Mushroom Inoculation

HI Everyone!

I would love some support around how to inoculate blue oyster spores today haha. My friend suggested stray is the fastest way as these spores are ready to go today  -- we would need to sterilize and inoculate. Have never done it so whatever support is welcome.

Second bag of spores are shittake and look like they can stay in the fridge for one or two weeks (friend said) to give us enough time to cut down some iron or maple wood logs and let them sit for 2 weeks. My question is how long can I keep the spores in the fridge and how short can the cut down logs sit around before being innoculated for all this to be a successful inception and fruiting.

Thank you so much!


Julia

Julia,

I will try to comment on the oysters.  What material are you planning on inoculating?  Straw?  Logs?  Woodchips?  If you are talking about straw or woodchips, you might be able to just inoculate now, assuming that the material is not visibly consumed by some other fungi.  Are you inoculating with spawn? Plugs? Spores from existing mushrooms?  If spawn or spores, just mix with the chips/straw, moisten and wait (make sure to do this in a shaded area).

Logs are a bit different matter, but they would be best if freshly cut.

Oyster mushrooms are generally so aggressive that sterilization is not necessary.

These are just a few tips.  I hope they can be helpful.

Eric

Spores are good in the fridge potentially forever.

Your chances of success at much greater if using live mycelium as opposed to spores, but oysters are the most forgiving, and one of the most aggressive species to work with so if  inoculating a substrate with spores is what your doing it might work.

You will definitely want to pasteurize your straw first though to give the spores a chance to germinate before a competitor species takes hold.

My suggestion would be to look up the method known as the 'Bucket TEK', and follow that for best results.