10) Dry patches of straw that were not moistened in the mixing drum.
• the dry warm outside air causes thicker, dry layers to form in the lower layer of compost in the tunnels,
• the dry air leads to large differences between dry and wet bulb temperature sensors.
Dry patches It is always difficult to make dry patches of straw in horse manure wet. They are not incorporated well enough into the blend by the mixing drum to ensure enough contact with water (photo 10). These dry patches often continue to be a problem throughout the fermentation process and ultimately result in poorly fermented straw blades - the yellow or pale coloured blades growers see in the CAC material where no mycelium grows. Many moulds and spores will be destroyed at temperatures of 60°C, but under dry conditions they can easily survive 90°C. Compare it to the sauna. Dry air is tolerable at 90°C, but if water is thrown onto the glowing coals, it creates a burning sensation. Another competitor mould, Smokey Mould (Penicillium Hermansii), has been shown to survive in these dry patches so you can safely assume that Trichoderma will certainly survive in these conditions as well. Everyone is familiar with the hard, dry patches that occur in the lower layer of compost in phase III tunnels. Growers also see these patches in the phase III compost. Composting yards try to keep these dry layers as thin as possible by humidifying the air. However, these dry patches also occur in pasteurisation tunnels, although they are usually
11) Dry, hard patch from the pasteurisation tunnel after spawning.
thinner than in the phase III tunnels. The pas- teurisation process is ineffective in this dry lower layer due to the low temperature and dryness of the material. Any mould here has a greater chance of survival than in the rest of the compost. You can use petri dishes to measure and identify the mould, but if you are “lucky” you can sometimes see it. These dry patches are mixed through the entire compost layer at spawning and are difficult to trace again after- wards (photo 11). However, some of them appear in the upper layer and can be easily found again after spawn run in the tunnel. Green mould is sometimes seen growing on these patches (photo 12). So far, I have only determined Aspergillus here, but if this
12) Green mould on dry patches from the upper layer in the phase III tunnel. MUSHROOM BUSINESS 23
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52
