Oyster Mushroom Spores for Sawdust and Grain Inoculation
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Using oyster mushroom spores in our sawdust and grain spawn allows you to develop strong mycelium that will lead to delicious and beautiful oyster mushrooms
Oyster mushroom spores are found in our sawdust and grain spawn bags. You can use these bags to grow your own oyster mushrooms on a variety of scales, from small to large, as a hobbyist or professional. We provide an array of oyster mushroom strains in a colorful variety which you can see in our online store. Our grain and sawdust spawn options allow you to expand the oyster mushroom spawn for indoor or outdoor grows. Our pre-sterilized spawn bags ensure that there is no contamination, and we use high-quality spawn which has served as the workhorse for many professional farmers. Check out our oyster mushroom grain spawn and our oyster mushroom sawdust spawn now.
Understanding the recent growth in using oyster mushroom spores for mushroom cultivation
Oyster mushrooms, lion’s mane, pioppino, maitake, king trumpet and other specialty mushrooms are experiencing a large increase in production and consumption. From 2013-2015, production of specialty mushrooms increased by 37%. Mushroom consumers are starting to understand that mushrooms can bring many different flavors and textures to a meal. Oyster mushrooms are native to Northeastern US, the most common being the species Pleurotus ostreatus. The common name oyster refers to multiple species of mushrooms including but not limited to Pleurotus pulmonarius, Pleurotus salmonostraminus, Pleurotus djamor, Pluerotus citrinopileatus, Pleurotus ostreatus, Hypsizgus ulmarius, and others. Oyster mushrooms are particularly well suited for the small to medium mushroom producer. These mushrooms cover a range of sizes, colors, and textures. Oyster mushrooms can come in brown, pink, yellow, blue, white or other colors. This allows the small scale grower to offer 4 or 5 different products while only growing oyster mushrooms.
Understanding the life cycle of mushrooms and oyster mushroom spores
Most of the strains and species of oyster mushrooms can be cultivated, and fortunately for farmers, these mushrooms grow extremely fast and aggressively.Oyster mushrooms are basidiomycetes, which refers to their means of sexual reproduction. The gills of the oyster mushroom contain basidia, a microscopic structure resembling a tower with a ball on the top. Attached to the basidia are four haploid spores that are released into air currents at maturity. These spores germinate mycelium. The mycelium grows through its food source and eventually fruits a mushroom. The mushroom is the fruiting body of the larger fungal organism. The entire point of the mushroom is to provide a platform for sexual reproduction and dissemination of its offspring. They are a temple of copulation with an intricate and flamboyant design. Humans, insects, and animals are part of the chain that spreads the spores of the mushroom. Millions of these microscopic spores leave the mushroom. Oyster mushrooms in particular are known for their heavy spore load. This necessitates routine equipment cleaning and use of a mask in the fruiting room for professional mushroom farmers.
Oyster mushroom spores, grain spawn, and sawdust spawn
Grain spawn is typically a lower generation and has a higher nutrient profile. This makes grain spawn a good option when the substrate will be further expanded or if you want to add additional nutrients into the substrate. For instance, if inoculating grain with the intent of then adding it to a sawdust fruiting block, you would want to use a first or second generation bag of grain spawn. If you were inoculating straw or supplemented sawdust, using grain could be a good option for adding additional nutrients into the substrate. One advantage of using sawdust in this case is that the mycelium is already familiar with eating sawdust, so the leap-off time may be shorter.Sawdust spawn is usually the cheapest of the spawn options and has a relatively quick leap-off because of the small particle sizes. Since there is very little in the way of food reserves for the mycelium to eat, it rapidly looks for a new substrate to grow on. Sawdust spawn is usually third generation when you are buying it from a spawn supplier.
Oyster mushroom spores of a few strains we like
Blue Oyster Amycel 3015: This is a high-yielding oyster mushroom strain with fast mycelial growth. This blue oyster strain will fruit in a wide range of temperatures between 50°F – 75°F. The fruiting clusters are large with large caps that range in color from blue to white, depending on the temperature grown in and the stage of harvest.
Yellow Oyster AM1: If you want a vibrant yellow oyster mushroom, then this strain is for you, especially if you are growing in temperatures between 60°F – 80°F. The caps are typically small and numerous, and the stems are large and edible. This strain is responsible for medium to high yields.
Pink Oyster VDE-1: This strain produced pink to red fruiting bodies, and fruits in temperatures from 60°F – 85°F. This mushroom cannot survive temperatures below 40°F, so take that into account before trying this extremely-fast colonizing strain. This pink oyster has the ability to grow on a wide range of substrates and produces a medium yield. Note that storage and shelf life is limited for this mushroom.