Evaluation of different substrates on growth and yield of oyster mushroom (Pleurotus florida)

An experiment was carried out to investigate the effect of different substrates on growth and yield of oyster mushroom (Pleurotus florida). Four different agricultural substrates viz., wheat straw, wheat straw + water hyacinth (1:1), maize straw, maize straw + bajra straw (1:1) were used to evaluate growth period, growth parameters and yield potential of three strains of oyster mushroom (PL-20-204, PL-20-205 and PL-20-206). Maximum average weight of fruiting bodies were recorded in bags where wheat straw+ water hyacinth was used as substrate and it was 19.30 g in case of PL-20-206 followed by 18.03 g and 16.09 g in PL-20-204 and PL-20-205 strains, respectively. Wheat straw + water hyacinth substrate showed best results among all substrates with a total yield of 900.1 kg bag−1 for PL20-206, 795.1 kg bag−1 for PL-20-204 and 731.9 kg bag−1 for PL-20-205 in three harvests. The results would be useful to mushroom growers in selecting suitable substrate for higher yield.