Do you want to grow oyster mushrooms indoors? Then this post is for you! Growing Oyster mushrooms at home might be easier than you think! I recently took the dive from houseplants to growing my own mushrooms. The Oyster Mushroom, as one of the most common edible fungi, was my first choice. This new grow was easy and enjoyable! If you want to try homegrown mushrooms, this guide will help you get started.

The easiest way to begin growing oyster mushrooms indoors is by using a mushroom growing kit. Using a mushroom growing kit is great for beginners or those who want an easy way to grow oyster mushrooms indoors year-round. This post includes instructions on how to grow these tasty delicacies in your own home with a kit and without a kit.

Two mushroom growing brands of kits I like: NorthSpore and Back to the Roots.

  

What are the easiest mushrooms to grow indoors at home?

The easiest mushroom types to grow are:

1. Oyster Mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus) **Oyster mushrooms are by far the easiest to grow! It is a good idea to start with the easiest first.
2. Shiitake Mushrooms (Lentinula edodes)
3. Lion’s Mane Mushrooms (Hericium erinaceus)

How to Grow Oyster Mushrooms Indoors – The Easy Way!

If you are new to growing mushrooms, buying a grow kit might be the best route for your first attempts at growing your own oyster mushrooms indoors. Growing mushrooms from a kit are the easiest way to grow fresh, healthy, edible mushrooms indoors year-round. I like the North Spore Mushroom Growing Kits. I used this kit, and I had rapid growth in just a couple of days. They tasted better and were significantly cheaper than any mushrooms I bought from the grocery stores.

North Spore is a small family business located in Maine that specializes in growing edible mushrooms. Their edible mushroom growing kits are simple to use and require very little effort on your part. You can grow them practically anywhere — even at work! All of their products come with full instructions, the growing medium, and everything you need to get started. It’s never been easier to grow fresh, edible, delicious mushrooms in a small growing container right at home or in your office space! You will officially be a mushroom farmer in no time!

Pro Tip: to increase the warmth and high humidity, I placed our North Spore cardboard box on the kitchen counter above our dishwasher. That way when we ran the dishwasher, it would warm up the box a bit and when I opened the dishwasher door after the cycle it would release the warm steam air right near my mushroom kit.

North Spore makes easy indoor mushroom growing kits for:

• Pink Oyster Mushrooms
• Blue Oyster Mushrooms
• Golden Oyster Mushrooms
• Lion’s Mane Mushrooms

With the North Spore mushroom growing kit, there’s no more waiting for months until it’s the mushroom season again! Now you can enjoy delicious mushrooms all year long! Fresh Oyster, Lion’s Mane, and Shiitake mushrooms make the perfect addition to any meal or snack time treat – they taste great sauteed with butter and garlic or added into soups, stews, stir-fry dishes…the possibilities are endless! And don’t forget how good they look on top of pizza, too…yum!

There’s nothing better than freshly grown food – especially when it tastes this good! Plus, these mushroom-growing kits have an extremely high success rate which means less waste and more delicious mushroom goodness for everyone involved 🙂 So what are you waiting for? Get yours today; click here. North Spore mushroom growing kit is the one we have at home and I love it!

As I mentioned above, Oyster mushrooms are by far the best mushrooms to grow at home for beginners. They come in many varieties, including pearl oysters, king oysters, and strikingly colorful pink, blue, and golden oysters. They’re also one of the mushroom varieties you can grow at home using a North Spore Mushroom Growing Kit!

Growing tasty edible Oyster mushrooms indoors is a fun, inexpensive project that yields a delicious and healthy harvest. Learn how this DIY mushroom growing kit will have you harvesting mushrooms in just 2 weeks!

What Makes Oyster Mushrooms so Easy to Grow at Home?

Oyster mushrooms are the easiest mushrooms to grow since they love all different types of growing mediums including coffee grounds, straw, and hardwood sawdust and shavings.

They are also quick to grow and can tolerate a wide range of bacterial species, including blue or green mold.

When your mushroom kit arrives in the mail you slice a hole in the plastic bag and place it in your home where it can receive fresh oxygen, low-level light, and maintain average indoor temperatures. The kit comes with a little sprayer that you will use to keep the growing material moist by spraying it a few times a day. Oyster mushrooms love a humid environment!

This signals to the mycelium that it’s time to start producing mushrooms and small pins begin to emerge. Oyster mushroom pins will begin to emerge from holes in the plastic grow bag. These small pins, which are fed by water and nutrients from the mycelium, rapidly develop into full-size mushrooms in just 5-7 days. Oysters mushrooms can be ready to harvest just 7 days after starting to grow out of the plastic bag! A mushroom crop can be harvested three times before the mycelium runs out.

Optimal Conditions for Growing Oyster Mushrooms Indoors

Maintaining a Healthy Mushroom Environment

Fungi, specifically Oyster Mushrooms, have unique environmental needs compared to the houseplants you may be used to. These are the best conditions for your mushroom to thrive. The important thing is to have the optimal conditions to grow mushrooms indoors:

• Low light. Indirect light or shade is perfect for growing Oyster Mushrooms. Unlike plants, these fungi doesn’t need sunlight to develop. Its internal fruitbodies will grow just fine in the shade.
• Humidity. Mushrooms need moisture and love high humidity. Most fungi cannot develop in dry conditions, and the Oyster Mushroom in particular craves humidity. Spraying your growth medium once or twice a day with a water mister will help promote healthy growth.
• Air flow. Wild Oyster Mushrooms grow in open-air, breezy environments. Access to plenty of oxygen and good air circulation will ensure your mushrooms grow to their full potential. Whatever container you use for your grow kit, make sure there are some holes incorporated to encourage air flow.
• Moderate room temperatures. 50-86 degrees Fahrenheit is this mushroom’s preferred temperature range. As long as you stay within this, the Oyster Mushroom isn’t too particular. Average room temperature is A-okay for growing your fungi!

Why Grow Your Own Mushrooms

Growing your own mushrooms at home is super fun! No matter how much experience you have with indoor plants, making the leap into growing fungi is an exciting new adventure. Mushrooms have very different growing environments and needs than the typical houseplant. Exploring the different ways to cultivate fungi will quickly become your new hobby. Oyster Mushrooms also make a delicious cooking ingredient or snack. They’re jam-packed with fiber, antioxidants, and plenty of vitamins and minerals.

How to Grow Oyster Mushrooms

I love using these North Spore grow kits to cultivate my own mushrooms. This small, family-owned Maine business provides kits with a how-to guide, substrate with a fresh mushroom mycelium, and a spray bottle. However, if you have your own spore starters and want to build a home for it, here’s how. These basic steps will help ensure maximum growth of your Oyster Mushrooms.

• Prepare a large container. Five-gallon buckets, large plastic bags, or properly treated cardboard can all be used to house your mycelium. If using a sealable container, make sure to add some air holes for proper oxygen flow.
• Gather up a substrate base. This material will be used to keep your mycelium fed. There are lots of different substrates you can use. Clean straw is the most common for Oyster Mushrooms, but you can also use sawdust, cardboard, coffee grounds, or other clean composts.
• Mix in your spore spawn. Spread out your substrate on a clean surface and sprinkle your spore starter over the material. Give it a good mix to infuse the two.
• Place your substrate into the container. When the spawn and substrate are mixed well, place the combined materials into your prepared container. Move this container into its growing habitat.

Ready, set, grow!

The Best Time to Grow Oyster Mushrooms

In the wild, season matters when growing Oyster Mushrooms. New mushrooms will begin to form once temperatures reach the 50-60 Fahrenheit degree range. What time of year this is depends on your region. When using a grow kit or otherwise growing indoors, you can control the climate of your space to grow year-round.

Harvesting Oyster Mushrooms

Your Oyster Mushrooms are ready to harvest when the mushroom caps begin to flatten or curve upward. Caps that are shedding a dust also are ready to harvest. Carefully cut off clusters with a knife. To harvest individual caps, grasp it gently in your hand and twist until it is free. Overly large mushrooms may be overgrown, so harvest early once the edges begin to lift.

3 Quick Tips for Growing Your Oyster Mushrooms

• Keep mushroom kit away from drafts
• Control humidity to avoid mushroom shriveling or moldy growth
• Harvest mushrooms when they’re ready, never rush them or pull mushroom blocks too early

The Health Benefits of Eating Mushrooms

The mushroom is one of the most potent nutritional sources on the planet! Oyster mushrooms are a good source of fiber, plant-based protein, and a variety of vitamins and minerals. According to Healthline, Oyster mushrooms provide antioxidants, which are substances that help reduce cellular damage in your body.

Some of My Favorite Oyster Mushroom Recipes

Oyster mushrooms are tasty and pair well with a variety of foods! I like to use them in soups, stews, breakfast egg bakes, pasta dishes, on pizza, and in stir-fries.

• Oyster Mushroom Soup
• Oyster Mushroom and Spinach Orecchiette with Garlic and Lemon
• Oyster Mushroom Noodle Stir-Fry

Growing Mushrooms Indoors with a Kit FAQS

1. What is a mushroom growing kit?

The North Spore kit is an easy mushroom growing kit for beginners, home chefs, hobbyists, and gardeners. The mushroom growing kits include everything you need to grow your own edible mushrooms indoors. You don’t have to be a gardening expert because these kits are designed for anybody who enjoys mushrooms and wants to grow mushrooms at home.

2. When can I start growing oyster mushrooms at home?

Now!! ASAP! With the North Spore mushroom kit, you will start to produce fresh mushrooms in only 2 weeks! Simply follow the instructions provided and you’ll be harvesting fresh mushrooms in no time!

3. How do mushrooms grow indoors?

Two mushroom growing brands of kits I like: NorthSpore and Back to the Roots. The mushroom grow kit comes with everything needed to produce fresh mushrooms in your own home or workspace. You’ll want to place your kit in the most humid part of your home and away from harsh direct sunlight. I suggest putting it on a kitchen counter or in your basement close to a sink.

When given the right growing conditions the spawning of mushrooms supports the formation of white, thread-like bodies called mycelium. The mushroom mycelium will quickly sense the oxygen in the air and produce mushroom “pins” aka “baby mushrooms.”

4. How many mushrooms will this kit produce?

The average kit produces 2 or more flushes. Your first delicious mushrooms will grow within 2 weeks.

5. What is in the mushroom growing kit?

The North Spore Mushroom Grow Kit comes with:

1. A block of growing substrate pre-populated with mushroom mycelium
2. A small sprayer for watering
3. A complete easy-to-follow instruction guide on growing and harvesting your mushroom crops

6. How do you harvest the mushrooms?

Mushrooms can be harvested by being pulled upwards from their base while performing a twisting motion in a counter-clockwise direction. You can also use a sharp knife to cut them free. Be careful not to use too much force as this could end up damaging the mycelium.

7. Is mold normal when growing mushrooms?

Mold is normal when you are growing mushrooms indoors and it doesn’t affect the final product.

8. What is mycelium?

Mushroom mycelium is the mushroom’s roots. It is threadlike and fuzzy and although it may look scary, it is safe and absolutely edible. Visibly seeing the mycelium is part of the mushroom growing process.

9. Do oyster mushrooms need a lot of light to grow?

Oyster mushrooms do require some sunlight to grow. Place your Oyster growing kit in a well but low-lit area to grow – never in direct sunlught.

My Final Thoughts

Is it possible to grow mushrooms at home? It is possible, and it is much easier than you might think! A good mushroom growing kit can be a cost-effective and simple way to learn how to grow mushrooms. Caleb and I used The North Spore Spray and Grow Mushroom Kit to grow Pink Oyster Mushrooms. It was fun!

Growing your own mushrooms is easy and affordable, no matter where you live. Low light and limited space? It’s no problem! This is the kit for you if you want freshly grown mushrooms in a short amount of time. To grow oyster mushrooms, you only need to follow three steps: cut the bags, water mist, and harvest.