Common diseases of Oyster mushroom and their prevention and treatment methods

The most feared thing when growing oyster mushrooms is encountering various diseases. So today I will tell you about the occurrence and prevention methods of common diseases of oyster mushrooms:

1. Types of Pests of Oyster Mushroom

1. The eye fungus mosquito is also called the sharp-eyed fungus mosquito, commonly known as the small black mosquito, small fly, and white maggot (referring to the larvae). It belongs to the order Diptera, a mosquito insect. The adult body is 2 to 3 mm long, brown or gray-brown, with hair on the body surface, a pair of membranous front wings and a pair of hind wings specialized as balance bars. The compound eyes are well developed, with pointed tops, extending on the top of the head and connecting left and right to form an eye bridge. The antennae are filamentous, with 16 segments. The female has a pointed end at the abdomen, and the male has a pair of clip-shaped graspers at the end of the abdomen. The larvae are white, transparent or milky white. The newly hatched larvae are 0.75 mm long and 0.1 mm wide, and the later stage is 5.5 mm long and 0.5 mm wide. There are 12 segments in total, no legs, a black head, ossified, and well-developed chewing mouthparts.

Adults are active and good at flying. They are phototactic and like humus. They often gather in unclean places (such as mushroom roots, weak mushrooms, rotten mushrooms and garbage) to mate and lay eggs. Larvae like to live in groups in the culture medium to move and feed, harming mycelium, primordium and young mushrooms, and are suitable for feeding on aging mycelium. At this time, if too much water is sprayed, it will be more conducive to the growth and development of larvae, and the damage will become a disaster in a short period of time. Therefore, the mushroom sheds that have partially produced mushrooms in autumn and winter and then produced mushrooms in spring will be seriously damaged, which will affect the yield in mild cases and cause a total loss in severe cases.

2. Gall midge is also known as mushroom midge, and the larvae are called fungus maggots. It is a mosquito pest of the order Diptera. The adult body is relatively weak, about 1 to 2 mm long, light yellow or orange-red. It has a small head and large compound eyes. The antennae are bead-shaped, with 11 segments, and there are obvious hairs on the segments. The antennae of males are longer than those of females. The forewings are transparent and hairy, with 3 longitudinal veins and 1 transverse vein on the wing veins, and the hind wings are degenerated into balance bars. The three pairs of legs are similar. The female abdomen is pointed at the end, and the male abdomen has a pair of clip-shaped graspers at the end. The larvae are small, about 2 mm long, milky white at the beginning, and then orange or orange-red, long strips or spindles, with an underdeveloped head, a pair of short antennae, 13 body segments, and transparent epidermis without legs. There are prominent forked sword-shaped plates on the mesothorax, which is the main feature of the gall midge larvae.

Adults are not good at flying, they gather in groups, have strong phototropism, and lay eggs in the raw materials or piles of mushroom beds. Gall midges are mainly harmful in the form of larvae. Larvae like moisture and can live in water. Larvae damage the materials during the germination period and damage the surface of the materials, young buds and mushroom stems during the fruiting period. The buds turn yellow, wilt and die. When mature mushrooms are damaged, a large number of larvae gather on the stems and the back of the mushrooms. In severe cases, a layer of orange-red powdery substances appears on the surface of the materials, affecting the commercial quality and yield of Oyster mushrooms. Since it mainly reproduces in the form of larvae and has a short reproduction cycle, it can occur in large numbers in a short period of time.

3. A genus of Diptera insects. The adult is long or tiny, light brown to black. The antennae are short, 3-segmented, and awn-shaped. The larvae are transparent to milky white, with a pointed head that is not ossified and a blunt abdomen.

Poor ventilation in the mushroom house, high humidity, and failure to deal with dead and rotten mushrooms in time often cause flea flies to lay eggs and reproduce. The larvae move quickly, invading from the base of the mushroom buds, biting the tender tissues and turning the mushroom body tissues into loose sponges, and finally biting the entire mushroom buds. The higher the humidity of the covering soil, the more serious the occurrence.

4. Springtails, also known as ash worms, belong to the order Collembola. Springtails are wingless, low-level insects with a body length of 1 to 2 mm. Nymphs and adults are blue-purple, with scattered grayish-white spots on their bodies, hair and wax powder, and can move on water. They have short and thick antennae on their heads. There are three pairs of thick legs, and a pair of springs on the fourth abdominal segment. The larvae are white in color and similar in shape to the adults. They shed their skin after dormancy and their color gradually turns darker. Most of them are saprophytic, and some feed on the fruiting bodies of the oyster mushrooms, drilling into the mushroom stems and caps to feed, causing holes and reducing the commodity value. When the springtails of the oyster mushrooms occur in large numbers, a large number of springtails gather at the junction of the stems and caps, invading the gills and causing reddish-brown spots. Once frightened, the springtails will jump off the mushroom bed and hide in damp and dark corners to form a mass. Springtails can also carry pathogens and viruses.

5. Pest mites belong to the order Acarina, class Arachnida. They are tiny, have eight legs, and resemble spiders. The main pest mites that harm Pleurotus ostreatus are Pleurotus eryngii and Psoralea mites.

(1) The body of the mites is tiny, oblong to oval, light brown, with short hairs on the body wall. They move slowly and like to live in groups. They feed on mycelium, young buds and fruiting bodies. They reproduce very quickly during the mushrooming and fruiting period and under high humidity conditions. When they reproduce to a certain extent, they migrate in groups to the soil covering the surface of the mushroom bed, like a layer of yellowish powder. If they are not controlled in time, they will destroy the entire mushroom house in just a few days, eat up all the mycelium, and cause a total crop failure.

(2) The body of the powder mite is larger than that of the pygmy mite. It is round, white, and has a number of long hairs on its body wall. It moves alone, feeds on mycelium, and is saprophytic. When the mycelium bed is large, it can cause the mycelium to decline, but it will not cause a total crop failure.

2. Prevention and control methods of Oyster mushroom

The prevention and control of mushroom pests should be based on prevention, supplemented by treatment and comprehensive prevention and control.

1. Keep the mushroom farm environment clean. The livestock and poultry sheds, manure, grain warehouses, weeds, waste, sewage ditches, etc. around the mushroom house are the main habitats and breeding places for pests. Every spring is the recovery period of various pests. The mushroom house should be kept clean inside and outside, and waste, sewage, and gravel should be cleaned up in time. Whether it is new or old, it is best to fumigate with formaldehyde and potassium permanganate before use. During the fruiting period, cotton wool should be hung in the mushroom house to achieve the effect of insect prevention.

2. Install anti-insect equipment. Install 60-mesh screen doors and windows in the mushroom house, which is good for ventilation and light transmission and can prevent pests from entering.

3. Prevent the substrate from being infected with insects. The raw materials used to cultivate oyster mushrooms may have more or less pests. Generally, fresh raw materials without mildew are selected in the current year, and pest control is performed before use, such as exposure to the sun, mixing with chemicals, etc. For raw materials with more pests, short-term fermentation can also be performed, generally piled up for 5 to 7 days, turned over twice, and the material temperature is controlled at about 60°C, which can kill the insects and eggs in the material. The materials treated as above can reduce the damage caused by pests from the spawning period to the early stage of mushroom production.

4. To avoid the strains being infested with insects, it is forbidden to produce seeds with fruiting bodies containing insects. Cooked materials should be used as the substrate for producing strains.

5. Use light to kill adult insects. Install light bulbs or tubes in the mushroom house, put a basin of water below, and drip waste oil into it. Flies, mosquitoes and other pests will be attracted to the light and die from sticking to it. If conditions permit, you can install a black light to achieve better killing effect.

6. Sugar and vinegar liquid for pest control: For phototactic pests such as eye fungus mosquitoes and gall midges, 3 parts of sugar, 4 parts of vinegar, 1 part of white wine, 1 part of dichlorvos and 91 parts of water can be mixed evenly, and then cloth or cotton balls are soaked in the medicine, taken out and wrung out to cover the surface of the material. The pests will be killed when they climb onto the cloth or cotton wool. 1 part of honey, 10 parts of water and 2 parts of 90% trichlorfon can be mixed evenly to lure and kill springtails.

7. Proper management During the cultivation and management of Oyster mushroom, especially during the period of pest breeding, proper prevention and control measures should be taken, otherwise pests will invade. The key points of management are: the mushroom bed should be tightly covered during the mushroom period, and attention should be paid to preventing pests from invading during ventilation; the one-time use of water should be strictly controlled during the fruiting period to prevent water accumulation in the mushroom bed; and each batch of mushrooms should be harvested as soon as possible to avoid the mushroom bed being exposed for too long to reduce the amount of eggs laid by pests on the mushroom bed; if pests are found during the fruiting period, 25% cypermethrin 2000 times dilution can be sprayed; after harvesting, the mushroom bed should be cleaned in time and covered tightly.