Generally picking is considered by many as a low education job. But on the other hand, we rely on our picking force to deliver a good quality mushroom, meeting the customer demands. No bruised mushrooms, no nail or knife damage, right stem length, straight cut stem, no weak mushrooms in the punnet and for all, the right size. And that is where many things go wrong. It is fairly easy to learn the pickers the right way of picking. Twist and do not pull. Do not take to many mushrooms in one hand so they do not get damaged and put them caps up into the punnet. But getting the calibration right is a constant struggle. Pickers tend to have the habit to pick too small and this will cost you money. They simply pick the mushrooms that were meant to be picked tomorrow. An extra thing to that is that pickers lose the bonus while working really hard.

For the right calibration there are many tools like fruit grading rings, grading cards and other different tools. But the easiest tool they have in their hands: the knife.
The knife most used in mushroom growing is the curved knife and the length of the blade is exactly 60 mm. The calibration most wanted on many farms is 55 to 60 mm. Generally, this size is picked first before thinning out. And this is just the size of mushroom that is as wide as the length of their knife. They just have to keep the knife just above the mushrooms to judge the size. This way the mushrooms can be calibrated before they are picked and they will not be damaged by any other form of grading tools. The rings only let mushrooms through which are small enough. The bigger mushrooms get stuck and will be damaged. But the mushrooms that go through easily are too small and that is the calibration the picker will harvest. By using the knife not only there will be no damage but it is also faster.

If a smaller calibration is harvested like a 40 mm mushroom, a line can be made on the blade with a marking pen. Especially new pickers will be very fast in learning this trick. By banning the calibration rings also, the hygiene on the farm is served. Because these rings are hard to clean and experience learns that they are always dirty and are taken from room to room.

Give it a try and your harvesting staff will be happy.

All around the world growers can receive phase 3 blocks. Especially in countries where no or just some raw materials to make compost are available, importing phase 3 blocks is than the easiest way to start mushroom farms.

Transport of blocks should always be done with cooling trucks/containers with also enough O2. A lack of oxygen during transport can cause severe damage to the mycelium and I saw arriving trucks full of Phase 3 compost with such a high CO2 that the mycelium in the compost never recovered completely after filling. The temperature during transport is kept on 2 to 5 degrees C to stop the mycelium from growing and generating heat in the blocks. That is a challenge sometimes.

When the compost blocks arrive at the farm, they should be stored in a cool room on 2 degrees C. Also make sure to have fresh air going into the cool room, especially if stored for a longer period. To ensure you always have enough stock, a few weeks of compost must be available as transport can always be delayed and can disturb a consistent growing cycle.

Before filling/casing the compost with a head filler it should be brought up to temperature. When you fill and case the same day you want to heat the compost up before filling, if you case the next day, you have more time to heat the compost up inside the grow room, until the casing day but as sometimes blocks are still frozen you need to get the blocks defrosted to make sure the blocks break open at filling. It is no problem to have frozen blocks, you just need to make sure they go through the filling machine and get mixed in. Depending on the climate at your location you normally get the compost out of the fridge the night before filling to give it the chance to heat up, ideally between 15 and 18 degrees C, so after filling the growing process can start. In extreme high outside temperatures, you can heat the compost up in shadowed places. In cold environments you must find a place to defrost the blocks and fill them into the growing rooms and heat the compost up there.

If you fill without a filling machine and place the blocks directly in the growing room, it is easier to warm them up inside the room. After filling remove the plastic and warm the compost up slowly. Do not go too fast to make sure the compost does not rise too fast, and you are not able to stop it anymore from heating up too much.

The yield and quality with imported phase 3 blocks can be good if managed the right way. Temperature and O2 level are key factors as well as watering. Be careful to overwater at the start when the temperatures are still low but wait for some good activity.

Good luck.

Erik de Groot
Global Agriculture Services
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Europe is now at the time of the year summer will burst out. And every year the same growing problems occur at this time, getting worse and worse every year.

Summers seem to get hotter and it is time to adapt before real growing problems are there. There are a number of things growers can do but of course a good cooling system is a must. Well calculated, fitting the circumstances of your own country. But even the best cooling system will not cover everything. If we take the summer temperature last year in Holland at 42° nobody has a cooling system which will handle these extreme temperatures in our country.
If at the same moment also the relative humidity is high it is not only cooling but also the heating that counts. And that brings me to the first mistake many growers make. In summer switch of the heating system. Its hot enough outside, I do not need heating. Wrong!!!

De-humidification only works if the cooling can work in combination with a bit of heating. So, by switching of the heating the system can make the air dryer anymore. And you need dry air to cool a hot room. The easiest way to cool a growing room is to give water to the casing soil. The best way is to give many small quantities up to 2 litres. That can be evaporated again. Spread the watering over 24 hours. The dry air coming into the room will take care of the evaporation and will help cooling the growing room. Keep the casing soil wet but the floor as dry as possible. That is why I do not close the room completely if the outside is hot but dry. It is possible to use air which is much higher than the compost temperature as long as the incoming air is dryer than the air in the room.

In the mollier diagram one can calculate how much fresh air is necessary to absorb the evaporated water in the room. And for that cooling by evaporation you only need a few litres of water extra. No extravagant quantities as some growers tend to do. An extra help will be some mobile coolers on the farm. They can be placed into the room just before the heat surge is starting. The price of such a mobile cooler is a lot lower than the costs of losing a room.But in the end, judging a room is important. If compost is active and the C/N ration is relatively high one can expect activity. It is of outmost importance that cooling starts before the surge starts. Once a compost is going up it is hard or impossible to stop it.

Not hard to imagine that reduced air flow going into the compost is not good for the quality of the compost. To maintain high-quality compost, it's crucial to keep the pipes under the bunker floor clean and free from blockages. Blocked pipes can lead to water accumulation on the bunker floor as the water will not drain, and create anaerobic conditions, harming the composting process. Set up a routine to clean all the pipes thoroughly every three months. Use a hose to flush out any dirt and debris, ensuring proper airflow throughout the composting process.

Ensuring thorough cleaning of the blocked pipes is crucial, as simply flushing them with water from front to back may not be sufficient. Despite water passing through, dirt can still accumulate inside the pipes. Achieving a satisfactory result involves reaching the end of the pipes with a hose and utilizing back pressure to dislodge any remaining debris. Attached below is a picture showing completely blocked pipes and the dirt extracted from some of them. This visual evidence underscores the necessity of meticulous cleaning to maintain optimal functioning of the composting process.

When pipes get blocked in composting systems, some issues can pop up. You might see wet spots and areas without enough air (anaerobic zones) in the compost. This happens because the airflow needed for composting gets messed
up. When pipes are blocked, air can't move properly, making some parts of the compost lack oxygen. It will also be visible in the pressure on the bunker floor being reduced. All this isn't good for composting and can cause bad smells and slow decomposition.

It's important to be safe when dealing with blocked pipes in composting systems. Wear a good face mask to protect yourself from harmful gases that can build up in blocked pipes over time. Also, make sure to keep the area well-ventilated and follow safety rules to avoid accidents.

Erik de Groot
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