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Compost for mushrooms
Growing mushrooms can be a profitable business or just a hobby to satisfy your family’s culinary needs. Having decided to tackle this interesting business, you need to learn how to prepare compost for mushrooms, since mushrooms do not grow on ordinary soil. Let us consider in more detail the preparation technology and the components of the substrate.
Components of compost for growing mushrooms
For the preparation of compost, wheat straw is used in a mixture with farm animal manure. You should not try to replace the straw with other ingredients, this will not bring success.
Compost for mushrooms is made with the addition of straw
Horse, cow, sheep manure can be used. The best results are obtained with chicken manure. In order for the temperature to reach the desired value during the maturation of the compost, the mass of the pile must be at least 7 tons. This will ensure a successful fermentation. The height of the shoulder is made 1,8 m, and the width is 2 m.
For 3 tons of ready-made compost take:
- wheat straw 1 thousand kg;
- dried chicken manure 800 kg;
- gypsum 60 kg;
- water 10 thousand liters.
By mixing all the components, a pile weighing 7 tons is obtained, which after maturation is reduced to 3 tons.
Composting technology for champignons
The straw is crushed and soaked in water for a day before composting. Then spread in layers with chicken droppings and plaster. The temperature inside the compost heap during fermentation is kept around 50 ° C. The moisture content of the compost is about 75%, pH 8.
The fermentation process takes place thanks to aerobic bacteria that need oxygen. Therefore, the compost heap is interrupted at least 3 times, mixing the components, and watered daily for the first 20 days with water. When the smell of ammonia from the compost disappears, the fermentation can be considered complete. This happens around the 22nd day.
It is interesting that at the enterprise the compost heap is watered with recycled water. This is water that is collected in an underground pit after daily irrigation of the compost heap and is enriched with oxygen. This technique allows you to get high quality compost.
The enterprises also prepare mushroom compost in bunkers and tunnels using special equipment. This method is more productive than usual and produces excellent compost.
It is more convenient to buy ready-made compost already seeded with mushroom mycelium. Only if you have your own farm, where you can get chicken droppings and straw for free, as well as a place for composting, you can try to cook it yourself.