Culturing Wild Mushrooms

In the autumn of 2014, I harvested and cloned a mushroom on my farm that appeared to be similar to the Pleurotus ostreatus strain (Oyster Mushroom). Upon examining the culture growing on PDA (potato dextrose agar) in a petri dish, it displayed all the same characteristics as other Pleurotus cultures I work with. Some spawn was produced from this culture and I used it to inoculate a block of Black Wood shavings.

The culture quickly spread through the substrate and consolidated it within two weeks. I placed the bag in my grow room and waited for pins to form, but none appeared. After an additional two months of waiting, I was about to give up on this culture. However, I received a large order of Elm Oysters to grow out and needed to increase the temperature in the grow room. As the temperature rose, I noticed little pin sets forming on the wild culture block. I watched the rest of its development with excitement.

Here are some pictures of the Wild Oyster Mushroom culture.