How many oyster mushrooms can you really get from one mushroom block?
I met on the Internet promises of 100% yield.
Therefore, some seriously believe that 10 kilograms of mushrooms will be harvested from a 10 kilogram bag.
On other sites it is written that with two flushes about 25% of the mass of the substrate is obtained. There is also the expression “mushroom yield 25%”
This means that in two flushes, in two months from the beginning of the development of the block, you will collect 2.5 kg of mushrooms from a standard ten-kilogram block.
And this is a real number.
Why is there a difference in the definition of yield?
Only because when they say about 100% yield, they mean the taken dry vegetable raw materials, with a moisture content of 0%.
Let’s calculate: if we have a 10-kilogram bag and its moisture content is 72%, then the water in it is 7.2 kg, the
grain spawn is 300 grams, and the rest – 2.5 kg – is dry plant material.
Therefore, having picked two and a half kg of mushrooms, we have a 25% yield from the weight of the substrate and at the same time we get a 100% return. That is, we took 2.5 kg of DRY vegetable raw materials – we got 2.5 kilograms of oyster mushrooms.
However, in most cases, for ease of calculation, they talk about the yield as a percentage of the mass of the substrate block.
Thus, both expressions will be correct if after the words “100% return per block” add “in terms of dry matter.”
It is also necessary to understand that growing mushrooms take food from the substrate for their growth, and after the third flush, the yield drops sharply.
Blocks are thrown out after the second harvest. Because it is not cost-effective to maintain a microclimate for the sake of a small amount of mushrooms. There are strains of oyster mushrooms that are cost-effective to grow in one flush in industrial production.
Оyster mushroom yield per kg of spawn
How many mushrooms can be collected from 1 kg of grain spawn?
This is the question newbies ask. Experienced mushroom growers understand how many factors play a role here and it is difficult to answer this question.
But I’ll try.
On average, 1 kg of spawn is placed in three bags of 11 kg of weight.
If you follow all the conditions of the microclimate, instead of waving a wet broom over mushrooms for moisture, from the first flush you can get 17-20% of the weight of the block. Or 1.9-2.2 kg of mushrooms from each bag.
If the bags are placed in a damp basement with the simplest ventilation, at a temperature of at least 11 and not more than 18C, you will get from 1.3 to 1.8 kg.
The yield of oyster mushrooms (yield of mushrooms) is affected by:
- availability of properly calculated ventilation. About ventilation.
- maintaining an optimal moisture regime in the growing chamber (85-89% depending on the strain and temperature)
- cultivation in temperature regimes optimal for this strain.
- The stuffing density of mushroom bags affects the yield indirectly. At low density, hyphae cannot transfer nutrients, and moisture evaporates at an increased rate. Therefore, the first flush will be simultaneous and with high returns, but the second flush will not form.
If the substrate is too densely packed, gas exchange is disturbed in it, areas appear that are not overgrown with mycelium. It is also very likely to develop mold and bacterial lesions. In this regard, the weight and quality of mushroom clusters is low.
How many kilograms of oyster mushrooms can be obtained from a certain area of the growing room
Knowing the answer to this question, you will roughly calculate the profitability of growing.
Oyster mushroom yield per square meter
I made a table that shows the consumption of mycelium, raw materials (sunflower husks or straw), electricity for mushroom production, depending on the area of the mushroom room.
It also contains information about the output of products in different areas of rooms with different productivity – from 14 to 25%.
Using this data, you can calculate the yield of mushrooms per square meter.
To understand how profitable it is to engage in this business, I recommend taking the lowest productivity in this table, namely 14%.
Electricity is calculated only for the distillation room itself – fans, humidification, light.
Without steaming raw materials and heating costs.
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Growing chamber, sq.m. |
Required per month: | Average yield of oyster mushroom per month, kg from two flushes |
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Mycelium, |
Raw materials, kg (husk or straw) | Electricity, kV per month |
14% | 16% | 19% | 22% | 25% | |
| 20 | 65 | 600-650 | 80-90 | 200 | 230 | 270 | 320 | 370 |
| 25 | 75 | 800-900 | 85-110 | 330 | 380 | 450 | 440 | 500 |
| 35 | 100 | 1200-1350 | 200-250 | 450 | 540 | 660 | 770 | 875 |
| 50 | 150 | 1700-1900 | 350-400 | 720 | 825 | 980 | 1130 | 1300 |