GROWING GOURMET - Anto2ni.it

198
CROPPING CONTAINERS
Figure 164. Oyster mushrooms fruiting from bag Figure
filled with wheat straw. This bag is sold by Fungi (Pleurotus
Perfecti as a mushroom kit.
Figure 165. Bag culture of the Button musflroom
(Agaricus brunnescens).
166. Bag culture of the Oyster mushroom
ostreatus).
Column Culture
Growing Oyster mushrooms in columns
gives rise to natural-looking fruitbodies. Having
evolved on the vertical surfaces of
hardwood trees, Oyster mushrooms with their
off-centered, stems, grow out horizontally at
first, turn, and grow upright at maturity. * This
often results in the formation of highly desirable
clusters, or "bouquets' of Oyster
mushrooms. The advantages of cropping clusters
from columns are that many young
mushrooms form from a common site, allowing
1/4 to 1 lb. clusters to be picked with no
further need for trimming, yields of succulent
young mushrooms are maximized while spore
load is minimized, harvesting is far faster than
picking mushrooms individually, and the clusters
store far better under refrigeration than
* This response-to grow against gravity-is called
"negative geotropism". See Badham (1985).
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