The Warm Blue Oyster - (Pleurotus ostreatus) is one of our most prolific indoor commercial fruiting strains with an extremely WIDE fruiting temperature window. Meaty and sweet, this mushroom is also known for its antiviral properties as well as cholesterol lowering abilities. Optimum fruiting occurs when temperatures between 50-80F, but it can produce as high as 95F. Outdoors it fruits well on oak, sweetgum, poplar, and many other hardwood species. Indoors we recommend fruiting this strain on pasteurized wheat straw and cotton hulls for incredible yields. We grow this strain year-round indoors and it forms beautiful, thick clusters. The blue color quickly fades into a light steel-blue, grey color. Like all oysters, these mushrooms are high in protein and wonderful sautéed, grilled, or fried as a side or even the main course!
Edibility and taste: Meaty and Sweet
Grows on: Hardwood Logs and Stumps (Outdoors):alder, ash, aspen, beech, birch, elm, maple, oak, sweetgum, box elder, cottonwood, willow, ailanthus, tulip poplar, pasteurized straw or Agricultural Byproduct (Indoors)
Fruiting Temps: 50-80F
Availability: Year-Round
The Cold Blue Oyster - (Pleurotus ostreatus) is one of our most beautiful winter mushrooms and commercial fruiting strain with an extremely low fruiting temperature window. Meaty and sweet, this mushroom is also known for its antiviral properties, so it is a great mushroom to eat and toss into a soup during the colder months. Optimum fruiting occurs when temperatures fall in between 35-50F, which means a cold shock down to a near freeze is needed to produce after a flush has rested. Outdoors it fruits well on oak, sweetgum, poplar, and many other hardwood species. Indoors we recommend fruiting this strain on pasteurized wheat straw and cotton hulls for incredible yields. We like to grow this strain indoors during the winter and turn off the heat to the growing room to save on production costs, so it is a good strain to cultivate seasonally. The colder the temperature the deeper blue the caps are!
Edibility and taste: Meaty and Sweet
Grows on: Hardwood Logs and Stumps (Outdoors): alder, ash, aspen, beech, birch, elm, maple, oak, sweetgum, box elder, cottonwood, willow, ailanthus, tulip poplar
Fruiting Temps: Needs COLD SHOCK. Prefers fruiting 35-50, once baby mushrooms form they can mature quickly at higher temperatures, then cold shocked again every few weeks.
Availability: September - March (Year round special request)
Phoenix Oyster “Oconee Pine” - (Pleurotus pulmonarius) mushrooms are the true summer oyster, that prefer warmer temperatures and can be distinguished from white-spored P.ostreatus with their beautiful lilac colored spore-prints. Most strains have all white fruitbodies, and this one is no exception. This strain was originally isolated from the ID tables at Oconee State Park, South Carolina growing out of a Virginia Pine branch. It will fruit on conifer wood, but the mushrooms are small. It prefers to fruit on hardwoods or can be grown on pasteurized agricultural waste, such as straw or cotton. This culture is great for mycoremediation projects and can also convert piles of conifer mulch and stumps into soil , and has shown high activity in breaking down herbicides. This mushroom is a treat to eat, has a soft, velvety and sweet flavor reminiscent of anise and is super easy to grow during the warmer months of the year!
Edibility and taste: Sweet and Meaty
Grows on: Hardwoods, also can fruit on Conifer (Pine): alder, ash, aspen, beech, birch, elm, maple, oak, sweetgum, box elder, cottonwood, willow, ailanthus, tulip poplar
Fruiting Temps: 75-95F
Availability: Year-Round
Our Brown Oyster - (Pleurotus ostreatus) strain is one of the best tasting in our collection. Very similar to the native white oyster, this strain differs in that it has a softer, inflated stem that is edible! The entire mushroom can be sliced and cooked, making it a great value for consumers. This strain can grow to almost a foot across and the cap margin becomes a beautiful, wavy shape when mature.
The Brown oyster is light sensitive, so it does not like growing in clear containers or bags, opt for black bags or use nursery pots, buckets or bins with holes in them. This strain becomes trapped in clear containers and they cannot find the holes to escape! Not as sweet as the blue or elm oyster, this one is the best meat substitute we have, and can be oiled and grilled whole for oyster sandwiches or cubed up and threaded onto kabobs.
Outdoors it fruits well on oak, sweetgum, poplar, and many other hardwood species in the spring and fall. Indoors we recommend fruiting this strain on pasteurized wheat straw and cotton hulls for incredible yields. We grow this strain year-round indoors and it forms beautiful, thick clusters, and is the most CO2 tolerant of all of our oyster strains. We are able to produce this mushroom indoors year-round due to its wide temperature fruiting window. Approximately 100 plugs by weight.
Edibility and taste: Meaty and Earthy
Grows on: Hardwood Logs and Stumps: alder, ash, aspen, beech, birch, elm, maple, oak, sweetgum, box elder, cottonwood, willow, ailanthus, tulip poplar
Fruiting Temps: 50-75F
Availability: Year Round
Golden Oyster - (Pleurotus citrinopileatus) One of our most beautiful oyster species, this warm weather strain is VERY FRAGILE when mature. They resemble a bouquet of beautiful yellow flowers, smell like fresh watermelon, and taste like roasted cashews when you saute them in oil! An excellent gourmet mushroom for local food markets since this one does not ship well over long distances. (Optimum fruiting temperatures fall in between 75-90F. Log cultivation is not recommended in cold climates since this strain may not overwinter. We recommend fruiting this strain on pasteurized wheat straw and cotton hulls. when others are going dormant in the extreme heat of the summer. Typically fruit in 2-3 weeks indoors on straw, unfortunately it is not a heavy yielder, however this is one of our best selling mushrooms at the market, since they don't weigh much we typically charge $20 per pound for these beauties and sell out in one hour!
Edibility and taste: Sweet and nutty
Grows on: Hardwood Logs: alder, ash, aspen, beech, birch, elm, maple, oak, sweetgum, box elder, cottonwood, willow, ailanthus, tulip poplar
Fruiting Temps: 75-90F
Availability: April-September
Mulberry Oyster (Pleurotus ostreatus) - A regular customer Mickey has been telling me about this brown oyster that fruited about 7 times in one year from a mulberry tree in his yard. 7 times? Of course I wanted a copy of this mushroom. Not only that, but he saw it fruiting in 20F degree weather. The mushrooms are large and meaty. You can plant them on a variety of hardwoods outdoors, and have mushrooms pretty much year round once they start fruiting.
Edibility and Taste: Meaty and Earthy
Grows On: Hardwood Logs and Stumps (Outdoors): mulberry, alder, ash, aspen, beech, birch, elm, maple, oak, sweetgum, box elder, cottonwood, willow, ailanthus, tulip poplar. Pasteurized Straw or Agricultural Byproduct (Indoors)
Fruiting Temps: 20-75F
Availability: Year Round
Approximately 100 plugs by weight