We’ve already established that the process of creating your own fruiting blocks is essential to growing your mushroom business. Sure, gaining profit is possible when buying blocks, but true growth requires active participation in the full process from start to finish. Part of which involves inoculating fruiting blocks.
In plenty of ways, our expanse was at the worst possible time. We did accomplish our goal of staying out of debt while expanding, but that meant using our savings to pay two months of rent on the new space. With an abundance of work to be done to get the space ready, a large shipment of building supplies had just been ordered, also. We were left with no cash flow and employees we had no way to pay. Things looked incredibly grim.
The process of sectoring cultures takes time, especially if you’re doing a big stack of dishes all at once, but it’s really not complicated. To start, you need to collect a spore print from your mushroom by placing it gill or pore side down on a piece of clean paper, glass, or aluminum foil, covering it, and leaving it overnight.
Of course, the Wooly Neptune isn’t a real mushroom, however, I figured it would be amusing to find an actual mushroom that it resembles or a couple that could be merged together to create something similar.
There were fears about higher contamination rates with liquid culture, but over several months of trialing it, we have discovered that the processes and tools available have lowered that risk considerably; enough that we feel confident adding it to our store.
Fitting to its name, the Lilac Oysterling starts off a light purple color, which morphs into more of a light brown as it grows. Close growing gills start out either purple or white, but also become brown as the Panus Conchatus ages.