Mushroom Compost

[Mobaan]

There is a rather large mushroom farm close to where we live . The growning media for the mushroom ( mostly Shiitaki) is mainly sawdust with some sugar ,alcohol etc added. Once the harvest is complete the compost -in ca 2liter plastic bags is thrown away . They do have trouble finding spots where to dump all this stuff .

So here is my smart idea.:

This must be wonderful compost for my garden and a good soil improvement adding organic matter to the very light sandy soils we have.

Is there any experience out there with this stuff? Does anything speak against using it .? I can get vast quantities .for free and free delivery too ,they are happy to find a place to put it .

Normally in Thailand everything that is free is GOOD for many Thais -am I missing something here?

[chownah]

Wood stuff (sawdust, shavings, chips) can be used in moderation if you add some nitrogen (manure) with them to hasten the decomposition. While it is decomposing it tends to temporarily tie up all the nitrogen but then release it back when decomposition is finished. If enough nitrogen is used then the final product of breakdown will be humus (but it will take quite a bit of nitrogen for this to happen)...the best stuff you can get in your soil....but be cautious because if you use too much and don't put in enough nitrogen then your soil might not be very good for a year or two. Also using alot will make your soil acid which might require liming but sometimes too much lime on some tropical soils can cause problems...I have an entire rap for liming of tropical soils and if you ask me I can post it here for you later. I think the key here is to try a bit on a small plot with some manure or other source of nitrogen and see what happens. You might want to stockpile some on an area where you'd like to smother the weeds so that you'll have a ready supply for your experimentation. The sugar and alcohol probably don't do much to change my advice on this but I'm a bit puzzled by the alcohol since I've never heard of using alcohol agriculturally. I would try to find out what kind of alcohol they use and also what are all of the other 'etc.' things are.

You might go look at the places where they dump this stuff and see how the weeds are growing there. If this stuff was really really good fertilizer then they'd be selling it instead of giving it away...at least in my village that is what would happen....Thai farmers are not dumb and free fertilizer would never make it to a farang.

[udon]

Try some in pot plants, you will know soon enough if it's any good.

I think that you are lucky.

[chownah]

I thought of one more thing....if you stockpile a quantity of this stuff it might prove to be a good habitat for wood eating insects....the same kind that eat the wood in houses and outbuildings so best to stockpile it away from buildings.......best luck in utilizing this resource.

[kenk3z]

I'm tempted to suggest that you should squeeze the alcohol back out of the sawdust, bottle it, and sell it as fine whiskey. But I'm worried that might violate some local patent and I don't want to get you in trouble.

kenk3z

Edited October 4, 2005 by kenk3z

[sbk]

From this article it seems to me that the sawdust will be partially composted before the mushroom spawn is even grown on it, then the mushroom cycle will further compost it. I would think that the leftovers would be safely used, if worried, then compost it a further couple of weeks or so.

From an Agro India article: The tropical wastes like rice straw, wheat straw, corncobs, dried water hyacinth, sugarcane bagasse, banana leaves, cotton waste or sawdust ae used for cultivation. The materials are usually composted for 6-30 days before use, depending on the substrate. Rice bran (20%) and lime (1%) supplements are added after composting. Sawdust is a popular substrate used on commercial farms. Any hardwood or softwood sawdust may be used. Composting is usually needed for freshly cut sawdust. To compost sawdust (long composting), it is combined with 1% urea and 1% lime. The mixture is made thoroughly wet, using a water hose; it is then piled into a heap not higher than 1.5m. Plastic sheets may or may not be used to cover the heap, depending on the bulk. During fermentation, the heap is turned every 7 days over the entire 30 to 40 day period. At the end of the period, the sawdust mixture will soften without producing any unpleasant smell. If the compost is not to be used immediately, it is dried before storage."

This composted material is then used to grow mushrooms.

[ozzydom]

Wood stuff (sawdust, shavings, chips) can be used in moderation if you add some nitrogen (manure) with them to hasten the decomposition.  While it is decomposing it tends to temporarily tie up all the nitrogen but then release it back when decomposition is finished.  If enough nitrogen is used then the final product of breakdown will be humus (but it will take quite a bit of nitrogen for this to happen)...the best stuff you can get in your soil....but be cautious because if you use too much and don't put in enough nitrogen then your soil might not be very good for a year or two.  Also using alot will make your soil acid which might require liming but sometimes too much lime on some tropical soils can cause problems...I have an entire rap for liming of tropical soils and if you ask me I can post it here for you later.  I think the key here is to try a bit on a small plot with some manure or other source of nitrogen and see what happens.  You might want to stockpile some on an area where you'd like to smother the weeds so that you'll have a ready supply for your experimentation.  The sugar and alcohol probably don't do much to change my advice on this but I'm a bit puzzled by the alcohol since I've never heard of using alcohol agriculturally.  I would try to find out what kind of alcohol they use and also what are all of the other 'etc.' things are.

You might go look at the places where they dump this stuff and see how the weeds are growing there.  If this stuff was really really good fertilizer then they'd be selling it instead of giving it away...at least in my village that is what would happen....Thai farmers are not dumb and free fertilizer would never make it to a farang.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Mushroom compost is is in my experience fully composted prior to being used in mushroom cultivation,if not ,the heat build up during composting will kill the mushroom spore. Oz mushy mix is usually oat straw,sawdust and fowl manure.

[peter_griffin]

I used mushroom compost years ago, the soil was very heavy and prone to flooding. It seemed to work out OK but we did have a few mushrooms spring up.

[bubbaba]

There is a rather large mushroom farm close to where we live . The growning media for the mushroom ( mostly Shiitaki) is mainly sawdust with some sugar ,alcohol etc added. Once the harvest is complete the compost -in ca 2liter plastic bags is thrown away . They do have trouble finding spots where to dump all this stuff .

So here is my smart idea.:

This must be wonderful compost for my garden and a good soil improvement adding organic matter to the very light sandy soils we have.

Is there any experience out there with this stuff? Does anything speak against using it .? I can get vast quantities .for free and free delivery too ,they are happy to find a place to put it .

Normally in Thailand everything that is free is GOOD for many Thais -am I missing something here?

I just read the OP and I think all of the responses. I have some thoughts/questions. I also have a mother-in-law whose yard looks like Ma and Pa Kettle's place due to mushroom farming. Needless to say, she has mountains of this stuff still in plastic bags, piled everywhere.

I read one suggestion to try it different ways and see what works. I will do that on my next trip to Khorat.

I also read where you might need to add nitrogen, etc. to the soil. I agree.

After planting (legums sp BEANS) and harvesting, or planting and when half-grown, cover the field about three to six inches deep with the mushroom waste and plow it all under. Would that produce enough nitrogen and/or make a fertile field ready for a new/different crop?

What about bedding for livestock and/or ground coverning in pens (pig pens) chicken pens? On a regular schedule you could clean out the pen/ground and haul to field for use or compost it for a short time and then to the field with it.

I read once about a man who had two fields for pigs and garden. Pigs in one side and garden in the other. After harvest he moved the pigs to the garden side and planted the old pig pen. He had been doing this, switching pigs and garden back and forth, for years with good results. He almost never plowed. Only slight tilling and or hoeing. He added no fertilized. He did say that he limed once, I believe in the beginning. I was thinking - What if you covered the ground in the pig pen side with 6 to 12 inches of mushroom waste. When time came to move the pigs and plant, would this field be ready or what?

I would like to know what you experts think? I would like suggestions? I too think, as the original post, that there might be a great amount of good stuff being wasted that we could use to save money and produce more in an earth friendly manner. What do you thing about my ideas? I plan to try the one about two fields. I have always thought that someday I would try that method and now with all of the mushroom waste, I am sure that I am going to try it.

[bina]

check out what chemicals are lurking in said compost... thais never give away for free what could be used so double check... i also saw the mushroom stuff being stuck in bags,,

there was a very heavy chemical smell like formaldyhyde or formalin near some guys' family's mushroom ' houses and i think he mentioned something chemical also... cant remember...

maybe too harsh for veggies etc too much nitrates nitrites acids whatever... we once thought to use all the icky stuff from our duck pond for watering our trees/gardens in our desire to decrease use of potable water.... the trees overdosed on fertizlizer basically, as do our trees in the goat yard; rather like using straight chicken shit. it burns rather than helps the plants.

[bubbaba]

I would like to know if there is someone on this forum who has experience growing mushrooms here in Thailand. If there is please PM me. My mother in law has mushroom houses, but, communication is bad at best and she has no concept of anything more modern then chopping fire wood for fuel.

[Gary A]

My wife was going to grow some mushrooms. She took rice husks and rice straw and plied it around a large maccam tree. She sprayed it with water and covered it with plastic. She uncovered it and sprayed it several more times. After a few weeks, she scattered the mushroom spore and covered it all again. She checked it every week looking for mushrooms. NARY a one. The maccam tree looks good though.