Katra wrote in message ...

They sprouted up literally overnight and I did not go out there until
about noon, so they were looking a little dried and curled due to the
heat, so I picked them and put them into some cold water in the
refrigerator and they plumped right up.

They are not very large but that's ok as the smaller ones are usually
more tender anyway. They will be lightly sauteed in some butter in the
skillet with some steak juice. ;-d


If oysters do not have enough light, they will stay small. It happened
to me a couple of times. It is probably too late for this fruiting,
but two toilet paper rolls may have another fruiting in them 6 weeks
from now (put them in the shade, with a moisture tent -clear garbage
bag with holes, not touching substrate- around them). After the second
fruiting break the mycelium up and spread it into a larger substrate
(say, 4 gallons of wood chips with some coffee grounds, all boiled)
outdoors in the shade to see if you can get more.

BTW I tried blending some stems and mixed them in a boiled
wheat-sawdust blend. It did not work. I am guessing that the initial
mycelium needs a substrate that is easier to penetrate than boiled
wheat or sawdust. It was also only one cup in one gallon of substrate.
Toilet paper is, I am sure, a lot easier to penetrate, and the ratio
of mushroom to substrate much more favorable. so next time I will
follow your recipe verbatim.