What are the cultivation techniques for edible fungi? These 2 varieties are high-yielding and profitable
Edible fungi refer to large fungi that can be consumed by humans, and cultivating edible fungi, as a project with a short investment cycle and quick returns, also has very good development prospects. So what are the cultivation techniques for edible fungi? These 2 varieties are high-yielding and profitable!
Edible fungus cultivation techniques
1. Silver ear fungus
Silver ear fungus is a wood-rotting edible fungus that grows on dead trees, broken branches, and other wood. When making stock cultures or cultivation cultures of this type of edible fungus, sawdust can be used as the raw material, and in cultivation production, sawdust or log segments can be used as the material. Substitute substrate cultivation of silver ear fungus uses easily obtained raw materials, has a short growth cycle, and is simple to operate, with yield significantly higher than log cultivation.
(1) Bagging and sterilization
The formula currently used for silver ear fungus cultivation contains suitable proportions of cottonseed hulls, wheat bran, and gypsum powder, with the amount of added water and dry material at a ratio of 1:1-1.3. After the main materials are mixed evenly, add water until the final moisture content of the cultivation material is 55%-60%. Mix the cultivation material evenly, fill bags, punch holes, apply adhesive tape, and then sterilize at normal pressure. During sterilization, the bags should be placed evenly and neatly, which helps steam flow freely and circulate. After the fungus bags are loaded into the pot, heat over a strong fire, and within 3 hours bring the steam temperature in the sterilization pot to 100°C and maintain it for about 14 hours to thoroughly sterilize. After sterilization, wait until the temperature inside the bags drops to room temperature before inoculating with spawn. After inoculation, press firmly and reapply the original adhesive tape sealing the holes. Note that every operation must be sterile. After sterilization, the material bags are directly moved to the shelves in the culture room to cultivate mycelium.
(2) Spawn running management
During mycelium cultivation, keep away from light and dispose of contaminated fungus bags. After about 18 d of mycelium cultivation, the mycelium between the holes has already blended and connected, and secretion of melanin can be seen. At this time, the adhesive tape can be removed, and the bags can be placed on shelves for cultivation. The fungus bags should be turned over, that is, with the expanded hole opening facing downward, covered with newspaper, sprayed with water, kept moist, and humidity should be regulated and managed at all times, with fine spraying and frequent spraying. Ventilation should be strengthened, with half an hour of ventilation in the morning, noon, and evening.
(3) Fruiting body management
After 18 days of cultivation, the mycelium has almost covered the fungus bags, the primordia begin to differentiate, and ear buds form. At this time, the temperature should be controlled at 20-28°C, scattered light should be increased, and ventilation should be strengthened. In hot seasons when the temperature exceeds 26°C, more water should be sprayed and ventilation time prolonged to lower the temperature; in cold seasons, artificial heating is needed to ensure a suitable temperature for the growth and development of silver ear fungus.
Cutting the film and expanding the holes (enlarging the openings): when the mycelium has fully grown, the fungus bags are placed on shelves, and film cutting and hole expansion begin. The specific method is to use a blade to make a circular cut in the fungus bag along the diagonal edge of the adhesive tape, with a hole diameter of 4-5 cm. The cutting should be even, and the mycelium must not be severely damaged.
Controlling conditions: strengthen the control of temperature and humidity. The optimum temperature for fruiting body growth is 20-25°C. During this period, water should be sprayed in a timely manner to increase humidity. Water is a key factor for high yield of silver ear fungus and must be controlled reasonably and appropriately. If there is too much water and poor ventilation, it often causes rotten ear bases. Ventilation is also a key factor. When the temperature is high, strengthen ventilation; when the temperature is low, appropriately raise the temperature, always maintaining a suitable temperature.
Increasing light: during the stage of fruiting body growth and development, appropriate scattered light irradiation causes rapid fruiting body differentiation, fast expansion of the sheets, plump ear pieces, white color, and high yield.
2. Wood ear fungus
(1) Spawn production
For sawdust spawn, a culture medium is prepared from sawdust, wheat bran, and other materials. For branch spawn, branches about 1 cm thick are cut into 1.5 cm lengths, sucrose, rice bran, and other nutrients are added, and after bottling and high-pressure sterilization, mother spawn is inoculated and cultured at 25-28°C for 1 month, after which the mycelium can fill the bottle.
(2) Preparation of ear wood
After the cultivation site is selected, the ear wood should be prepared. Commonly used ear wood species include tree species of Fagaceae and Betulaceae. Choose ear trees with a diameter of 10-12 cm at breast height. After felling, cut them into 1-1.2 m long sections, coat the cut ends with fresh lime, and then place them in a ventilated, sunny place to stack and dry.
(3) Inoculation
Tools used for inoculation should be disinfected with ethanol in advance. First, use an electric drill to drill vertical holes 1.5 cm deep in the ear wood at a hole spacing of 7 cm. If sawdust spawn is used, fill the holes, press tightly, and then cover with pre-made bark covers. After inserting branch spawn into the inoculation holes, tap tightly with a hammer so that it is flush with the surface of the log segment and has no gaps.
(4) Colonization
First, stack for spawn running. Stack the inoculated ear wood in a “well” shape or “mountain” shape. The temperature inside the stack should preferably be 20-28°C, and relative humidity should be maintained at about 80%. In the south, 3-4 weeks; in the north, 4-5 weeks. When the mycelium has extended into the xylem and a small number of ear buds have appeared, the stack should be spread out and arranged in the field in a timely manner. Generally, a flat-laying arrangement is used, with one or both ends of the ear wood raised on support wood and arranged neatly in the cultivation field. After about 1 month, it can be put on trestles. During the trestle stage, the temperature, humidity, light, and ventilation conditions of the cultivation field must be well regulated, but the central management issue is water. After putting on trestles, it is best to have a light rain every 3 days and a moderate to heavy rain every half month. During drought, artificial water spraying should be used to solve the problem of alternating dry and wet conditions and maintain relative humidity at 90%-95%. Water spraying should be done in the morning and evening.
Edible fungi have broad prospects and great room for development. In addition, local governments at all levels attach importance to them, cultivation raw materials are abundant, and the techniques are easy to master. In the future, the edible fungus industry will become an independent industry and a good project for the broad masses of farmers to escape poverty and become wealthy.