Oyster mushroom - young mushrooms are consumed fried, boiled, or stewed, also salted, dried, and marinated. This mushroom reduces blood cholesterol levels and is considered a low-calorie dietary product. It grows on stumps and trunks of various deciduous trees. It is found from June until autumn frosts, often in large groups, with stems fused into clusters.
Cap: up to 12 cm in diameter, semi-circular, tongue-shaped or shell-like, with curled edges in young specimens, smooth, grayish-yellow or brownish, fading to white. Gills: white, then yellow, descending along the stem, sparse, thick, near the base with connecting bars. Flesh: white, soft, with a floury smell. Stem: short, up to 4 cm long, about 2 cm thick, firm, tapering toward the base, hairy at the base, white.
Cultivation of "Oyster Mushroom" on nutrient substrate: straw or sunflower hulls are soaked in boiling water, left for 7-8 hours, then drained. Before sowing, substrate moisture should be 70%, temperature 20-30°C. The cooled substrate is mixed with mycelium and placed in a transparent bag.
Germination lasts 15-18 days at a temperature of 14-28°C. In areas where fruiting bodies have started to form, make careful cuts in the film. Fruiting occurs in waves every 5-7 days. As substrate, use high-quality straw without mold. Cut it into pieces 2-3 cm long. For 3 kg of substrate: 1 kg of dry straw, 100 g of bran, 20 g of chalk, 40 g of gypsum, 1.8 liters of water. Thoroughly mixed substrate is left in a warm place for 3 days (during this time, stir twice). Then take a low-pressure polyethylene bag (PND), fill it with substrate, and tightly seal it, sealing the edges with a match. Next, sterilize by steaming the bag with substrate over boiling water (for 1 hour 30 minutes). Pour 4 liters of water into a pot (bucket) and place a glass jar on it, so that the bag does not touch the water. Cover the pot (bucket) with a lid, leaving a small hole for steam to escape. After steaming, cool the bag to room temperature. Using a heated nail, make 12 holes in the bag in a checkerboard pattern. Wash hands thoroughly and disinfect with alcohol (deodorant), then carefully, without breaking sterility, insert mushroom "chopsticks" into the holes, but not all the way, leaving 1/3 on the surface. The bag inoculated with "chopsticks" is left in a dark, dry room at a temperature of 20-24°C for 20-30 days until the bag is fully colonized (when it resembles a homogeneous white biofilm). After this, unseal the bag, spread it out (the distance between the bag edges and substrate should be 5-7 cm), and leave it in a shaded area at a temperature of 14-16°C and humidity of air not less than 80% (spray periodically).
