Growing oyster mushrooms on straw

In recent years, more and more Russians have become interested in growing mushrooms at home. There are many substrates for harvesting. But if you are doing this for the first time, then it is best to use straw. This is, in fact, a universal substrate for mushroom mycelium.

With proper management of straw for oyster mushrooms, you can get about three kilograms of tasty and healthy fruiting bodies. We will try to tell you in more detail about how to grow oyster mushrooms on straw.

Why choose oyster mushrooms

Mushrooms grown at home are not only a healthy food product, but also an opportunity to create your own business to make money.

Oyster mushrooms are considered a safe and delicious product that can be consumed even by small children. In China and Japan, scientists studied the fruiting body and proved the usefulness of oyster mushrooms in practice.

What is the role of the mushroom in maintaining health when eaten regularly:

• blood pressure is normalized;
• problems with the nervous system disappear;
• the risk of developing cancer is reduced;
• blood lipid levels return to normal;
• the cardiovascular system is strengthened;
• thanks to the presence of antioxidants, the body ages more slowly;
• oyster mushroom is a sorbent capable of absorbing heavy metals and radionuclides and removing them from the body;
• With constant consumption of this mushroom, cholesterol levels are reduced by up to 30%.

Methods for preparing straw for growing oyster mushrooms

If you decide to grow oyster mushrooms on straw, you need to know the specifics of preparing this substrate. Wheat straw is best.

Pickling

The substrate for oyster mushrooms must be soaked before sowing the mycelium, or, as mushroom businessmen say, it must be fermented. The fact is that in an untreated substrate, mycelium can be affected by mold fungi. To prevent this from happening, straw is placed in water for fermentation. This process creates an acidic environment in which pathogens and bacteria cannot exist.

Pasteurization process

The straw must be pasteurized to eliminate the presence of harmful bacteria. The process requires a crushed substrate, no more than 10 cm. In small straws, the mycelium quickly forms mycelium and colonies of oyster mushrooms. In addition, it is more convenient to work with such straw.

Soak the straw in water and bring to a boil. Here is how pasteurization of the required substrate takes place:

1. Fill a large container halfway with water, boil and cool to 80 degrees. In the future, this temperature should be maintained during the pasteurization stage. Use a thermometer to know the exact temperature.
2. We place the straw (as much as will fit in the container) in a net so that it does not scatter in the water, and lower it into the container for 60 minutes.The base for growing oyster mushrooms must be completely covered with water.
3. Then remove the mesh to let the water drain and cool to room temperature. After this, the mycelium can be colonized.

Cold incubation method

This substrate preparation is suitable for mushrooms that grow in the cold. This method is also suitable for oyster mushrooms.

So, how is incubation carried out:

1. Soak the straw for 60 minutes in cold water, then lay it out to drain, but do not dry it.
2. In a large container, mix with mycelium and place in a bag or other convenient container. If the mycelium is pressed, it must be crushed before planting.
3. Cover the top with film and put it in a room where the air temperature varies between 1-10 degrees.
4. When the straw becomes covered with a white coating, we move the “nurseries” to a warmer room.

Using hydrogen peroxide

Although this is questionable, it is still used to prepare straw for growing oyster mushrooms. Hydrogen peroxide destroys pathogenic microorganisms, but does not harm the mycelium.

Preparation stages:

• the straw is soaked in water for an hour, then washed twice;
• prepare a peroxide solution in a 1:1 ratio and lay in straw: you need to let it stand for several hours;
• then the solution is drained and the future substrate is washed in several waters;
• After this, the mycelium is colonized.

other methods

In addition to the above methods, you can steam the straw in a water bath or use dry heat.

We hope everything is clear with the water bath. Let's focus on the dry preparation method:

1. We set the oven to the minimum temperature, no more than 70-80 degrees.
2. Place the straw in a baking bag and leave for one hour.
3. After this, we soak the future base for colonizing the mycelium in boiled water. After cooling to room temperature, we populate the oyster mushroom mycelium.

We talked about possible ways to prepare straw for growing oyster mushrooms. Choose the one that best suits your conditions.

What do you need

So, the straw is ready, you can populate it. But before that you need to prepare everything you need for successful work:

• straw;
• mycelium;
• thick polyethylene bags or other containers that have been pre-treated with hydrogen peroxide or alcohol;
• a knitting needle or a sharp stick that is convenient for punching holes;
• an elastic band or string for tying the bag.

We put the mycelium mixed with straw into the prepared container and fill the container, but loosely. Squeeze out the air at the top before tying.

After this, we pierce holes in the bag of straw in increments of 10-12 cm: these are holes for the mushrooms to exit.

Growing crops

First stage

As mentioned above, bags with straw seeded with mycelium are placed in a cool room for several weeks. As soon as they turn white and little white threads appear, we take them out to a warm room with a temperature of 18-20 degrees.

While the mushrooms are growing, the room is not ventilated, since oyster mushrooms require a high concentration of carbon dioxide and air humidity for normal growth. The premises must be wet cleaned with chlorine-containing products every day. After 18-25 days, incubation ends and oyster mushrooms begin to grow.

The first mushrooms

Bags of straw are placed vertically, at some distance from each other, so that air can circulate freely between them. For one and a half months, the humidity should be from 85 to 95 percent, and the temperature should be 10-20 degrees.

The light should not be intense, no more than 5 W per square meter. You need to irrigate the straw “containers” in a dry way, for example, using a spray bottle twice a day on the caps from top to bottom. Ventilation at this time is a mandatory procedure necessary for the caps to dry.

The first fruiting bodies can be harvested after 1.5 months.

Mushrooms that are ready for picking have their caps turned up, and the diameter of the largest cap should not exceed five centimeters. But the fruiting of oyster mushrooms on straw does not stop there; you can harvest the crop twice more. But provided that the legs are removed and the blocks are sorted out. When properly organized, the straw substrate produces a harvest within 6 months.

Instead of a conclusion - useful tips

Growing oyster mushrooms on straw at home:

It is important:

1. Water in bags should not stagnate. If you notice this phenomenon, make additional drainage holes at the bottom. Overdrying the straw is also harmful.
2. If the color of the mycelium in the straw changes from white to blue, black or brown, this is a sign of mold. Growing mushrooms in such a bag is impossible; it must be thrown away.
3. There should be no trash cans near oyster mushroom incubators, as bacteria spoil the mycelium.
4. If this is your first time growing oyster mushrooms on straw, then do not start on a large scale. Let it be one small bag. On it you will test your abilities and desire to continue growing oyster mushrooms.

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