Tips on Caring for Oyster Mushroom

Market demand, both within and outside the country against the growing oyster mushrooms. This mushroom has a texture that is soft and chewy like chicken, low calorie, cheap price and can be cooked with various preparations such as stir-fry, capcay and crispy mushrooms.

No wonder the oyster mushrooms are so targeted by many people. Therefore, mushroom growers must master the intricacies of caring for oyster mushrooms in order to obtain optimal yields, better quality and quantity.

Caring for oyster mushroom is actually easy. You can even keep it in the house because it does not require a special room for mengembangbiakkannya. Equipment and materials is very simple and can be obtained at regular stores.

Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) has an umbrella-shaped hood like oyster shells. In nature, it grows on trees or logs of trees that have been weathered. That's why, to care for oyster mushrooms, farmers use straw or sawdust as hard cropping media, because it contains cellulose as contained in the trees.

Some things to consider in caring for oyster mushrooms are nutritional, strerilisasi, sunlight, temperature, and humidity.

Nutrition 

Like the living creatures, fungi also require proper nutrition to be able to grow and reproduce optimally. In addition to a rich sawdust cellulose, to care for oyster mushroom is also required additional nutrients such as rice bran and lime. 


Bran contains vitamin B, carbon and carbohydrates to accelerate the growth and development of fungal fruiting bodies. While lime contains calcium for strong stems and roots that do not easily fall out. Chalk is also useful to set the level of acidity (pH) in order mushroom growing medium grow optimally.

Sterilization

Conditions are not sterile planting medium will grow fungus or other diseases that can damage the mushroom spawn. Misellium or sterile oyster mushroom spawn is marked by a white coating on poly bags containing sawdust growing media.

If not sterile, it will usually grow black or orange colored layer which indicates contamination of other fungi that will inhibit the growth of misellium.

Tips on taking care to avoid contamination of the oyster mushroom fungus, disease or pests are growing medium by boiling and steaming polybag containing growing media temperatures up to 121oC.

The room and the equipment must be sterilized with an antiseptic or alcohol. Similarly, ventilation, sanitation workers and outdoor environment must be considered.

The use of fungicides, insecticides, or other hazardous chemicals is not the proper way to care for oyster mushrooms. This is because the fungus has a material absorbing properties of anything in the media cropping.

If the media cropping using chemicals, auto mold will be contaminated by the chemicals that are not safe for consumption.

Solar light 

Exposure to sunlight should be regulated when treating oyster mushrooms. In the growth phase misellium, sunlight is not so necessary. Misellium faster growing in the space of less sunlight or dark. 

As for the growth of fruit body needed light stimulus. Fruiting bodies will not grow optimally in a dark room. Therefore, to grow the mushroom fruit body needed as much light intensity of 60-70%.

Temperature and Humidity 

Caring for oyster mushrooms can not be separated from environmental conditions that are set in such a way that the fungus grows optimally. In misellium growth stage, the room temperature is set to range between 22-280C with humidity between 60-70%. 

When misellium growth is optimal, the whole polybag moved into kumbung, as a lodge room so you can easily adjust the humidity. Fruiting bodies will grow optimally at temperatures between 16-220C with humidity between 90-100%. 

To achieve the moisture, spray water into the wall kumbung to condensation. Do not get too wet because it will damage the growing media mushrooms.