CULTIVATION TIPS ADVISIE Choosing fi lters


By Con Hermans


AdVisie ‘the mushroom growing consultants’, Heythuysen hermans@mushroomconsulting.nl


When compost is spawned it is at its most sensitive stage to infection by competitor moulds. At this moment, the compost has not yet been colonised by mushroom mycelium and the fi rst (mould) spores that come into contact with it have free rein to develop. This explains why meticulous hygiene is so critical during inoculation. The inoculation hall, machines and the empty tunnels must be thoroughly disinfected and the staff must wear clean clothing. However, the sensitivity of the compost is not just a factor when it is inoculated, this sensitivity already exists in the pasteurisation tunnel when the compost is cooled, and compost remains sensitive to infection for at least the fi rst week after inoculation in the incubation tunnel. In tunnels large amounts of outside air are sucked in, so it is important to ensure this fresh air is fi ltered well before it enters the tunnel. But what is ‘well enough’? The fi lter quality needed depends on the infection pressure from the surrounding environment. The ‘dirtiest’ surroundings, such as a mushroom farm, need a higher fi lter quality than a relatively clean environment such as an isolated tunnel plant that only supplies spawned compost. Filters with a Eurovent F9 rating are suffi cient in the majority of situations. In a very ‘dirty’ environment you could choose an F10 fi lter, while F8 suffi ces in a cleaner environment. The number of fi lters installed is also important to consider alongside quality. If the speed of the air fl owing though the fi lter is too high – and for most fi lters that means more than two metres/second – the mesh will not trap the spores – they will simply be blown through the fi lter. You must also take care not to blow up the fi lter. Commonly used types of fi lters have a maximum air load of 5000 m3 per fi lter. The photo shows the consequences of what just a few hundred cubic metres more of air can do to the fi lter….


Green mould treatment By Jos Hilkens


AdVisie ‘the mushroom growing consultants’, Herkenbosch hilkens@mushroomconsulting.nl


Photos: AdVisie


Green mould on the casing soil in the second and third fl ush is a regular occurrence. This infection can spread to the mushrooms and cause brown blotches of varying shapes and colours. Added to the fact that you can no longer market the mushrooms as class 1, this also has a negative eff ect on the picking performance on manual farms and the quality of the mushrooms is no longer reliable as new blotches can appear post-harvest. Green mould infections on or in the casing soil are often linked to Penicillium. This enemy has a greater chance of success if readily absorbable nutrients are present, such as the remains of mushrooms, poorly incubated or dead compost particles and sometimes supplement that has ended up in the casing soil via the CAC material. Ensuring the beds are clean at the end of the fl ush will already do a lot to help. So on the last day of picking make sure all the remains and residues are removed properly, and ensure all the stumps are cleared from the beds on mechanised farms. Together with ensuring the bed is dry after watering, these measures will help reduce the extent of infection. If the spore pressure is measured in rooms aff ected by patches of green mould, a clear increase in the number of colonies will be seen. These patches of green mould are often left untreated. However, a better course of action is to pour over a solution, cover or remove the infected patch to reduce the infection pressure in the growing room or on the farm in general.


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Consulting for: the mushroom growing consultants


Jos Hilkens +31(0)653 31 6204


Mushroom growing Disease control 6 MUSHROOM BUSINESS


Composting


Con Hermans +31(0)653 29 9396


www.mushroomconsulting.nl


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