Emily Johnson
Oyster mushrooms are a great choice for beginner farmers due to their resilience, fast growth, and ability to grow almost anywhere. They are also highly nutritious, containing fibre, vitamins, minerals, and key nutrients, while being low in carbohydrates and fat. Additionally, oyster mushrooms are known to provide health benefits such as lowering cholesterol and regulating blood pressure. With the right setup and equipment, you can grow oyster mushrooms for a fraction of the cost of buying them at the supermarket. In this guide, we will cover everything you need to know to successfully grow oyster mushrooms, from choosing the right substrate to maintaining the ideal environment for growth.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Difficulty level | Easy for beginners |
| Resilience | High |
| Growth rate | Fast |
| Growing location | Anywhere |
| Substrate | Straw, sawdust, cardboard, coffee grounds, sugarcane bagasse, coco coir, cotton waste, wood chips, logs, stumps, blue jeans |
| Substrate pasteurization | Soak in hot water (65-80°C/149-176°F for 1-2 hours) or in a cold-water high-pH lime bath for 12-18 hours |
| Maintenance | Simple misting of mushrooms and their environment |
| Humidity | 85-90% recommended during fruiting |
| Temperature | 10-28°C (50-80°F) depending on the strain |
| Yield | High |
| Health benefits | Fibre, vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, cholesterol-lowering, blood pressure regulation, high potassium, iron and protein |
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What You'll Learn
Oyster mushrooms are nutritious, delicious and easy to grow
Oyster mushrooms are nutritious, delicious, and easy to grow. They are a beginner's favourite for their resilience, fast growth, and ability to grow almost anywhere on just about anything. They are also highly popular with home growers.
Oyster mushrooms are a type of edible fungi used in many cuisines and are one of the simplest mushrooms to cultivate at home. They grow quickly, are tolerant of many conditions, and can be grown in a wide range of ways, both indoors and outdoors. The oyster-shaped caps have a mild and subtle flavour and are commonly cooked or dried.
To grow oyster mushrooms, you'll need to decide what type of oyster mushroom you want to grow. There are several different types of oyster mushrooms to choose from, including the pearl oyster mushroom, blue oyster mushroom, golden oyster mushroom, pink oyster mushroom, phoenix oyster mushroom, and king oyster mushroom. Each strain has its own specific temperature range, but generally, as long as it is between 10-30°C (50-86°F), they should fruit.
Once you've chosen your strain, you can purchase a growing kit or gather your own materials. If you're gathering your own materials, you'll need a container, such as a bucket, laundry basket with holes, ice cream tub, or trash bag with holes, and mushroom spawn. The spawn should be applied to your chosen substance, such as straw or coffee grounds. You'll also need to provide the right conditions for incubation, including a warm (20-24°C) and humid environment.
After the incubation period, you'll need to provide optimal conditions for the mushrooms to develop during the fruiting period. This includes indirect or shaded light and maintaining humidity with a spray bottle. Within 7-14 days, you should start seeing tiny mushroom pins forming, and they will double in size every day. Once the edge of the caps start to flatten or turn upwards, it's time to harvest!
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Choosing a substrate: straw, sawdust, cardboard, coffee grounds, etc
Oyster mushrooms are versatile and can grow on almost anything. The most widely used substrate for oyster mushrooms is straw. Wheat and oat straw, in particular, are popular choices. Straw is usually cheap, contains essential nutrients, and oyster mushrooms thrive on it. To prepare straw for use as a substrate, it must be pasteurised by soaking in hot water (65-80°C / 149-176°F) for 1-2 hours, or in a cold-water high-pH lime bath for 12-18 hours. Before pasteurising, chop or shred the straw into pieces no longer than 2 or 3 inches.
Sawdust is another option for a substrate. Grain spawn will produce bigger yields than sawdust spawn. If using sawdust, simply add water to hydrate it.
Cardboard is also a suitable substrate for oyster mushrooms. Before use, shred the cardboard into small pieces.
Coffee grounds are a good substrate for growing oyster mushrooms. They provide a rich nutrient medium ideal for mycelium growth. They are also already pasteurised.
Other possible substrates include wood chips, cottonseed hulls, corn cobs, office paper, sugarcane bagasse, coco coir, and cotton waste.
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Pasteurising the substrate
When pasteurising straw, you can either soak it in hot water (65-80°C/149-176°F) for 1-2 hours or soak it in a cold-water high-pH lime bath for 12-18 hours. If you're using sawdust pellets, simply add an equal weight of water to the weight of pellets, soak for 30 minutes, and then mix to break up the pellets into hydrated sawdust.
If you're using coffee grounds as your substrate, you can pasteurise them by mixing them with the mycelium and then transferring the mixture to pasteurised straw. This process usually takes a few weeks. You can also use wheat straw as your substrate and pasteurise it using a steam generator, as this method was used by mushroom farmers in the 17th century.
It's important to note that no system is perfect, and even with pasteurisation, other types of mushrooms may still colonise your substrate. However, oyster mushrooms grow fast enough that you can still harvest a successful crop. Additionally, if you're using straw as your substrate, you can increase your yield by stacking the mounds of straw after harvesting.
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Incubating the mushrooms
Incubating oyster mushrooms is a simple process that can be done at home. The first step is to create a mixture of mushroom spawn and a growing medium, such as straw or coffee grounds. This mixture will serve as the substrate for the mushrooms to grow. The substrate should be packed tightly into a large plastic bag or trash bag, with holes poked in the bag to allow for air exchange and the escape of excess water.
The bag should then be placed in a warm and humid environment, ideally between 20-24°C for most oyster mushroom varieties, although some, like the blue oyster mushroom, prefer cooler temperatures of 12-18°C. A basement or dark space, such as a cupboard or boiler room, can be suitable locations for incubation. It is important to maintain optimal moisture and humidity levels during incubation, which can be achieved by misting the growing environment with water twice a day, without spraying the mushrooms directly.
Incubation typically takes around 14 days, during which the mycelium will grow and colonize the substrate. After this period, tiny mushroom pins will begin to form, and within the following 5-7 days, these baby mushrooms will double in size daily. It is important to maintain humidity during this period by continuing to spray the environment twice a day.
To signal to the mycelium that there is space to grow out from, a 5cm slit or hole can be made in the bag. Providing indirect or shaded light is also important, as direct sunlight can hinder mushroom growth and cause them to dry out. Oyster mushrooms thrive in oxygen-rich fresh air, similar to their natural habitat of growing on stumps or logs in open deciduous spaces.
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Harvesting your crop
Oyster mushrooms are some of the fastest-fruiting fungi on the planet, making them perfect for educational projects and disaster relief. They are also highly tolerant of variations in temperature, humidity, light levels, and carbon dioxide levels, making them a great choice for beginners.
Once your oyster mushrooms have begun fruiting, it is important to maintain high humidity (85-90% is recommended). Before spraying, allow air to flush through the growing area (oyster mushrooms require a consistent source of fresh air). Temperatures can be higher than at the initial pinning stage.
You can expect three or more crops, each taking around a week to mature. You may harvest the mushrooms at any size, but once a mushroom has reached full size, it will begin to dry and turn yellowish (they taste great, even when dry). When harvesting, remove the mushroom completely by twisting firmly at its base.
After harvesting a few crops, it can be helpful to stack the mounds of straw, which seems to help increase the yield. If you find your mushrooms with long stalks and small caps, they may not be getting enough light, and high CO2 levels can also lead to small deformities (allow for more fresh air). After the straw ceases to produce mushrooms, it can be fed to livestock or composted.
Oyster mushrooms are best if eaten right after harvest. If you let them dry off a little and place them in the fridge in a breathable container, they should stay fresh for 2-3 days. Any mushrooms that can’t be sold fresh to restaurants or at farmers' markets can be dried in a dehydrator and stored in jars to be sold later.
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Frequently asked questions
Oyster mushroom growing kits are a great way to start your journey into fungi culture. These kits provide you with everything you need to get started, including a detailed set of instructions specific to the strain you are growing.
The most widely used substrate for oyster mushrooms is straw. However, sawdust, cardboard, coffee grounds, and other byproducts of agriculture can also be used. Choose whichever substrate is easiest for you to source.
Oyster mushrooms are highly tolerant of variations in temperature. However, some varieties grow better in warmer temperatures, while others prefer cooler temperatures. For example, the blue oyster mushroom grows best in cooler temperatures of 45-65 F (12-18 C), while the golden oyster mushroom prefers warmer temperatures of 64-86 F (18-30 C).
