Growing Edible Mushrooms by Roby Jose Ciju

Author:Roby Jose Ciju
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 1475081537
Publisher: AGRIHORTICO
Published: 2012-03-21T06:00:00+00:00

Steps Involved in Mushroom Growing

There are SIX major steps are involved in the growing of mushrooms. These are,

1. Compost preparation

2. Pasteurization

3. Spawning

4. Casing

5. Pinning or Fruiting 6. Harvesting

Step 1: Compost Preparation

Substrate materials should be chopped into small pieces and wet before composting it.

The composted substrate must be pasteurized before being used for spawning. Compost

preparation may be done outdoors or indoors provided that proper aeration is present. Major

facilities required for successful compost preparation are,

1. A concrete floor to prepare the substrate materials

2. A compost turner to aerate and water the substrate materials

3. A tractor-loader to move the substrate materials to the compost turner

4. Pitchforks to turn the compost piles in the compost turner

The substrate materials are chopped into fine pieces and mixed well with nitrogen

supplements and gypsum before wetting them and stacked in rectangular piles. Nitrogen

supplements such as chicken manure, soybean meals or peanuts are added to increase the

nitrogen content of the compost and gypsum is added to minimize the greasiness compost.

Gypsum is added @ 40 lbs. per ton of dry ingredients.

Compost piles are made with tight sides and a loose center for facilitating proper

aeration. A recommended size of a compost pile is 5 to 6 feet wide, 5 to 6 feet high, and length

as per the requirement. Care should be taken that the compost piles should not be stacked very

compact, because air cannot move freely through densely packed compost piles and as a result

an anaerobic environment will develop which is detrimental for successful compost preparation

process.

Well-prepared substrate materials are then put through a compost turner and water is

sprayed at an interval of two days as substrate materials move through the compost turner. As a

rule, initial watering is done after there is sufficient heat build-up (145° to 170°F) within the

compost piles and watering is done up to the point of leaching while compost pile is turned slowly using pitchforks. After this initial watering, little water is required during the remaining

period of composting process. Watering and turning compost piles are done simultaneously.

Turning compost piles at regular intervals ensures proper mixing of all the ingredients; proper

aeration and relocates the substrate materials from a cooler to a warmer area within the

compost pile.

While preparing compost, care must be taken to provide adequate moisture, oxygen,

nitrogen, and carbohydrates or else the composting process will fail. Therefore it is essential

that water, gypsum and nitrogen supplements are added at regular intervals and the compost

pile is adequately aerated as it moves through the compost turner.

Aerobic fermentation of compost begins after a few days and normally a composting

cycle lasts from 7 to 14 days depending on the nature of the substrate materials used. Since

ammonia and carbon dioxide are produced during composting, a strong smell is associated with

composting process. Due to the desirable chemical changes that are associated with the

composting process, there are high levels of biological and chemical activity within the

compost. This compost is rich in food materials necessary for mushroom growing and it has

sufficient heat build-up also. The compost temperatures may reach up to 170° to 180°F during

the second and third turnings if desirable composting conditions are maintained.

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