Growing Oyster mushrooms
 

I have some older oyster mushrooms that are a little too far gone to eat.
I'd like to cultivate them. When I did a google search on the topic, I
either got instructions that were very complicated, or hits for people
selling kits.

I don't care about sure-fire methods, so having something complex is not
worth it. I need something relatively simple that has a chance of working,
as opposed to excellent chance of working.

Any suggestions or URLs you could recommend?


--
Warm Regards,

Claire Petersky
please substitute yahoo for mousepotato to reply
Home of the meditative cyclist:
http://home.earthlink.net/~cpetersky/Welcome.htm
Personal page: http://www.geocities.com/cpetersky/
See the books I've set free at: http://bookcrossing.com/referral/Cpetersky

In article . net,
"Claire Petersky" wrote:

I have some older oyster mushrooms that are a little too far gone to eat.
I'd like to cultivate them. When I did a google search on the topic, I
either got instructions that were very complicated, or hits for people
selling kits.

I don't care about sure-fire methods, so having something complex is not
worth it. I need something relatively simple that has a chance of working,
as opposed to excellent chance of working.

Any suggestions or URLs you could recommend?

I'm surprised that google did not turn up our conversation here about
the toilet roll method. ;-)

Take two unbleached toilet paper rolls and seal each one in a plastic
ziplock. Pour enough boiling water over each one to just get it nice and
wet.

Let cool, then puree the mushrooms in a sanitized food processor or
blender, (I used bleach to clean mine) and stuff that into the holes of
the toilet rolls.

Keep sealed and in the dark for 6 weeks, then take them out into the
light and punch some holes in the bags.

I used a similar method to this, only I used an ice chest. I got one
flush from that, but later lost my culture to the heat. I had them out
in the greenhouse. This is better done indoors as they fruit best at
between 70 and 80 degrees.

Good luck and keep us posted! :-)

K.
--
Sprout the MungBean to reply

"I don't like to commit myself about heaven and hell‹you
see, I have friends in both places." --Mark Twain

In article . net,
"Claire Petersky" wrote:

I have some older oyster mushrooms that are a little too far gone to eat.
I'd like to cultivate them. When I did a google search on the topic, I
either got instructions that were very complicated, or hits for people
selling kits.

I don't care about sure-fire methods, so having something complex is not
worth it. I need something relatively simple that has a chance of working,
as opposed to excellent chance of working.

Any suggestions or URLs you could recommend?

I'm surprised that google did not turn up our conversation here about
the toilet roll method. ;-)

Take two unbleached toilet paper rolls and seal each one in a plastic
ziplock. Pour enough boiling water over each one to just get it nice and
wet.

Let cool, then puree the mushrooms in a sanitized food processor or
blender, (I used bleach to clean mine) and stuff that into the holes of
the toilet rolls.

Keep sealed and in the dark for 6 weeks, then take them out into the
light and punch some holes in the bags.

I used a similar method to this, only I used an ice chest. I got one
flush from that, but later lost my culture to the heat. I had them out
in the greenhouse. This is better done indoors as they fruit best at
between 70 and 80 degrees.

Good luck and keep us posted! :-)

K.
--
Sprout the MungBean to reply

"I don't like to commit myself about heaven and hell‹you
see, I have friends in both places." --Mark Twain

In article ,
Mycos wrote:

On Mon, 20 Sep 2004 11:59:38 -0500, Katra
wrote:

In article . net,
"Claire Petersky" wrote:

I have some older oyster mushrooms that are a little too far gone to eat.
I'd like to cultivate them. When I did a google search on the topic, I
either got instructions that were very complicated, or hits for people
selling kits.

I don't care about sure-fire methods, so having something complex is not
worth it. I need something relatively simple that has a chance of working,
as opposed to excellent chance of working.

Any suggestions or URLs you could recommend?

I'm surprised that google did not turn up our conversation here about
the toilet roll method. ;-)

Take two unbleached toilet paper rolls and seal each one in a plastic
ziplock. Pour enough boiling water over each one to just get it nice and
wet.

Let cool, then puree the mushrooms in a sanitized food processor or
blender, (I used bleach to clean mine) and stuff that into the holes of
the toilet rolls.

Keep sealed and in the dark for 6 weeks, then take them out into the
light and punch some holes in the bags.

I used a similar method to this, only I used an ice chest. I got one
flush from that, but later lost my culture to the heat. I had them out
in the greenhouse. This is better done indoors as they fruit best at
between 70 and 80 degrees.

Good luck and keep us posted! :-)

K.

I'd forgotten about that. Yeah, very cool.
I wonder if anyone has tried this with other species?
Gary Williams

exract "APAP" to reply

Well, with cardboard, a similar method is supposed to work with Wavy
caps...... ;-) (P. cyanescens)

K.

--
Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

,,Cat's Haven Hobby Farm,,Katraatcenturyteldotnet,,

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...user id=katra

wrote on Monday 20 Sep 2004 5:59 pm:

In article . net,
"Claire Petersky" wrote:

I have some older oyster mushrooms that are a little too far gone to eat.
I'd like to cultivate them. When I did a google search on the topic, I
either got instructions that were very complicated, or hits for people
selling kits.

I don't care about sure-fire methods, so having something complex is not
worth it. I need something relatively simple that has a chance of
working, as opposed to excellent chance of working.

Any suggestions or URLs you could recommend?

I'm surprised that google did not turn up our conversation here about
the toilet roll method. ;-)

Take two unbleached toilet paper rolls and seal each one in a plastic
ziplock. Pour enough boiling water over each one to just get it nice and
wet.

Let cool, then puree the mushrooms in a sanitized food processor or
blender, (I used bleach to clean mine) and stuff that into the holes of
the toilet rolls.

Keep sealed and in the dark for 6 weeks, then take them out into the
light and punch some holes in the bags.

I used a similar method to this, only I used an ice chest. I got one
flush from that, but later lost my culture to the heat. I had them out
in the greenhouse. This is better done indoors as they fruit best at
between 70 and 80 degrees.

Warning:- Oyster mushrooms produce a vast quantity of
spores. It is recommended that growing them is *not*
done indoors as inhaling the spores could result in
a nasty fungus infection in your lungs (even producing
mushrooms there!?).


Good luck and keep us posted! :-)

K.

--
Edwin Hutton (use edDOThuttonATlsaevaPOINTuklinuxSTOPnet for email)
....Grant we beseech Thee that, ... during our journeys through the
Internet we will ... treat with charity and patience all those souls
whom we encounter. Amen.From http://www.catholic.org/isidore

wrote on Monday 20 Sep 2004 5:59 pm:

In article . net,
"Claire Petersky" wrote:

I have some older oyster mushrooms that are a little too far gone to eat.
I'd like to cultivate them. When I did a google search on the topic, I
either got instructions that were very complicated, or hits for people
selling kits.

I don't care about sure-fire methods, so having something complex is not
worth it. I need something relatively simple that has a chance of
working, as opposed to excellent chance of working.

Any suggestions or URLs you could recommend?

I'm surprised that google did not turn up our conversation here about
the toilet roll method. ;-)

Take two unbleached toilet paper rolls and seal each one in a plastic
ziplock. Pour enough boiling water over each one to just get it nice and
wet.

Let cool, then puree the mushrooms in a sanitized food processor or
blender, (I used bleach to clean mine) and stuff that into the holes of
the toilet rolls.

Keep sealed and in the dark for 6 weeks, then take them out into the
light and punch some holes in the bags.

I used a similar method to this, only I used an ice chest. I got one
flush from that, but later lost my culture to the heat. I had them out
in the greenhouse. This is better done indoors as they fruit best at
between 70 and 80 degrees.

Warning:- Oyster mushrooms produce a vast quantity of
spores. It is recommended that growing them is *not*
done indoors as inhaling the spores could result in
a nasty fungus infection in your lungs (even producing
mushrooms there!?).


Good luck and keep us posted! :-)

K.

--
Edwin Hutton (use edDOThuttonATlsaevaPOINTuklinuxSTOPnet for email)
....Grant we beseech Thee that, ... during our journeys through the
Internet we will ... treat with charity and patience all those souls
whom we encounter. Amen.From http://www.catholic.org/isidore

wrote on Monday 20 Sep 2004 5:59 pm:

In article . net,
"Claire Petersky" wrote:

I have some older oyster mushrooms that are a little too far gone to eat.
I'd like to cultivate them. When I did a google search on the topic, I
either got instructions that were very complicated, or hits for people
selling kits.

I don't care about sure-fire methods, so having something complex is not
worth it. I need something relatively simple that has a chance of
working, as opposed to excellent chance of working.

Any suggestions or URLs you could recommend?

I'm surprised that google did not turn up our conversation here about
the toilet roll method. ;-)

Take two unbleached toilet paper rolls and seal each one in a plastic
ziplock. Pour enough boiling water over each one to just get it nice and
wet.

Let cool, then puree the mushrooms in a sanitized food processor or
blender, (I used bleach to clean mine) and stuff that into the holes of
the toilet rolls.

Keep sealed and in the dark for 6 weeks, then take them out into the
light and punch some holes in the bags.

I used a similar method to this, only I used an ice chest. I got one
flush from that, but later lost my culture to the heat. I had them out
in the greenhouse. This is better done indoors as they fruit best at
between 70 and 80 degrees.

Warning:- Oyster mushrooms produce a vast quantity of
spores. It is recommended that growing them is *not*
done indoors as inhaling the spores could result in
a nasty fungus infection in your lungs (even producing
mushrooms there!?).


Good luck and keep us posted! :-)

K.

--
Edwin Hutton (use edDOThuttonATlsaevaPOINTuklinuxSTOPnet for email)
....Grant we beseech Thee that, ... during our journeys through the
Internet we will ... treat with charity and patience all those souls
whom we encounter. Amen.From http://www.catholic.org/isidore

you might check out an article in the most recent Mother Earth News. It's like
7 pages of info/sources on growing shrooms. Lots of info on oyster mushrooms,
winecaps, and shitakes.

On Mon, 20 Sep 2004 13:50:56 GMT, "Claire Petersky"
wrote:

I have some older oyster mushrooms that are a little too far gone to eat.
I'd like to cultivate them. When I did a google search on the topic, I
either got instructions that were very complicated, or hits for people
selling kits.

I don't care about sure-fire methods, so having something complex is not
worth it. I need something relatively simple that has a chance of working,
as opposed to excellent chance of working.

Any suggestions or URLs you could recommend?

You can grow the dam' things on newspaper, or rather in newspaper-
stuffed cardboard boxes . . . .

Then IIRC you induce fruiting by tossing the boxes in water for a day
or so, and allowing them to drain.

They're (wonderfully) meaty, so I imagine the yield in terms of caps
per pound of newspaper is probably pretty low.

--
..sigzip*

On Mon, 20 Sep 2004 13:50:56 GMT, "Claire Petersky"
wrote:

I have some older oyster mushrooms that are a little too far gone to eat.
I'd like to cultivate them. When I did a google search on the topic, I
either got instructions that were very complicated, or hits for people
selling kits.

I don't care about sure-fire methods, so having something complex is not
worth it. I need something relatively simple that has a chance of working,
as opposed to excellent chance of working.

Any suggestions or URLs you could recommend?

You can grow the dam' things on newspaper, or rather in newspaper-
stuffed cardboard boxes . . . .

Then IIRC you induce fruiting by tossing the boxes in water for a day
or so, and allowing them to drain.

They're (wonderfully) meaty, so I imagine the yield in terms of caps
per pound of newspaper is probably pretty low.

--
..sigzip*

In article ,
Gary Woods wrote:

(mimus) wrote:

You can grow the dam' things on newspaper, or rather in newspaper-
stuffed cardboard boxes . . . .

Then IIRC you induce fruiting by tossing the boxes in water for a day
or so, and allowing them to drain.

Can you point me at any links? I got some oyster mushrooms at a local
(Hudson Valley, NY) garlic festival, and want very much to grow my own.
I'll likely start with a kit from mushroompeople, but would like to do it
"from scratch."

Peace,


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

I'm starting mine using toilet paper rolls inside of an ice chest after
eating the mushroom caps and grinding up the stems and bases in the food
processor. :-) As soon as the paper is colinized, I will introduce
hardwood chips and shavings and surround the paper rolls with that.

I have mycelia starting from the ground tissue already.

I did this this spring and got one flush before losing my cultures to
the heat, so am re-starting. :-)

K.

--
Sprout the Mung Bean to reply...

,,Cat's Haven Hobby Farm,,Katraatcenturyteldotnet,,

http://cgi6.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...user id=katra

On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 15:11:45 GMT, Gary Woods
wrote:

(mimus) wrote:

You can grow the dam' things on newspaper, or rather in newspaper-
stuffed cardboard boxes . . . .

Then IIRC you induce fruiting by tossing the boxes in water for a day
or so, and allowing them to drain.

Can you point me at any links? I got some oyster mushrooms at a local
(Hudson Valley, NY) garlic festival, and want very much to grow my own.
I'll likely start with a kit from mushroompeople, but would like to do it
"from scratch."

Well, I lost my library in a housefire several years ago, and only
replaced the basics (Orson K. Miller's _Mushrooms of North America_
and Paul Stamets' _The Psilocybe Mushrooms and Their Allies_), and I
don't remember where the newspaper cultivation was described.

There's a nice collection of messages by some highly respectable types
(eg, Stamets) at

http://www.ecosyn.us/ecocity/Ecosyn/...-mushrooms.txt

The page refers to "www.mycoweb.com", but that URL is now been taken
over by a Dutch IT company-- there is a "mykoweb", now, but that's
North America West Coast oriented.

There's also a fairly dense page at

http://archives.thenook.org/tek/GGuide.html

--
..sigzip*

On Fri, 15 Oct 2004 15:11:45 GMT, Gary Woods
wrote:

(mimus) wrote:

You can grow the dam' things on newspaper, or rather in newspaper-
stuffed cardboard boxes . . . .

Then IIRC you induce fruiting by tossing the boxes in water for a day
or so, and allowing them to drain.

Can you point me at any links? I got some oyster mushrooms at a local
(Hudson Valley, NY) garlic festival, and want very much to grow my own.
I'll likely start with a kit from mushroompeople, but would like to do it
"from scratch."

Well, I lost my library in a housefire several years ago, and only
replaced the basics (Orson K. Miller's _Mushrooms of North America_
and Paul Stamets' _The Psilocybe Mushrooms and Their Allies_), and I
don't remember where the newspaper cultivation was described.

There's a nice collection of messages by some highly respectable types
(eg, Stamets) at

http://www.ecosyn.us/ecocity/Ecosyn/...-mushrooms.txt

The page refers to "www.mycoweb.com", but that URL is now been taken
over by a Dutch IT company-- there is a "mykoweb", now, but that's
North America West Coast oriented.

There's also a fairly dense page at

http://archives.thenook.org/tek/GGuide.html

--
..sigzip*