Is my kit moldy?
That’s not mold, that’s mycelium! The main structure of a fungus is mycelium, which looks like fuzzy white threads growing through the material you feed it. Seeing it in your kit indicates you have good growth. Once the whole kit turns white, it’ll start to form mushrooms!
How much should I water?
Mushrooms need a lot of moisture to thrive. Once you have pins (baby mushrooms) forming in your kit, it’s time to start watering. Give the pins a couple of spritzes of water from a spray bottle a few times a day, more if it’s living in an especially hot or dry environment.
How long until I get mushrooms?
For small kits: You can watch the mycelium grow through your kit since the container is semi-transparent. Once the cardboard and coffee mixture has turned completely white, in 3-7 days, you cap open the lid up to look at it. After pins have started to form, it’ll be just a few days before your mushroom is fully mature and ready to harvest!
For large kits: In about 7 days you can pop the lid of your kit to check on it. You should see mycelium growing through the cardboard and coffee mix. In about 10-20 days you may start to see pins emerge from the kit. Mushrooms nearly double in size each day. The pins will reach full maturity in the next 3-6 days.
What are those things popping out of the kit?
Mushrooms can look pretty weird when they’re starting to form. We call them pins when they’re babies because their caps can be as small as a pinhead. Their appearance will vary from kit to kit, but often they’ll form in small clusters with gray or blue circular caps. As they mature, the stem will elongate and the cap will grow into a circular or shell-like shape.
Are these mushrooms edible?
Yes! In fact, they’re delicious and full of vitamins and minerals to nourish your body. We guarantee that the mushrooms grown in your kit are the ones you’re intending to grow. They’re called blue oyster mushrooms or Pleurotus ostreatus if you like Latin binomials. We’ve got some recommendations on how to cook them on our recipes page.
When should I harvest my mushrooms?
It’s okay to harvest your mushrooms at many different sizes! We like to pick them while the edge of the caps is still rolled slightly inward to when the cap beings to flatten out. Once the caps start to turn upward, they’ll be releasing spores and have a shorter shelf life.
My mushrooms look weird, what do I do?
It depends on what kind of weird they look. If the stems are long and the caps are small, they need some more oxygen. Make sure they’re kept out of cupboard or closet so there’s natural airflow around them. You can even put a fan nearby to help them out.
If the caps are pale even as they mature, they might need more light. Mushrooms generally like a shady or partially shady place to grow, but not total darkness. Some natural light helps them develop their rich color.
If the caps are cracking and turning brown, they might be drying out. Make sure to keep spritzing your mushrooms with water as they grow! And keep them out of direct sunlight or next to a heater.