7 cm; each 10 sq m of mushroom house requires about 175 kg of dry material. After spreading, heat to disinfect; when the temperature of the culture material in the mushroom house reaches about 65°C, maintain it for 4-6 hours, then let it cool naturally.

3. Spawning and mycelium stage management: When the material temperature drops to about 36°C, it is ready for spawning; for each 100 kg of dry material, sow about 14 bottles of 750 ml bottled spawn. After spawning, cover with plastic film (mushroom houses with good moisture-retention conditions may omit the film). Maintain the material temperature at about 36°C; after 3-4 days, remove the film, and 4-5 days after spawning, spray water to stimulate mushroom formation. Before and after spraying, appropriately increase ventilation and lower the temperature inside the house, maintaining the material temperature at about 33°C for 1-2 days, after which young mushrooms can be seen appearing.

4. Fruiting stage management: Under normal conditions, young mushrooms begin to form 6-7 days after spawning. At this time, attention should be paid to heat preservation and moisture retention, with appropriate ventilation, maintaining the material temperature at 33-35°C and the relative air humidity at about 90%. The temperature inside the mushroom house should not fluctuate too much, and strong winds should not blow directly onto the bed surface, otherwise the young mushrooms will die off in large numbers.

Rice straw cultivation

Select thoroughly dry rice straw free of mold, soak it in 3% lime water for about 12 hours, then scoop it out and add supplementary materials to make a pile. The supplementary materials are usually 2%-5% plant ash, 1% phosphate fertilizer or compound fertilizer, 1%-2% gypsum, and about 5% rice bran or wheat bran. Pile into a straw heap about 1 m wide, 0.8-1 m high, and more than 1 m long; ferment for 2-3 days, turn the pile once, then pile again for about 2 days. Mix the material thoroughly, adjust the dry-moisture level and pH value (moisture content 70%, pH 8-9), then move the material into the mushroom house and spread it on the bed frames, with a material thickness of about 20 cm, compact it appropriately, cover with plastic film, heat to disinfect; for the other steps, refer to the cultivation technique using waste cotton residue as the main raw material. The straw mushroom cultivation cycle with rice straw is generally 2-5 days longer than with waste cotton residue.

Pest and disease control

The entire straw mushroom production process takes place in a high-temperature, high-humidity environment, so there are many insect pests and contaminant fungi, mainly including Coprinus comatus, Trichoderma, and Penicillium. The main reasons for the occurrence of Coprinus are a relatively high nitrogen content in the raw materials, a relatively low pH value, and incomplete fermentation and disinfection. Trichoderma and Penicillium are mainly caused by insufficient fermentation and relatively low temperatures in the mushroom house. Control methods: choose fresh raw materials free of mold; when adding supplementary materials, the proportion of raw materials with high nitrogen content should not exceed 5%, the moisture content should be controlled at about 70%, the pH value must not be less than 7, and disinfection must be thorough. The main insect pests of straw mushrooms include mushroom mites, nematodes, and mushroom flies. When mushroom mites are found, spray with a 500-1000 times dilution of dicofol; stop watering before spraying. Strictly control the moisture content of the culture material at about 70%, and carry out heat disinfection 6-12 hours after bedding, which can greatly reduce nematode damage. When composting and fermenting the culture material, cover it tightly with plastic film; during spawning, try to prevent mushroom flies from entering the mushroom house; after spawning, cover with plastic film and then spray dichlorvos or Heixuanfeng and other insecticidal liquids, which gives good results in controlling mushroom flies.