Longer pre-wetting of straw to preserve structure during mushroom composting In my 'Pre-wet' blog, I already wrote about the importance of pre-wetting for good mushroom substrate. In this blog, I would like to discuss the structure of straw. I often hear customers say: "We are shortening the pre-wetting time because…

If you ask European mushroom growers what they think about Russian mushroom growing, most likely they politely ask again: Does it really exist?And the answer is:Yes, it exists and is developing rapidly.There are quite a few stereotypes about Russia in the world. Those related to mushroom production can be briefly…

In 2001 I started first independent Phase 2 compost production in Russia. In 2012 my facility became the first to produce Phase 3 compost in Russia and CIS. Now this facility successfully produces about 20 000 tons of Phase 3 compost annually. During years in the mushroom business I’ve built…

Why is casing soil used? There are two main reasons: 1. the Pseudomonas putida bacterium; 2. to regulate evaporation. Mushrooms will not grow without evaporation. The casing soil structure, through the depth of casing and on the surface, is the factor that determines how much water can absorbed and released.…

Picking mushrooms is more than just removing them from the beds. The handling and picking the right mushrooms is vital. Creating space to allow them to grow bigger is not only for yield. A mushroom with enough space has better evaporation and will hold the quality better, longer and will…

My name is Erik de Groot and as of today I am writing a blog on this website with i hope, interesting articles for you to read. Since I was a teenager I have worked with mushrooms so it has an important meaning in my life. I started working on…