The cultivation technology of the culinary/medicinal mushroom   Pleurotus spp. commonly called as oyster mushroom has been standardized on locally available substrates. The flow chart of the technology is as follows. The cultivation technology of pink, gray, white, yellow, brown and black oyster mushrooms is same with minor differences in duration of spawn running and cropping.
Substrate preparation
(All kinds of straw and other agro-wastes).
Chopped in small (1-2cm pieces), soaked in water for 2-3 hours.
Substrate can be pasteurized by hot water (80°C) for 2hours (no prior soaking required in this case), suitable for small scale production OR steam pasteurization at 80°C for 2 hours (in autoclave or special steam chambers), suitable for semi-commercial production OR sterilized in an autoclave (after filling in PP bags, plugged with cotton) at 121°C, 15 lb pressure for 15 minutes (best method for commercial production).
Fill one Kg pasteurized substrate (65% moisture) in Polypropylene bags, plug with non-absorbent cotton.
Spawning (Aseptically, @ 5% of wet substrate) while filling in bags in pasteurization method OR top spawning in sterilized method.
Spawn running in dark room (24-28°C, 18-30 days variety dependent).
Shift to cropping room and make large holes.
Pinhead initiation (2-7 days after opening, 13-30°C, variety dependent, humidity 80-85%, light, ventilation.
Harvesting (2-4 days after pinhead initiation, variety dependent).Sold as fresh, dry mushroom or as mushroom products.
