In this video you will learn how to grow your own oyster mushrooms on cardboard.

There are many varieties of oyster mushrooms. Two good choices of oysters to grow first are:

Blue grey oysters. These are the easiest and one of the highest yielding. They also grow in cooler temperatures than some.

Pink oysters. As well as being a stunning colour, these are one of the fastest growing mushrooms, producing fruits in as little as three or four weeks. They are a tropical mushroom and need a warmer temperature. If you have a warm house you may be able to grow them in winter.

The video takes you through a 5 step process to grow your our mushrooms.

Step 1 – Pasteurisation

In order to give your oysters a good start, and reduce the risk of the card becoming contaminated with mould, you will need to kill most of the other micro organisms that are living on your cardboard. You can achieve this by soaking it in boiling water – a simple but effective technique known as pasteurisation.

Step 2 – Inoculate with mushroom spawn

After squeezing out any excess water from your cardboard, mushroom spawn is scattered between each layer.

Step 3 – Colonisation of the cardboard

In this step the mushrooms are left in a warm place for a few weeks to colonise the cardboard. This process will take 4-8 weeks depending on the species of mushroom.

Step 4 – Fruiting – first flush

Once fully colonised you can open up the bag and let the oxygen stimulate the mushrooms to begin fruiting. They also need some light (enough to read by) to grow. Keep them moist with a spray bottle and then after a few days you should start to see baby pin mushrooms that will grow rapidly to full sized mushrooms in just a few days.

Step 5 – Harvest your home grown mushrooms and enjoy