A client I'm working with generates a large amount of spent coconut coir from a medium scale
greenhouse operation growing tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, and other produce in a hydroponic system. Their organic vegetable substrate would contain only coconut coir and composted laying hen litter while the conventional vegetables are grown with additional chemicals or non-organically certified products.
What
mushroom varieties, if any, would be a viable candidate for inoculation of this substrate?
Could the coir be blended with other substrates to promote colonization?
Will residual plant nutrients be a problem?
The client also uses a large amount of fuel
wood each season and has the potential to generate mixed species wood chips. Potential to generate single species wood chips would take a little more planning and organization.
Also available would be a large amount of green plant residues, the majority being pruned suckers from tomato plants, second being waste produce bound for the
compost pile.
Strong possibility of acquiring spent
coffee grounds or brewery grain as farm is located in a more populated area, makes regular deliveries in a very large
city and has solid relationships in the
local food environment.
Project can be conducted in heated
greenhouse environment suitable for solanaceous crops or outside, in the shade, with or without protection such as clear plastic or row cover.
Inside greenhouse mushroom substrate could be located beneath a rack used for growing out seedlings where substrate would be shaded well and receive regular watering.
Currently coconut is contained in 3 gallon black plastic grow bags. Would mushroom inoculation and grow out be more convenient and/or more productive growing in the bags or in some other configuration?
Thank you for any questions or comments. I'm sure I'll post more comments here as I
answer these questions and develop a plan.