The processes of cultivating [blue oyster] mushrooms

Before you embark on your mushroom growing journey, you should familiarize yourself with these five fundamental fungal requirements:

Now, I’ll detail my approach to this project and discuss what measures I took for substrate preparation, inoculation & container filling, incubation, fruiting, and utilization. First for substrate preparation, I chose to pasteurize because it was most accessible and realistic for my needs. Since I was working with a bulk substrate mixture of coco-coir husk/compost, I understood that this was the most effective route. Simply, I heated my water to 140°F and let it creep up to 165°F, organized my mixture in a teabag using a cotton fabric, and allowed that to work for two hours. I then opened the bag and allowed it to cool for another two hours so as not to damage or ‘cook’ my dry seed spawn and eventually mixed in some coffee grounds for supplemental nitrogen as a source of nutrition.

When inoculating and filling my pint-sized mason jar container, I made sure to sterilize my work area and container with the isopropyl/water solution spray and began layering my substrate and dry seed spawn, mixing in some coffee throughout the process [*note: the particular dry seed spawn I purchased instructed that I soak the material for 4-6 hours which I had done earlier that day]. Prior to filling, I did poke five small holes in the lid where I planned to cover with micropore lid after sealing. I made sure to apply enough pressure while filling the container to ensure the removal and mitigation of air pockets so as not to encourage and anaerobic environment during this early stage. I kept filling the container, swirling the mixture around slightly to encourage cohesion, allowing a meager [probably 3/4 inch] space between the substrate and container lid.

Incubation is the process immediately following inoculation where the mycelium takes time to colonize the substrate and attempt a successful spawn run. This process is where automation comes into play with controlling humidity, lighting, and airflow. I placed my container in a low laying cabinet, meaning it was close to the ground - and completely dark, removed from any light source. Currently, I’m seeing signs of mycelial growth, especially at the bottom of the jar, so I am feeling encouraged and reminding myself to be patient while these little spawn run. It’s been less than two week since my container was safely tucked away and temperatures in my Northeastern state have been quite low, even indoors.

We’re nowhere near the fruiting stage, but here’s my idea. I have a cat tent that’s a beige color and completely opaque and shaped like a pyramid (31.5”x31.5”x31.5”) - my cat has never used it, and there’s nothing furry or soft inside - it’s actually made of an ecofriendly, non-toxic material blend (Oxford cloth & Teslin). Considering I don’t have a lot of personal space (or square footage) at the moment, and I like the idea of growing my knowledge and operation from the smallest relative scale now, and something huge one day (giving it a two-year timeline), I’m comfortable starting at this micro level. I know that I’ll be able to sterilize the tent and maintain cleanliness throughout the rest of the growing process, and put a plastic base for structure when I place the pint jar inside. I can also install a small (clip) fan and LED lighting once we reach fruiting. The material is exactly the same as a pop-up tent and would withstand most levels of humidity. I’ve been testing it out in the sunlight to see how bright the inside gets and it’s pretty resistant to light interference. Despite this, I do have the options to paint the tent with fabric paint (this is mostly so I can keep the strokes nice and neat - I am an artist after all). There’s a decent sized central opening on the face of the tent, oval in shape, and it can be covered in multiple ways. First, I can tape it off using micropore tape, that’s simple enough. Or, since I have access to sewing materials (for machine or hand-stitching) I can use a water-resistant material to create a door - two simple options here are purchasing a sheet of PVC or vinyl and hand-stitching to the tent, or, cutting a plastic bag and creating the enclosure I need.

When considering fruiting, there’s a lot I have to think about. I’m still a concerned about low temperatures in New Jersey, but I do have a hanging grow light that can be used to influence the temperature of the tent and I found the world’s smallest space heater online that could be a cool compromise and these tiny keychain thermostats that would be absolutely perfect for gauging the overall temperature (50-80° F) inside the tent. If this were an ideal world, I would buy this other cat tent, which has installed heating while still being waterproof, and start my operation that way - but I can’t imagine spending $60 on another cat tent when I have one at home, now.

At this juncture, I plan to ensure humidity by misting throughout the day - I do this regularly with many of my plants. I also have a few small potted KALANCHOE X HOUGHTONII plants that I want to keep in the grow tent to encourage positive gas exchange, ensuring a boost in fresh oxygen for the environment.

Now, harvesting. I’m firm on the idea of using sustainable materials for everything I do (if I can help it). Since it’s not encouraged to store mushrooms in plastic containers as they’re made of mostly water and will create moisture via condensation, I’m going to go the carboard-box-with-holes route. I also have a few rolls of honeycomb packing paper that I think would make efficient storage somehow - maybe I’ll try making a hanging drop bag for the mushrooms and store them in a cool shaded area so they can breathe and not dry out.

I plan on eating, experimenting with, and propagating these mushrooms. As such, I will also do further research on the medicinal value so that I can write about the strain and share that information.

PROGRESS REPORT WITH IMAGES AS OF 2.7.25

As of today, February 7th, 2025, I think we have some slight evidence of colonization. While molecular in size, and super tiny, I do see white dots and almost connective patterning from the bottom of the jar. I’ll keep monitoring, it’s likely to take a little longer since I used a dry spawn seed (don’t plan on doing that again, may try liquid inoculation/substrate next time, otherwise I’ll get actual sawdust spawn).

Still, the substrate and container have been fully inoculated and the jar is tucked away safely in a shaded area that gets passive airflow.