CULTIVATIONTIPS ADVISIE This is not a nail salon!
By Jos Hilkens
AdVisie ‘the mushroom growing consul- tants’, Herkenbosch
hilkens@mushroomconsulting.nl
When too many mushrooms emerge on the beds, pickers will be busy thinning them out for the fi rst couple of days. However, removing mushrooms from clusters of more than eight is sometimes awkward. A commonly made mistake is trying to thin a cluster by removing one or more mushrooms from the centre. This is diffi cult and fi ngernail marks often damage the surrounding mushrooms. A more eff ective method that leaves the surrounding mushrooms undamaged is picking from the outside towards the centre. Another thing is keeping fi ngernails trimmed. This obligation won’t please all the pickers, but considerably reduces fi ngernail damage. A random group of pickers will show wide diff erences in the extent of damage caused by nail marks due to the length of fi ngernails, the picking technique and the thinning method. It doesn’t automatically follow that a quick picker causes more visible (nail) damage. Fingernail damage is easy to spot in the tray or punnet, and is regularly seen on the caps of mushrooms still on the beds. Nail damage reduces mushroom quality and encourages fungal and bacterial infections. It is important to warn your pickers about this risk and introduce changes to reduce damage. There is a lack of good picking instructions to newcomers, and regular inspection – so be alert!
Circulation during fermentation By Con Hermans
AdVisie ‘the mushroom growing consul- tants’, Heythuysen
hermans@mushroomconsulting.nl Photos: AdVisie
Completely closed fermentation bunkers often off er a functionality that enables circulated air to be blown through the compost in addition to fresh air. The importance of fresh air to supply oxygen for fermentation is obvious, however circulated air is hardly often used. If 100% of the air needed is sucked from outside this may cause a too cold, wet lower layer, condensation, anaerobic conditions and a slower start to the warming up process. By circulating some of the extracted air, the fl ow of fresh air from outside can be warmed. This heats the lower layer of compost, increases the compost temperature faster, accelerates the fermentation process and results in greater compost homogeneity by reducing the diff eren- ces between the upper and lower layers. Using circulated air off ers more advantages. The air fl owing from the compost is blown through the compost mass again, whereby the compost acts as a biofi lter. The biomass reabsorbs some of the ammonia and odours, and reduces the load on the ammonia scrubbers and biofi lters. And in the end, less chicken manure is needed to create a nitrogen-rich compost. There are, however, limitations to the use of circulated air. The majority of fans in fermentation bunkers are dimensioned to deliver high pressure, but have a limited capacity to deliver huge volumes of air in m3. As the oxygen content of circulated air is low, the fresh air will become more oxygen-poor as more circulated air is added. This means fans have to introduce a higher volume of air to ensure enough oxygen. If the fans installed have a limited capacity, it will not be suffi cient for extra circulation. However, if you have a large (or over-dimensioned) fan capacity it can be utilised for extra circulation. Higher circulation creates a more homogenous compost, but ensure there are always suffi cient oxygen supplies by setting more “on” time in the aeration settings.
(advertentie) 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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