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I am growing Blue Oyster Mushrooms in buckets with straw. This is my first time, as I wanted to try it out after hearing about it online. My spawn grain has been in my straw for 2 weeks. I took a peek because I thought it should have been pinning by now. It looks like it has spread to the straw but needs more time. Either way, I found some black in it and I post two examples of what I am seeing below. I am concerned it is contaminated... but I have read that Blue Oysters are aggressive and confine other molds, "pee" on them and absorb them? But I have also heard of people saying if you find black, they need tossed. I am going to give my buckets more time and see what they do, but I was wondering if there is something I should do about it or just leave it? Is it a problem? I don't want to lose edible mushrooms. They smell the same as the day I opened the grain spawn which had no discoloration.
Thanks so much.

I haven’t done this in a while so there are probably others with more recent experience….

I realize I don’t know anything about blue oysters. I’m assuming these are supposed to have white mycelial mat like regular ones. And the white clump you’re showing looks good to me.

But IMHO, if nothing else, I would excise (remove) the portion that are black patches, being careful not to allow any spores to spread — probably expose as you have shown, then reach in with gloves liberally sprayedwith alcohol and gently basket/cup the black along with extra margin (at least 1 inch all around) of surrounding straw, and then use sterilized scissors to cut off the excess straw sticking out of gloves hand.

Did you pasteurize your straw before inoculating?

applestar wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 14, 2023 9:34 am

I haven’t done this in a while so there are probably others with more recent experience….

I realize I don’t know anything about blue oysters. I’m assuming these are supposed to have white mycelial mat like regular ones. And the white clump you’re showing looks good to me.

But IMHO, if nothing else, I would excise (remove) the portion that are black patches, being careful not to allow any spores to spread — probably expose as you have shown, then reach in with gloves liberally sprayedwith alcohol and gently basket/cup the black along with extra margin (at least 1 inch all around) of surrounding straw, and then use sterilized scissors to cut off the excess straw sticking out of gloves hand.

Did you pasteurize your straw before inoculating?

Thanks so much for your input.
I let the straw soak in some hot water for a few hours, drained, and then let it cool. Maybe it wasn't enough? Maybe I should have gone with wood chips?
I can try and remove more black, but I think I would have to dig a bit and it may disturb the mycelium. I did spray some Hydrogen Peroxide yesterday in areas that looked like it has a bit of black going on after trying to remove some, and on the outside of the buckets. Idk if I went crazy with it or not.
Unfortunately I am having a difficult time finding more info online about this kind of circumstance with Blue Oysters. Many things I find online talking about black mold contamination are with mushrooms that aren't aggressive. I also mostly find stuff with Green mold being a problem with mushrooms which I do not have at all. Today it still smells fine and my asthma hasn't been triggered by any of this.
I hope it will work out, but if not maybe I will try again in the future but do something that is outside in a woodchip bed or logs where it can get more air. I would just like to learn more.

I know contamination is such a pain and sometimes unavoidable and inevitable. I hope those blue oysters live up to their rep and manage to outcompete.

Probably you’ve done what you can, so at this point, just try to maintain optimum temperatures (plus light and I guess maybe moisture levels but any addition can create opportunistic contamination — try to keep up/create “clean room” conditions when opening and peeking in …but recommend judicious removal if you see more potentially spore producing black bodies) etc. conditions for the blue oysters to fully colonize the straw and hope for the best?

If you have the budget and time, starting a second batch right now if ambient temperatures are optimal is not a bad idea, since I think mushroom culture can be more difficult when it gets extra hot or extra cold.

Hope you report back. I’m intrigued now.

…outside has more challenges from wild spores and hot/dry conditions, or moisture levels. But yep I agree, fungi = fun to explore.

I wanted to do a mini update. It was the 13th that I removed some of the straw and sprayed stuff down with Hydrogen Peroxide. I decided to take another small peek at my buckets as I know that mold can spread pretty quick. There was alot less black specks in one bucket. I did another spray of Hydrogen Peroxide for the remaining specks. It just looked really good I thought. It also looked like some of the mycelium thickened up to a dense rubber white too. Seemed like I saw more of it on the top layer this time.

My other bucket however...
I saw some specked black areas, so I just removed the whole layer, then
I found what looked like picnic beetles in it They are also called sap beetles.
I picked them out and didn't see any larva. And I did a really good spray. Maybe 5? they were on top of the mycelium. I saw one yesterday on the outside of the bucket but didn't think much about it and flicked it away. Hopefully I caught the issue on time. I am afraid I may find larva later, idk.
Supposedly (if I identified them correctly) they coexist with fungi. My buckets have been outside since I found the black stuff a couple of days ago which seems to be going away from what I can see? I'm not gonna dig real deep.
It has only been a day so we will see how it all goes I suppose! For now, I will mark that bucket and probably toss it? Maybe?
I kinda want to see if it ends up fruiting since it is outside anyway.

Also, I wanted to ask if anyone has had any experience cleaning a bucket they used for mushrooms before? I would like to reuse it for mushrooms in the future if possible. Otherwise I guess I could find another use for it.

I found this on one of my buckets
My other doesn't have any though. Maybe I will get something out of this afterall.