Mushroom Culture
Mushroom tradition is the observe of cultivating mushrooms on a substrate utilizing liquid vitamins, then putting the tray in an surroundings of excessive humidity to encourage their progress.
Depending on the mushroom species, it might take anyplace from 14 to 21 days for a considerable quantity of mycelium to type in liquid tradition. Once harvested, this mycelium can then be used as inoculant for additional liquid cultures or agar plates.
Substrate
Mushroom tradition depends on a substrate, which is any materials that permits the fungus mycelium to develop. An acceptable substrate ought to have sufficient construction, moisture and no competing organisms for profitable cultivation.
Substrates in mushroom cultivation can vary vastly, and the sort you employ can considerably affect progress and yield. Common choices embrace logs, straw, sawdust, and wooden chips – every having their very own benefits and downsides relying on species.
Cut logs, which might be harvested from hardwood bushes equivalent to oak, birch, maple or elm, make the perfect substrate for many forms of mushrooms. Select a log that measures round one metre lengthy and 15 cm throughout for optimum progress situations.
Straw, which is often used for rising oyster mushrooms and shiitake mushrooms, makes a great substrate. It’s excessive in cellulose and hemicellulose–both woody supplies which the fungus mycelium can develop on.
Mushrooms require a reasonable quantity of nitrogen of their substrate. While they normally acquire sufficient from the supplies they develop on, for those who’re utilizing straw or one other comparable materials it’s possible you’ll wish to complement with extra nitrogen and different important vitamins.
Supplements equivalent to these might be purchased from a specialist provider otherwise you could possibly make them your self. Grain, bran or seed hulls all make wonderful sources of vitamins to your substrate.
Sterilisation is one other efficient method to maintain contaminants out of your substrate. This includes heating it to 150-180 levels F for 1.5-2 hours, which will not get rid of all impurities, however it can scale back different microbes to a stage the place fungus mycelium has a bonus over them.
Pasteurisation is a sophisticated method used to take away many forms of contamination. It additionally helps sterilise some extra hazardous substrates, like soy hulls.
Manure might be a superb substrate, however it may be difficult to get essentially the most out of it. To begin, warmth a mixture of manure and straw till it decomposes and destroys all undesirable micro organism. Afterwards, you have to pasteurise as soon as extra in an effort to get rid of any remaining microbes.
Inoculum
Mushroom tradition makes use of inoculum, that are the spores or mycelium used to grow mushrooms. Inoculum can be utilized in grain spawn, liquid tradition or composted mushrooms for optimum productiveness and success.
Utilizing the proper inoculum is important for growing an excellent crop of mushrooms. The inoculum ought to be sterile, comprise solely the specified species and grow quickly without exposing mycelium to bacteria or other fungi that might negatively have an effect on its well being.
Mushroom tradition might be achieved utilizing varied forms of inoculum. Common sorts embrace agar, liquid culture and sterilised grain spawn.
Agar is a liquid medium used to detect contaminants and isolate cultures earlier than inoculating. It might be sterilized with flame, boiled in boiling water or heated in an oven; spray onto grains or different substrates to inoculate them; a syringe of agar could even be positioned into an injection port to develop grains or broth previous to fermentation.
Liquid tradition is a suspension of mycelium grown in 4% sugar broth with elective supplementation that may be offered as a syringe for comfort. It makes a great home cultivation selection since it may be saved as much as 120 days with out refrigeration.
Before inoculating an agar or liquid tradition, it should be completely rinsed with clear water. A laminar stream hood must also be used to forestall cross-contamination of the mycelium from different sources equivalent to swabs or utensils.
Inoculum might be produced by inoculating liquid media with desired mushroom spores, mycelium or different biomass after which fermenting at an appropriate temperature underneath fuel containing an applicable focus of carbon dioxide. This methodology permits for producing excessive ranges of mycelia for semi-continuous or steady spawn manufacturing.
This method will also be employed to inoculate a sterilizer grain or sawdust substrate for industrial mushroom cultivation. A sterile inoculum is injected into the sterilizer grain or sawdust with a needle that has been flame sterilised, after which aseptically transferred to a bulk sterilizer for additional inoculation of sterilised materials for additional cultivation of economic mushrooms.
Temperature
Mushroom tradition depends closely on temperature regulation for profitable cultivation. Mushrooms are extremely delicate to extremes in temperature, and if left too lengthy at excessive ranges can develop into broken and even killed. Therefore, conserving the compost temperature constant throughout Phase II helps defend mycelium from being broken or killed.
Temperature performs an integral position within the progress and growth of mushroom fruit our bodies. Different varieties require particular temperature ranges, so analysis your species earlier than deciding on a spot that gives perfect situations for them to flourish.
Portabella and White Button mushrooms thrive finest at temperatures between 63 to 68 levels F, whereas Dense White and Almond mushrooms desire temperatures of 72 levels Fahrenheit or greater.
Another necessary issue when cultivating mushrooms is the humidity stage of the world. Although having excessive humidity is not obligatory, it is smart to make sure that the relative humidity in your fruiting chamber stays between 85% and 100%. This will decrease drying out of casings and provides creating mushrooms sufficient moisture for correct growth.
Maintaining a log of your temperature, relative humidity and FAE (fractional air trade) all through the tradition course of is useful to find out if any changes should be made to the system. This is likely one of the most important points of cultivating mushrooms because it helps decide if every little thing is operating easily or not.
To encourage mushroom progress, the pH of your compost ought to vary from 6.0 to six.8. This stability of situations permits the mycelium to outlive and flourish within the surroundings whereas additionally stimulating manufacturing of important metabolites and enzymes that assist its progress.
After inoculating your compost with spawn, it ought to stay dormant for round 14 to 16 days earlier than observing any indicators of mycelium progress. It’s smart to periodically test the temperature inside your fruiting chamber to make sure it stays between 60degF and 74degF.
Humidity
Mushroom cultivation requires the appropriate temperature and humidity ranges, so offering these perfect situations for profitable progress is vital. Different species of mushrooms require particular temperatures and humidity ranges for profitable cultivation.
Mushrooms usually develop finest between 55 to 70 levels Fahrenheit, although this will differ relying on the species being grown. Humidity ought to stay between 70% and 90% to maintain mushroom spores moist; too dry an surroundings could trigger them to stall, crack or discolor.
Mushrooms must also be grown in an surroundings with fixed air trade, as this encourages the fungi to exhale carbon dioxide and inhale oxygen. Doing so retains the tent’s air clear and helps scale back CO2 concentrations.
For rising the relative humidity in your fruiting chamber, you should use both a humidifier or spray bottle. These models pump out water droplets that evaporate into the ambiance but it surely’s necessary to not direct mist the fruits as this might result in contamination equivalent to bacterial blotches.
Another possibility is to construct a fruiting chamber utilizing plastic crate or bag with air holes for air flow. This cost-effective methodology works nice for fruiting single kits or small quantities of mushrooms without delay.
However, this methodology could show ineffective when harvesting a lot of mushrooms. Water from the water can get trapped contained in the crate, probably resulting in suffocation for the fungi.
Some growers use humidifiers to extend the humidity of their tent. These are pumped into the fruiting chamber and include an on/off timer that helps regulate humidity ranges.
Commercial mushroom growers make investments a substantial sum of money on air-, humidity- and temperature managed develop rooms or underground tunnels for cultivating their mushrooms. While these strategies require appreciable vitality enter and meticulous care, you may obtain comparable outcomes at house utilizing some primary instruments.
The best solution to elevate the relative humidity in your fruit chamber is with an ultrasonic humidifier. These models could also be costlier than different choices, however they boast a bigger capability and might considerably enhance humidity ranges.