Blue Oyster DIY Mushroom Block Instructions
Ideal growing conditions for Blue Oyster mushrooms:
- clean area
- indirect sunlight or indoor light for a few hours of the day
- temperature between 55-80oF
- humidity over 85%
- good air ventilation
- The block will be fruited upside down. Fold the lose plastic under the block and place on a plate.
Use a clean, sharp knife to cut a 2-inch cross (X) through the now top of bag (more or less in the center) and don’t worry if you cut the block while doing this, that is normal.
- To maintain the high humidity needed to successfully grow mushrooms, use a clean plastic bag as a tent over the block (a shopping bag or trash bag work well). Cut two vents in each corner of this tent to allow for air ventilation needed for the mushrooms to grow.
- Poke the 4 skewers into the block to hold the tent away from the block and to give mushrooms the room to grow.
- Use a water spray bottle to maintain humidity between the block and tent. The plate under the block will collect condensate and also help maintain the humidity and keep your table surface dry.
- You can check on the top of the block regularly to watch the mushrooms forming, usually takes 7-14 days once block as placed in the humid tent. You will know when the mushrooms are ready to harvest when the caps just start to flatten or curl up (but if you cut it earlier, nothing lost!).
Total time to harvest: 2-4 weeks.
- To harvest, twist mushrooms gently and pull off mushrooms cap and stem from the block (~1lb harvest per block, depending on conditions). Store in refrigerator in a breathable container like a brown paper bag. Best eaten within 5 days.
- Blue Oyster blocks can fruit 2 or 3 times if you keep up this process. Each time it will take longer to produce mushrooms, and will give you less mushrooms. We have also seen them fruit again once we throw it on the compost heap!
Good luck and enjoy the journey with the mushrooms!