Key Points of Edible Mushroom Cultivation Techniques and Common Winter Pest Control Methods

Edible mushrooms do not strictly require humid conditions during the mycelium growth stage, but when fruiting bodies or wood ears are forming, the relative humidity in the environment needs to be above 85%, and suitable temperature, ventilation and light are also required. For example, button mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, enoki mushrooms, nameko mushrooms, and matsutake mushrooms are suitable for fruiting in spring and autumn when temperatures are relatively low, or in low-temperature zones (around 15°C); straw mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms, and oyster mushrooms are suitable for fruiting under high-temperature conditions in summer or in tropical and subtropical regions.

However, in early winter, the widening temperature difference causes pests that were originally outside the mushroom shed to enter the shed one after another and cause damage, further increasing the difficulty of control. In actual production, many mushroom growers do not pay attention to prevention, and once pests break out, they use large amounts of chemical pesticides in an attempt to kill them quickly, but the results are often less than satisfactory.

Physical prevention: Since the raw materials may contain live insects or insect eggs, do not directly sow with raw materials; at the very least, use them after fermentation treatment, and it is best to adopt cooked material cultivation or use them for spawn production. Strictly check whether the spawn carries insects, and carefully inspect purchased spawn before subculturing to prevent the phenomenon of inoculating with insect-carrying spawn. Seal ventilation openings and entrances and exits of the mushroom shed with insect-proof nets to prevent adult insects from flying in. Spread lime isolation belts at ventilation openings and entrances and exits to prevent crawling pests from entering.

Chemical prevention: 1. Add drugs such as phoxim when mixing materials, generally at a dosage of about 100 milliliters per 1000 kilograms of dry material. For raw material cultivation, it can be added along with material mixing. For fermented material cultivation, the best timing for application is before the last turning of the pile; through high temperature and pile fermentation, the insecticidal effect is very ideal.

2. Within a certain distance outside the shed, after cleaning up waste material, highly effective insecticides such as trichlorfon can be used to kill insects and cut off the routes by which pests arrive.

3. Outside the shed and at ventilation openings and entrances and exits of the shed, spray highly effective low-residue drugs such as cypermethrin to prevent crawling pests from entering the shed.

4. Inside the mushroom shed, drugs such as cypermethrin can generally be sprayed to kill insects, and abamectin can be used to kill mites. For pests such as mushroom mosquitoes and mushroom flies, if conditions permit, highly effective insect repellent can be used for repellence.