Myco Box Instructions

Mycobox Oyster Mushroom Grow kit.

Contents: Mushbox containing sterile substrate, tray, vermiculite, 2 x alcohol wipe, humidity bag with filter patch, syringe and needle, oyster mushroom culture vial. Also needed: Sticky Tape, thermometer and somewhere warm.

This kit contains sharp items and is suitable for use by adults only. After use needle should be removed and sealed in a strong plastic container and disposed of appropriately.

Tips: Find a clean flat surface to work on and lay all items out. Wash your hands and do a practice run before starting to make sure you have everything you need ready. Once you start you will need to work quickly and precisely.

Assemble syringe by twisting needle onto the syringe so it locks. Leave plastic sheath on needle until you are ready to use it. Remove metal centre from vcap and swab the rubber lid with wipe. To load syringe: remove plastic sheath from needle by pulling and insert needle through centre of vial lid. Hold vial upside down and draw up 2-3 mls of liquid and withdraw needle.

myco_spores Drawing spores into syringe

Remove tinfoil from mushbox. You are going to start the kit by injecting spores at 4 equally spaced sites around the top of the mushbox (near to the edge). Swab each site with alcohol before injecting each of the 4 holes with approx 0.5mL of solution. Quickly tape over holes afterwards (with selotape or similar).

That’s it! Relax.

how to spread spores on myco Equally spacing mushroom spores

Incubate the box somewhere warm and dark (26-28°C is ideal for most tropical species). You will see small white spots of mushroom mycelium start to grow after a few days. Wait 2-3 weeks until the contents turn completely white (except for a small top layer will not turn white as it is dry). Then place it in the fridge for two days.

incubating the mushroom spores keep the box warm and dark

Now you are ready to fruit. Add some boiling water to vermiculite in the tray, put the lid on and leave to cool for a couple of hours. When fully cooled, drain off the excess water from the vermiculite by opening the lid slightly. Remove the lids from the tray and microbox and "birth" the cake by loosening the lid, inverting the microbox and letting it drop on to the vermiculite in the tray.

mushbox cake humidity tent with mushbox

Now place the whole tray and its contents carefully inside the plastic bag and close the top with paperclips or tape. Place somewhere warm (22-24 C) which receives some light (but not direct sun). You should see mushrooms appear within 2-3 weeks. Pick your mushrooms when they begin to open their caps. Add a bit more water to the vermiculite, close the bag again and you should get a couple more crops.

warm mushrooms mushrooms picked

With little or no modification, this method could probably be applied to many species of saphrophytic fungi, yielding similar results. Enjoy ☺