Adopting stick spawn reduced the spawn running time and improved mushroom yield and biological efficiency of Pleurotus eryngii

•We developed stick spawn, which can be used in mushrooms cultivation.•The use of stick spawn reduced the spawn running time compared with sawdust spawn.•Adopting stick spawn increased the mushroom yield compared with sawdust spawn.

Pleurotus eryngii is a commercially important edible mushroom cultivated widely in Asia, Europe, and North America. We developed a new type of solid spawn (stick spawn) to cultivate P. eryngii. Adopting stick spawn in P. eryngii cultivation reduced spawn running time and improved the yield and biological efficiency (BE). The spawn running time of artificial logs inoculated with stick spawn was only 29.9 days, whereas that of the artificial logs inoculated with sawdust spawn was 53.2 days. The use of stick spawn reduced the spawn running time by 23.3 days (43.8%) compared with the use of sawdust spawn. In addition, adopting stick spawn increased the mushroom yield by 11.5% compared with the use of sawdust spawn. In conclusion, the use of stick spawn resulted in shorter spawn running time and higher mushroom yield and BE.