An investigation on pin head formation time of Agaricus bisporus on wheat straw and waste tea leaves based composts using some locally available peat materials and secondary casing materials

This study was designed to determine pin head formation time of Agaricus bisporus on wheat straw and waste tea leaves based composts. Locally available peat materials such as peat of Bolu (PB), peat of Agacbasi (PA), peat of Caykara (PC), and their mixture (80:20; v:v) with piece of mosaic (PM), perlite (P), and sand (S) were used as secondary casing materials. Also, some activator materials such as wheat bran, chicken manure, and pigeon manure were used for A. bisporus cultivation. For wheat straw based composts, the fastest pin head formation times were observed with a mixture of PA with PM casing material on wheat straw and chicken manure based compost and with PA casing material on wheat straw and pigeon manure based compost. For waste tea leaves based composts, the fastest pin head formation times were obtained with a mixture of PA with PM and PC with PM on waste tea leaves and chicken manure based compost. Generally, when peat materials were used in combination with each other, the period of pin head formation times shortened compared to their individual use. A mixture of forest soil with sand (80 + 20; in volume) gave the worst results in terms of pin head formation times for both composts. In secondary casing materials, PM gave the best results in terms of pin head formation time for both composts.