Growing Oyster Mushrooms Indoors

[larry_stewart]

Just dont alert the Toilet Paper Police to my whereabouts!!

 

[larry_stewart]

Inoculated toilet paper rolls are now out of the fridge and sitting in a room, with just enough indirect light from the window to be able to read ( as suggested in growing instructions). The bags are left open and misted every day two keep humid. The change in temp, light and atmosphere kinda triggers the mushrooms to grow. They can be left in the fridge for up too 6 months, and still be vital with the ability to produce when put under the right conditions. Since I have 15 bags/ rolls, I usually take out 2 every week or 2 to spread out/ lengthen the mushroom season for me ( instead of taking out all 15 and being overwhelmed with shrooms). This time around, since I have 3 different varieties, I actual took out 3 bags ( one of each variety) just as a comparison. As mentioned earlier in the thread, the one thing I noticed so far is the difference in the amount of inoculation that took place between the varieties ( and was consistent throughout all the rolls). One variety totally overtook the roll. No evidence of the inoculated grain ( it looks like a big marshmallow). Another variety there is some inoculation, but you can totally make out the grains. The third variety was somewhere in the middle. All were done at the same time under the same exact conditions. Not sure if its a variety thing or maybe the one variety was less inoculated than the others when received. Either way, ill find out how productive (or not) they are in a few days.

 

[dragnlaw]

Under no circumstance should you keep that one variety in your bedroom, even if the temperature and light conditions are perfect....

and I quote... "One variety totally overtook the roll."

Invasion of the Body Snatchers mean anything to anyone? - Was so excited to go to a movie with my big brother!

had nightmares for weeks and my mom grounded my brother for taking me.

 

[larry_stewart]

Baby Oyster Mushroom ( Pinheads) starting to form in clusters 3 days after removing from the fridge.

 

[dragnlaw]

Are these Baby Oysters meant to remain small when you harvest them? Or are all these going to be full sized when you do.

That's going to be a lot of 'shrooms coming up based on looking at what has started just now and the size of the bag.

 

[larry_stewart]

They ultimately will be full size. They usually grow pretty quick.
Not all will get to full size. Some clusters may die off ( ive had that happen in the past). Not sure if its to assure that some make it to full maturity or just my poor mushroom growing skills.

They can be harvested at any time and any size. They do get ta little tougher as they get larger ( especially the stems).

 

[dragnlaw]

OK, thanks, makes sense. Like any growing 'thing', some make it others don't.

Thanks Larry - I'm following this avidly (despite some of my flippant comments).

Have two boxes of spores but think they are too old and going to deliver. Trying to find a space for even temperatures that might work when I do try.

 

[larry_stewart]

Here is 24 hours later than the last pic. It is of the same clusters In the other pic.
You can see the mushroom caps are starting to darken up, and the clusters are getting significantly bigger. There are some clusters that have remained the same size as the original pic, and will likely dry up and die

They need to ne misted several times a day to keep the humidity up. You can see the water droplets on the sides of the bags.

I think id have more success if I kept them in an enclosed area with high humidity instead of just misting. I think the water that settles increases then risk of rotting. But Im no mushroom specialist.

The last pic shows a different variety mushroom which are significantly bigger but the mushrooms are more scarce. The darkness in the center of the roll, are the inoculated grains that were dumped into the center of the TP. These didnt inoculate as well as the other variety, which were completely covered.

 

[blissful]

Under no circumstance should you keep that one variety in your bedroom, even if the temperature and light conditions are perfect....

and I quote... "One variety totally overtook the roll."

Invasion of the Body Snatchers mean anything to anyone? - Was so excited to go to a movie with my big brother!

had nightmares for weeks and my mom grounded my brother for taking me.

lol I rather enjoyed some of the flippant comments which meant no harm. The body snatchers! Did you see the original and the remake. Both really good and still produce nightmares.


Larry, I'm enjoying all the successes and the pictures.

 

[dragnlaw]

lol I rather enjoyed some of the flippant comments which meant no harm. The body snatchers! Did you see the original and the remake. Both really good and still produce nightmares.

Bliss! are you kidding me? the original of course, 1956 it had just come out. We lived in the town of Mahtohmedi, Minn. on White Bear Lake. My brother had his license and we drove over to the town of White Bear because our town didn't have a theater. (I understand now that they have both been swallowed/absorbed/enveloped by the Town Snatchers of the Twin Cities.)
To this day I call my 46 yr old son and ask if I should watch any movie when I don't know if it's scary or not (or with a plethora of "snicketynoospas").

so no... have not seen the remake...

 

[blissful]

Bliss! are you kidding me? the original of course, 1956 it had just come out. We lived in the town of Mahtohmedi, Minn. on White Bear Lake. My brother had his license and we drove over to the town of White Bear because our town didn't have a theater. (I understand now that they have both been swallowed/absorbed/enveloped by the Town Snatchers of the Twin Cities.)
To this day I call my 46 yr old son and ask if I should watch any movie when I don't know if it's scary or not (or with a plethora of "snicketynoospas").

so no... have not seen the remake...

Okay then 1956 then the remake in 1978, so 22 years later.
Now in the mean time, things have happened, like special effects of the movies you watch now, or in the 2010's, are so advanced, that the old special effects look childish and poorly conceived, this leaves these movies less believable, that takes a bit of the scariness out of them right away. So your objectivity may lead you down a less scary road if you watch them again.


Like the first star trek series, it almost looks like strings were hanging those spaceships in space, poorly conceived but the best 'at that time'. It changes how we see it with a different context.



The 1978 version, some of the same actors from the original are also in the 1978 version, except well they are 22 years older. That's kind of neat too. I'm encouraging you to watch them, with someone. lol

 

[dragnlaw]

ummm.... nope, still nope bliss


ps.. can't believe I misspelled my own created word - correction is ..
snickedypoosna's

 

[larry_stewart]

24 hours later you can see on the one roll, the mushrooms are getting longer and more leggy. Not all the clusters are maturing. Some will stay small, underdeveloped and eventually die off, while the others thrive.
(The first 2 pics are of the same roll, just one up close to see the mushrooms in detail and one getting the whole roll in there pick to get ta better idea of what's going on.

You can see the one variety is basically ready to be picked.

The third. variety has. not. done much.

 

[dragnlaw]

They are looking beautiful, slow or not!

What is your ambient temperature around them, now that they are out of the fridge?

 

[larry_stewart]

They are looking beautiful, slow or not!

What is your ambient temperature around them, now that they are out of the fridge?

I would say 68ish, they are in indirect light. they say it should be out of direct sunlight, but light enough that you can read.

I mist them several times a day.

After they are harvested you can start the process over ( store them in a dark place for a few weeks, back into the fridge for a few days, then in room temp with indirect light). The second harvest is usually less ( if at all). I do it cause I have nothing to lose. Anything I get I consider a gift from the mushroom gods.

the ones that are growing in the white container aren't doing so well. They look deformed . I had low expectations, as I just used my left over spawn for that big bucket. Maybe it was under inoculated. Ill get a pic of that this weekend.

 

[larry_stewart]

Todays mushroom update:
You can see he brownish gray ones are full size and will be harvested tomorrow
The darker blueish ones are getting bigger, but you can notice that while some of the shrooms are flourishing, others haven't grown at all. Could be a humidity thing. Im going to try something different with my next few rolls.
And the bucket, it looks like its sprouting things you'd see in the ocean or on a coral reef.

 

[taxlady]

Are the ones on the bucket oyster mushrooms too?

 

[larry_stewart]

Are the ones on the bucket oyster mushrooms too?

Yes,
Only difference is that it is grown in a bucket.
I used whatever I had left over, so I probably didnt have enough to fully inoculate all the straw in the bucket.

Other than that, everything is the same.

I didnt have high hopes, but I figured worth a try, didnt cost anything extra. If it worked id have been a hero.

Whats there is still edible, just ugly

 

[larry_stewart]

Harvested the larger shrooms .
the ones that were kinda dark gray/ blueish are now getting taller and turning a lighter gray.

This morning I did notice some growth that resembled mushrooms ( not sea creatures) on he bucket. Lets see if they develop.

 

[blissful]

Cool Larry, keep them going!


Dragnlaw, I think you might have nightmares with those mushrooms in the next room. Not pod people yet, but you never know. Just don't sleep.