The technology of artificial cyanobacterial crusts for desert land management is one of the effective methods for combating desertification in the new times. However, the large-scale production of artificial cyanobacterial crusts inocula and the determination of optimal auxiliary colonization measures post-inoculation remain significant bottlenecks impeding the efficiency of this desertification control strategy. In this study, we investigated the effects of different conditions of inoculum (dry algae and wet algae) and two types of mulching (maize straw and non-woven fabric) on the colonization of artificial cyanobacterial crusts. The results showed that both the wet and dry inocula were successfully colonized under natural conditions with two mulching methods of maize straw and non-woven fabric. Maize straw mulching offers superior environmental regulation compared to non-woven fabric mulching, playing a significant role in controlling wind erosion, reducing light intensity, and extending the duration of sum of effective wetting time, thereby more effectively promoting the colonization of artificial cyanobacterial crusts. After 63 days of cultivation, the highest coverage of artificial cyanobacterial crusts (27.9%) was achieved under the treatment of maize straw mulching combined with dry algae inoculation. Under the treatment of maize straw mulching combined with wet algae inoculation, the thickness (6.5 mm), chlorophyll a content (23.8 μg/cm²), loosely bound exopolysaccharide content (309.9 μg/cm²), tightly bound exopolysaccharide content (176.5 μg/cm²), and glycocalyx exopolysaccharide content (181.1 μg/cm²) is the highest. Regression analysis results showed that coverage, chlorophyll a content, and the content of the three types exopolysaccharides in artificial cyanobacterial crusts were significantly negatively correlated with wind erosion intensity (P＜0.05). Coverage, thickness, chlorophyll a content, and the content of the three types exopolysaccharides were significantly positively correlated with sum of effective wetting time (P＜0.05). Among them, the content of chlorophyll a is linearly positively correlated with sum of effective wetting time, while coverage, thickness, and the content of three types of exopolysaccharides are logarithmically positively correlated. The indicators of artificial cyanobacterial crusts are significantly negatively correlated with light intensity. Among them, coverage and glycocalyx exopolysaccharide content show a binomial correlation with light intensity, while the remaining indicators exhibit a linear correlation. These results indicate that the successful colonization of short-term inocula in field environments provides a new approach for the large-scale production of artificial cyanobacterial crusts. Additionally, the use of maize straw mulching in the colonization process of artificial cyanobacterial crusts provides effective environmental regulation, enriching the options for auxiliary measures during the early stages of cyanobacterial inoculation.