Start Mushroom cultivation in Sri Lanka

In Sri Lanka, beginners are generally adviced to start with oyster varieties on saw-dust medium. But, in my practical sessions I encourage farmers to start the same variety with paddy-straw medium too.

However, following cascade shows how to grow mushroom on saw-dust medium.

Materials:

saw-dust :20 kg

Rice bran :02 kg

Calsium carbonate :400g

Magnesium sulphate :40g

Powdered soya bean / Green gram :200g

or any grain powder mix

Poly propylene( 7" ,guage 200) :01 kg

PVC pipe( 3/4" diameter ,1/2 " height rings) :50-70

Cotton wool/ cotton waste :500g

Rubber bands( smaller ring size) :01 pkt

Papers( 3" x 3" squares) : 50-70

Candles : 04

Mushroom spawn packet :01

Saw-dust must be fresh, meshed, well-dried for two days ( rubber, mango, and soft woods are preferred)

Method :

1. Saw-dust if flattened on a cement floor.

2. Destribute rice bran, calsium carbonate, grain powder all over it.

3. Dissolve magnesium sulphate in a cup of water and sprinkle on it.

4. Mix all the above materials using hands/legs or showel.

5. Add water using a shower-like device and mix them thoruoghly until water equally destributed and adequate to the mixture.

6. Squeeze a hand-ful of mixture in order to check the water content.

7. When the mixture appears partly cracked on your hand mmmm... i.e enough water

Now it's time to pack and pack ......a laaazy job

First put your two fonger tips to the sealed corners of 13-14"long sealed poly propylene bags and invert the bag so that the bottom kept rounded.

Loosely fill mixture of saw-dust and then push downwards