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solarity
mm... my favourite food
Registered: 03/31/09
Posts: 1,590
Loc: UK
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Oyster incubation timing
#10380783 - 05/22/09 08:14 AM (14 years, 10 months ago) |
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Hi All
Been lurking around here for the past couple of months as I am planning to set up a commercial operation to grow Oyster/Shiitake/Eringii (to start with and in that order) in the South of the UK. Having done the initial method and market research, but prior to launching into a big operation, I am setting up a small pilot grow to try to make most of my mistakes cheaply!
First up is the Oyster grow and I have a Q about the timing of the initiation, I have searched the forums and hunted through GGMM but have not come up with a definitive ans.
Plan : Oysters on pasteurised straw/vertical bags/commercial grain spawn
I have one unit available that I am setting up and ideally would like to use this for both fruiting and incubation. I calculate it will hold about 44 X 25cm(10") hanging logs. As it will take a while to make up the logs (guess at 10 days), the first logs to go in will be ready for initiation up to 10 days before the last logs to go in. So my question is will those that are ready wait until the chamber is full and I can initiate everything and if so, for how long? Any effect on quality/yield? Does the same hold true for Shiitake/Eryngii? Or do you feel I would be better setting up a separate incubation chamber and rotating batches through (which I suppose would more closely mimic the full scale operation).
Any input appreciated! Thanks!
-------------------- Commercial exotics farmer for 8 years - now sold up!
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Jef
Out-of-work Sex Slave
Registered: 12/02/08
Posts: 764
Loc: near Duncan, BC
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Re: Oyster incubation timing [Re: solarity]
#10381519 - 05/22/09 11:21 AM (14 years, 10 months ago) |
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Be cautious with your money.
Brits are notorious for being fungiphobic.
I'm sure you've heard all the dirty names they call them.
I'm not saying don't do it, just be careful.
I don't know what you mean by "initiation" with oysters. SHitake may need initiation, but in my experience oysters just "go" when the substrate is all used up. The main problem people have is maintaining appropriate humidity while maintaining the "really, really huge" amounts of fresh air exchange needed to prevent stringy and almost capless oysters.
If there is a way of delaying fruiting to achieve "batch" results, I don't know it. But, may I ask, do you have a customer who wants large quantities of oysters all at once, and then to wait, (hungry?), for your next crop cycle ? Most customers want a steady supply.
How long it takes to achieve full colonization depends on many factors. CO2 levels -less is not necessarily better. Spawn medium. Substrate. Rate of spawn added to substrate. Temperature. Additives (coffee?). That's what I can think of now.
I don't think you can get a meaningful answer when you have an unusual plan, with many details omitted in your description to us. I live on Vancouver Island, so my climate is similar to yours. Assuming you're not having climate control systems, someone in Texas or California Tennessee or Tunisia will have very different cropping on account of climate.
Maybe you'd like to fill in the blanks a bit.
On the happy side your climate being usually damp, and not too hot is very conducive to high quality growth of both oysters and shitake. Kings I'm not knowledgeable about.
My advice, walk before you run. Don't innovate until you have the basics. Farting around is both fun, and saves a lot of ill-spent cash.
Good growing and much success.
-------------------- I am my own lab rat. Tell me and I will forget. Show me and I will remember. Involve me and I will learn.
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solarity
mm... my favourite food
Registered: 03/31/09
Posts: 1,590
Loc: UK
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Re: Oyster incubation timing [Re: Jef]
#10385115 - 05/23/09 05:18 AM (14 years, 10 months ago) |
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Hi Jef
Thanks for the input, see what you mean about them all arriving at the same time, maybe I will go for a separate incubation room after all.
By initiation I meant the change of environment to pinning/fruiting from the incubation phase. Yes, I will be controlling the environment. I have a part buried room to do this in which I am sealing, disinfecting and completely bagging out. Will be measuring and (hopefully!) controlling, CO2, light, temperature, humidity and FAE.
Once the empty room is set up I will then run it empty until I know I can control the individual parameters, then follow the instructions for the commercial spawn. - If I can get the "Science" right then I should be able to learn the "Art" as I go along!
As I mentioned this is just a pilot - ie the walking before running bit! Not re-inventing or doing anything new, just wanted to know if there was a problem with "over incubating" some logs whilst the others catch up?
I am very jealous BTW, as Vancouver is one of my favourite places, if work permits for Brits were not so difficult to come by I would probably still be living there!
There is a big move in the UK towards fresh, local foods and looking at the rest of the European market there is obviously a long way to go in terms of consumption. With the £ vs Eur at the moment it may even be possible to export produce - should I saturate local demand. However that is a long way off...
-------------------- Commercial exotics farmer for 8 years - now sold up!
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