Abstract
The objective of the experiment was to compare mycelium growth and the yield of wild strains of Pleurotus ostreatus derived from natural sites and of a cultivated HK35 strain. Mycelium growth was investigated on substrates prepared from the sawdust of deciduous trees, wheat and rye straw as well as by-products from the textile industry: flax and hemp shives. Irrespective of the applied substrate, the cultivated HK35 strain was characterised by the fastest growth, whereas amongst the examined wild strains, mycelia designated as U18/5, S12/3 and B17/4 were found to grow best. Substrates prepared from wheat and rye straw and flax shives turned out to be the best for mycelium growth of the tested strains of P. ostreatus. The yield of oyster mushroom depended on the type of applied substrate. Higher yields were recorded on substrates from flax shives and a mixture of wheat straw and hemp shives than on wheat straw. The cultivated HK35 strain and the wild S12/3 strain gave the highest yields irrespective of the kind of substrate.