Detailed Explanation of Cultivation Techniques for the Edible Mushroom Tea Tree Mushroom

The tea tree mushroom is an excellent edible mushroom that has been cultivated artificially in recent years, and is known as the king of Chinese mushrooms. Its stalk is crisp and tender, its flavor is sweet and fragrant, it is high-yielding and easy to cultivate, and it has high value for promotion. In supermarkets in Japan, Singapore, and other Southeast Asian countries, each kilogram of dried product is worth as much as 100 US dollars.

1. Cultivation season. The mycelial growth temperature of the tea tree mushroom is 10-35°C, with the optimum temperature being 22-27°C; the fruiting body formation and growth temperature is 16-32°C, with the optimum humidity being 20-28%. Scientifically arrange the spring and autumn cultivation seasons, and specifically grasp two levers well: first, within 40-50 days after inoculation, the local temperature should not exceed 32°C; second, counting 60 days forward from the inoculation date, the mushroom fruiting period begins, and the local temperature is required to be between 15-30°C.

2. Raw material formulas. Formula 1: sawdust 72%, wheat bran 25%, gypsum 1%, sugar 1%, superphosphate 0.5%, lime 0.5%; Formula 2: cottonseed hull 78%, wheat bran 20%, gypsum 1%, sugar 0.5%, lime 0.5%; Formula 3: sawdust 38%, rice straw powder (corncob) 37%, wheat bran 23%, gypsum 1%, superphosphate 0.5%, lime 0.5%.

3. Mushroom bag preparation. Use polypropylene bags with specifications of 17×33×0.05 cm for filling with material. Mix the raw materials thoroughly and evenly, with a moisture content of 60%-62% and a PH value of 6-6.5. After the culture material is filled into the bags to a height of 18 cm (each bag holds about 450 grams of dry material), put on the neck ring and insert the cotton plug. Sterilize under normal pressure at 100°C for 10-12 hours. After sterilization is completed, cool to below 30°C, and carry out inoculation in an inoculation box or inoculation room. Each bottle of stock culture is expanded to inoculate 25-30 bags, then placed in a cool, dry, clean, and ventilated culture room. It usually takes 40-50 days for the mycelium to grow over the bags.

4. Fruiting management. When the mycelium has grown over the material, vegetative growth shifts to reproductive growth, and the surface of the material secretes yellow water. When brown patches appear and then small mushroom buds grow, open the bags in time, straighten the bag openings, water the ground, maintain the spatial humidity of the cultivation room at 85%-95%, and provide a certain amount of scattered light and ventilation. After 10-15 days of management, the fruiting bodies can be harvested when they are eight-tenths mature.

5. Harvesting. From mushroom bud to harvest generally takes 5-7 days. Harvest when the cap is hemispherical and the annulus has not yet detached from the cap. After harvesting the second flush of mushrooms, the material has become somewhat dry. Inject about 40 mg of water into each bag so that the moisture of the substrate meets the requirements for fruiting. Generally, 3-4 harvests can be made, and each bag can yield 40-45 grams of dried mushrooms.

6. Processing. Use scissors to cut off the debris at the root of the tea tree mushroom, and it can be sold fresh on the market, or dehydrated and dried with a dehydrator, graded, and packaged. At present, our country mostly exports dried products to Singapore, Japan, South Korea, and other countries.