Effects of substrate proportion on growth and yield of milky mushroom (Calocybe indica)

Abstract

Milky mushroom is a large mushroom that can be grown in every region of Thailand, but milky mushroom has a slow growth. This experiment aimed to improve the cultured formulas of milky mushroom for promoting growth. The results in mother spawn bottle showed that the formula 7 (75 g of sorghum grains + 25 g of paddy grains + 1 g of glucose) and formula 6 (100 g of sorghum grains + 1 g of glucose) had the faster colonization on substrate than that of the commonly used formula 1 (100 g of sorghum grains). The spawn run of milky mushroom in plastic bags found that the formula 7 (70% of rubber sawdust + 20% of crushed pineapple stem + 5% of rice bran + 5% of soybean residue) and formula 2 (70% of rubber sawdust + 20% g of crushed pineapple stem + 10% of rice bran) mixed with the 20% of crushed pineapple stem had the mycelium growth of milky mushroom to be pin head were faster than formula 1 (90% of rubber sawdust + 10% of rice bran). The first harvest yields of milky mushrooms in formulas 7 (229.40 g/pot) and 2 (190.90 g/pot) were more than formula 1 (135.70 g/pot). Additionally, the proportion of chopped straw and pineapple stem to mushroom yield showed that using the 75% straw mixed with 25% pineapple stem provided the most yield of milky mushroom at 354.33 g/bag. The lower treatments were 100% rice straw and 50% rice straw mixed with 50% pineapple stem proportions with the mushroom yields of 194.33 and 156.67 g/bag, respectively, which had a significant difference (P<0.01).