pH during mushroom composting
One of the questions I am most frequently asked is ” what is the optimal pH value of compost?” I always answer that it is much more important to ensure the pH falls during phase II and spawnrun. But which factors influence the pH value? The obvious answer is gypsum – but is that true? […]
Irregular mycelium run
Have you noticed more mycelium growing on the surface in the middle of the bed than along the sides? This common problem causes big differences at harvest: differences in the time you harvest, the quantity you pick and the quality of the crop. In this blog post I give you some tips on how to […]
Lab results
The moisture content and pH value- of compost, and all the other results of lab analysis represent extremely important data for composters and growers. But what is the actual value of these lab results? For example, in order to analyse 100,000 kilos of compost, not even a single kilo is used. To put that into […]
How to steer pinhead development
A good spread during the first flush gives much higher production. But during pinhead out grow how can growers steer towards precisely the right number of pinheads and development of different cap diameters? Let me explain how. The height of mycelium colonisation The moment of cool down and the days immediately following determine how far […]
Floor humidity
If you want to maintain a natural climate in the growing room during the recovery period until about five days after ventilation you should water the floor and walls of the growing room. Do this at intervals of between one and six hours. You will notice the result as a shock effect in the graph […]
Activity and fan settings
The difference between the compost temperature and the air temperature is known as activity. Activity is the main energy source of the mushroom: without activity the mushroom cannot grow. I will explain how to influence activity. Important factorsActivity is greatly affected by air circulation in the growing room. Factors which play a major role are […]
Anaerobic compost in the bunker
Anaerobic compost – compost with no oxygen – is by definition a bad process. Oxygen is one of the most important elements in the composting process. If the computer shows the temperature in the compost rising above 80oC, this tells you that enough oxygen is getting into it. All good, you might think. But despite […]
Air inlet Temperature
Did you know that the air inlet temperature can cause poor quality in mushrooms? In my work as an advisor I notice that growers who are having quality related problems like scales, brown discolouration and bacterial blotch often don’t think about checking the stability of the air inlet temperature. Influence on relative humidity (RH) The […]
Efficiency
Getting optimal results involves cultivation techniques, the amount and quality of the compost, climate control settings and much more. And, of course, all these factors have to be coordinated and synchronised. But sometimes, increasing production is easier than you think. The key word here is efficiency. By properly filling the beds from the beginning to […]
Chicken manure
Chicken manure is an important raw material in mushroom compost and for the composter as it is the biggest source of nitrogen. It is therefore vital to keep the quality as consistent and as high as possible. However, the quality of chicken manure is unimportant for the farmer, for him it is a waste product. […]