Growing Oyster Mushrooms

BigBadger

Spike
Oyster mushrooms taste a lot better than button mushrooms.

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Five gallon buckets with holes is all you need to grow. To prepare get a 150 gallon trough and soak a loose straw bale (even better if it's been shredded) with an electric heater from 140 - 160 for several hours to pasteurize (cover with a tarp to hold the temperature). Mix in a 10 lb bag of spawn (these are warm blue oysters that flush from 50 - 70 F from Mushroom Mountain in SC) and stuff into the (6 or so) buckets. I use 1/4 holes every 6 inches or so. Make sure to add some holes to the bottom of the buckets for drainage and don't mix that spawn until the straw stops steaming!

You'll get two, maybe three nice flushes:

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In the warmer months fungus gnats will lay eggs and the larva will eat through them. I'm experimenting with fine mesh garden netting around each bucket. You can also spray BTI (a naturally occurring fungus) around the area to kill them before they take hold.

They will last seven days in the fridge. Dehydrate them to store forever:

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Hope this technique works for you. Happy to answer questions.
 
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Colekira

Ten Pointer
Contributor
I enjoy a wide variety of mushrooms and mycology in general. Can't wait to find my first Morel of the season. Thanks for sharing.
 

Deep River

Ten Pointer
Contributor
Thanks for this helpful post. I checked out Mushroom Mountain’s website. They offer quite the variety. I was hoping to find tutorials that might expand on what you suggest here, but didn’t find any. Do you have any good online suggestions with ‘how to’ type stuff?
 

Scrub

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
I grow oysters white and pink but to me they aren’t as good as the wild ones you get spring thru early fall. Still excellent eating and fun to grow. I have several Shitake logs and add to the pile every year one of my favorites. Good logs will produce for 10 years.
 

poppop

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Nice, I never have problems finding plenty of oysters growing wild. My favorite are these big Chicken of the Woods like Skylar is holding. We get these mostly in May and Sept.
 

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BigBadger

Spike
Nice, I never have problems finding plenty of oysters growing wild. My favorite are these big Chicken of the Woods like Skylar is holding. We get these mostly in May and Sept.

I have not found a good cluster of chicken of the wood in some time; that's a nice haul!
 

Scrub

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
I have one log I find them on about every year and sometimes it will fruit twice a year in different parts of the log. Only ones I have found and honestly first time I found them I got cold chills I was so excited I finally found one. I love hunting wild mushrooms.
 
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kilacam

Six Pointer
Thanks for this helpful post. I checked out Mushroom Mountain’s website. They offer quite the variety. I was hoping to find tutorials that might expand on what you suggest here, but didn’t find any. Do you have any good online suggestions with ‘how to’ type stuff?
Just now seeing this but if you're still looking check out Field and Forest Products. They have a variety of tutorials online for multiple strains and techniques. I ordered my shitake and oyster mycelium from there and highly recommend them. I had some questions about the strains of mushrooms to grow here in NC and they were very helpful on the phone.
 
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