Stage Three:
Producing mushrooms
Mushrooms are the fruitbodies of the mycelium - a bit like the apples on an apple tree.
To let the mycelium know it is a good time to produce mushrooms we need to give it three signals: light, air exchange and a reduction in temperature.
To do this we place the bag from Stage Two at a lower temperature in a humidity tent which allows light and air in.
During the last week, the mycelium will have started breaking through the casing layer. It is easy to see in this kit with a soil layer( it might not be so obvious with the polymer casing).
Roll the sides of the grain bag down. Moisten the perlite in the large humidity tent with 200mL of tap water. Place the grain bag inside of the tent on top of the perlite. Peg the top of the humidity tent.
Place the whole thing in indirect light at 20-24oC and wait 7-14 days. Near a window works well but not in direct sunlight. You can occasionally open the humidity tent and mist the inside with a hand-sprayer full of clean water if you have one.
After a couple of weeks you should see the formation of baby mushrooms (called "pinheads") on the top of the bag. They are usually white (but here you can see the pink pinheads of Pleurotus djamor growing through polymer casing.
The mushrooms usually develop fully in 5-7 days. You can pick them by washing your hands and carefully twisting and lifting. Each crop of mushrooms is called a "flush". Using the Myco-FarmTM several flushes of 150g+ each are common.
Once each flush is harvested you will boost future crops by spraying heavily for a few days to replace the lost moisture in the casing layer. Check out these recipes and enjoy!