Posted on June 13th, 2009
Mushrooms, usually mistaken to belong to the fruit family but is actually a type of vegetable is a delicacy. Growing mushrooms only require a small place and little amount of time. In fact, it can be grown throughout the year. Its culture is now becoming popular in the Philippines. But despite of the cited advantages, there are inadequate cultures of mushrooms here in this country which may be attributed to lack of sufficient materials for planting it and the insufficient knowledge about the culture of mushrooms.
Nowadays, the Bureau of Plant Industry through its Vegetable and Legume Section is producing mushroom offspring in abundance. Basic yet essential method in the culture of Volvariolla volvacoa, a banana or rice straw type of mushroom is shown in this article.
Banana leaves and dry rice straw (common types of bedding materials)
Alternatives: jute sacks, water hyacinth, abaca waste, cotton waste, corn stalks and sugar bagasse.
Containers to be used as soaking tanks
Empty cement bags, sacks, or gauge no.6 plastic sheet (any of the following)-to be used as covering of the bed.
1. From the rice straws or banana leaves in the field, chose those that are long and those which are not contaminated and old. Materials for bedding are better if clean.
2. If using rice straws, look for the thicker end (butt) and join it together. Collect and bundle bedding materials up to 6-8 inches in diameter.
3. Maintain the bundle materials to 1.5-2 ft. long only.
4. For at least 3 hours, dip the bundle materials in water. Wait for the materials to absorb enough moisture. But make it sure that it will not be in water for more than 10 hrs.
5. Make sure that the bed will have a support.
6. Coming from water, closely compressed it with even distribution and set.
7. Using 1-2 tbsp. per gallon of water of urea or ammonium sulfate, water the bed well. To further improve the quantity of mushrooms, add 33 grams of sugar per gallon of water.
8. Put a pressure to level the surface layer while watering. Stop when the water starts to drip.
9. Measuring four (4) inches or (10.2cm) from all the side, insert a spawn about the size of a thumb, around the bed. Make sure that it has the same distance of four (4) inches or (10.2cm) from each spawn. Avoid starting planting at the middle of the bed to ensure the even distribution of the spawns.
10. Put the second layer of straws atop the first layer, join the thicker part (butt) in two opposite directions then water and put pressure down to level the surface. Continue doing the same procedure up to the sixth layer.
11. After doing the procedure, cover it, with the covering materials you have provided, for seven days.
Gathering the Mushrooms
About 13 -15 days from the day of seeding, the first growth of mushrooms can be seen in flushes if proper care and maintenance is done. Watering is put on hold during occurrences of flushes and is only resumed when the flush has stopped. In order to gather the mushrooms, follow the following procedures:
1. Make sure that when the mushroom is gathered, you include the stump because it may cause rotting which may affect the other mushrooms.
2. The small buttons must not be disturbed so extra care must be taken when gathering mushrooms.
3. Mushrooms which are more moist and juicy are more preferred.
4. Usually, trays or kaings are used to place the gathered mushrooms.
Caring for the Mushroom Bed
1. Keep the bed humid by covering it with plastic or any suitable materials for covering.
2. Due to cover, the bed is kept humid so watering is not necessary upon the removal of the cover.
3. Sprinklers may be used in watering. It should be done in enough amounts only to avoid soaking. Also, insufficient water is avoided as it may affect the proper growth of the mushrooms.