Growing mushrooms at home - post 1, general approach

I've been wanting to grow my own mushrooms at home ever since I have come across this picture.

Oyster mushrooms, growing in a bucket on a kitchen counter. From www.milkwood.net

Imagine that, gourmet mushrooms, available whenever you feel like it, fresh, and inexpensive! Growing up in Russia, mushrooms were a huge thing. Everyone picked wild ones in the fall, and most people could identify dozens of edible mushrooms. 

Long story short, a few weeks ago, a few of my friends and I bought mushroom kits for indoor growing; these were shiitake, cinnamon cap, oyster, and king oyster kits, from Wylie Mycologicals, a Canadian company.

The kits come with very simple instructions - for most, the buyer has to do nothing, until small mushrooms are seen inside the bag. Then, a slit is made in the bag, and the mushrooms are allowed to grow bigger. Once they reach desired size, they are cut off the bag and used as needed. The bag is then resealed, and another flush of mushrooms will be expected after a few days. This process is repeated, until the bag feels light, as the substrate feeding the body of the mushroom, the mycelium, is spent. 

King oyster kit. How cool is that? (image from http://static.webshopapp.com/)

The magic part is that if you keep feeding the mycelium, it should, if all goes right, keep on going forever. So, for the initial price of the mushroom kit, one should, theoretically, be able to have a lifetime of free mushrooms! After reading (a lot), these are the general rules:

1) The new substrate can be made of combinations of straw, used coffee grounds, cardboard, grain, wood chips, and sawdust (usually hardwood, NOT softwood), depending on the species - different mushrooms need different foods.

2) The substrate should be pasteurized, and the container, your hands, and all the tools should be thoroughly cleaned with soap, vinegar, or peroxide. Easiest approach for the substrate - fill a large pot with water, bring to 80C, take off the burner, add the substrate, and let it sit for 1-2 h (to pasteurize, it needs to stay above 60C for 1-2 h). Let the substrate cool, strain, and you're good to go.  

3) Humidity - lots and lots of it. The new substrate should be thoroughly moist, but not soaking - the mycelium needs air, and can drown if there is too much water. While the mycelium is colonizing the new substrate, humidity should also be high. 

                                       Oyster mushrooms, grown in a laundry basket. From http://velacreations.com/.

For details an step-by-step instructions on how to make it happen, check the next mushroom post!