Grow mushrooms in straw

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Growing in straw can give good results, but requires more improvement and preferably more space.

With oyster mushroom mycelium you can easily grow your own mushrooms. Oyster mushrooms can be grown in coffee grounds, straw and hardwood. In this guide, we share our experiences and gather the best tips and tricks from other mushroom growers to help you get the most out of your mushroom cultivation.

Find mycelium for gray/brown oyster mushrooms here and for yellow oyster mushrooms here.

HOW TO GROW OYSTER MUSHROOMS IN STRAW

Oyster mushrooms can be grown in both cut straw and whole straw bales.

INGREDIENTS:

  • Healthy straw from barley, wheat or seed grass. You can grow in both whole bales and loose straw.
  • Heavy duty plastic bag or container for fermentation
  • Mycelium

There are several ways to prepare straw depending on how much straw and how much space you have. Below we describe how to prepare both pre-cut straw or whole bales of straw

PROCEDURE (WHOLE STRAW BALES)

  1. First, ferment the straw to prevent other fungal spores and insects from settling in.
  2. This also helps to “open” the straw and make it susceptible to the mycelium. To do this, the straw must be completely submerged under water for 14 days at a temperature of at least 10°C. This can either be done in a container or a strong plastic bag. Note that during the 14 days, the water will start to smell strong, but it should not be replaced.
  3. After the 14 days, place the bale on the long narrow side for about 24 hours to allow the water to drain.
  4. Then turn the bale over so that it lies on its largest side and poke 10-15 holes with a depth of 15-25 cm around the bale. This can be done with a plant stick or other pointed object.
  5. Mycelium is placed in the holes and the holes are sealed with damp straw.
  6. The straw bales can now be placed in greenhouses, garages, basements, stables etc. They can also be placed outdoors, somewhere damp and shady. The mycelium will then begin to penetrate the straw. How long this takes depends on the circumstances. The optimal temperature is 20-25°C. The temperature should not exceed 30°C.
  7. You can cover the bale with foil or place it in a plastic bag.
  8. Remember to make 10-15 holes of about 0.5 cm in the foil/sack to ensure air for the mushrooms.

METHOD (WITH PRE-TREATED STRAW):

  1. Pre-treated/fermented straw (see instructions above) is packed as tightly as possible in plastic bags.
  2. It is advantageous to cut the straw into 2-4 cm pieces and if possible, it is best done before fermentation, loose cut straw is fermented for about 7 days.
  3. At the same time as packing, add the mycelium with approx. 25 g/kg moist straw evenly distributed in the bag. Close the bag and make 10-15 horizontal cuts about 20mm long, spread over the surface of the bag.
  4. If you use clear plastic bags, the overgrowth can be observed. When the bag starts to be predominantly white, the mycelium has grown through and holes can be cut in the bag to allow the fungi to grow out.
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