CULTIVATION
bunkers filled into one tunnel and that compost from various tunnels was filled in one large growing room from five different trailers. It goes without saying that in this situation, obtaining an even emergence and spread of mushroom on all the beds is complicated. Another key influential factor is how much dry matter is filled per m2
. More compost per m2
means more nutrition and makes it easier to encourage the number of pinheads the grower is aiming for. The high dry matter content also creates heavier mushrooms. More compost per m2
produces more mushrooms per m2
per ton of compost. The price of compost and the demand for mushrooms play an important role in determining how much compost is filled per m2
. Casing evenly Too much CAC compost will significantly reduce pinhead outgrow.
the same all over, let alone from different tunnels. Even in uniformly filled tunnels, the quality at the head of the tunnel differs to the quality in the centre or along the sides, for example. Many people with tunnel companies will agree with me, especially mushroom growers with their own tunnels. Particularity when compost from different bunkers is used to fill the tunnels, any variations will be larger. The same applies when compost from several tunnels is filled into one tunnel at spawn run. Therefore, the best advice is to continuously mix compost using moving conveyor belts when filling trailers with phase II or phase III compost or drive the trailers back and forth underneath the filler at loading. Filling large growing rooms uniformly is even more of a challenge, as several trailer loads are needed to supply the capacity for one room. The best approach is to mix the compost from the various trailers simultaneously while filling the room. In the Netherlands, mechanical harvesting companies combine compost from various trailers at filling, because extreme uniformity is even more important for mechanical harvesting. At a number of these farms in the Netherlands, phase III compost is unloaded from several trai- lers onto a clean and disinfected floor. A shovel then mixes compost from various parts of the pile to create a more homogeneous whole. In the USA, I have seen compost from several
30 MUSHROOM BUSINESS
Uniformity is also very important when applying casing soil. Uniformity is often lacking on many farms due to a lack of homogeneity in the casing soil. This is especially the case in large growing rooms where several loads of casing soil are pre-wet separately in the casing soil preparation area. Many companies also mix the different casing materials to produce the best casing soil. This easily leads to differences in the end results. Mixing and pre-wetting casing soil is commonplace on farms in the US, Canada and Australia. In the Netherlands, I have also noticed variati- ons in casing soil that was supplied to growers by professional casing soil companies. The casing soil loaded at the front of the trailer was more compacted due to manoeuvres such as stopping at traffic lights during transport and other reasons. Mushrooms are extremely sensi- tive to a whole range of parameters, so what we saw at the farms in question (specialised in mechanical harvesting where uniformity is crucial) was less spontaneity of growth on the casing soil taken from the front of the trailer compared with mushrooms growing on the casing unloaded from the back of the trailer - despite the effect of the rods on the head filler and ruffling a few days after casing. Casing that is applied in a too compact layer on the compost will inhibit pinhead outgrow due to the poor moisture and CO2 exchange. It is therefore vital to pay close attention to the structure of the casing and after application. The quality of the casing soil is one thing, how it is handled is another important aspect. Using axles adjusted to the right rotational speed and position (not too deep and not too high) are critical points that can have a major impact on the casing soil structure.
In an ideal situation, 50% of the casing soil is colonised by mycelium. An optimally applied
but fewer
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