Melons Mushrooms

This group includes rock melon Mushrooms (Agarieus bisporus)

or cantaloup (Cucumis melo) unlike most other cultivated
honeydew melon, watermelon, plants are fungi. This group in-
(Citrullus vulgaris) and the jam cludes toad stools, moulds, yeasts,
melon. Melons grow best under and many serious plant pathogens.
hot dry conditions with irrigation, The part of the mushroom that
although jam melons are also grows above ground is the fruit-
grown commercially in southern ing body of the plant. The
Victoria. young unopened mushroom is
Soil requirements and cultural known as a button. It f i s t appears
operations are essentially the as small as a pin-head in size, but
same as for pumpkins (see page grows rapidly, doubling its weight
104) although more attention to every 24 hours, and reaching
watering and disease control is maturity in five to seven days.
necessary. Melons and canta- As the mushroom grows its cap
loups in particular are susceptible expands into a white umbrella-like
to mildew diseases. Hales Best structure. On the under surface
45 cantaloup is resistant to one are the gills. These are pink on
strain ofi powdery mildew. a young mushroom ; but the
color darkens as the mushroom
Harvesting matures.
Cantaloups have a built-in- From the gills many billions of
maturity indicator. When the spores are produced. These
melon is ready to pick, the stem spores are the reproductive part
can be pushed from the fruit with of the mushroom (fungi do not
slight pressure ; leaving a clean produce true seeds). On genni-
break. This is called " fullslip ". nation the spore puts out a thin,
Cantaloups picked before fullslip white thread-like growth-the
'will not ripen properly. mycelium. The mycelium grows
Mature watermelons have a through the compost or soil and
hollow sound when tapped and under the right conditions will
the stem is shrivelled. Honeydew develop a new crop of mushrooms.
melons are much harder to pick, Mushrooms spawn is produced
and experience is the only guide. under strict laboratory conditions.
Jam melons can be picked when The spores are germinated in test-
the stem begins to shrivel. tubes and the resulting thread-like
mycelium is then grown on sterile
grain. This grain spawn is usually
supplied to GowersAinlitre bottles.
Location
Home gardeners should attempt t o
grow mushrooms only during
autumn, winter, and early spring,
as temperatures are much too
high for growing at other times
of the year. The growing location
needs to be cool and free of
draughts but not necessarily dark.
A shed, cellar, or beneath the
house, are the best locations,
because some control over tem-
perature and moizture is then pos-
sible.
Boxes, shelves, or beds, at floor
Cnr~tnlorrpgrows best ~rnder.hot, dry conrlitio~zswith irrigatiorr. level, are all suitable ways of
95

M~rshroorns-an edible frcngrcs.
growing mushrooms. Boxes and
shelves which are tiered save
space, but at least 200 mm of air
space must be left between the
I of the compost on which the
d ~ o o m sgrow and the bottom
the next bed.
Compost
The compost is made with wheat
straw and stable or fowl manures.
The bedding material from
sta'bles is quite suitable or a bale
of straw mixed with two 20 litre
L..
"~ckets of poultry manure may
be used.
Mix the fresh manure and straw
into a heap, adding water until
the straw is wet. Leave the heap
to ferment for four or five days
then turn it, making sure that the
outsides go to the centre of the
new heap. Repeat this turning
process three or four times over
a period of three o r four weeks
by which time the straw and
manure will have turned a deep
chocolate-brown color.
The compost should have no
objectionable odor, with all am-
monia gases dispersed. More
water may have to be added during
the turnings but the finished
compost must not be too wet.
When squeezed in the hand the
96
compost should be moist but no
free moisture should show.
Planting
The compost may now be
placed in the growing boxes or
beds. Fill the boxes and press
the down k m l y to
between 200 and 300 mm deep
and about 25 mm from the top
of the boxes. If the temperature
does not exceed 27OC the mush-
room spawn can be planted. The
ideal growing temperature for the
spawn run is between 23OC and
24OC.
Break the mushroon~spawn in-
to lumps from 1 0 to 25 mm in
diameter and place it from 25 to
35 mm deep in the compost and
about 25 mm apart in each direc-
tion, and press the compost back
firmly against the spawn. Al-
ternatively, the spawn may be
broadcast over the bed or box
and mixed into the compost.
At this stage high humidity is
required to minimise drying of
the compost as watering should
be avoided as much as possible.
The temperature of the compost
needs to be maintained as near
as possible to the ideal (23OC t o
24OC). Lower temperatures will
slow the rate of growth while
II
,
temperatures exceeding 27OC can
injure, and may kill the mycelium.
If conditions are right the white
thread-like mycelium will be seen
growing through the compost.
Cropping
When the compost has been com-
pletely colonised with the my-
celium, a casing layer of wet peat-
moss 25 to 30 mm thick should
be placed on the compost. If peat-
moss is not available a coarse
loamy soil may be used. Main-
tain the casing layer in a moist
condition but avoid wetting the
compost beneath. The first mush-
room should appear about three
to five weeks after casing.
Maintain the growing tempera-
ture for about a week after casing
then drop the temperature gradu-
ally to 14OC or 15OC fo'r crop-
ping. The humidity of the air
should be 90% or higher to
prevent the drying of the casing
before the mushrooms form.
Picking
The mushroom should be pulled
from the bed with a gentle twisting
Any stem Or stem
p arts remaining be
removed and 'the in the
bed with fresh casing
After picking and the beds
give them a light watering.
Mushrooms continue to appear
in Over a p
eriod of One
three depending On the
temperature and the quality of the
A good crop
average Over lo kg of
to a 'quare metre of