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Abstract: Properly designed and functioning environmental control can provide consistent and high yielding commercial mushroom crops (Agaricus bisporus (Lange) Sing.) with few if any serious pest and disease problems (Sinden, 1971). In practice, however, many mushroom growers in the U.S. and elsewhere still only partially or temporarily control environment during the different stages of mushroom cultivation. Consequently, mushroom crop yield and quahty often may be affected by non-optimal physical and chemical factors, viruses, bacteria, fungi, and animal pests. The essential uniqueness of each crop coupled with the number and variety of possible complex interactions frequently makes it difficult to determine the cause(s) of decreased yield or failure. The possibüity of virus infection - the only symptom of which may be decreased yield - further complicates diagnosis. Symptoms and signs encountered in mushroom crop difficulties (Bels- Koning and Bels, 1958; Kligman, 1959; Rettew and Thompson, 1948) are often less specific and reliable than those in green-plant crop problems (Sprague, 1964; Streets, 1972). During inspection visits to mushroom farms, moreover, it is difficult sometimes to make significant observations because of the developmental stage of the crop and the effects of certain cultivation practices. Although incubation of washed or cut plant tissue is commonly used to facihtate isolation of pathogens, sample incubation is not usually an appropriate method for isolation and enumeration of organisms from natural materials. Because of the mushroom grower's rehance on the practice of pasteurization or fumigation of materials and premises, however, sample incubation has value for diagnosing mushroom crop problems The non-specific nature of such a procedure is advantageous and especially so when used in conjunction with more specific methods. Employed with the necessary caution, a sample-incubation technique provides more information than the simple examination procedure often used to evaluate samples from mushroom houses (Gandy and Flegg, 1953). Undoubtedly, others have utilized an incubation technique, e.g., to isolate A. bisporus hyphae from samples of spawned compost. We do not know of any pubhshed report, however, of the systematic use or evaluation of this technique to help diagnose mushroom crop problems This report descnbes a sample-incubation procedure and summanzes results of its use in mushroom crop problems to determine and evaluate pests, pest effects, and mushroom mycelial vigor.
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