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CULTIVATION TIPS DLV PLANT MUSHROOMS Picking costs
For the majority of manual harvesting farms, the picking costs are a vital, decisive factor. These costs are often not completely transparent, or a ‘wait and see’ approach is taken depending on how the mushrooms emerge on the beds. It is essential to take a systematic approach to performing regular, thorough inspections of the growing rooms on the farm. Try taking photos, for example, of a marked-out area of 10 x 10 cm to help determine the number of pinheads. Noting what you expect to see at a specific mo- ment counting from cool down can give a better indication of whether intervention is required or not. On the critical days from day 5-9 after cool down this could give a better impression of whether adjusting the temperature, CO2 or RH is necessary
. An extra close inspection of the
By Erik Polman, DLV Plant Mushrooms
e.polman@dlvplant.nl
rooms at this particular time to assess the progress of growth and gain an idea of the room cli- mate may lead to a better number of pinheads with greater spread. Photos can also to be used to check how much mycelium is present in the casing soil, and for comparison. The pickers can, and must, of course complete the grower’
s work during the first days of har-
s efforts have already taken care of the greater part of this aspect, the pickers can devote less time to it and as a result the average picking performance can rise.
vesting by ensuring the mushrooms have room for further development. However, if the gro- wer’
Fresh air and airfl ow
If the heat and moisture content of the outside air is lower than the room air, the outside air is suitable to be used to extract heat and moisture. How much fresh air is needed to facilitate this process will depend on a number of factors such as( as well as the required climatic con- ditions for growth) the difference between the room air and the outside air. As the heat and moisture content of the outside air increases, the difference becomes smaller and therefore more fresh air is needed. In these circumstances a lower minimum CO2 value should be used (and possibly a slightly higher fan position), so more fresh air can be used. If this is not done, heat and moisture will have to be extracted via the cooling system, which is an unnecessary use of costly energy
. As soon as the outside air is unsuitable – i.e when the heat and moisture
By Jan Gielen, DLV Plant Mushrooms Manager / Specialist klimaat & energie
j.gielen@
dlvplant.nl
content are higher than the room air – you should switch to using less fresh air and only introduce fresh air based on the maximum CO2. Otherwise in this situation too much extra heat and moisture will be sucked into the room, which in turn must be extracted again using cooling. Here too you will be faced with unnecessary energy costs. Being able to access enough fresh air is not only linked to the correct fan capacity (norm 22.5 m3/h/m2 for manual picking and 25 m3/h/m2 for mechanical picking), but it must equally be easy to suck in and extract the air. The greatest obstacles limiting the fresh air supply are usually incorrectly dimensioned or soiled air inlet and outlet filters. As a rule of thumb for the inlet filter, one fine filter cassette of 60*60*30 cm is required per 200 m2 growing surface area, including a mesh with larger apertures in front of the filter. The norm applicable to larger gauge mesh, or fly mesh, in front of the over-pressure opening is 0.4 m2 filter surface per 100 m2 of growing surface area. As well as the right dimensions, the filters must be replaced regu- larly
. Soiling accumulating on the large mesh (or fly mesh) is usually easy to spot so it is clear
to see when it needs replacing, or cleaning in the case of fly mesh. Soiling is much harder to see on the fine meshed filters. In view of the costs of fine filters the best way to determine how often replacement is necessary is by measuring the maximum filter resistance over the filter at full blast using a pressure gauge. Depending on the filter specifications, replacement is necessary when values exceeding +/- 300 Pascal are reached. Correctly dimensioned inlet and outlet filters, and timely replacement, will ensure that a growing room can ‘breathe’ properly – particular during summer months. This makes it easier to achieve the right climate and evaporation using less energy
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