I grabbed an oyster mushroom growing kit at a garden store sale almost half a year ago and I finally found the time to put it to use. It’s a convenient and un-complicated way to learn how to care for and cultivate your own home grown mushrooms.
It consists of a bag full of growing substrate that’s already completely colonized by mushroom mycelium. It can be used up to four times after each harvest over a period of 3-4 months, provided you close the bag with tape (to keep the moisture in) and give it some time to recover between growing phases.
The instruction recommends cutting 3-4 holes into it for the shrooms to sprout and putting the bag to a cool, dim and humid place (such as your cellar, storage room, etc.). If the substrate in the area of the hole seems a bit dry, you can water it carefully and sparingly. Mine needed 3 days to sprout visibly and another 4 days to mature, then they were ready for harvesting. Well, these guys grow like crazy! Next time I will cut two holes at most – who the hell can eat so many fresh, firm and delicious mushrooms at once? 🙂
I will also try to save some of the mycelium and propagate it for later use. Hopefully, I will be able to post more on this topic later.
Conclusion: This works, it’s easy and it’s fun!