Techniques to grow oyster mushrooms from culture to harvest were evaluated using locally available materials. Oyster was successfully grown in Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA). Spawn for Pleurotus ostreatus was prepared from sorghum and wheat without showing significance preference on them. Wheat straw, barley straw, sinar straw, waste paper, and gabi wastes were used as substrates; waste paper and gabi wastes alone or in mixture with saw dust yielded more oyster than wheat straw, barley straw, sinar straw. Substrates were reused and the yield was slower when it is compared to original substrates and they were found contaminated during pasteurization. Effects of pore size, temperature, and relative humidity on growth of mushrooms were evaluated. Pin hole size, high temperature (25oC) and high relative humidity were optimal for oyster growth. This temperature is optimal for spawn running both in cultivation and span production.
Key words: oyster mushroom, Pleorotus ostreatus, spawns, primordia, mushroom cultivation
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