A Complete Guide to the Key Points of Edible Mushroom Harvesting Techniques

Edible mushrooms are a very common food ingredient in our daily lives, and there are now more and more varieties of edible mushrooms. For example, shiitake mushrooms, lion's mane mushrooms, shaggy mane mushrooms, king oyster mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, and oyster mushrooms all belong to the category of edible mushrooms. So, in order to improve the economic benefits of edible mushrooms and ensure their quality, in addition to cultivation techniques, their harvesting techniques are also very important. So how much do we know about the harvesting techniques for edible mushrooms? Let's read the content below together.

1. Harvesting Time

There is also an optimal time for harvesting edible mushrooms, but the optimal harvesting time differs for each type. So we need to judge their optimal harvesting time in the following way. Generally, edible mushrooms are harvested when they are 70 to 80 percent mature, because at this time their taste and appearance are excellent. The criteria for judging this are: the veil of the edible mushroom has broken, but the cap has not fully opened; secondly, the gills have fully extended, and the color has changed from white to the normal color corresponding to that mushroom. At this point, they can be harvested.

2. Harvesting Techniques

The harvesting techniques for edible mushrooms are also very simple. When harvesting, we should follow the principle of picking the large ones and leaving the small ones. When harvesting, be careful not to damage the mushrooms. Generally, you pinch the base of the stem with your thumb and index finger, then rotate it left and right, and finally gently pull it upward. Also, when harvesting, do not touch the immature small mushrooms, otherwise it will affect their growth. There are also some mushrooms that grow in clusters, so we mainly harvest them by cutting from the base with a sharp knife, and we should maintain the shape of the mushrooms, which can improve economic benefits.

3. Harvesting Weather

When harvesting edible mushrooms, not all weather conditions are suitable for harvesting, so we also need to grasp the maturity period of the mushrooms and harvest in suitable weather. Generally, it is best to harvest on sunny days, which is beneficial for processing the mushrooms and can effectively ensure their quality. But if the mushrooms have already matured, then no matter whether it is raining or whatever the weather is, they must still be harvested. If they are not harvested in time, the losses will be even greater. Of course, for edible mushrooms like wood ear mushrooms and silver ear mushrooms, we can still delay the harvest, but we should note that watering must be stopped, ventilation should be strengthened, and finally harvesting should be done after the weather clears up.

4. Harvesting Containers

In order to ensure the quality of edible mushrooms after harvesting, we need to choose suitable harvesting containers, because some containers are indeed not suitable for holding mushrooms. For example, burlap bags, cloth bags, wooden buckets, water buckets, glass products, and wooden boxes are all not good harvesting containers. Generally speaking, experienced growers use woven baskets or small baskets to hold mushrooms. This will not damage the mushrooms or affect their quality, can keep the fruiting bodies intact, and avoids squeezing them against each other.

The above points are what everyone needs to pay special attention to when harvesting edible mushrooms. Thank you also for reading, and I hope it can help friends in need. If you want to learn about the cultivation techniques for a certain type of edible mushroom, you can leave a message for the editor below.