How to Plant Black Fungus
The editor introduces the planting methods of black fungus and the related introduction of black fungus planting techniques and management methods. Detailed content will be shared next.
Black fungus, also known as black vegetable, sang ear, ben jun, tree chicken, wood moth, and wood velvet, is named for its shape similar to an ear, combined with its black-brown color. It is a plant of the Auricularia family, with a neutral nature and sweet taste, entering the stomach and large intestine channels. It has the effects of nourishing, moistening dryness, invigorating the stomach and blood, stopping blood, moistening the lungs, and moistening the intestines. It has now achieved large-scale artificial cultivation. Let's take a look at the planting techniques of black fungus!
Conditions for Planting Black Fungus
1. Black fungus is a medium-temperature decomposing fungus, and its mycelium can grow between 6-36°C, but it is most suitable between 22-32°C. It can differentiate into实体 between 15-27°C, but it is most suitable between 20-24°C.
2. The mycelium of black fungus can grow in cultivation materials and log sections with a water content of 60% to 70%. When the fruiting body forms, it requires the moisture content of the log to reach over 70%, and the relative humidity of the air to be between 90% to 95%.
3. The mycelium of black fungus can grow normally in the dark, and the fruiting body growth period requires a light intensity of 250-1000 lx. It is a good aerobe with a pH of 5 to 5.6 being most suitable.
Techniques for Log Section Cultivation of Black Fungus
The artificial cultivation of black fungus originated in China around 600 AD and is the first edible mushroom variety cultivated by humans, with a history of over 1400 years. As early as the Tang Dynasty, people in the Bashan, Micang Mountain, and Longmen Mountain areas of Sichuan Province used the " Logs Cutting Method" to plant black fungus. This primitive planting method continued for over a thousand years. In the Qing Dynasty, black fungus began to be planted in the Changbai Mountains of Northeast China, cutting down deciduous trees in the winter solstice and relying on the natural dissemination and breeding of black fungus spores. Depending on nature for harvest, the yield was extremely low. In 1955, Chinese scientists began to cultivate solid pure black fungus strains and invented the log section hole punching inoculation method, which greatly increased the yield of black fungus cultivated on logs. However, it takes two to three years to complete a cycle, and the absolute yield is still not high. A high-quality log section 1 meter long and 10-13 centimeters in diameter only yields 100-150 grams of black fungus in three years and is often affected by natural disasters, reducing yields. This method is still only used by a few farmers in forest areas.
1. Seedling production: There are sawdust spawn and twig spawn. The former uses sawdust and wheat bran, etc., to make the culture medium, and the latter cuts branches 1 cm in diameter into 1.5 cm lengths, adds sugar, rice bran, etc., for nutrition, sterilizes in a高压 after being placed in a bottle, and then inoculates with the mother spawn, cultivating at 25-28°C for one month, the mycelium will fill the bottle.
2. Log preparation: After selecting the cultivation site, the logs should be prepared. The commonly used types of logs are complete fighting trees and birch trees. Logs with a diameter of 10-12 cm at chest height should be cut into 1 to 1.2-meter-long sections, the cross-sections brushed with fresh lime, and then placed in a ventilated and sunny area to dry.
3. Inoculation: The tools for inoculation should be disinfected with ethanol in advance. First, drill holes 7 cm apart and 1.5 cm deep vertically on the log. If using sawdust spawn, the hole should be filled and pressed down, then covered with a pre-made bark cover. Insert the twig spawn into the inoculation hole and tap it tight to make it adhere to the surface of the log without gaps.
4. Management after inoculation: First, pile up the logs to grow the spawn, stacking them in a "well" or "mountain" shape. The temperature inside the pile should be maintained at 20-28°C, and the relative humidity should be kept at around 80%. In the south, it takes 3-4 weeks, and in the north, it takes 4-5 weeks. When the mycelium has extended into the xylem and produced a small amount of ear buds, it should be scattered and arranged in time.
5. Scattering and arranging: Generally, a flat arrangement is used, using sleepers to prop up one or both ends of the log, and arranging them neatly on the cultivation site. After about one month, they can be erected. The framework is generally set up in a "V" shape, first driving two forked wooden stakes into the ground, leaving 70 cm high, then placing a crossbar on top of the fork, and placing the logs obliquely on both sides of the crossbar, forming a "V" shape, spaced 7 cm apart and at an angle of about 45°. In sunny days or with new logs, the angle can be larger, while in rainy days or with logs from the previous year, the angle should be smaller.
6. Managing ear formation: During the framework stage, the temperature, humidity, light, and ventilation conditions of the cultivation site must be adjusted properly, but the focus is on water management. After the framework is set up, it is best to have a light rain every 3 days and a moderate to heavy rain every half month. In case of drought, artificial watering should be carried out to solve the problem of dryness and moisture, maintaining the relative humidity at around 90% to 95%. Watering should be done in the morning and evening.
7. Disease and pest control: The main pathogenic fungi危害 black fungus include环纹炭团菌, 麻炭团菌, 韧草茵, 朱红栓菌, 绒毛栓菌, etc. The main pests include伪步行虫, 蛀枝虫, 四斑丽（虫甲）, 蓟马, etc. Lime (1:100 solution), thiophanate-methyl (1:100 solution), and zinc chloride (1:50 solution) can be used to prevent and control pathogenic fungi contamination. In addition, biopesticides such as pyrethrum and Tripterygium wilfordii can be used to control pest damage.
Plastic Bag Ground Cultivation Technique for Black Fungus
The plastic bag ground cultivation technique has changed the history of relying on wood to produce black fungus, allowing black fungus cultivation to move from forest areas to fields. Plastic bag ground cultivation of black fungus uses wood chips and straw as raw materials, utilizes plastic bags for packaging, and each bag is filled with 0.5 kg of dry material. After sterilization, inoculation, and spawn cultivation, it is placed in the field, orchard, or under trees to produce ears. The plastic bag ground cultivation technique of black fungus has greatly expanded the raw material and cultivation area of black fungus, significantly shortened the production cycle, returned to a natural cultivation method, realized natural and harmless products, and is more conducive to large-scale, mechanized, and standardized production, with broad development prospects.
1. Reasonably configure the culture medium and increase the pH value: Based on the nutritional characteristics of different substitute raw materials and after years of experimentation, many high-yield formulas have been selected, and the pH value has reached 8-9. The alkaline culture medium can inhibit the growth of pathogenic fungi. An example of the culture medium is as follows.
① Sawdust formula: Broad-leaf mixed wood sawdust 84.5%, wheat bran or rice bran 15%, gypsum powder 1%, quicklime 0.5%.
② Bean straw, cotton rod corn cob (pulverized) formula: Bean straw or cotton rod or corn cob 80.5%, wheat bran or rice bran 18%, gypsum powder 1%, quicklime 0.5%
③ Cottonseed hull formula: Cottonseed hull 88.5%, wheat bran or rice bran 10%, gypsum powder 1%, quicklime 0.5%.
④ Sugar slag, beet slag, xylose slag formula: Sugar slag 50%, wood chips 33.5%, wheat bran 15%, gypsum 1%, quicklime 0.5%.
2. Select and breed excellent spawn: Through biotechnology, select and domesticate the 888 black fungus spawn suitable for substitute material cultivation, which is characterized by resistance to pathogenic fungi, the ability to grow on alkaline culture media, with chrysanthemum-like fruiting bodies, large and thick ears, and black color.
3. Use special angle-cut plastic bags: Use non-toxic special polypropylene materials with special ingredients to make special angle-cut plastic bags. These bags are not hard, not brittle, and not easily damaged, suitable for bagging machines, and can shrink with the shrinkage of the culture medium during the cultivation process of the black fungus spawn, without separating from the culture medium, to ensure that the bag does not enter water, does not contaminate, and does not grow irregularly. The half-week length of the bag is best at 15.5 cm, with the highest internal nutrient conversion and transport rate.
4. Mechanized mixing and bagging: Use the "Quanhe" mixing and bagging production line, stir three times, mix evenly, fast bagging speed, good quality, preventing the material from stacking and fermenting for too long and becoming sour.
5. Sterilization in baskets: The cultivation bags are placed in baskets for sterilization, preventing extrusion from causing the plastic bag to separate from the culture medium and improving the sterilization effect of the steam in the sterilization pot.
6. Liquid spawn production: Use the latest invented liquid spawn culture device to prepare liquid spawn, which is fast, completed in 3 days, germinates quickly after inoculation, has a low contamination rate, grows spawn quickly in 20 days, has a small age difference between the top and bottom, and has a neat spawn emergence, better than solid spawn. The liquid spawn culture device adopts international leading technology and automatic control and has obtained a Chinese invention patent.
7. Automatic inoculation machine inoculation in a sterile room: The inoculation room reaches a Class 100 sterile standard without the need for any chemical disinfection, the木耳菌丝体 is not damaged by chemicals, 12 bags are inoculated at the same time in each basket, completing the process in one go and effectively controlling contamination.
8. Indoor and outdoor combined spawn cultivation: In addition to the traditional indoor shelf-type vertical spawn cultivation, it can be pile-cultivated outdoors (or in forests) during suitable seasons. The fresh outdoor air and large temperature differences not only exercise the spawn's adaptability to life but also inhibit the growth of pathogenic fungi.
9. Timely marking and standardizing the mouth shape: Change the traditional method of "困菌" after the spawn has filled the bag. When the spawn has filled the bag, mark it in time, marking 8-12 mouths in an intersecting pattern. Change the traditional round and intersecting mouth shapes to a "V" shape, deeply marking into the culture medium 0.5 cm, with a marking line of 1.5 cm and two marking lines at an angle of 50°.
10. Suitable season for ear emergence: Generally in spring and autumn in the north, and autumn and winter in the south, suitable for ear emergence in natural climates of 8°C to 28°C. In cold weather, a plastic arch shed can be covered, and in high temperatures, ear emergence can be chosen in forests.
11. Ground placement and centralized ear induction: After marking, the bags are densely placed vertically or inverted on the ground ear bed, covered with straw curtains or plastic film, keeping the bed surface moist, and the primordium forms in about 7 days.
12. Dry-wet alternating, clear dry-wet distinction: After the primordium forms, the bags are placed separately with a distance of 10 cm between bags, 25 bags per square meter, exposed to sunlight in open fields, or uncovered in forests, with sufficient light and fresh air, and the ear color is deep black. Use a special atomizing water bag for watering, alternating between dry and wet, wetting when the spawn accumulates nutrients and growing when the fruiting body grows. Stop and start watering, seven dry and three wet, dry to completely dry (the ear hardens) and wet to completely wet, avoiding not dry or not wet or continuous watering.
13. Timely harvesting: The black fungus fruiting body takes about 25 days to mature and should be harvested in time to prevent over-ripening and rot. Harvest the fruiting body with the "root" and wash away the impurities before drying.
14. Timely drying: After harvesting, the black fungus should be naturally dried, usually faster on a mesh screen. Do not turn too often to keep the ear flat.
The above [] introduces how to plant black fungus and its cultivation techniques and management methods. Hope it is helpful to green plant enthusiasts!