Group training

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Substrate & wood fungi production course

Fed up with the internet overload of information on mushroom growing? Don’t know who to believe anymore?

Then come and join one of our courses on the production of wood fungi such as Oyster mushroom, King Oyster (Eryngii), Shiitake, Hericium, Nameko and many other species. You will get a state-of-the-art overview of the current specialty mushroom industry.

We can not teach you how to grow White Button Mushrooms! For Agaricus bisporus trainings, check out Mushroom Office in the Netherlands. For Agaricus bisporus spawn production training, check out our spawn production training.

Over the years, many of you have come to our excellent training centre for mycelium and lignicolous substrate producers. Since November 2011, we are organising group trainings on the production of sterilized substrates and lignicolous mushrooms, which cover the whole production cycle from sawdust to specialty mushroom.

The program has been developed in close collaboration with Dipl. Ing. Jürgen Kynast, who has a broad-spectrum scientific background in combination with extensive experience as a grower and a substrate producer of specialty mushrooms. We welcome existing and would-be growers to this in-depth course.

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DETAILS

Next edition: Spring 2022 (dates to be confirmed)
Location: Mycelia’s premises

Training language: English
Group size: maximum 21

*VAT, board and lodging not included.

Program

SUBJECT TRAINER
08:15 – 09:00 Welcome and practical briefing
09:00 – 10:00 Parallel session: Introduction to the course
           20 min Group 1: Introduction video + Quiz slides Jan Van Nuffel
           20 min Group 2: Mycelia floor plan and visit to the premises Kasper Moreaux
           20 min Group 3: Testing hands and air with the help of growing media Magda Verfaillie
10:00 – 10:30 Spawn quality: importance in substrate production. Gas exchange, packing, transport and conservation, quality control Magda Verfaillie
10:30 – 11:00 Coffee break
10:30 – 11:00 Introduction to substrate production: components, mixing, humidification, filling, bag closing, sterilisation, cooling, spawning, incubation, growing systems Jürgen Kynast
12:30 – 13:30 Lunch break
13:30 – 15:00 Parallel session:
           30 min Group 1: Applied research Mihály Vidacs
           30 min Group 2: Visit to technical floor with overpressure units Magda Verfaillie
           30 min Group 3: Design your own substrate Kasper Moreaux
15:00 – 15:30 Coffee break
15:30 – 16:50 Fundamentals of biology for substrate producers Magda Verfaillie
16:50 – 17:40 Building technics: construction materials, water supply, waste water, electricity, energy efficiency Kasper Moreaux
SUBJECT TRAINER
08:30 – 09:00 Multiple choice: true or false? Magda Verfaillie
09:00 – 12:30 Parallel sessions: Substrate composition
            60 min      Group 1: Practical substrate preparation in Mycelia’s workshop: selection of ingredients, filling of mixer, addition of water, examples of filling and mixing machines, pH and dry matter measurement Magda Verfaillie
10:00 – 10:30 Coffee break
           60 min      Group 2: Improving the structure of substrates: determination of water- and air-filled pores; characteristics and role of different additives: wood chips, wood shavings, etc; examples of substrate formulations Jürgen Kynast
            60 min      Group 3: Demonstration of incubating substrates: good and bad examples, discussion Kasper Moreaux
12:30 – 13:30 Lunch break
13:30 – 15:00 Dealing with micro-organisms in substrate production: presence of propagules in the air, cleanroom classes, air quality control, use of LAF, use of overpressure, rules of conduct Magda Verfaillie
15:00 – 15:30 Coffee break
15:30 – 16:30 Biological approach of different production stages: incubation, ripening, fructification Jürgen Kynast
16:30 – 17:00 Incubation and ripening phases: climate conditions, temperature vs. time Jürgen Kynast
SUBJECT TRAINER
08:30 – 09:30 Pasteurisation process for substrates of lignicolous mushrooms: theory and practice, advantages and disadvantages Jürgen Kynast
09:30 – 10:30 Low cost production of substrates for specialty mushrooms in sea containers Orazio Tietto
10:30 – 11:00 Coffee break
11:00 – 12:30 Autoclaving process: theory on steam production and heat transfer, correct autoclaving procedure, F- value, what happens in the substrate bags? Jürgen Kynast
12:30 – 13:30 Lunch break
13:30 – 15:30 Parallel sessions: Practical inoculation, machinery
          40 min      Group 1: Practical substrate inoculation in Mycelia’s technical lab: essentials of small-scale production inoculation, particle counting and air speed measurement Jürgen Kynast
          40 min      Group 2: Practical substrate inoculation in Mycelia’s cleanroom: essentials of large-scale production inoculation Kasper Moreaux & Mohammad Al Shukor
          40 min      Group 3: Autoclaves and steam generator: practical use of steam, valves and sterilisation cycle schematics Magda Verfaillie
15:30 – 16:00 Coffee break
16:00 – 17:00 Pests and diseases: prevention and solutions Jürgen Kynast
SUBJECT TRAINER
08:30 – 09:00 Cooling and heating: technical approach Jürgen Kynast
09:00 – 09:20 Breathing bags: techniques and gas exchange Jan Van Nuffel
09:20 – 09:50 Racks and shelves Jürgen Kynast
09:50 – 11:10 Parallel sessions
           30 min     Group 1: Construction and maintenance of laminar air flows: filter types, practicalities, dangers, practical review of LAF’s, build and efficiency Kasper Moreaux
10:20 – 10:40 Coffee break
           30 min     Group 2: Bag sealing: difficulties, problems and solutions Roel Van de Heyning
11:10 – 12:00 Fructification techniques: aeration systems, humidification systems, hygiene in fructification room, harvesting, mushroom quality, post-harvest care, spent substrate Jürgen Kynast
12:00 – 13:00 Lunch break
13:00 – 13:45 Drive to Inagro, Research Station for Mushroom Cultivation
13:45 – 15:30 Visit to Inagro: introduction to bulk production of Pleurotus substrate
15:30 – 15:50 Drive to Patrick Devroe
15:50 – 17:00 Visit to Devroe: professional Shiitake producer
17:30 – 18:30 Shiimake (Belgian) beer tasting, delivery of USB stick and training certificate
SUBJECT TRAINER
08:30 – 09:15 Fructification techniques: humidification, mushroom harvest and conservation, rules of hygiene Jürgen Kynast
09:15 – 10:30 Climate conditions, specified per mushroom species Jürgen Kynast
10:30 – 11:00 Coffee break
11:00 – 12:00 Parallel sessions
           30 min     Group 1: Make the layout of a substrate and mushroom production farm Jürgen Kynast
           30 min     Group 2: Mapping air contamination in substrate production. How to evaluate infection pressure in your premises with the help of an air quality map. Evaluation of Petri dishes made on day 1 Magda Verfaillie
12:00 – 13:00 Lunch break
13:00 – 13:30 Drive to De Kromme Boom
13:30 – 14:30 Visit to De Kromme Boom:  cultivation of Pleurotus ostreatus on bulk-pasteurised straw-based substrate
14:30 – 15:30 Drive to Le Champignon de Bruxelles
15:30 – 17:30 Visit to Le Champignon de Bruxelles: substrate production and cultivation of a series of lignicolous mushrooms on individually packed and pasteurised wood-based substrate
17:30 – 18:15 Drive back to De Steenhove, or start your return journey homeParticipants can be dropped at a metro station, which will connect them to the Brussels Airport or to a train station

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