Application of Pleurotus ostreatus spent substrate for the greenhouse cultivation of baby leaf lettuce

Fertility can be defined as soil’s capacity to supply essential plant nutrients and soil water in adequate amounts and proportions for plant growth and reproduction. In the last years soil fertility has decreased significatively: the continuous using of chemical fertilizers has led to the decrease in fertility rate in agricultural soils globally. Several factors can affect soil fertility, nutrient content is one of the most important. To optimize fertilization processes, it is necessary to know which are the soil physical, chemical and biological properties and which are plant species requirements. As all molecules, fertilizers have specific properties and if they are used carefully, they can enhance crop production. Mainly among substances with fertilizing action, a basic distinction can be made between mineral fertilizers and organic fertilizers; one of the last frontiers for the latter is the utilization of Spent Mushroom Substrate (SMS) for fertilization purposes. The purpose of this experiment is to partially or totally replace the application of mineral fertilizer with Spent Mushroom Substrate on succession of different varieties of baby leaf lettuce, the effect of the different plots with different amounts of applied spent substrates have been compared with mineral fertilization regarding productive and qualitative aspects, Nitrogen Use Efficiency and microbial community of the soil.