Growing blocks on the floor/ A Focus on John Treanor
John Among his crop
John Treanor of Braddox, Tullycorbett, Co.Monaghan, has being growing mushrooms since 1992.
John like all the Treanor family is a perfectionist and this characteristic has stood him well when it comes to mushroom growing.
The mushrooms that are grown on John’s farm are noted for being top quality. John uses the Amycel strain Delta which he believes gives him outstanding quality even in the first flush.
John is helped on his growing enterprise by his wife Caroline as well as his mother Rosaleen.
John has been growing blocks on the floor for two years and he is very happy with the results.
The following is a summary of the growing methods employed by John on his growing unit.
Spawn run: Fills 560 blocks on the floor, which usually weights 12.5-13 tonne.. Spawn runs usually for 18 days. Spawn Delta.
Case run: Uses a heavy casing. Adds (casing company) ½ box of cacing.
Casing day (Mon) 45 gallons + dimilin Seals crop on day of casing. Tues Wed Thur Fri 50 gallons Sat 50 gallons Sun 50 gallons Mon 50 gallons + sporgon Tues Wed Thur Breaks
Maintains compost at 25/260 C and air at 230 C during case run. Uses nematodes for fly control.
Breaking: Compost is usually 25/260 C at breaking. Breaks with mycelium close to surface (crop looks fairly white).
Stage 1: Drops air from 220 C to 180 C over 3-4 days. Compost usually drops 10 C per day. Maintains RH at 90-95%.
Stage 2: Compost: 210 C. Maintains air at 180 C, RH at 90%. CO2 varies depending on time of year. In the wintertime it could be 2000 ppm. In the summer it is irrelevant.
Maintains above conditions until the first flush.
First Flush:
Picks the first flush over 4 days. Maintains air at 17/180 C, RH at 80-85% and CO2 1200/1400 ppm.
Picks the mushrooms big. Initially only picks off the largest size of mushroom and then repicks house.
Total yield is generally 3000 lbs.
Adds 45 gallons the day the flush is cleared and then waits until the 2nd is pinned (usually 3 days later) and then adds another 100 gallons.
Maintains conditions as above until it reaches 2nd flush. Doesn’t give blow out etc!
Second flush:
Same conditions as above. May take in more air during 2nd flush (i.e. 10% more.).
Again picks over 4 days. Yield is again 3000lbs. Maintains conditions after 2nd flush (no blow out).
Gives 45 gallons when flush is cleared. Wait until pinned to add more water (usually 4 days). Then adds 100 gallons.
Third flush:
Maintains the same conditions as previously. Picks 1500lbs over 4 days.
At this stage block temperature is approx 18/190 C.
Yield: Yields 560-600+ lbs per tonne approx.
Differences in bags & blocks:
Blocks may be a little harder to heat when on ground particularly in winter.
Blocks easier to control in summer.
Less disease.
Disease John has noted a drop in disease levels since he has started using a converted silage wagon for storing his casing. The delivery truck delivers the casing, which is dumped via a ramp into the wagon. Hence the casing never touches the ground. John did all the work converting the trailer himself. Of course other hygiene procedures are followed to the maximum extent and thoroughly throughout the farm.
10/8/2003 9:44:41 PM Interested in the fact that disease has diminished since casing stopped coming in contact with ground. In our own quest for cleanliness we extract the raw peat from the bog face and fill it direct on to a sixteen tonner.The load is tipped direct into a self feed continuous mixing plant where the mix is bagged out of the other end. The mix is carried through the mixer by elevator bars like the floor of your silage wagon.
The filled bags then stand on raised platforms,or designated areas.Redundant artic platforms in fact,so that from the moment the raw peat enters the excavator bucket untill the grower cuts the casing bag open,the mix has not been in contact with concrete.
Our Motto! Buy clean casing-Keep it clean. It is reasuring to hear how someone else finds an improvement in hygine by keeping casing away from concrete.
Photo of our mixing plant.22 tons per hour by two men.On www bogbain.com Brian MacGregor, Inverness
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