Oyster Mushroom Cultures, Agar & Spawn

Oyster mushrooms are the Pleurotus group: the grey or pearl oyster, Pleurotus ostreatus, plus blue (a Pleurotus ostreatus variety), pink (Pleurotus djamor), golden (Pleurotus citrinopileatus) and king oyster (Pleurotus eryngii). They grow on dead hardwood in the wild and the common oyster is native to the UK. In the kitchen they are mild, quick to cook and hold up to frying, roasting and stir frying; king oyster is dense enough to slice as a scallop substitute.

On Culture Cave they are sold as live culture for growers: liquid culture syringes, agar wedges and grain spawn, with grow kits from some vendors. Oysters are the usual first species for a new grower because they colonise quickly and fruit on a wide range of substrates. Labels should give the species, the strain name, the generation and the date.

• Species: Pleurotus ostreatus and relatives
• Varieties: grey, blue, pink, golden, king
• Type: gourmet, sold as live culture
• Sold as: liquid culture, agar, grain spawn, grow kits
• Known for: quick, forgiving first species for growers