Influence of carbon dioxide, inoculum rate, amount and mixing of casing soil on Agaricus blazei fruiting bodies yield

Influence of carbon dioxide concentration during compost and casing soil overgrowth, inoculum rate, casing soil depth and mixing on Agaricus blazei fruiting bodies yield was determined. Compost composed of chicken manure and wheat straw which is used for commercial button mushrooms cultivation in Slovenia showed to be appropriate for A. blazei fruiting bodies production. Out of the parameters tested in our experiments, casing soil depth and inoculum rate had the biggest positive effect on fruiting bodies production. For A. blazei fruiting bodies production higher rates of inoculum and at least 8.5 kg of commercial casing soil per square meter of compost surface should be used. Higher carbon dioxide concentrations shoved to be beneficial for attaining higher yields of A. blazei fruiting bodies.