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Abstract: Mushroom size is important in fresh marketing and controlling picking costs. Sales of fresh mushrooms have steadily increased over the last 12 years, currently representing 54% of all mushroom sales in the U.S. (Anonymous, 1980). Consumers of fresh mushrooms demand high quality mushrooms of uniform size. In some markets, a premium price is paid for large mushrooms. Mushroom size also directly influences picking costs (Ermel, 1968). Larger mushrooms represent a direct cost savings to growers due to decreased picking costs. The mushroom literature contains few articles dealing directly with the factors influencing size of the commercial mushroom, Agaricus bisporus (Lange) Sing. Much of the available information comes from research not directed at size, but where effects on size were noted and reported. Throughout this paper, size will be used interchangably with average weight per mushroom as per the data of Bonner et al. (1956). Considerable work has been done on casing moisture, size, and dry weight of sporophores. Bels-Koning (1950) reported soils with better water holding capacity resulted in higher yields if sufficient aeration was present. Reeve et al. (1959) found that size consistently decreased with decreasing soil moisture. Also, the lower casing moistures produced mushrooms with a lower moisture content. Flegg (1965) found that the number of fruiting bodies did not change as the casing moisture increased, but size and yield increased significantly. He determined the dry weight of the mushrooms from these tests. His results showed that the lb/ft2 of dry matter produced was approximately the same for both treatments, while the lb/ft2 of water in mushroom tissue increased significantly at the higher casing moistures. His results indicated the improved size and yield resulted from more water in the sporophores, not dry matter. The effect of varying compost moisture at spawning on mushroom size has not been reported. Many growers believe dry composts produce small mushrooms. Gerrits (1972) suggested compost moisture varied at fill has no effect on mushrooms size. Gormely (1969) reported low moisture compost produced mushrooms with a higher dry matter content when compared to wetter compost. Studies on nutritional supplements at spawning (Schisler and Sinden, 1962; and Schisler, 1967) have suggested that, generally, size is not affected by supplementation. Little data were presented in support of this suggestion. A mushroom cropping experiment was conducted to compare the effect of supplementation at spawing, compost moisture, and casing moisture on size, yield, and dry weight of the cottunercial mushroom, A. bisporus.
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