Frequently Asked Questions

Mushroom Growing Frequently Asked Questions

As you are getting started with growing mushrooms its common to have myriad of questions. In this article we hope to answer some of the frequently asked questions and provide advice for growing your own mushrooms at home.

We will be discussing common issues with colonization, fruiting body development, maintaining humidity and storing mushrooms growing supplies.

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  • Mycelium is a root like structure of a fungus consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae.
  • It’s this mass that is responsible for breaking down and consuming matter via the excretion of enzymes. These nutrients are absorbed and used to expand and eventually produce fruit bodies.
  • Mycelium will provide protective qualities to the substrate similar to the layer of mould on an aged cheese.
  • An oyster mushroom grows from spawn. Spawn is the propagative or multiplying unit for oyster mushrooms. Oyster mushrooms are easy to grow and most of the growers use commercial spawn for growing them. The spawn is mixed on suitable substrate on which oyster mushrooms grow.
  • There is also grain spawn made from sterilized grains that have been inoculated with a live mycelium culture.
  • Grain spawn contains a lot of energy for our mycelium to consume.
  • Oyster mushrooms take 4 weeks to start harvesting. The first two weeks are spent in the incubation room for pinning and as soon as they show pinheads they are transferred to grow room where they fruit and you can have your ready mushrooms in two weeks’ time.
  • Primordia or developing fruiting bodies will stall if the fruiting conditions are not maintained. It’s important to provide the mushrooms with fresh air and humidity once they oyster mushroom have been transferred to the grow room. If the fruiting bodies dry out too much they will abort. The same applies if too much carbon dioxide accumulates around them.
  • Mushrooms are harvested before they have dropped the bulk of their spores to maximize the time that they can be stored.
  • Oyster mushrooms should be harvested before the caps turn fully upwards. At this point they will still be firm and full of color
  • We sell our mushrooms fresh or store them in punnets and refrigerated and also dry them for oyster mushroom flour.