GROWING GOURMET - Anto2ni.it

206 CROPPING CONTAINERS
easily shift from colonization to primordia formation.
An advantage of this method is that mushrooms,
when they do form, arise from the most
mature mycelium, at the top of the bottles. Side
and bottom fruitings are rare. If the cultivator
can afford to make the initial investment of incubating
thousands of bottles until the first
cycle starts, then the drawbacks are primarily
that of lost time and delay in the initial production
cycle, but not overall yield. Top-spawning
is fast and convenient for bottle and small bag
culture, although I see more benefits from
through-spawning. Many cultivators in Japan
accelerate the colonization process by inoculating
the bottles with pressurized liquid spawn.
With the natural evolution of techniques,
Asian cultivators have replaced bottles with
similarly shaped, cylindrical bags. This hybrid
method is preferred by many growers in Thailand,
Taiwan and Japan.
Liquid inoculation of sterilized, supplemented
sawdust allows for inoculation methods
resembling the high production systems seen in
a soda pop factory. With re-engineering, such
high speed assembly line machinery could be
retrofitted for commerical bottle and bag cultivation.
Unless an aggregate-Slurry is used,
liquid spawn settles near to the bottom of the
bottles. (For a complete discussion of liquid fermentation
and inoculation techniques, please
refer to Chapter 15). Bottles can be arranged
horizontally in walls or fruited vertically. In Japan,
bottle culture is the method preferred by
many cultivators in the growing of Yamabiko
Hon-shimeji or Buna-shimeji (Hypsizygus
tessulatus varieties), Shirotamogitake (Hypsizygus
ulmarius), Enokitake (Flainmulina
velutipes) and Reishi (Ganodernia lucidum).
Bottles of various sizes can be used. The
most common are between 1 quart (1 liter)
and 1 gallon (4 liters). The openings are usually
between 50-100 mm. in diameter. Glass
bottles are not as popular as those made from
polypropylene-like materials. Each bottle is
fitted with foiled cotton or an autoclavable lid
equipped with a microporous filter disc. After
full colonization, the lids are removed, and
the surface mycelium is exposed to the growing
room environment. Enoki growers often
insert a coil of paper or clear plastic to encourage
stem elongation.
Figure 181. Compacted compost formed to create self-supporting
"megablocks" for the cultivation of the Button
Mushroom, Agaricus brunnescens. This ingenious, British method of cultivation is being patented. (U.K.
Patent #953006987.1) The cavities allow
transpiration and prevent anaerobic cores.
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