Deep in a heat wave, businesses that depend on controlled environmental conditions must stay running

MEDIA, Pa. (KYW Newsradio) — Despite a suffocating heat wave that’s now in its sixth day, business must go on — and that includes the farmers in Chester County who produce most of the mushrooms eaten in the United States.

The mushrooms are grown under strict environmental conditions.

“We check humidity every day,” said Brian Guest with Kennett Square Specialties, an exotic mushroom supplier. "If it gets too high, we get what we call bacterial blotch, and that white stem gets all these reddish brown spots on there."

Guest harvests thousands of pounds of maitaki, royal trumpet and golden oyster mushrooms every week.

“If you have it all closed up, the CO2 will get really high, and it will deform the mushrooms, so we are basically pulling in 95° air and also running an air conditioner to get it cool.”

Guest says they have been cranking up the air conditioners to make sure growing rooms stay cool and the crop can still go to market.

“You gotta have your backup air conditioner units ready in case it’s really hot and you can’t get your temperature down, so you put what we call a backup, an extra unit, in the back door,” Guest said.

Delaware County residents love a trip to Linvilla Orchards, but Garden Center Manager Lauren Mangual says visitors are spending less time than usual picking fruit.

“There are still families coming out. They’re walking through the front door, and they’re just relieved that we have the air conditioning on.”

The National Weather Service has issued a heat advisory for the Philadelphia region, in effect until 8 p.m. Wednesday. With high temperatures and excessive humidity, people in the region are encouraged to check in on loved ones, neighbors and pets, and to stay aware of signs of heat stroke and heat exhaustion.

Mangual says the heat wave has kept orchard staff busy, and the orchard has been closing two hours early, at 4 p.m., for the past couple of days, to help keep people safe..

“Plants have been in pretty good shape over the last few days, despite the heat, though. We are on top of taking care of all of those,” she said.

Linvilla Orchards helper Sue Phillips says she is built to work outdoors and doesn’t even use the air conditioner in her car.

“It’s hard on me if I go in the air conditioning, in and out,” she said. “I’d rather just be hot.”