Using Spent Mushroom Substrate for Improving Turf Performance
Welcome to Penn State's Using Spent Mushroom Substrate for Improving Turf Performance Website.
If you want to improve the quality of turf growing in poor or marginal soils, consider using spent mushroom substrate (SMS) as a soil amendment. Spent mushroom substrate (sometimes called mushroom soil, recycled mushroom compost, or mushroom compost) can improve soil structure, reduce surface crusting and compaction, promote drainage, increase soil microbial activity, and provide nutrients to turfgrasses. These improvements promote fast turf establishment, improved turf density and color, increased rooting, and less need for fertilizer and irrigation.
Several SMS production sites are located in Pennsylvania near areas of intensive turf use, providing a readily-available source of organic matter for professional turfgrass managers and lawn enthusiasts. When considering costs, keep in mind that SMS may produce better soil and turf than equal or greater amounts of topsoil.
What is Spent Mushroom Substrate?
Spent mushroom substrate is the composted organic material remaining after a crop of mushrooms is harvested. Mushrooms are grown in a mixture of natural products, including horse-bedded straw (straw from horse stables), hay, poultry manure, ground corn cobs, cottonseed hulls, gypsum, and other substances. This mixture is composted in piles or ricks, creating a dark brown, fibrous, and pliable organic growing media. When the composting process is complete, the media is brought into mushroom houses where it is placed into beds or trays and used as a substrate for growing mushrooms. After the mushrooms are harvested, the "spent" substrate is removed from the houses and pasteurized with steam.
Spent mushroom substrate is sometimes sold just after it is removed from mushroom houses; in this case it is referred to as "fresh SMS". Alternatively, the SMS can be placed in windrows and further composted for several weeks or several months. This material is often called "weathered SMS" and differs in composition and appearance from fresh SMS. Some producers blend SMS with soil to produce a ready-to-use growing medium for turfgrasses and other plants. To learn more about this resource, open the document entitled using SPENT MUSHROOM SUBSTRATE (MUSHROOM SOIL) AS A SOIL AMENDMENT TO IMPROVE TURF.