After the last water during the incubation in the casing soil, the grower wants the mycelium to grow onto the surface.
To ensure a good recovery of the mycelium in this period the right settings for the room climate are essential.
An RH at a minimum of 95%. A very slow air speed, if possible zero and an adequate room temperature. That room temperature should be as close to the optimum for vegetative growth as possible. That optimum temperature is 25° C to 26° C.
This means often a room temperature of around 21° as a minimum.
Then the mycelium has the right conditions to grow onto the surface.
The next question is: how high do I let it grow ?
Higher means better control of the number of primordia, so no surprises about the number of mushrooms growing out. Higher also means easier picking so a higher pick rate. Another positive experience is that clustering is easier avoided.

But the big dis-advantage of having the mycelium higher on the surface is that the climate conditions have to be perfect. The influence of the climate onto the mycelium and the primordia is bigger. So one moment of for instance too low RH means that you will lose primordia.
Deeper mycelium is also easier to stagger the mushrooms so that is an advantage too. Another point is the fact if the grower can stop the mycelium when it grows too high. Overlay as that is called makes the outgrow of primordia more difficult. They come from underneath the blanket of mycelium.

So what determines the choice?
Both ways have their pro’s and con’s.
But for me the crucial point to choose a way is the technical capacity of the farm and the experience of the grower. If you are able to stop the mycelium at all times, still create the stagger and have perfect control of the environmental conditions, grow white.
If you are not sure of all this, grow deeper into the surface of the casing soil. So grow blacker.
Generally blacker is safer.

Does a higher filling weight give better quality?
The filling weight, i.e. the number of kilos of compost per square metre, should be between 80-95 kg/m2. The general trend is the more compost, the better the mushroom quality. But is that right?
Mushroom growing is all about the difference between air temperature and compost temperature, referred to by growers as activity. Activity is essential to grow good quality mushrooms. As the compost is warmer than the air, moisture is released in the form of evaporation. This caused the mushrooms to grow.

Managing activity
Managing activity is key to mushroom growing. So too much activity, because the filling weight is too high, results in faster, uncontrollable growth. For example, a first flush that produces 8 to 10 kg/m2 of mushrooms on the third day. The quality has been lost. The compost temperature has risen too quickly to 25-26 degrees Celsius. So any added value of filling that extra kilo of compost has been wasted. Say you had filled 90 kg/m2 of compost. In that case a filling weight of 85 kg/m2 would have been a better choice. This makes it easier to manage and control activity.

Casing soil
The casing soil on the compost plays a significant role here. The more activity there is, the more the casing soil dehydrates. This means that more mycelium grows in the casing soil. Dried out casing soil cannot absorb water, and neither can mycelium. What is left is dry casing soil that disrupts the water transport from the compost to the mushrooms. The casing soil effectively acts as insulation blanket. So there is activity, but little growth.

Best production
I see the highest yields and the best quality, from the first to the third flush, in situations where compost activity is well managed and controlled and the casing soil stays soft and wet.

Mark den Ouden

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According to mushroom quotation provided by Anhui Zhougudui Agricultural Products Wholesale Market, on February 27, Oyster mushroom, Seafood mushroom, King oyster mushroom and Enoki mushroom are 4 varieties that show price fall.

1.Price of Oyster mushroom has dropped from 10 to 8 CNY per kg, indicating 20% of decline range.

2.Price of Seafood mushroom has dropped from 16.7 to 15.8 CNY per kg, indicating 5% of decline range.

3.Price of King oyster mushroom has dropped from 9.5 to 7.3 CNY per kg, indicating 23% of decline range.

4.Price of Enoki mushroom has dropped from 12 to 7 CNY per kg, indicating 42% of decline range.

On the contrary, by February 27, Shiitake mushroom is the sole variety that shows price rise, from 14 CNY to 15 CNY per kg, indicating 7% of increase range.

“Price of Black fungus is at 8 CNY per kg,” introduces manager of Anhui Zhougudui Agricultural Products Wholesale Market passionately.

According to mushroom quotation provided by Guangdong Jiangnan Fruit & Vegetable Market, on February 21, White beech mushroom, Agrocybe cylindracea, Enoki mushroom and Brown Shimeji mushroom are 4 varieties that show price fall.

1.Price of White beech mushroom has dropped from 19.2 to 18.3 CNY per kg, indicating 5% of decline range.

2.Price of Agrocybe cylindracea has dropped from 11 to 8 CNY per kg, indicating 27% of decline range.

3.Price of Enoki mushroom has dropped from 10 to 6.5 CNY per kg, indicating 35% of decline range.

4.Price of Brown Shimeji mushroom has dropped from 20 to 18.3 CNY per kg, indicating 9% of decline range.

On the contrary, by February 21, Shiitake mushroom, Pleurotus nebrodensis, King oyster mushroom and Pleurotus geesteranus are 4 varieties that show price rise.

1.Price of Shiitake mushroom has risen from 16 to 17 CNY per kg, indicating 6% of increase range.

2.Price of Pleurotus nebrodensis has risen from 17 to 18 CNY per kg, indicating 6% of increase range.

3.Price of King oyster mushroom has risen from 7 to 7.4 CNY per kg, indicating 6% of increase range.

4.Price of Pleurotus geesteranus has risen from 6 to 8 CNY per kg, indicating 33% of increase range.

“Price of Seafood mushroom is at 11 CNY per kg,” introduces manager of Guangdong Jiangnan Fruit & Vegetable Market warmly.

According to mushroom quotation provided by Shanxi Taiyuan Hexi Agricultural Products Market, on February 18, Oyster mushroom, White beech mushroom, Drumstick mushroom, Enoki mushroom, Agrocybe cylindracea and Brown Shimeji mushroom are 6 varieties that show price fall.

1.Price of Oyster mushroom has dropped from 7 to 6 CNY per kg, indicating 14% of decline range.

2.Price of White beech mushroom has dropped from 20 to 16.7 CNY per kg, indicating 17% of decline range.

3.Price of Drumstick mushroom has dropped from 16 to 13.3 CNY per kg, indicating 17% of decline range.

4.Price of Enoki mushroom has dropped from 9.5 to 6.5 CNY per kg, indicating 32% of decline range.

5.Price of Agrocybe cylindracea has dropped from 16 to 14 CNY per kg, indicating 13% of decline range.

6.Price of Brown Shimeji mushroom has dropped from 20 to 16.7 CNY per kg, indicating 17% of decline range.

On the contrary, by February 18, Superior Shiitake mushroom, Button mushroom, Pleurotus geesteranus and Seafood mushroom are 4 varieties that show price rise.

1.Price of Superior Shiitake mushroom has risen from 16 to 17 CNY per kg, indicating 6% of increase range.

2.Price of Button mushroom has risen from 10 to 12 CNY per kg, indicating 20% of increase range.

3.Price of Pleurotus geesteranus has risen from 10.8 to 11.7 CNY per kg, indicating 8% of increase range.

4.Price of Seafood mushroom has risen from 12 to 13 CNY per kg, indicating 8% of increase range.

“Price of Shiitake mushroom, Pleurotus nebrodensis and King oyster mushroom is respectively at 10 CNY, 20 CNY and 8 CNY per kg,” introduces manager of Shanxi Taiyuan Hexi Agricultural Products Market.

According to mushroom quotation provided by Guangdong Haijixing Agricultural Products Market, on February 13, Superior Shiitake mushroom, Black fungus, King oyster mushroom, Button mushroom, Agrocybe cylindracea, White beech mushroom, Brown Shimeji mushroom, Pleurotus geesteranus are 8 varieties that show price rise.

1.Price of Superior Shiitake mushroom has risen from 17 to 18 CNY per kg, indicating 6% of increase range.

2.Price of Black fungus has risen from 5.6 to 6 CNY per kg, indicating 7% of increase range.

3.Price of King oyster mushroom has risen from 6.8 to 7 CNY per kg, indicating 3% of increase range.

4.Price of Button mushroom has risen from 12 to 13 CNY per kg, indicating 8% of increase range.

5.Price of Agrocybe cylindracea has risen from 10 to 12 CNY per kg, indicating 20% of increase range.

6.Price of White beech mushroom has risen from 18.3 to 19.2 CNY per kg, indicating 5% of increase range.

7.Price of Brown Shimeji mushroom has risen from 19.2 to 20 CNY per kg, indicating 4% of increase range.

8.Price of Pleurotus geesteranus has risen from 12 to 16 CNY per kg, indicating 33% of increase range.

On the contrary, by February 13, Shiitake mushroom, Straw mushroom and Enoki mushroom are 3 varieties that show price fall.

1.Price of Shiitake mushroom has dropped from 16 to 14 CNY per kg, indicating 13% of decline range.

2.Price of Straw mushroom has dropped from 28 to 26 CNY per kg, indicating 7% of decline range.

3.Price of Enoki mushroom has dropped from 9.5 to 7 CNY per kg, indicating 26% of decline range.

“Price of Oyster mushroom and Seafood mushroom is respectively at 10 CNY and 11 CNY per kg,” introduces manager of Guangdong Haijixing Agricultural Products Market passionately.

With “Doubleganger and Zwam” sausage rolls, grower Mariëlle van Lieshout from Liessel in the Netherlands wants to encourage consumers to eat more oyster mushrooms. "There are many opportunities, but you have to see them and you have to be patient."

Van Lieshout from Liessel is a busy bee: she has her own oyster mushroom farm, develops innovative ideas for mushroom cultivation with Mobichamp and is a board member of the oyster mushroom association. For the latter, her main motivation is that she wants consumers to eat more oyster mushrooms. The association has a study club to learn from each other in the field of cultivation.

We are trying to develop new products, because only betting on the consumption of fresh oyster mushrooms is not enough. There are many opportunities, but you have to see them and you have to be patient.

RIJP
The entrepreneur has recently joined the RIJP platform developed by farmers, ZLTO and Geodan. The aim is that farm shops, caterers and retail can purchase a diverse package of regional products from farmers from the platform. Such a regional product is the “Doubleganger”, which Van Lieshout came up with together with regional product store 't Streeckhuys in Deurne the Netherlands. It is a hamburger in which half of the meat has been replaced by oyster mushrooms.

“With the Doubleganger belongs the slogan: the only male hamburger that your wife also wants to eat”
Mariëlle van Lieshout, Oyster Mushroom grower in Liessel in the Netherlands

The Doubleganger contains less fat, salt and calories and more fiber and taste than a regular hamburger and is a sustainable and healthy choice without consciously eating less meat," says Van Lieshout. 'We use the following slogan: the only male hamburger that your wife also wants to eat. That fits in nicely with that.

Wider range
All breeders who are members of the oyster mushroom association may market the Doubleganger. "We hope that we can reach a larger audience with a limited marketing budget," says the entrepreneur.

Van Lieshout also stood at the basis of the Zwam sausage roll, with a filling of half oyster mushrooms and half pork. 'An additional advantage is that you can store such products in the freezer for six months, while you can only sell oyster mushrooms fresh. With this, we hope to somewhat offset the peaks and troughs in sales in the future. "

Van Lieshout has also found a new destination for the stalk of oyster mushrooms, normally a residual product. The Eindhoven designer Doreen Westphal from Botanic Bites has been pioneering with tapas, saté and sausage from the stalk since 2016. In 2019 she came up with a variant on shoarma meat: Zwarma.

The grower also implements sustainability in other areas: the straw from the cultivation packages goes back on land as a soil improver and the nursery has 343 solar panels, good for a capacity of 100,000 watt-peak.

PlanetProof
The nursery is PlanetProof certified, but Van Lieshout is not interested in organic certification. 'The demand for organic oyster mushrooms is lower than the supply, so that makes little sense. But if that demand grows and I can get a biological substrate, I want to make the switch. " Most oyster mushrooms end up at retail companies in the Netherlands, Belgium and Germany and can be kept for around a week after purchase.

Companies sometimes offer the entrepreneur their coffee grounds to be processed into the substrate for oyster mushrooms. 'I want to think along with that, but then I also expect something in exchange , for example, that they will sell the Doubleganger or the Zwam sausage roll in their canteens. It must be beneficial for both parties. "

As a daughter of mushroom growers, Van Lieshout had a dream: the mushroom farm of the future. 'A mushroom can grow up to 4 percent per hour and therefore a picker has to make many decisions. With smart software I wanted to make harvesting easier and more automated. " It was not possible to get the financing for the own nursery, but the idea did not let her go.

Harvest guide
Together with two partners, Van Lieshout founded software company Advanced Mushroom Research in 2011. The Harvest Guide, developed by them, measures properties such as diameter, bulging of the hat and structure of the mushrooms above a growing bed. Colored lights on selected mushrooms then give picking advice to the picker.

At Koolen Champignons in Slootdorp there is a test setup of the Harvest Guide. With this the initiators hope to interest mushroom farms all over the world. 'The next step is robotization of the picking process. That is desperately needed, because it becomes more difficult to find and retain harvesting staff, "says Van Lieshout.

Source: Nieuwe Oogst
Picture: © Maartje van Berkel

The increasing demand for packaged food backed by increasing number of departmental store is likely to contribute towards the global mushroom market. Fortune Business Insights has announced a report, titled "Mushroom Market Size, Share and Global Trend by Cultivar Type (Button, Shiitake, Oyster, Milky, Straw, Reishi), Product Type (Fresh Mushroom, Dried Mushroom, Frozen Mushroom), Geography Forecast till 2026." Mushroom offers various health benefits such as prevention from diseases such as cancer and others. This is anticipated to increase the demand.

Some of the key companies that are present in the Global Mushroom Market are

o Phillips Mushroom Farms Inc.
o Bounduelle Fresh Europe
o Agro Dutch Industries Ltd.
o Ecolink Baltic
o Monterey Mushrooms Inc
o Hughes Mushroom
o California Mushroom Farms Inc., and The Mushroom Company.

The report classifies the global market in terms of various segments. In terms of region, Asia Pacific held a considerable share in the global market in 2018. The region is further anticipated to expand at an impressive rate. Owing to the increasing population in India and China, the demand for mushroom is likely to increase over the forecast period. Besides this, these nations are witnessing high deemed for nutritional food, which is anticipated to increase the growth rate in global market.

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