Best and most economical method to grow oyster mushrooms

 

Growing Oyster Mushrooms on Tissue Paper Rolls:

Materials:

 • Oyster spawn (either grain spawn or sawdust spawn)

 • Large filter patch bags

 • Toilet paper rolls (Generic white rolls of toilet paper work best. Avoid kinds that have color printing, added scent, or lotions.)

Method:

1 Dip the rolls. 

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Either dip your rolls of tissue paper into the boiling water using tongs, or pour the boiling water over the rolls of toilet paper in a sink. This is a “soft” (i.e., not strictly complete) pasteurization of the roll. An oven rack placed over the sink makes a good makeshift rack to hold the rolls.

2 Inoculate the rolls. 

Allow the toilet paper roll to cool on a small plate. Crumble up your Oyster spawn and fill the interior of your toilet paper roll with it. I generally also dust the exterior of the roll with some spawn. Enclose the roll and plate in a filter patch spawn bag. Use a rubber band at the top of the bag to close it.

3 Air and mist. 

Open the bag several times a day to air it out and mist it with a spray bottle. Keep the sides of the plastic bag moist by making them the primary target of the spray bottle. Try to avoid water pooling in the bottom of the bag. If you need to, you can go without misting for a day or two without negative consequences.

4 Harvest. 

Your roll should be fully colonized in 2 weeks or less if you’re using Oyster mushrooms. Your fruits should come a week or two after full colonization. To harvest, simply grasp the mushroom at the base of the fruit body and gently twist it off with your fingers. You can sometimes get two or three flushes from this method as long as the roll doesn’t dry out. Subsequent flushes should start around 1 week after the previous harvest.