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Oyster Mushroom Troubleshooting Guide

My Oyster Mushroom Kit isn't growing out of all holes

Image ofMy Oyster Mushroom Kit isn't growing out of all holes

Why is my kit not growing out of all holes?


If your kit is only growing out of one or two holes please rest assured that this will not effect the overall yield of the kit as the growth(s) will be bigger rather than if spread across all the holes, however there are factors that can cause this detailed below.

If your kit is favoring one or two holes, nutrition is being diverted towards the hole(s) in particular as this is viewed as the most favorable location(s) for it to crop from.

If any of your hole(s) are ready to pick, you should not wait for any others to catch up and they should be picked when ready, this will also encourage future crops.

Saturated Compost

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    Pooling water should always be dabbed away and removed immediately.
Image ofSaturated Compost

Pooling water / excessive hydration will stop mushrooms forming.


The most common reasons for this occurring are, dry air / lack of humidity and/or  the compost within some of the holes being too wet stopping mycelium growing. Pooling water / saturated compost within a hole will stop that hole cropping.

If present (see picture) dab with paper towel to remove, leave a day without spraying, then only spray once per day until the next crop is present, then increase back to twice daily. 

Signs of lack of humidity / wilting

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    Grow between (18-19°C ideally and always within 14-21°C)
Image ofSigns of lack of humidity / wilting

Growing Tips

Certain locations can be at risk of a lack of humidity, for example If placed in an open area in the middle of the room, you would be at risk of draughts and this should be addressed.

Draughts / dry air can trigger all holes not to grow, so it is important to move the kit to a sheltered location, within the temperature range (18-19°C ideally and always within 14-21°C), away from heat sources. If you are witnessing wilting growths / not all holes growing it would be a good idea to provide a more humid and an environment within the above temperature range.

A Crop that is wilting unfortunately will not recover, the recovering would occur after fixing the root causes and with the next crop, (see example picture)

A crop like this should be cropped and sliced as flat and tight to the box and then placed in a bag as detailed in the rest of this article so that another crop can come up through.

To create a more humid environment, you should place the entire kit within a plastic bag open on the top, a 4-6 inches higher that the box and also spray, as well as spraying into the holes, to spray the inside of the bag once a day to increase humidity. (see section below)

Trimming the holes to encourage new growth

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    When slicing off the mushrooms ensure a flat surface as tight and clean to the compost as you can.
Image ofTrimming the holes to encourage new growth

Growing Tips


Often a cause of the mushrooms not cropping again is that their path is actually blocked by leaving too much of the first crop attached to the box. When harvesting the crop please ensure that a flat even stem is all that remains on the box. (see picture)

How to provide more humidity in potentially dry environments.

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    The bag does not need to be clear, but large enough so the mushrooms have room to grow.
Image ofHow to provide more humidity in potentially dry environments.

The carrier bag method.


If you have had a kit which could be struggling with low humidity you can alleviate this issue by growing the kit within a carrier bag, it is important to leave this open at the top to avoid suffocation.

To create a more humid environment, you should place the entire kit within a plastic bag open on the top, a 4-6 inches higher that the box and also spray, as well as spraying into the holes, to spray the inside of the bag once a day to increase humidity. (see picture)