Process of shiitake (lentinus edodes) cultivation

In a synthetic system for the culture of forest mushrooms with the formation of bed blocks of a medium which includes at least a major portion of sawdust and a minor portion of at least one selected grain bran, a process for assuring substantially complete infection of the medium by mycelium and the development of a uniform, concentrated layer of mature aerial hypha on the surface of the bed blocks, the process including the steps of:

• placing the medium in a container of impermeable material and watering the medium to a sufficient moisture content, sterilizing the container with the medium and inoculating the medium;
• incubating the contents of the container to allow the mycelium to run, the incubating being at a preselected temperature and for a period sufficient to allow the mycelium to unite the medium into a bed block;
• removing the bed block from the container and placing the bed block in a space substantially closed from the environment and providing means in the closed space to assure a relative humidity of at least 90 percent for a period sufficient to allow a new layer of aerial hypha to form on the bed block;
• exposing the bed block to open air and sprinkling the bed block to maintain the temperature thereof with a liquid consisting essentially of water for a period sufficient to cause the aerial hypha to attain a mature coloration;
• and
• inducing the bed block so formed to bear mushrooms.