In article ,
Philip Semanchuk wrote:
Not only that, but I've had beetle problems too. When the oysters fruit
the beetles (some sort of Triplax I think) cluster on the porch screens
and inevitably find their way inside.

Sounds like the same thing I have. It's some species of Triplax
("pleasing fungus beetle").

My alternative is to build an oyster fruiting box
that's got some sort of built-in humidifier, air exchanger and spore
filter. This also sounds like a lot of work but I think it will be
fairly reliable once I get the kinks worked out.

I know someone who has a similar setup. I think he's using sawdust for
the medium, but I'm not sure. I think he sterilizes the media before
innoculation, though, to prevent other fungi from growing.

Are you growing your oysters shiitake style? By that I mean logs left
whole, cut to 3' length and then inoculated with dowel spawn?

Yes, it's a variation on that. I'm also growing shiitakes in the
traditional shiitake style, and have tried a few other species. The
shiitakes do well. The oysters have good production but yield is low
because of the beetle damage and short window for harvesting. Nothing
else has turned out too well yet.

--
Steve