Vol. 7, Issue 8, Part A (2025)

The present investigation “Growth Parameters and Yield Performance for Pleurotus florida Mushroom”, was aimed to evaluate the efficiency of various agricultural substrates locally available on the growth characteristics of Pleurotus florida mushroom. Growth parameters such as spawn run duration, time required for pinhead formation, harvests were observed across six treatments using soybean straw, wheat straw, paddy straw, sugarcane bagasse, sugarcane trash, and pigeonpea straw. Results indicated that the spawn run duration ranged from 19.00 to 20.50 days. Treatment T₁ (soybean straw) was the fastest, completing in 19.00 days, followed by T₄ (paddy straw) and T₆ (pigeonpea straw) at 19.25 days. The longest was in T₅ (sugarcane trash), taking 20.50 days. For pinhead initiation, T₁ also showed the earliest pinhead formation at 23.25 days, while T5 was the slowest, took 26.25 days. Yield per kilogram of dry substrate ranged from 853.37 g to 1095.85g, with highest in treatment T1(soybean straw) and lowest in treatment T4 (sugarcane bagasse). In conclusion the data clearly highlighted that the substrate type significantly impacts the development of Pleurotus florida, with soybean straw proving to be the most effective medium for growth and yield.