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CULTIVATION TIPS ADVISIE Stone soup?
By Con Hermans AdVisie “the mushroom growing consultants”, Heythuysen
My granny used to say: you can make delicious soup from stones if you put enough in the pot, you just get less soup in your bowl. The same is true for compost. There is a direct correlation between mushroom production per m2 and the compost filing weight per m2; the higher the filling weight, the higher production is, provided of course the compost temperatures are kept controllable. What we should actually be looking at is not the kilos of compost per m2, but rather the kilos of dry matter per m2 that are filled in the rooms. Water is naturally an essential component of compost, but a too high moisture content will compromise the amount of dry matter. Going a step further, the calculations should be done in terms of organic matter instead of dry matter. The difference between the two, the kilos of ash, does not make a direct contribution to pro- duction. Mushrooms grow due to the decomposition of organic matter, and not from the ash. Growers usually know what the moisture content of the compost is, but the ash content is an invisible factor for the majority of them, yet this can give rise to huge differences that often are more influential than a slightly higher or lower nitrogen content. On my travels around the world I come across incubated compost with an ash content of 40%, but I also see compost with an ash content of just 20%. This is a difference of 33% in organic matter, and therefore a massive potential difference in yield. Y
ou could consider ash partly to be ballast, however
with the caveat that ash does have a definite function in the composting process for buffering and stabilising the compost. All this requires though is a limited volume of ash. The ultimate percentage of ash in incubated compost is a result of: the amount of ash added along with the gypsum and other raw materials, and the extent of fermentation of the compost.
“How do you want your compost Sir?”
By Jos Hilkens AdVisie ‘the mushroom growing consultants, Herkenbosch
hilkens@mushroomconsulting.nl
Photo’s: AdVisie Compostering Ziekten
The compost quality is still the greatest determining factor regarding the production a grower can expect, and it also impacts on the quality of the mushrooms. When the compost structure fluctuates widely, the skill of the grower really comes into its own. For a long time now, we have been seeing huge differences in phase III compost in structure, colour, wetness, extent of straw decomposition, amount of mycelium and moisture content. The huge demand for compost in recent years has led to a tendency towards higher filling weights in the tunnels, which is not ideal for the composting process. And in times of high demand, the quality of the raw mate- rials purchased to make compost is less of an issue too. This is comparable with the sales of mushrooms. Composters keep the kitchen door closed and their recipes secret. But there are a number of problems that seem to be occurring at the same time on all composting plants, and there is not one that is head and shoulders above the rest. So growers must assess the compost well before filling, and where necessary adjust the fil- ling thickness, extent of compaction, how much cac and water is applied to the compost. This attentiveness should also be applied when the casing soil is being sprayed in the following stage, when the mycelium is colonising the casing soil. Tiny differences in the amount of water sprayed and the spraying pattern can result in huge differences in mycelium growth in the ca- sing soil, the effectiveness of the cac-ing material, the quality of the mycelium in the casing, the strength of the contact layer between the compost and the casing soil and the moisture content of the upper layer of the compost. Have you given your compost a close inspection lately? The photo shows compost that has been washed and graded according to colour, hardness and length. Obviously the hard, yellow straw particles have different characteristics than the soft, dark ones. So what does your compost look like, and how do you plan to treat it?
Jos Hilkens +31(0)653 31 6204
Luchtmeting
Con Hermans +31(0)653 29 9396
advertisement Consulting for:
Jos Hilkens +31(0)653 31 6204
Disease control Composting
Mushroom- growing
Con Hermans +31(0)653 29 9396
www.champignonadvies.nl
www.mushroomconsulting.nl
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