Cultivation chamber in your home
Cultivation chamber in your home
If you have a small area, and you grow “oysters” for yourself, and sell only the surplus, then these tips are for you:
Productivity.
How many mushrooms can be obtained from a single block?
One mushroom block provides around 10 to 20% of the yield on a first flush. This means that 10 kg block can provide from one to two kilograms of mushrooms. What does it depend on?
Firstly, the substrate quality and the correct heat treatment,
Secondly, the conditions of incubation microclimate
thirdly, the conditions in the growing chamber, see below.
If all the block manufacturing conditions are maintained properly: sufficient substrate density, moisture content, pH level inhibiting Trichoderma development, then at the second flush a block gives 5-7% yields of a block mass, i.e., 500-700 grams (if the block is 10 kg).
Factors affecting the growth of fruiting bodies:
Air exchange rate of 150-200 m 3 of fresh air per hour per 1 ton of substrate. If the blocks are placed on the floor, at a sufficient distance from each other, it is rather simple to ventilate the room, without creating strong drafts and managing humidity drop.
The optimum temperature for fruiting is within 17-23°C. At high humidity fungal blocks can fruit at a temperatures up to 30°C.
Humidity of 83-85% (can be determined using psychrometer but, please, do not use cheep Chinese ones). The higher the temperature in the growing room, the higher the humidity required. Watering of blocks is not recommended. Watering fruiting bodies is strictly prohibited!!! Moisture is created by pouring the floor with warm water, using disc humidifiers, using high and medium pressure air nozzles.
Lighting – 2 energy saving household lamps of 25-30 W (white light) for 15 m2 working 6-8 hours a day are sufficient enough.
Mushrooms grow in clusters. They should be picked completely when fungi have a size of 50 to 80 mm. To pick them you should take them in one hand and turn the cluster pulling gently at the same time. You should try to avoid pulling out the substrate from the perforation.
After collecting the first harvest, room temperature can be increased by 3-4 ° C, in the period between the flushes blocks do not need light and fresh air. In the appearance of mushroom primordia all parameters should return to optimal for fruiting.
If different batches are kept in the same room, and mushrooms are produced in the chamber constantly, optimal fruiting conditions should be maintained.
The substrate block can still fruit after the second flush, but the yield drops sharply.
Recycling the substrate blocks
You can dispose blocks putting them in a pit, after removing the film from them. Blocks are compacted well and periodically watered, preventing them from drying out. The blocks can be covered with a plastic wrap on top. After digestion of the substrate a highly efficient organic fertilizer is obtained.