Premium Native Velvet Oyster mushroom grain spawn – 100% colonised on locally sourced New Zealand grown wheat and ready to be mixed into your substrate for fruiting mushrooms. Spawn is ready to use as soon as it arrives.
New to grain spawn? Our full guide covers spawn rates, choosing a substrate, and step-by-step instructions: >> How to Use Mushroom Grain Spawn - A Beginner's Guide (NZ)
Our spawn will also come with printed instructions.
Velvet Oysters are a NZ Native strain of Pleurotus Parsonsiae. It produces thick dense mushrooms. It’s a vigorous, wood-loving side-fruiter, not as commonly cultivated commercially due to its heavy spore load and tendency to produce some deformed mushroom growth on highly nutrient substrates. For the home grower it is great mushroom to grow for fun.
Unique Velvet Oyster Culture Information
- Scientific name: Pleurotus Parsonsaie
- Flavour & texture: Velvet oyster mushrooms have a robust savoury, and slightly smoky flavour with a firm, chewy, and meaty texture - similar to pink oyster mushrooms. One of the closest mushrooms to a bacon flavour.
- Spawn Storage: Velvet oyster spawn can be stored in a cool cupboard for a month or in the fridge for up to 4 months. Spawn vitality cannot be guaranteed with fridge storage.
- Difficulty: Very Easy - Beginner friendly.
- Growth speed: Fast - oyster mushrooms are aggressive growers, perfect for beginners.
- Incubation time & temperature: 7-14 days @ 23-25°C
- Fruiting temperature: 16-30°C
- Inoculation to Harvest: 20-30 days
- Yield: High - with large fruit bodies. Some may deform during growth but are still fine to eat.
- CO2 Tolerance: Good - fruits best below 1000ppm
- Ideal Fruiting Humidity: 80-90%
- Native status: Native
- Recommended Fruiting Substrates: Cereal Straw (Wheat or Barley), Masters Mix (50% wood pellets / 50% soy hulls) or 20% Bran + 80% Pine Fire Pellets.
- Substrate Preparation Method: Oyster grow well on both Heat or Hydrated lime pasteurised substrate as well as 15PSI pressure sterilised substrate in filter patch bags.
- Growing Style: Works best as a side fruiting mushroom in poly tube bags, filter patch bags and buckets.
Receiving Spawn:
- Upon receiving your spawn it is ideal to take it out of the box within a day or two, stand the top of the bag up so the filter patch is exposed and the spawn can breath. Keep in a room temperature (10-25°C) place out of direct sunlight until used.
Beginners / first-time growers:
If you’ve never used grain spawn before (or you’re not sure how to mix it into substrate), start with our >>Easy 5 Step Oyster Grow Kits instead.
These kits include grain spawn and bulk substrate with detailed step-by-step instructions that teach you exactly how to use spawn to grow mushrooms. It’s the easiest way to learn the whole process hands-on.
All spawn and culture work is done in-house in our own laboratory.
All spawn cultures we offer have been sourced within NZ or imported under MPI import permit with permission to on-sell.
Customers who buy Mushroom Grain Spawn often also purchase:
>> Pink Oyster Splash n Grow Kit (2kg)
>> Pink Oyster Fruiting Block Kit (4kg)
>> Pink Oyster DIY Grow Kit (7kg)
>> Sterilised Grain for growing mushrooms
>> Dowel (Plug) Spawn - for mushrooms logs (Velvet Oyster Option)
>> Mushroom Liquid Cultures - (Velvet Oyster Option)
>> Mushroom Cultures on Agar (Pink Oyster Option)
Always identify any mushroom before consuming!
