You just got your Oyster Mushroom Spray and Grow Kit - congrats and welcome to the mushroom family!
First, inspect your kit upon arrival and keep the packaging. Each kit is packaged with a batch-specific sticker, located somewhere on the substrate bag. We track quality control with these numbers, so it’s helpful to know if you need to be in touch with a member of our team. If there's anything off about your kit (broken, odd colors, no mycelium) head over to our page on troubleshooting. Troubleshooting Your Spray and Grow Kit and Other Common Questions
Make sure to read through all of the instructions included in your kit. When you make the incision into the bag, leave the plastic flaps of the X. They help to keep moisture in and direct the mycelium into a cluster. If you live in a particularly dry area, you may want to consider using a humidity tent, instructions on how to make one are here How do I make a humidity tent? Remember to mist your kit a few times every day!
Once tiny mushrooms, called pins, are starting to form on your block it won’t be long before you have full clusters of oyster mushrooms! Notoriously fast-growing, oysters double in size each day. Keep an eye on them so you don’t miss your window for harvesting and keep spritzing them so they don’t dry out! From pin stage to full maturity may take 3-6 days.
Harvesting: We like to harvest oyster mushrooms right before their caps begin to flatten out, while the edge is still a little curved under. At this point, the mushrooms have almost grown to their full size and will store better than mushrooms harvested later. You can definitely pick and eat mushrooms after the cap has flattened out, but they won’t keep as long and are more brittle.
To harvest, reach your hand around the base of the mushroom cluster and twist. This motion should be enough to pop your mushrooms off the block. You can also use a knife if you want, too! Remove any extra loose debris on the block before starting to spritz again for a second flush. Your first flush could produce anywhere between ½-2 lbs. of mushrooms!
Storage: Oyster mushrooms harvested a little before peak maturity should store for up to two weeks in a paper bag in the refrigerator. Mushrooms stored in plastic tend to rot and mushrooms left out tend to dry up.
Cooking: Always make sure to thoroughly cook your mushrooms before eating them! We’ve got several recipes to give you inspiration here: Simple Oyster Mushroom Sautee, Savory Mushroom Tart, Oyster Mushroom and Corn Empanadas
Color variation: Much like with plants, there are some subtle variations in the appearance of mushrooms. On oysters, colors can be more or less vibrant depending on the mushroom’s maturity and ambient temperature. Blue oysters may have some brown, to gray, to bright blue colors on the cap. Pink oysters may have some brown hues to their caps and can be bright or powdery pink in color on cap and gills. Golden oysters start out as white blobs in the pin stage, sometimes getting confused for Lion’s Mane. As they mature, they develop that bright yellow hue to their caps.
Getting more flushes: Do not take the block out of the bag. After you’ve harvested your first flush of mushrooms, continue spraying your kit. If you don’t see any baby mushrooms (pins) forming after a week or so, it’s a good idea to soak your block. It’s possible during the first flush the kit got a little too dry. Take your block out of the box and set it cut side down in a bowl of water for 20 minutes.
After soaking, let the block drain by leaving it cut side down for another 10 minutes or tip it around to let extra water run off. You don't want to leave standing water in your bag. Pat your block dry before placing it back in the box with the cut side facing out or skip the box and leave the block cut side up and keep spraying it 2-3x per day.
Are you hoping for a third, fourth, or fifth flush? We’ve got some ideas for how to get more life out of your kit here.
