Oyster mushrooms need high humidity, otherwise the mushrooms will not develop.
Do mushrooms need air exchange?
Yes. Oyster mushrooms need fresh air that moves.
Air flow is necessary to remove CO2 and moisture from the bunches, since oyster mushrooms evaporate their own moisture from the surface of the cap and release a lot of carbon dioxide.
You can not spray the primordia with water from a spray bottle. Because the water droplets spread on the tiny caps, not allowing the mushrooms to breathe. Stagnant water between individual mushrooms can cause rotting or mold on the fruiting bodies.
Oyster mushrooms need light to develop good mushrooms. Here more about it
Can you grow mushrooms in a dark room?
They can be placed in a dark room only until dense white tissue (hyphal knots) appears in the slits.
From this stage, the oyster mushroom needs light.
For those who like to watch the oyster mushroom, they produce two-kilogram packages with already overgrown substrate. Usually the box is placed vertically. However, you can put it down and make a transparent lid over it, under which it is easy to retain moisture, and in which there are holes for fresh air. Try to do something similar. Click to enlarge the photo.
But this is only possible if you were sent a white substrate without spots.
Put it flat, cut two slits in the bag, lifting the film so as not to damage the mycelium.
Place a clear cake or pastry lid on it, cutting holes in the lid to allow the growing branches to breathe.
You can take a bag made of thick polyethylene, which will not wrinkle. You also need to make a few holes in it.
Under this cover, spray water from a spray bottle onto the surface of the cellophane, not into the cuts! The drops will gradually evaporate and create higher humidity under the lid than in the apartment.
The mushrooms will grow if the substrate that was sent to you by mail is made well and was not damaged during shipment: that is, it did not freeze, did not overheat, and did not dry out.
There are articles on the Internet about how to prepare a transparent plastic box to grow small mushroom blocks in it. This box is abbreviated as "SGFC" - Shotgun Fruiting Chamber. Type this query in a search engine and read how to make it.
I think this is the best option for an apartment.
Below I will write an even easier way to grow small blocks.
You can watch my video on how to make small blocks by soaking them in a lime solution.
Create acceptable conditions:
1. Take a shelf, place a container with water on top.
2. Place the already overgrown substrate on the lower shelves
3. Take gauze, fold it in two or three layers, lower the edge into the water, secure it so that it does not slip.
4. Leave gaps diagonally between the pieces of gauze for better air flow. Adjust the width of the gap depending on the condition of the oyster mushroom. If they don't pull the stem up and grow well, then they have enough air.
Moisture comes out through a gap that is too large, so find out how to open it empirically.
I advise growing them at a temperature of no higher than 20, no lower than 10-12 degrees.
Place this structure on a loggia or balcony and get a harvest until the frosts in the fall, and until the heat in the spring.
In summer you can grow other types of oyster mushrooms - for example, pink and golden oysters, or pulmonaris (Phoenix Oyster Mushroom) which grow in temperatures of 25-30 degrees Celsius.
You can put the blocks on a rack in a container with wet perlite if the humidity in your area is low in summer.
You can also place a tent like this on a balcony, in a shed or garage.
The one in the photo does not have transparent windows, so you will have to put a lamp there.
However, you can also look for transparent tents.
In the photo, you can see the holes at the top through which air comes in, and the fan at the bottom (in the middle), through which air comes out of the tent.
I will not describe them in detail here, since I do not recommend putting them in an apartment.
Because the air that comes out contains a large amount of carbon dioxide and mushroom spores.
However, if you search for "Mushroom Tent Martha", you will find videos and articles on the Internet.
No, this is a rather dangerous undertaking. Fungal spores easily penetrate carpets and you will never know whether the vacuum cleaner has collected all the spores during cleaning.
Even if you pick mushrooms on time, the most developed of them will have time to throw out some spores.
And mushroom spores, even in small quantities, can cause allergies.
There are other mushrooms that grow at 20-25 degrees and do not need such a strong air exchange. These are eryngii and shiitake.
The required humidity is created by a transparent cap put on each block. The block itself is in a plate with moss. Although, you can even put gauze. The main thing is that the material retains water and gradually gives it to the block.
If you can buy ready-made overgrown blocks of these mushrooms, you will get a good harvest. After all, these blocks are made using sterile technology. The yield on them can reach up to 50-60% of the weight of the block.
Since after the first flush is collected, the substrate is soaked in water and bears fruit again. You can collect 4-5 flushes. What is mushroom flush, read here.
