The holiday period has once again demonstrated that good instructions about bubble infection are essential both for temporary employees and your own regular workers. Re-infection on your own farm is the major cause of a stubborn bubble infection that can sometimes last months. Pickers are in the top three of spore spreaders. It is absolutely essential to identify bubble at an early stage. The “Bubble, identification and control” poster can help here. There should also be a plan of action for reporting, or even more seriously, what to do if a bubble is picked from the beds. Growers and pickers all have different ways of dealing with this problem.

Each growing facility should have a clear description of the steps to be taken if a bubble infection is discovered. Pickers must know how to mark bubble. Can the mushrooms in a 1 metre radius around the bubble be picked now, later on in the day or not at all? When should the supervisor be told? Should the bubble be removed or isolated? Which other hygiene measures need to be taken? Giving clear instructions to the pickers removes one important cause of re-infection.

AdVisie ‘the mushroom cultivation advisors' Jos Hilkens