Mushroom Compost — Live Course

The opening lesson, and the one that frames everything else. Free for everyone who registers.

• What compost actually is: a selective substrate, not a fertiliser
• The microbiology behind the process — mesophiles, thermophiles, actinomycetes
• How compost quality decides yield, flush pattern and disease pressure
• The terms and units used through the whole course: C:N, moisture, ash, ammonia
• Why most growing-room problems are traced back to the yard

• Bunker, tunnel, windrow and aerated-floor systems — where each one makes sense
• Phase I / II / III: who makes what, and how farms buy compost
• Cost per tonne: raw materials, energy, labour, depreciation
• Capacity planning — matching yard output to the growing rooms
• How the same model performs in Europe, the Middle East and South Asia

• Which analyses actually matter: moisture, ash, N, C:N, pH, ammonia
• Sampling done right — where, when and how much
• Reading a lab report and spotting numbers that cannot be true
• On-site tests: squeeze test, Dräger tubes, temperature probes
• Building a minimum measurement routine a yard can actually keep

• Straw: wheat, rice and local alternatives — structure, storage, ageing
• Chicken manure and other nitrogen sources: variability and risks
• Gypsum, urea and supplements — what each one really does
• Water quality, volumes and availability
• Accepting, testing and storing deliveries — and when to reject a load

• C:N calculation step by step, on real formulas
• Target moisture and how to actually hit it at mixing
• Adjusting the recipe when a raw material changes
• Splitting nitrogen between pre-wetting and mixing
• Building a formulation sheet you can repeat batch after batch

• Material flow through the yard — never crossing dirty and clean
• Bunker and tunnel dimensions, floors, aeration channels, drainage
• Leachate collection and water recycling
• Odour, neighbours and permits
• Layout mistakes that cost you on every single batch

• Turners, loaders, mixers, conveyors, filters — the real must-haves
• Fans, dampers and control systems for Phase I and Phase II
• Sizing equipment to yard capacity instead of to the brochure
• A maintenance plan and the spare parts you cannot live without
• New versus used: where to save and where never to

• Pre-wetting and Phase I, day by day
• Building the stack: density, structure, aeration
• Temperature and oxygen curves — what a good Phase I looks like
• Turning schedule, water additions, and knowing when to stop
• Judging finished Phase I compost by hand and by number

• Filling the tunnel: density, evenness, avoiding channels
• Pasteurisation — temperature, time, and what it actually kills
• Conditioning: bringing ammonia down to target
• Air management: recirculation, fresh air, gradients through the bed
• Deciding when Phase II is finished

• Spawn choice, spawn rate and hygiene at spawning
• Phase III incubation: temperature, CO2 and cooling
• Supplements — types, timing, dosage and risks
• Selectivity and competitor moulds during incubation
• Assessing a finished Phase III compost before it leaves the tunnel

• A weekly schedule that keeps the yard and the farm in sync
• Crew roles and training
• The daily record sheet: what must be written down every day
• KPIs for a compost yard, and how to review them
• Communication between the yard and the growing rooms

• Diagnosing under-composted and over-composted material
• Ammonia problems, wet spots, greasy compost, competitor moulds
• Troubleshooting a batch that is already in the tunnel
• Spent mushroom substrate: reuse, sale and regulations
• Building a corrective-action checklist for the yard