Effect of increasing doses of mushroom substrate on the root mass of selected lawn mixtures

To fertilize both grassland and turf lawns waste materials, including the substrate after mushroom cultivation have been used recently. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of the mushrooms substrate to change the amount of root mass of five turf lawns with varying precipitation of perennial ryegrass. Field experiment was established in 2004 in the agricultural station of University of Natural Science and Humanities in Siedlce. In the research, the following factors were used: 1) dose of mushroom substrate, 2) the mixtures lawns with different species composition and participation of perennial ryegrass. Within two years of research the evaluation of the amount of root mass of turf lawns were done. This assessment was made after plants’ vegetation in 2005 and 2006. The roots sampling of lawns were taken. After cleaning of the root and drying at 1050C, the mass was determined by weighing. The largest mass of roots (average from the study years and substrate doses) was observed for the two-component mixture (M1) with 80% share of perennial ryegrass, and the smallest for five-component mixture (M5), where the share of perennial ryegrass was 40%. The average for research years of and mixtures type, indicates that most of the root mass formed the turf lawns with the largest mushroom substrate doses, but at least on the control object. The majority of the tested lawn mixtures, with the exception of mixture five (M5) produced a greater mass of roots in the second year (2006) than in the first (2005) year, despite worse weather conditions.