Chemical composition of spent substrate blocks. Spent oyster mushroom substrate

Composition: total nitrogen - Ntot. 0.71-0.86

Ash - 21.16 K-1.18 P- 0.08 Ca-0.16 Mg-0.19

Application:

A) Mulching

B) as a biological fertilizer, baking powder

B) provides food for soil bacteria

D) improves soil aeration

D) in fresh form, can be a feed additive (for ruminants)

E) moisture-saving component

1. Spent mushroom blocksare used a second time to solve various practical problems. They are useful as an additive to animal feed, as fertilizer.

-Used mushroom blocks and their application

-We list the options for using this waste in agriculture:

– Fertilizer with a fairly high content of nitrogen components. It should be noted that in this case, components of natural origin, harmless, and environmentally friendly are used.

– If you have to fight weeds, used mushroom blocks useful as mulching material. By making a surface layer of several centimeters out of them, it will not be difficult to slow down the growth of unnecessary plants. On the other hand, if the summer is hot, such insulation will prevent excessive overheating of the soil.
– Used mushroom blocks They have high porosity, so they are used to protect plant root systems in winter. In particular, by covering rose bushes, it will be possible to prevent the harmful effects of severe frosts. The thickness of such a layer is selected taking into account certain

climatic conditions.

– Good results can be obtained if used mushroom blocks apply to obtain vermicompost. After the natural processes of processing such raw materials by earthworms, the value of biologically active substances increases. They are better absorbed by plants, which allows you to count on a good harvest. This organic fertilizer does not contain questionable ingredients, like some chemical analogues. It retains its beneficial properties after a single application to the soil for up to five years.
– Used mushroom blocks can be added to pet food. Such supplements contain nutritional proteins necessary for their normal development.

I lost my cucumber seedlings. Well, everyone remember what spring was like. Whatever didn't freeze. Only the long-length Chinese remained. But do you need regular cucumbers?! Necessary. Nearby there is a greenhouse on the state farm; there are always “Herman” seedlings. Let's go. And they have an innovation - they began to grow oyster mushrooms.

Yeah! This means that at the end of summer it will be possible to buy waste bags in the neighborhood! I asked and the answer was positive. Well, about three weeks ago we applied. At NIVA. The back seat is always removed, so you can cram a decent amount of space.

When I bought the seedlings, I asked about cultivation. The price was funny - 10 rubles. per piece. We came for work - the staff had changed, but I remember that price - that’s what I’m talking about (I looked on the Internet - it’s 20-25 rubles). We agreed on the old price. They crammed it into the NIVU so much that you couldn’t look in the rear mirror - up to the ceiling. They brought 33 bags and went again - 38 bags.

I put the bags in the shed. A week later I collected... Well, I don’t remember how much I collected, but I only froze three liter milk bags of boiled ones. And she went to Moscow. I was stuck there for a week.
I return - and Tama... Tama is on guard! So outgrown!

And I make very simple portions of half a liter. I put a plastic bag into liter (cardboard) milk bags, fill half the bag, twist the plastic bag, put a second one - it also contains mushrooms to the top of the bag, twist it and put the bags in the freezer - just the height of the box freezers.

Once again, or even two, the mushrooms will grow until the bags spill into the beds. And I think - what will happen in the beds? I remember Masha (ruabiha 10) wrote that mushrooms grew in the beds - “two in one” it turned out

1. How to make a mushroom block for growing oyster mushrooms yourself?

Here we will describe the simplest method of making a block (it is not suitable for industrial production). To prepare a mushroom block, you will first need to prepare a substrate. The substrate can be prepared from straw, hay, seed husks, shavings, sawdust. See what you have nearby in abundance. First, you need to pasteurize the material you have; before pasteurization, it is advisable to chop the straw and hay. There is no need to do anything beforehand with husks, shavings, and sawdust. Take any container you have for the desired volume of substrate, fill it with the material you have chosen and fill it with water, heat it to a temperature of 80-100 degrees Celsius, pasteurize for 2 hours. If necessary, place a weight on the surface. The need to add lime during pasteurization depends on the Ph of the water; if Ph is about 7.5, there is no need to add lime; below that, add lime at the rate of 50 grams per 10 kg of substrate. (Various dietary supplements offered by some stores are complete nonsense, this is lime, chalk, gypsum, don’t waste your money! Buy lime at any garden store). Next, the substrate must be transferred to any surface with holes so that excess moisture can drain, this can be a vegetable box, a net, etc. During all actions, try to maintain cleanliness as much as possible; first treat work surfaces with a spray bottle, or with a rag, with a bleach solution, or with a solution of water and hydrogen peroxide.

Let's move on to inoculation, that is, to directly filling a plastic bag with substrate and mycelium. We take the bag and start laying it, an armful of substrate, a pinch of mycelium, and so on until the bag is completely filled. Make sure that there is no air left inside, seal the bag tightly! We tie it with a rope or pack it with tape. We make 5-6 slits in a checkerboard pattern, 3-4 cm long. We lay the blocks for incubation, for the first 2-3 days it is advisable to lay them with the slits down, so that the remaining excess moisture completely drains out

.

2. How to incubate and force mushrooms made from a block or purchased on the website The incubation period takes place in a dark place at a temperature of 18-24 degrees Celsius, it is advisable to leave a distance between the blocks and not pile on each other. The incubation period lasts from 14 to 25 days. At the end of incubation, the block will become completely white, that is, it will be overgrown with mycelium!

The fruiting period occurs in a dimly lit or illuminated place (3 hours a day is enough) at temperatures from 8 to 20 degrees. After 7 days, primordia will appear, after another 5-6 days you can harvest the first harvest, then after another 5-7 days, primordia will form again and this can happen up to 8. Mushrooms must be picked at the root, do not cut!

Recently, a lot has been written about soil mulching. However, mulch is still poorly used in the beds of our summer residents. The habit of cleaning everything down to the last blade of grass so that the neighbor will envy will never leave our summer residents. So vegetables grow at the dacha in soil that becomes more and more weathered and poorer every year.

I bring to your attention a story about mulch from an American vegetable grower. In the USA, mulch has been used for a very long time; you can buy mulching materials from them in containers of various capacities: from a bag to a truck bed.

Here's what an American wrote about mulch.

Mulch is a protective layer that is placed on the soil. There are different types of mulch for different purposes: from creating ornamental paths to protecting against weeds.

There are many varieties of garden mulch. Mulch is selected based on the purposes and methods of its use. There are many types of organic mulch. For example, sawdust or grass clippings. Gravel and polyethylene are not organic, but organic gardeners find good uses for gravel and polyethylene in the organic garden.

When to mulch?

Autumn is the best time to apply mulch. Mulch retains heat in the soil in winter, helping perennial crops to overwinter. In addition, mulch protects the soil from weathering and erosion. In the spring, to warm the soil as quickly as possible, the mulch must be moved. But it is advisable to immediately mulch the planted plants to retain moisture in the soil.

Opponents of digging the soil and supporters of organic vegetable growing in raised beds can use mulch all the time. And it gradually rots, enriching the soil. In areas where nothing is growing yet, it is very useful to spread mulch to preserve the soil and prevent weeds. Permanent bark or gravel mulch can be placed near shrubs, paths and ornamental trees.

How can different garden mulches improve your organic garden?

Mulch:
- adds attractiveness to the garden,
- suppresses weeds, prevents weed seeds from spreading - a layer of 5-7 centimeters reduces the growth of weeds several times,
- protects the soil from trampling and compaction,
- protects the soil from erosion and washing away by rain,
- reduces water loss and retains moisture in the soil,
- protects plant roots from overheating,
- in winter, retains the heat of the soil for earlier germination of plants,
- does not allow berries and vegetables to come into contact with the soil, which protects them from rot,
- reduces damage from snails and slugs,
- organic mulch, rotting, fertilizes the soil and improves its composition,
- stimulates the activity of earthworms, which improve drainage and soil quality.

I’ll tell you an incident from personal experience: about ten years ago, my husband and I grew oyster mushrooms on bags filled with sunflower husks. At the company where we bought the mycelium, we were convinced that the spent husks from mushrooms are an excellent fertilizer and mulch for garden beds. In full confidence that this was the case, we scattered the spent husks over the beds, but we didn’t skimp, there was plenty of goodness. And they covered the legs of the peppers and covered them with strawberries, and in other beds with vegetables. A few days later I noticed that everything in the garden had frozen. Neither weeds grow, nor vegetables, even strawberries have stopped putting out their mustache. Only the tomatoes, as before, grew full of health. That’s when I, in fright, began to look in the literature for information about whether sunflower husks can be used as mulch. And I found out this (I don’t remember verbatim, but the meaning is this): sawdust, husks, and straw are organic residues with a high cellulose content and have a low nutrient content, since cellulose itself contains nothing but oxygen, carbon and hydrogen. But at the end of the decomposition process, these organic residues, turning into vermicompost, give the plants all the nutrients a hundredfold in a form more convenient for plants.

I decided to remove the husks from the ridges into a compost heap to rot, but there were so many earthworms under it, even though I raked with a bucket, and the clay soil, which you can’t drive a shovel into in the summer, became damp and loose. So the hand did not rise to remove the husks from the beds. I had to pour a solution of azophoska onto 1 matchbox in an 8-liter watering can, and all the plants immediately perked up, then once every ten days I watered it with infusions of mullein, nettle and bird droppings, and an infusion of ash. In short, the harvest was not damaged, but the next year there was no need to dig the beds; the earth was like fluff. I had such an interesting experience. So, if you urgently need mulch, you have fresh sawdust (husks, straw), and there is no time to prepare rotten sawdust (husks, straw) from them, then you can do this: water the soil in the beds well, sprinkle nitrogen-phosphorus - potassium fertilizer without exceeding the norm according to the instructions and mulch the bed with fresh sawdust (husks, straw). Just don’t forget to watch the plants, and their appearance will definitely tell you what substances they lack.

The reuse and disposal methods of oyster mushroom blocks are varied. Throwing them in a landfill is the worst option. Left in the film, they rot, midges and larvae infest them. But polyethylene does not rot. As a result, a mess is formed that pollutes the environment.

Here are the main processing methods:

Fertilizers from waste blocks.

If you want to earn extra money, master the production of vermicompost.

Vermicompost is a high-quality natural fertilizer. Suitable for all types of cultivated crops, improves soil structure and increases the content of nutrients - exactly those that plants need, but are not processed by oyster mushrooms.

The easiest option is to dig several holes to gradually fill and empty them. Depending on the volume of biomass, determine the parameters of the recess and throw the waste there without film, compacting it not too tightly.

The mass is watered periodically; the wet mass is converted into fertilizer faster. If you have hydrothermia, use water after steaming the plant material. If you add lime to the raw materials for steaming, check the alkalinity of the drained liquid. Perhaps the soil in your region is already calcareous, then it is better not to use this water.

It is advisable to cover the top of the pit with polyethylene or tarpaulin so that the top layer does not dry out. Compost rots and is decomposed by soil microorganisms and worms. In six months you will get biofertilizer. In this case, the straw breaks down into a homogeneous brown substance that is greasy to the touch, similar to humus. The husk rots worse; cow, goat or horse manure and chicken droppings are added to it layer by layer. You can also make slurry from the droppings and periodically water the holes from above.

During rotting, the mass heats up and even if there was some kind of infection, it will disappear.

You can take up the production of vermicompost seriously: with the help of prospector worms, accustomed to processing the plant mixture. To do this, the heaps are doused with a slurry made from chicken droppings and previously obtained humus.

This is a more expensive method, but it also gives more profit: in addition to vermicompost, you can obtain and sell families of worms. Business requires warm premises so that the worms do not freeze out in the winter, and compliance with certain composting rules. As a rule, companies that sell worms provide advice on compost production technology and worm maintenance.

Oyster mushroom block mulch

In addition to fertilizers, waste material is used as mulch for trees and shrubs. Remove the polyethylene and dry the mass, and then spread it under the plants or between the rows. When dried, microorganisms, molds (which love a humid environment) and mycelium die, so oyster mushrooms will not grow from dried straw or husks laid out in the garden. In the future, when watering, the mulch will get wet and gradually rot, but soil microorganisms multiply there and do not pose a danger to plants. They process mushroom protein and cellulose from plant residues such as husks or straw, thereby improving soil structure and fertility. This mulch is suitable for all types of plants.

Pet food

It is not realistic to use the waste from oyster mushrooms as food. If the mixture is straw, then of course you can try it. There are authors who claim that such waste contains a lot of protein. But we must take into account that this is a mushroom protein and in order for animals to eat such food, they must be accustomed to it from childhood. In any case, this mixture should take up no more than 10% of the diet and be completely white, without traces of green or black mold, and without signs of rotting.

Will chickens eat the waste? Most likely, yes, they love to clean up trash. Perhaps they will find larvae, the remains of grains, some pebbles. But it is impossible to consider the spent substrate as significant in the bird’s diet.

Oyster mushroom harvest from old bags

If at an enterprise they dump everything into a heap, then in the spring we see this picture, beautiful fleshy druses, photo on the right.

After freezing, the mycelium is activated - if nutrients are still left in the straw or husk, then new hyphae will necessarily grow towards the perforations and fruiting begins.

Oyster mushrooms grown outside are heavy and fleshy. The clusters contain 5-6 mushrooms, but the diameter of the caps is larger than when grown indoors. Young dense mushrooms can be 10-15 cm in size. Regardless of the strain, the color of the cap is light - the shade of coffee with milk, if there is a lot of sun. And dark brown, sometimes with a gray tint if growth occurs on cloudy days.

If the briquettes are heavy, tightly knit and white inside, then they are placed in the shade and the ground around is watered - they will definitely still bear fruit.

If the contents of the bags are loose, but not dehydrated, try to revive them:

Untie the bag, squeeze the substrate - as if compacting it. Then squeeze out the air, collecting the loose film into a “tail” and tie it with a rope.

The package will then be smaller in height, more compact, and will yield another 200-300 grams of harvest.

Mushroom briquettes as fuel

If after harvesting two or three harvests the substrate is dry and light, it can be dried and used as fuel. It is advisable to dry it under a canopy, since even in the summer after rain, all drying work goes down the drain. It is better to remove the film from the briquettes when drying, but if the contents fall apart, then the polyethylene should be cut lengthwise in five to six places for better weathering. Dry straw and husks themselves do not burn very well; first you need to melt and warm the boiler with wood, then throw in the dried briquettes. I had a 65 kW solid fuel boiler. We threw 3-4 straw blocks there at the same time onto the hot coals from the firewood, and laid more firewood on top. Half an hour later, the same components were thrown in again, in the same proportions.

Disadvantage: it requires frequent tossing, burns out quickly, and produces a lot of soot. A couple of times in the middle of winter we chose warm days, stopped the boiler and cleaned it of carbon deposits. I think it’s the mushroom protein and the organic compounds in the straw that don’t burn completely and give off this resinous soot. They cleaned it with iron stacks, like a hoe, but straight in relation to the handle, like a spatula.

Mycelium from substrate

The only thing that is impossible is to use spent blocks instead of mycelium. If you steam the plant mixture for new batches and layer pieces of the old substrate mixed with fresh in bags, the mycelium will NOT germinate in the freshly processed plant mass and you will NOT get a harvest.

If you are interested in conducting an experiment, read the last section, Substrate mycelium.