Once Shiitake and Pleurotis MushroomsWorld farming became

Once Shiitake and Pleurotis MushroomsWorld farming became more popular, growers started inventing many different methods for handling the sawdust. Today’s straw and sawdust users enjoy the flexibility that plastic packaging allows, and most farmers stuff plastic bags or tubes full of the growing medium.

Pasteurization is the process of heating a substance in order to destroy harmful bacteria within.

The process of composting includes a final stage where the temperature is high enough to accomplish pasteurization. But most other growing mediums must consider a process of purification that is even more intense: sterilization.

Conventional steam sterilization uses high temperatures and generally kills everything in the mixture, even some possibly helpful organisms. Large ovens are a common means of sterilizing growing mediums. In previous years, methyl bromide and other fumigants were employed. Today, other organic methods of sterilization, such as using hydrogen peroxide, are becoming popular with many growers.

Mushroom farmers have always been self-reliant and inventive. Today’s growers are no different, having devised a wide range of custom sterilization methods including using barbecue pits to heat oil drums filled with growing medium, and using tractor motor emissions to fumigate materials.