Description
These are New Zealand native phoenix oyster mushrooms, which can grow all year around. It produces beautiful clusters of mushrooms with large frilled beige to darkish-brown caps, depending on lighting conditions.
What you receive is a sawdust block fully colonised (or nearly fully colonised) with mushroom mycelium, which appear covered with a soft, white.
Remove kit from the shipping box as soon as possible.
Check if it is not fully colonised (some sawdust is not covered with mycelium).
Unfold the top of the bag, making room for air space to let colonisation continue in a dark spot until whole block is covered with mycelium.
Keep an eye on the process of colonisation. when colonisation finishes, it is ready to fruit soon.
Once it is fully colonised, tightly fold excess plastic back. Put it in the most humid part of your home and outside of direct sunlight. Make a single diagonal line or with an X on side or top or where pinning (thick mycelium, or baby mushrooms) show up with a clean knife.
Spray with fine mist the cut surface once per day with water or leave a wet paper towel on the cut. No need to spray the sawdust directly as substrate has right amount of moisture.
It is normal to see baby mushrooms sprouting inside the bag except from the cut you make. You can leave these alone and keep the bag taped tightly. If you make more cuts for more clutters of mushrooms to grow, it is easy for the block to lose moisture and have more clutters with smaller clutter. Commercially,we aim to have one big clutter instead of many smaller clutters. You can play with it.
Harvest:
If you see one of these indicator, it is ready to harvest by twisting the base of whole bunch and clear the left tissue.
✅ When edges of cap are still slightly turned under.
✅ When the majority of the caps have become wavy
✅ When spores ( white powder, pink powder from pink oyster mushrooms) drop.
Multiple flushes.You may expect two or three or more flushes with less and less yield. Between flushes, it needs a 5-14 days period to let the mycelium rest and regrow.
Be resourceful. After the first flush or some flushes or from the first start, you can leave it as outdoor mushroom patch by spreading it in a shady area on ground or a growing pots or other containers. Or you can use it as sawdust spawn, mix with wood chip, or sawdust. Mushroom patch and plants are beneficial to each other.By doing this, it can last quite long, up to a year at the right condition.
