The second edition of Six Steps to Mushroom Farming recognizes that much progress in mushroom farming has taken place over the last 25 years since the original edition was published. Trends such as use of forced aeration Phase I, Phase II tunnels, Phase III bulk spawn run, casing inoculum, compost supplementation, hybrids, improved nutritional status of mushrooms, and alternative uses of post-crop mushroom compost necessitates an updated, reorganized, and expanded second edition of Six Steps to Mushroom Farming.
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Mushroom farming consists of six steps, and although the divisions are somewhat arbitrary, these steps identify what is needed to form a production system. The six steps are Phase I composting, Phase II composting, spawning, casing, pinning, and cropping. These steps are described in their naturally occurring sequence, emphasizing the salient features within each step. Compost provides nutrients needed for mushrooms to grow. Two types of material are generally used for mushroom compost, the most used and least expensive being wheat straw-bedded horse manure. Synthetic compost is usually made from hay and wheat straw, although the term often refers to any mushroom compost where the prime ingredient is not horse manure. Both types of compost require the addition of nitrogen supplements and a conditioning agent, gypsum.
Phase I composting is initiated by mixing and wetting the ingredients as they are stacked in a rectangular pile with tight sides and a loose center. Normally, the bulk ingredients are put through a compost turner. Water is sprayed onto the horse manure or synthetic compost as these materials move through the turner. Nitrogen supplements and gypsum are spread over the top of the bulk ingredients and are thoroughly mixed by the turner. Once the pile is wetted and formed, aerobic fermentation (composting) commences as a result of the growth and reproduction of microorganisms, which occur naturally in the bulk ingredients. Heat, ammonia, and carbon dioxide are released as by-products during this process. The use of forced aeration, where the compost is placed on a concrete floor or in tunnels or bunkers and aerated by the forced passage of air via a plenum, nozzles or spigots located in the floor has become nearly universal in the mushroom industry (Fig. 1).
Mushroom compost develops as the chemical nature of the raw ingredients is converted by the activity of microorganisms, heat, and some heat-releasing chemical reactions. These events result in a food source most suited for the growth of the mushroom to the exclusion of other fungi and bacteria. There must be adequate moisture, oxygen, nitrogen, and carbohydrates present throughout the process, or else the process will stop. This is why water and supplements are added periodically, and the compost pile is aerated as it moves through the turner.
The quality of raw materials used to make mushroom compost are highly variable and are known to influence compost performance in terms of spawn run and mushroom yield. The geographical source of wheat straw, the variety (winter or spring) and the use of nitrogen fertilizer, plant growth regulators and fungicides may affect compost productivity. Wheat straw should be stored under cover to minimize growth of unwanted and potentially detrimental fungi and bacteria prior to its use to produce compost.
Gypsum is added to minimize the greasiness compost normally tends to have. Gypsum increases the flocculation of certain chemicals in the compost, and they adhere to straw or hay rather than filling the pores (holes) between the straws. A side benefit of this phenomenon is that air can permeate the pile more readily, and air is essential to the composting process. The exclusion of air results in an airless (anaerobic) environment in which deleterious chemical compounds are formed which detract from the selectivity of mushroom compost for growing mushrooms. Gypsum is added at the outset of composting at 40 lb per ton of dry ingredients.
Phase I composting lasts from 6 to 14 days, depending on the nature of the material at the start and its characteristics at each turn. There is a strong ammonia odor associated with composting, which is usually complemented by a sweet, moldy smell. When compost temperatures are 155F and higher, and ammonia is present, chemical changes occur which result in a food rather exclusively used by the mushrooms. As a by-product of the chemical changes, heat is released and the compost temperatures increase. Temperatures in the compost can reach 170 to 180F during the second and third turnings when a desirable level of biological and chemical activity is occurring. At the end of Phase I the compost should: a) have a chocolate brown color; b) have soft, pliable straws, c) have a moisture content of from 68 to 74 percent; and d) have a strong smell of ammonia. When the moisture, temperature, color, and odor described have been reached, Phase I composting is completed.
There are two major purposes to Phase II composting. Pasteurization is necessary to kill any insects, nematodes, pest fungi, or other pests that may be present in the compost. And second, it is necessary to condition the compost and remove the ammonia that formed during Phase I composting. Ammonia at the end of Phase II in a concentration higher than 0.07 percent is often inhibitory to mushroom spawn growth, thus it must be removed; generally, a person can smell ammonia when the concentration is above 0.10 percent.
Phase II takes place in one of three places, depending on the type of production system used. For the zoned system of growing, compost is packed into wooden trays, the trays are stacked six to eight high, and are moved into an environmentally controlled Phase II room. Thereafter, the trays are moved to special rooms, each designed to provide the optimum environment for each step of the mushroom growing process. With a bed or shelf system, the compost is placed directly in the beds, which are in the room used for all steps of the crop culture. The most recently introduced system, the bulk system, is one in which the compost is placed in an insulated tunnel with a perforated floor and computer-controlled aeration; this is a room specifically designed for Phase II composting (Fig. 2).
Phase II composting can be viewed as a controlled, temperature-dependent, ecological process using air to maintain the compost in a temperature range best suited for microorganisms to grow and reproduce. The growth of these thermophilic (heat-loving) organisms depends on the availability of usable carbohydrates and nitrogen, some of the nitrogen in the form of ammonia. These microorganisms produce nutrients or serve as nutrients in the compost on which the mushroom mycelium thrives and other organisms do not.
At the end of Phase II the compost temperature must be lowered to approximately 75 to 80F before spawning (planting) can begin. The nitrogen content of the compost should be 2.0 to 2.4 percent, and the moisture content between 68 and 72 percent. Also, at the end of Phase II it is desirable to have 6 to 8 lb of dry compost per square foot of bed or tray surface to obtain profitable mushroom yields. It is important to have both the compost and the compost temperatures uniform during the Phase II process since it is desirable to have as homogenous a material as possible.
As a mushroom matures, it produces millions of microscopic spores on mushroom gills lining the underside of a mushroom cap. These spores function roughly similar to the seeds of a higher plant. However, growers do not use mushroom spores to 'seed' mushroom compost because they germinate unpredictably and therefore, are not reliable. Fortunately, mycelium (thin, thread-like cells) can be propagated vegetatively from germinated spores, allowing spawn makers to multiply the culture for spawn production. Specialized facilities are required to propagate mycelium, so the mushroom mycelium remains pure. Mycelium propagated vegetatively on various grains or agars is known as spawn, and commercial mushroom farmers purchase spawn from companies specializing in its manufacture.
In the early 1960s, yield increases were observed when compost was supplemented with protein and/or lipid rich materials at spawning, casing and later. Up to a 10% increase in yield was obtained when small amounts of protein supplements were added to the compost at spawning. Excessive heating and stimulation of competitor molds in the compost substantially limited the amount of supplement and corresponding benefit that could be achieved. It was these limitations that were overcome by the invention of delayed release supplements for mushroom culture (Carroll and Schisler 1976). The disadvantages associated with the supplementation of non-composted nutrients to mushroom compost at spawning were largely overcome by encapsulating micro-droplets of vegetable oil within a protein coat that was denatured with formaldehyde. Increases of as much as 60% were obtained. Today, several commercial supplements are available that can be used at spawning or at casing to stimulate mushroom yield.
Amendment of mushroom substrate with Micromax is another potential opportunity for growers to improve the yield capacity of their Phase II compost. Micromax contains a mixture of nine micronutrients including (percentage dry wt basis): Ca (12%), Mg (3%), S (12%), B (0.1%), Cu (1%), Fe (17%), Mn (2.5%), Mo (0.05%), Zn (1%), and inert ingredients (57.35%). Research has shown that approximately 70% of the yield increase observed is due to Mn. Commercial supplement makers have begun to add Mn to their delayed release nutrients for mushroom culture.
Once the spawn and supplement have been mixed throughout the compost and the compost worked so the surface is level, the compost temperature is maintained at 75- 80F and the relative humidity is kept high to minimize drying of the compost surface or the spawn. Under these conditions the spawn will grow - producing a thread-like network of mycelium throughout the compost. The mycelium grows in all directions from a spawn grain, and eventually the mycelium from the different spawn grains fuses together, making a spawned bed of compost one biological entity. The spawn appears as a white to blue-white mass throughout the compost after fusion has occurred. As the spawn grows it generates heat, and if the compost temperature increases to above 80 to 85F, depending on the cultivar, the heat may kill or damage the mycelium and eliminate the possibility of maximum crop productivity and/or mushroom quality. At temperatures below 74F, spawn growth is slowed and the time interval between spawning and harvesting is extended. 2ff7e9595c
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