Application of Heating Agents in Straw Cultivation of Edible Mushrooms and Methods of Disease Prevention and Control

In recent years, with the promotion and popularization of new edible mushroom technologies, the demand for cottonseed hulls has increased, and prices have risen year by year. To reduce production costs, mushroom growers in various regions use local materials, cultivating edible mushrooms with the crop straw they have on hand. But the results are often low yields, far from satisfactory. This is because straw itself is hard, high in silicon, and unsuitable for the growth of edible mushrooms.

I use a self-made steam generator to treat crop straw with the steam softening method, solving the problems of straw being hard, heavy in silicon, and unsuitable for mycelial growth. But in the process of steam-softening straw, large amounts of wood and coal must be burned, and a person is needed to watch over it, and the amount of straw that can be treated is also limited.

To solve the above problems, since last year I have conducted experiments using a heating fermentation agent to treat crop straw, and achieved success. The heating fermentation agent relies on its own biological energy to raise the temperature of the material pile; the material temperature rises from the inside outward, heating evenly. Because thermophilic microorganisms are distributed in large numbers within the material, the prepared culture material is uniformly decomposed, has no ammonia smell, is brown, and has white actinomycete spots. It possesses the characteristics of a high-quality culture material. It is also widely used in the cultivation of oyster mushrooms, shaggy ink cap mushrooms, button mushrooms, and wood ear mushrooms, greatly improving biological efficiency. In addition, the heating agent is convenient and simple to use and low in cost. During the straw treatment process, no turning of the pile is needed, greatly reducing the consumption of manpower and material resources and lowering production costs. I have used the heating agent to treat straw for edible mushroom cultivation and achieved very good benefits. The use of the heating agent is introduced as follows:

1. Raw material pre-wetting and softening process. Rice straw, wheat straw, corn stalks, distiller's grains, sawdust, etc. The raw materials are required to be dry and free of mold. Bundle each bundle at 5-250 kg, and bag crushed material for later use. First put lime into a soaking pool 3 m long, 1 m wide, and 0.8 m deep, then use test paper to measure until it reaches pH 14, at which point one of the above materials can be soaked in the lime water. Press it down with a heavy object, and after 20 minutes lift it out and place it to one side, cover with film, let it drain naturally for 2 hours, then build a pile for softening. Choose a place with higher terrain, build the pile 2 m wide, 1.5 m high, and of unlimited length, cover the straw material with plastic film, leave a little ventilation opening at both ends, and soften for 6 days.

2. Build a small starter pile. Use 1 kg of heating agent for every 2000 kg of straw material. On the last day of softening, mix dry livestock and poultry manure, cake fertilizer, phosphate fertilizer, or use straw material, cotton hulls, sawdust and other bedding material with the heating agent, add water to 60%, until it forms a ball when squeezed by hand and breaks apart when tossed. Then build a small pile, cover it well with film, and let it ferment in a closed pile for 8-12 hours.

3. Mixed pile fermentation. Mix the fermented bedding material with the large pile material and put it directly into the shed and onto the bed. The material thickness is 50-70 cm, and the moisture is controlled above 60%. After loading the material, close the shed film. Under the action of the heating agent, the material temperature automatically rises to about 70°C in 1-2 days, stays for 2 days, then falls back. Keep it at about 50°C for 4 days, then open the shed for ventilation, and when the material temperature drops to normal temperature, the material can be turned and spawned. According to your own experience, carry out bed cultivation, border cultivation, and bag cultivation, and conduct scientific cultivation management.