At the May monthly meeting mushroom kits were distributed to all the members. There were four spawn available for your culturing enjoyment:

  1. Pleurotus eryngii also known as king trumpet mushroom
  2. Pleurotus ostreatus the oyster mushroom
  3. Schizophyllum commune the split gill fungus
  4. Agrocybe arvalis

Before the meeting began you were given a plastic shopping bag containing cottonseed hulls After the presentations everyone received  two ziplock bags. The small bag contained Pleurotus eryngii (king trumpet mushroom) spawn. The larger ziplock bag contained the oyster mushroom spawn. If you have not already started the kits place the bags of spawn in the fridge. There was also a little log with the Schizophyllum commune plugs in it and Agrocybe arvalis sclerotia left over from last year.

Oyster and king trumpet preparation

We recommend using the cotton seed hulls with the king trumpet spawn and use logs or straw as the substrate for the  oyster mushroom spawn.

Prepare hulls

  • Put hulls in a large pot (use 2 pots if necessary)
  • Add water to cover hulls Bring to a rolling boil
  • Drain water off hulls Replace hulls in pot and cool with cover on to room temperature
  • Mix spawn & hulls thoroughly
  • Put mix in plastic bag

Spawn growth

  • Incubate bag at room temp  and low light for 14 days
  • Watch mycelium grow from spawn over the hulls

Fruiting

  • Look for white clumps Cut ½ inch holes in plastic over clumps for fruiting
  • Mist the bag with water and incubate in a cool place
  • Harvest mushrooms when edges are slightly curled or uncurled

 Schizophyllum commune log

If you picked up a little log with the Schizophyllum commune plugs in it, you may not know what to do with it,  it needs to be kept in a shady damp place. This will probably not take long to fruit, Jim Tunney put some of the grain that was on the dowels in with the sawdust from some of the drilled holes into a bag and it’s forming primordia on the sawdust already.

Agrocybe arvalis scleroti

If you picked up some of the Agrocybe arvalis sclerotia, keep it in a moist place. Last year Jim Tunney recommended fruiting it in a 12 ounce plastic cup with a few holes poked in the side for air and one on the bottom for drainage. At least three people fruited it this way. Dave Fischer suggested potting soil. Which sounded good to Jim, the sclerotia friut in the debris from chips that mycelium grew in which is very similar to potting soil.

 

 

Oyster on logs in the woods
Oysters growing on straw substrate
Oysters logs that were innoculated with grain spawn
Oysters in a bag, look how blue they are
Oysters in a bag
Oysters in a bucket to keep the light down and the humidity up
King trumpet mushroom
King trumpet mushroom 2
Schizophyllum commune cluster on log – picture by Scott Hamilton
Schizophyllum commune culture
Schizophyllum commune on a wood dowel
Logs drilled and Schizophyllum commune inoculated dowels inserted