Growing Oyster Mushrooms Indoors

[dragnlaw]

Good idea, I'll weigh them from now on. Or maybe I shouldn't - might be better not to know?

 

[KatyCooks]

My kit produced not a single mushroom. Very disappointing! Glad you got something to eat from your Dragn!

 

[dragnlaw]

This one took close to a month to produce. They did say that these were slow to start. I have another kit (different 'shroom) but I'm not starting it until this one is almost spent. I love mushrooms but don't want to drown in them.

 

[larry_stewart]

I've retired my indoor mushroom tent for the season. Now Im focussing on the outdoor mushrooms , primarily shiitake and wine cap. Inoculated 12 logs with various kinds of shiitake. They break them up into cool weather, warm weather and wide range specimens, I got 2 wide range varieties and 1 warm weather. The holes are drilled with a special bit that corresponds to the size and length of the innoculated hard wood dowels. Each hole about 6 inches apart . The dowels are then hammered into place. Wax is then placed where the dowels have been hammered in, the ends of the logs, and areas where branches were cut off . This is to conserve the moisture in the log. The logs are then placed in shaded areas to allow the spores to colonize the wood. I keep mine in range of one of my sprinklers, to keep it moist. It could take 6 - 18 months before producing, depending on the variety and conditions. I have 3 year old logs that are still producing. The logs I got last year took about 12 months to produce.

The wine cap garden consists of a layer of cardboard to keep weeds out, and direct contact with the underlying dirt. a layer of wood chips, then a layer of soaked straw. The inoculated saw dust is then sprinkled on the straw and worked in. Another later of wood chops is then placed on top of the straw . the top layer of wood chips helps keep the straw moist. The mushrooms grow faster on the straw , but once they inoculate the wood, they will produce longer, beaus the wood takes longer to break down . Using a combo of straw and wood gives the best of both worlds. quicker inoculation, and a bed that produces mushrooms longer. I keep the beds on the north side of the fence for shade.