Cultivation of Xianggu mushroom
Vinegar to increase yield of vegetables
Honey bees in the green houses for pollination of vegetables
Capsicum (bell pepper) liquid - an effective aphidicide
Peanut shell beds for mushroom cultivation
Cotton hull used for cultivation of tremella
Method to cultivate tremella in jars
Xianggu mushroom has a long history of cultivation in China. This fragrant mushroom is a traditional food of the Chinese people. There are 2 methods of cultivating it:
Select a section of wood 1 -1.2 m long and 8 - 20 cm in diameter. Drill holes of about 12 mm width and 10 mm depth for planting. The holes should be spaced 1 to 20 cm apart and the rows of holes should be 5 to 7 cm apart. A small grain of the Xianggu mashroom seed is filled in to the hole and covered with mixed saw dust..
After seeding, the wood section is kept in a well-shaped structure to enable proper ventilation and humidity. The wood moisture content should be over 50 % and the relative air humidity should be 80 to 90 %.
Plastic bags of the size of 17×50 cm are filled with 1500 to 1750 gm of mixed saw dust. The seeds are broadcasted after being sterilized and exterminating of bacteria. They are cultivated at a temperature range from 22 to 26 °C. The mushroom can be harvested after 30 to 45 days. In olden times paper bags were used in place of plastic bags.
Spraying a diluted vinegar solution (0.5 liter vinegar in 50 liters water) before blossoming can increase vegetable production by about 15% in case of eggplant, cucumber and capsicum. Production increases by 10% for Chinese cabbage if 0.5 liter vinegar mixed in 100 liter water is sprayed at the cabbage leaf opening stage. Vinegar solution is also effective on fruit trees for prevention of fruit rot disease. This method is widely used in northern China.
Yield increase of up to 40% in cucumber and tomatoes in green houses have been obtained by putting five beehives with about 12,500 bees for every 1/15 ha. It is recommended that the beehive bed be kept at the level of the top of vegetables. There should also be sufficient space for bees to move around. Water in plates is put at the ground between vegetables for bees to drink from. Pesticides are strictly forbidden during blooming stage. If any pesticide spraying is necessary, then the beehives should be removed from the green house.
Boiled capsicum (bell pepper) liquid is an effective aphidicide, which can kill 90% of the aphids. To achieve this select a strong bell pepper powder, put it in a pot and mix it with water in a proportion of 0.05 kg/liter of water. Boil this liquid at 100°C for 10 minutes and use after cooling. The best time to spray this bell pepper liquid solution is from 10 AM to 2 PM.
Smash the peanut shells and submerges them in 20% quick lime liquid for 24 hours. Then steam it for 10 hours after the water has boiled. After that, take 78% treated peanut shell powder, 20% bran and 2% plaster of Paris, mix them and make a bed of this mixture for planting mushrooms.
Another way is to put peanut shell powder in boiled water and to continue boiling it for 20 minutes. Then take it out until its temperature is reduced to 30°C. Make a bed of it for mushroom planting.
By the above methods on 1 kg of peanut shells 0.8 kg mushroom can be produced.
Take 100 kg dry and clean cotton hull which is picked from the field before the frost season, and 20 kg bran, 3 kg plaster stone powder, 1 kg sugar, 0.5 kg magnesium sulfate, and 115 liters water. Then, first put magnesium sulfate and sugar to dissolve in some water and put bran, plaster stone powder and cotton hull in the remaining water and mix them. Control value of pH between 5.5-6.5.
For killing bacteria select plastic bag of about 50 cm in length, 12 cm in width and 4 cm thick which is made from polyethylene under low pressure. Put the above compound in a bag for 7 hours after covering and tying it. Open 4 holes at 2 cm depth on one side of the bag for inoculation. Then, stick rubberized fabric on each hole and put the bag in oven at 1, 000°C for 10 hours to kill bacteria under normal pressure. Take it out of the oven then it can be inoculated after the temperature drops down to 30°C. Tremella can now be cultivated on it.
Select 500-750 ml jars. Take 50 kg saw dust, 1 kg bran, 1 kg plaster stone powder, 0.75 kg sugar, 1 kg soybean powder, 0.25 kg magnesium sulfate, and 60 liters of water. Mix saw dust, bran, soybean, dissolved sugar and magnesium sulfate in warm water, then put all the things together and mix them up. Feed the mixture in jars and drill a hole 6 cm deep, 5 cm in diameter on the top of the mixture in the jar. Cover the jar with a plastic film and tie the mouth of the jar. After this kill bacteria. A jar of protonema of tremella can inoculate 70 jars of tremella.
