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Ruffling or n ot depends on a number of factors.
is important that the grower sets how the casing soil is handled during filling according to his own wishes and experience. The filler cannot second guess - or decide - what the grower wants, so even on farms that have their own filling machines it is essential that the grower is present at the beginning of the filling process.
Cac-ing, ruffling or both? If a grower decides to use only cac-ing on the filling machine or via a ruffler on the day of casing, a better spread of the pinheads is possible. This is because the mycelium will appear on the surface in a slightly irregular pattern, and therefore the pinheads will be formed on a number of days in succession. This fact can be utilised during cultivation. The downside of cac-ing only is that it is incredibly difficult to precisely deter- mine via a ruffler - as a separate unit or on the filling machine -how much cac material is mixed through the casing soil. The quality and structure of the compost play a role, but also the visual aspect. How much compost do you see coming to the surface through the ruffling machine? This technique always creates some irregularity in the crop. It is better to steer this process by adding compost to the casing soil manually, and weighing the compost. In this way, you always know that at least one variable is always identical. However, practical considerations - you need someone who always does this - mean this course of action is often not followed. For this reason, some growers consider the advantages of a better spread are not balanced by the disadvantages, namely mildly irregular production at the start of picking. A better spread is also more of a disadvantage than an advantage on mechanical harvesting farms too. Ruffling on its own is also an op- tion. This gives better mycelium in the casing soil and produces good quality mushrooms. The downside of only ruffling, approximately a week after casing, is that it mixes the mycelium perfectly though the casing soil. This causes a highly uniform emergence of mycelium on the surface. The result is usually highly uniform
pinheading. This approach is mainly used on farms that harvest mechanically and stand to gain from the unifor- mity. A combination of cac-ing and ruffling after about four days is therefore a popular measure. This method provides certainty about the start of the harvest, a relatively good spread and reliable quality. The huge drawback of ruffling in the growing room, and not at the same time as filling using the machine, is of course that it is an extra treatment - you need an extra machine to ruffle the beds, it carries a hygiene risk and you have to clean up again afterwards. So it all boils down to a matter of personal preference. Just make sure your decision is based on well-reasoned arguments!
Moment of cool down The start of cool down, or deciding when this moment is, also has a great influence on the number of pin- heads. If cool down is done early, in other words when the mycelium is barely visible, there is a relatively greater chance of more pinheads than when cool down is started when there are copious quantities of myce- lium on the surface. If the last option is chosen, many pinheads will often appear, however the lack of a good
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Good spread equates to a good picking perfor- mance.
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