Why haven't my mushrooms worked ? :(

Hi guys.
So I followed the instructions carefully and thoroughly from a youtube vid (also shared on this forum somewhere) about growing oysters in buckets.
Within about 3 days mould started appearing on the top - I let it continue as i honestly thought it was the mycelium doing it's thing. Now, after 15 days, I'm pretty certain it's cobweb mould.
Every single bucket has a thick layer of cobweb mould covering it.
I went deep inside one bucket and the grain mycelium doesn't seem to have done anything at all.
Why?? I'm so disheartened.
I still have a 6l bag of mycelium in the fridge and a lot more wood pellets so I want to do this again successfully but not sure where I went wrong here.
Was my sawdust too damp? Must the lid of the buckets be airtight (the lids seem slightly lose)? Not sure of other variables. Did I peek too much??

Any feedback appreciated thank you.

Hi,

I am going to suggest waiting a bit longer.  Somehow I suspect that you have oyster spawn growing there.  When I started with mushrooms I grew Wine Caps (another aggressive species), followed all the rules and was disappointed when I did not get immediate results.

It turns out that all I needed was more patience and in time the mushrooms came in great abundance.  I suspect that yours will too.

Please keep us updated, I always like seeing how mushroom projects work out.

Eric

That looks like oyster mushroom mycelia to me.

Oh wow guys - that's encouraging!!!
These responses have actually made my day!
It doesn't smell of mushrooms or mould, but is quite scentless with a very mild perfumey smell.

So I should just wait then? Is it possible that the holes in the side of the bucket are too small? Does it matter that I lift the lid and peek? Any tips on getting them to work are welcome!

Woohoo!!

I think they are taking the time to do what they do.  One of the oddities of fungi is that they will not push up an actual mushroom until they have fully consumed their substrate.  The fuzzy phase you are seeing is their really active growth phase where sexual reproduction takes place.  Once the fungi run out of food (wood in your case) they sort of panic and push up mushrooms in order to release spores—the asexual form of reproduction.  Their goal is that the spores will blow away and start the party again someplace else.

I think you have really good progress, just sit back and let the spawn do it’s thing and I think you will get good results.  I know that this is hard to get used to as plants grow differently, but I really think you are on the right track.

Good luck and please keep us updated!

Eric