CHINA Lambert Workshop
Before the 10th Chinese Mushroom Days in Zhangzhou, Lambert organised an Agaricus workshop for Chinese growers at the Wanda Realm Hotel.
By Roel Dreve T
his was the second year in a row that the spawn producer organised the workshop, and Eric Vernooij, Mathieu Geurts, Leon Dumoulin and Christine Smith were also last year’s speakers. New contributors this year were compost expert Geoff Martin and Rene Teuben from Hoving Holland. And, as Smith indicated in her intro- duction, the speakers wanted to create more interaction with the audience, to get some dialogue going. “We had so much fun last year, we’re back for another go.”
The audience numbered a good hundred, including some composters, and filled the room.
Composting
Dr Geoff Martin, General Manager of Mushroom Composters in Australia has plenty of experience with compost making all over the world, but this was the first time he shared some of that expertise in China. “So I still have a lot to learn.” He mainly concentrated on the obstacles that hinder making good quality, homogenous compost. A frequently made mistake is trying to wet the straw too fast, and with uneven water distribution. Give the straw time to absorb the
water! Composters should wait anyway for three to four months before using new straw. “Take your time for a good composting process.” Poor management of recycled water can lead to anaerobic reactions and pathogen infections. Good aeration and regularly cleaning the tanks can go a long way to preventing these problems. Too much, or too little, nitrogen is also at the root of many problems. In China gypsum that is a by-product of the chemical (fertiliser) industry is often used, but it can have a very low pH value which suppresses desirable ammonia reactions in compost. The chicken manure used often contains too much soil and too many pathogens. “More soil means more ash content, and ‘ash does not grow mushrooms’. Make sure you know what you are buying!” Care should always be taken to clean and maintain the pipes, floors and fans – air must always be able to reach the compost.
Martin showed various compost formulas, based on a variety of raw materials. “If you use a formula based no whatever kind of raw materials you use, don’t keep on changing it, but pay attention to the trends you notice. For example, I don’t recommend using rice straw, but here too
Eric Vernooij during his lecture at the Workshop.
Questions from the audience.
46 MUSHROOM BUSINESS
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