I just finished applying spent mushroom soil to 10,000 sq ft. Wow, that's a job and a half. Here's a link to an article about the benefits of using mushroom soil on turf.

Here is a link that might be useful: Penn state mushroom soil on turf

I would certainly find out what kind of pesticides they use to control insect and disease pests.

Here is a link that might be useful: FYI

Wow GBIG2. That's sounds like a lot of work! What steps did you follow? How much SMS did you get? Just curious as my lawn is the same size.

Smitty, I just shoveled it into a wheelbarrow and dumped it into piles then used a garden rake to spread it around. It took a couple days and is a lot of work. I used 8 cubic yards and it cost me $9/cubic yard.

Do what you want, but.... ; )

I wouldn't apply any compost (ESPECIALLY mushroom compost) without first seeing test results showing me the chemistry and biology.

Think of it this way: There's a reason it's called "spent" and there's a reason the mushroom farmer isn't using it anymore. Consider the amount of labor involved with topdressing even a small lawn with compost. Wouldn't you want the best you can find (at a reasonable cost of course)?

There's more to compost than the organic matter, the microbes, and then even the organic matter is useless without them.

This isn't even taking into consideration selective fungicides that may have been used, the autoclave the compost may have been put through previous to them selling it (farmers don't like to distribute their cultures), and the bad chemistry and anaerobic conditions that possibly exist. One good indicator of the quality of mushroom compost is the smell. I have yet to have heard of SMC without an unattractive aroma. It's the bad organisms living in the SMC that are giving it that aroma. Those organisms are anaerobic.

So you'll save a couple bucks a cubic yard, but is all that worth it? You won't know without testing and tests are expensive to have done on your own. Look for what the landscape supply companies call "Garden Compost" or ask for thermal compost. It's a night and day product from a biological standpoint.

Now that's not saying that ALL SMC is bad and it's not saying that it can't be made into good compost. With the right set of biology any organic matter can be made into a gardener's dream.

Greenjeans

SMC is easy to find and very cheap where I live, and it's done well as a top dressing for me.

Anyhoo, you have to have very careful when purchasing. Most mushroom compost is hot, and will burn your lawn to death.

Here's a little more info on the good 'ol SMC:

"Mushroom compost is typically autoclaved before it is used. Reason? Because you are trying to grow a mono-culture of a fungus that doesn't normally grow in a mix of wood-shavings, ground barley, oat, corn, wheat seed or meals, amino acids, sugars, and various fertilizers (urea, manures are sometimes used as well).
Consider that a healthy forest floor is where these mushroom-forming fungi usually grow, not commercial mushroom mixes. So, the other organisms that are in mushroom "compost" are typically better-suited to grow in those mixes than mushroom fungi, and therefore, killing the potential competitors and consumers of the mushrooms is the easiest way to go.
Is there anything wrong with that? Depends on your point of view. Without the other normal organisms helping the fungi grow, what is the likelihood that the mushrooms will contain the nutrition that a natural mushroom would have? But then, how much nutrition would a mushroom have, even under the best of conditions? Actually, quite a bit of protein, vitamins and mineral nutrients. A bit lacking in the sugar category, but then that's a good thing from the view of someone on a diet. Not good from a starving person's view. All things are relative.

Mushroom compost starts out with a good set of organic matter, but limited diversity because only one fungus is inoculated, or added into, the material.
The fungus starts to grow, using the food resources it needs. What is the likelihood that the fungus will use up all the nutrients in the organic matter? So, LOTS of nutrients will not be used.
What form are these nutrients in? In the organic matter, which is not included in the chemical industry's definition of nutrients. From their point of view, only inorganic salts are nutrients. Luckily for your body, that is not the truth. Organic matter contains all the nutrients a plant needs, in the right balance (it was all plant material once, remember, an therefore has to have the balance of nutrients that ALL plants must have in order to function), but those nutrients are not immediately available to a plant, until the bacteria and fungi, protozoa and nematodes and microarthropods work on it. Those interactions will release that material as plant available forms.
So, the nutrients are there, but only if you have the biology. Are all those organisms in the spent mushroom waste? Nope.
The growing conditions for the mushrooms are maintained relatively clean, or as clean as possible. Except some contamination will occur. Some diseases get into the growing areas, and so typically efforts must be made to prevent the growth of these contaminating organisms.
Antibiotics, salt preservatives and possibly stronger fungicides may be used. Thus two different groups of salt materials may be included - fertilizers as well as salts to kill organisms other than the mushroom fungus.
In the waste mushroom material left-over after the mushrooms have been picked, is a lot of woody organism matter, LOTS of fungal hyphae, and the materials used to prevent the growth of the contaminants.
Oh, and consider that the mushroom grower isn't going to give away his mushroom culture. So the blocks have been treated in some fashion to kill the mushroom fungi. They may have autoclaved the whole thing again. They may have soaked it in fungicides, or salt, to kill the fungal culture.
Once the mushrooms were picked, and the culture killed, how was the mushroom waste treated? Could have gotten all kinds of bacterial growth, especially if a lot of sugar and amino acids were used in the original material and the mushroom fungus didn't use it. I've seen lots of anaerobic, stinky, smelly, putrid "mushroom waste". I've seen some good aerobic material that has been fluffed and is great for growing some good organisms.
But do not call spent mushroom waste "mushroom compost". It is not a compost by any means. There is only one fungus in high concentration in the material. It is a limited material. It may have lots of toxic material in it. It lacks the rest of the foodweb.
As a food to add into your compost? Could be really good, could be really bad. Same rules apply as for any pile of organic matter when you are trying to figure out if it is good to add to a real compost pile."

This little tid-bit I was told by a scientist that works in the soil biology field. This is what she told me when I wanted to use SMC a couple years ago (or was it last year?). So statements like "easy to come by", "inexpensive" and "works for me" don't hold much water in my book.

C'mon, folks. You don't think I just make this stuff up, do you? Unlike some organic practicioners I don't fly-by-night this info. If someone says something works, I want to know why. We should all learn to be inquisitive. Don't take anything at face value including statements I make, and especially don't believe every articly you find on the 'net. People want to sell you something everyday, are you gonna' buy it? Mushroom waste is just that; waste. Now they found a market for it: unsuspecting organic folks who don't know any better unless they they ask. Learn to ask the right questions and you'll be able to seperate the waste from the compost.

Greenjeans

I'd avoid mushroom compost at all cost. it sounds like it could kill a person.

LOL...yeah, I suppose it may come across that way. Actually you're not far from the truth if you consider it may be anaerobic and could contain pathogens. How much "quality" control is actually maintained with this stuff? Ever smelled it? It reeks! Then they have the gumption to call it "compost".

Greenjeans