Grow Homegrown Oyster Mushrooms with an Old Laundry Basket

Hey there mushroom lovers, if you hate doing the laundry and want to grow your own mushrooms, you’re in luck. While we can’t help you out with the dreaded chore of loading your washing machine, you can certainly use your old basket to yield something you do love, oyster mushrooms. Maybe it sounds a little weird? Perhaps a bit funky? Growing your own fungi does have some preparation involved, but once you get going, the process is pretty simple. Instructables user velacreations shows you exactly what you need to do each step of the way. Here are some supplies to get the ball rolling: a laundry basket (of course), an oyster mushroom spawn, a thermometer, an ice chest, cut straw, some lime and gypsum, a garbage bad and a couple more items. Don’t let the supplies list intimidate you, as these are fairly common materials you can find at greenhouses retailers. It’s a matter of pasteurizing the straw in your cooler with a mixture of lime and gypsum.  Toss in your pasteurized straw into your basket, and top it off with your mushroom spawn. Humidity, warm, and darkness (muahaha!) is exactly the type of room where you want your mushrooms to grow in. Velacreations’ tutorial walks you through the exact humidity and temperatures needed to for a successful harvest of mushrooms—this is also where your garbage comes into play, keeping the moisture in. Plus, you can even clone your mushrooms to get another few uses out of the same laundry basket before it needs a good cleaning. Plus, did you know pink vs white oyster mushrooms are totally dependent on their temperature and humidity? Yeah, this is an awesome and tasty DIY project. Much better than laundry. Much better. Check out the full guide below:

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Photo by: velacreations | Instructables

Grow Homegrown Oyster Mushrooms with an Old Laundry Basket