Oyster mushrooms
Oyster mushrooms are grown on pasteurised straw which is mixed with the spawn then chopped and packed into large plastic bags, known as column culture. Holes are punched in the bags to allow gaseous exchange and for the mushrooms to emerge through in clusters. The bags are housed in climate controlled growth rooms which replicate the oyster mushroom’s natural growing conditions.
Shiitake mushrooms
Shiitake mushrooms are grown on hardwood substrates, which are normally a mixture of sawdust and wood chips, together with a nitrogen-rich supplement. The substrate is sterilised by autoclaving for 2-3 hours prior to inoculation. Once inoculated the fungal mycelia quickly colonise the sawdust and grow to maturity.
Enoki and Shimeji mushrooms
Enoki and Shimeji mushrooms are grown on sawdust in polypropylene bottles that are sterilised using steam prior to inoculation with their mycelium. Enoki mushrooms grow in very cool conditions, they are often found growing in woodland in Europe when there is ice on the ground, and the word “Enoki” in fact means winter in Japanese. Shimeji Mushrooms grow on Beech sawdust and are often referred to as Beech Mushrooms. They grow in clusters in very humid growing rooms. Unlike white and brown mushrooms, but like most of the exotic mushrooms they require a certain amount of light to grow.