Garden San Diego

Growing Oyster Mushrooms at a Laundry Basket

If you are a fan of cooking with fresh mushrooms, you most likely know how expensive they could be from the regional farmers market or grocery shop. But growing oyster mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus) in home is amazingly simple to accomplish. Home burglars cut holes within their mushroom-growing containers to allow for decent atmosphere circulation, but if you utilize a laundry basket, then you do not need to do that because the basket already has lots of holes.

Sterilizing

If your laundry basket has been used around your family — or even if it’s fresh from the shop — you’ll need to sterilize it before applying it to develop mushrooms. Vinyl laundry baskets function well, but wood and wicker baskets aren’t suitable. The holes at the basket should be about 1 inch larger, so the oyster mushrooms have space to develop on the exterior of the basket. Put on a set of sterile gloves during the entire planning procedure. Fill a spray bottle full of 10 parts water to 1 part bleach and then spray on the inside, outside and bottom of the basket using the solution. Wipe it down with a clean cloth and wipe down all surfaces a final time with another clean cloth soaked in warm water. Keep the spray bottle handy because you are likely to need to perform even more sterilizing.

Growing Medium

Oyster mushrooms aren’t picky about their growing medium. Some people use coffee grounds or sawdust, though straw is perhaps the least expensive and easiest to get. Ideally, the straw is cut so every bit is between 2 and 4 inches long. To give the straw necessary moisture, fill a 5-gallon bucket — or several of them — using straw and pour warm water to the bucket. Permit the straw to soak for a few hours and then drain the water in the bucket. The straw needs to be sterilized, so if it’s done soaking, fill microwave-safe bowls or unsealed zippered plastic bags with straw and fridge for 2 minutes.

Growing Location

Mushrooms prefer dark, moist conditions, therefore the very best place for your laundry basket is a cellar or alternative dark and moist room in your property. The temperature should remain between 70 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit in any way times. Because you did with the actual basket, then spray the area where you are going to store the basket using the bleach solution, wipe it with a clean cloth, then wipe again with a clean cloth soaked in warm water.

Adding Spawn

Oyster mushroom spawn is comparatively simple to find online, and it is the simplest way to get started growing mushrooms. Line the bottom of the laundry basket approximately 2 inches of moist straw and add a layer of mushroom spawn on the top. Since mushroom kit producers utilize different substrates to hold the spawn, read and stick to the instructions on the spawn packaging for the right spacing. Then, add another layer of approximately 2 inches of straw. Press it down firmly and add another layer of spawn. Continue this procedure until you reach the surface of the basket, then adding a layer of straw since the topmost layer. Cover the surface of the basket using a plastic bag and tie a string or wrap a rubber tie-down around the bag to carry it in place. Place the basket in the dark, moist place, and spray on the inside and outside of the basket using clean, boiled water twice a week. The mycelium where the mushrooms develop will be visible through the holes at the laundry basket within days. You should start to see signs of mushrooms growing from the holes of the basket after a few weeks. Twist the stems with a mild hand to harvest the mushrooms.