Abstract

Three compost formulas (formula I, formula II, and formula III) based waste tea leaves and using some activator materials such as wheat bran, chicken manure and pigeon manure were studied for Agaricus bisporus cultivation. Some locally available peats such as peat of Bolu, peat of Agacbasi, peat of Caykara and theirs mixture (80:20; volume : volume) with perlite were used. Temperature values of all compost formulas during composting process were measured to determine the compostability level. According to results, compost temparature steadily increased until the 8th, 9th, and  9th day of composting for formula I, formula II, and formula III, respectively. The maximum compost temperature values were measured for all compost formulas at the second turning stage of composting process. The highest compost temperature values were measured prepared from a mixture of waste tea leaves and wheat bran (formula I). The best mushroom yield was obtained by a mixture of waste tea leaves and pigeon manure with the peat of Caykara and perlite mixture as casing material. Peat of Caykara gave higher mushroom yield than those of other peats.

Key words: Waste tea leaves, composting process, compost temperature, peat, activator materials.