Microclimate in a home incubator

Incubation

Mushroom blocks are placed vertically, at a distance of 10 cm apart from each other, the temperature in the incubation chamber should be maintained at 20-22 °C.

PHOTOS OF SUBSTRATE BLOCKS DURING INCUBATION

When the mycelium is colonizing the substrate of the blocks, lighting and fresh air are not needed.

One day after inoculation, white spots start to form on the surface of the substrate block indicating active mycelium growth.

The temperature in the blocks should gradually increase and it should differ from the room temperature by 4-6 °C. The temperature is measured by inserting the thermometer in the center of the block, to a depth of 10-11 cm. It is sufficient to control the temperature in the two selected blocks of each batch. If the temperature in the center of the block exceeds 31°C, it is necessary to ventilate the room so that the temperature in it does not drop below 21 ° C (to prevent condensation under the plastic film of the blocks).

What should be the humidity in the incubator with oyster mushroom blocks?

It is desirable to keep the humidity at least 75% if the blocks are of different ages. If you have one batch of blocks in the incubator, then the first 8-9 days you can keep the humidity at about 70%, and then raise it gradually. 

How long does the incubation take before the first primordia start to appear?

It depends on several factors:

1. Substrate composition.
   On properly heat treated husk – 14 -16 days, and 17-20 days on straw.
2. Growth activity, quality and percentage of mycelium in a block. The higher percentage of mycelium added, the more growth points present and the block overgrowth occurs faster. Primordia appear 2-3 days earlier in blocks where 3.5% of the mycelium was introduced than in blocks where the mycelium percentage was 2.5%.
3. Incubation room temperature. The lower the temperature, the slower the block colonization. At temperature below 17 °C the development of the blocks is extremely slow, primordia can appear in 25-30 days and will be weak.

At an optimum temperature of 20-23 °C incubation takes from 14 to 20 days on average. It should be emphasized once again that such a temperature in the room should be during the whole incubation period, without any swings. After the blocks are colonized, the temperature needs to be smoothly lowered in three days to 14-16 degrees, to ensure active primordia formation. If the blocks will fruit in the same room where the incubation took place – it is necessary to arrange them for fruiting and keep the temperature in the room at least 15-16 °C, gradually adding fresh air to the ventilation system or by starting airing the room.

If mushrooms do not have enough fresh air, their fruit bodies will start to deform.

Violation of the microclimate parameters during incubation leads to a weak pubescence around pastic film perforations and causes delay in fruiting!