How to cultivate Pleurotus ostreatus?

Oyster mushroom is particularly suitable for complete beginners because of its vigorous mycelia growth. Because of that it is resistant to moulds and other competitors growing on the substrate and is one of the most easily cultivated mushrooms. 

Caps of this mushroom are grey in color and can achieve up to few decimeters in diameter. They become pale when old, but are darker in color when grown at lower temperatures. 

Cultivation 

Wood can be inoculated with plug spawn or grain spawn. If inoculation was carried out in the early spring and the wood was incubated in a warm and shady environment, we can expect the mushrooms to form in the late autumn. Usually mushrooms form in colder, rainy parts of the year. 

Cultivation on wood is the most effective when carried outdoors. Larger logs or stumps inoculated with oyster mushroom spawn can produce mushrooms up to 15 years. They can be left outside all year round although mycelium is resistant to low temperatures (frost). 

Oyster mushroom cultivation on straw is faster and more often used in commercial mushroom production. Colonization of the straw with mycelia takes two to three weeks at optimal temperature. After colonization mushrooms begin to form. Three to four flushes of mushroom can be harvested from the straw based substrate. 

Growth parameters for oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus)

Substrate colonization
temperature	20 - 24 oC optimal, slower at lower temperatures
light	not needed
duration	6 - 10 months on wood 14 - 21 days on straw
Primordia formation
temperature	8 - 15 oC
relative humidity	95 - 100 %
duration	3 - 5 days
light	diffuse light necessary
Mushroom formation
temperature	10 - 21 oC strain dependent
relative humidity	85 - 90 %
duration	4 - 7 days
light	necessary (no direct sunlight!)

Broadleaf hardwoods are suitable for cultivation: cottonwood, alder, ash, beech, birch, elm, poplar, willow, aspen and others. Conifer wood is not suitable for cultivation of this species!