Oyster mushroom growing conditions: blue, pink, yellow, phoenix, Italian

Oyster mushroom temperature and humidity chart by variety

Spawn run (colonization) is the time the mycelium takes to grow through the straw or sawdust. Pins are the first tiny mushrooms. Humidity is given as two figures: while pins form, then while the mushrooms grow.

Open the full chart with sources and a print version →

How to read the chart: spans, shared bands and timing

The fruiting column gives two things. The span runs from the lowest to the highest figure in any guide. The shared band is where every guide overlaps: the safe target. Italian oyster shows why both matter: North Spore prints 65 to 75 F, Field & Forest 55 to 70 F and GroCycle 64 to 86 F, so only 65 to 70 F is inside all three. During the spawn run, keep the core of a bag below 90 F whatever the variety. To test your own room against every row, use the growing temperature chart.

Blue and pearl oysters take 10 to 21 days to colonize, pins about a week after opening (6 to 21 days on kits), then 5 to 10 days to harvest. Most oysters want 10 to 12 hours of indirect light. The stage-by-stage schedule is in oyster mushroom growth time.

Blue oyster mushroom growing conditions (and pearl)

Blue and pearl oysters are cool-room mushrooms. North Spore prints 55 to 75 F and Field & Forest 55 to 70 F, with 65 F as the optimum on straw. Snow oyster, a cold-weather strain, runs lower at 45 to 65 F (North Spore only).

• Too warm: GroCycle notes that blue oysters grown above their range turn a lighter blue or gray and can come out misshapen.
• Too little fresh air: stems grow long and stringy and caps stay small. North Spore lists this variety at under 1,000 ppm of CO2.
• Too dry: pins stop growing and dry up. Hold 95 to 100% humidity around the block until the pins are established.

Pink oyster mushroom growing conditions

Pink oyster is the warm-room variety and the fastest. North Spore gives 70 to 80 F, Field & Forest 68 to 85 F and GroCycle 68 to 86 F, so 70 to 80 F is the shared band. It colonizes in 9 to 14 days, often pins before the block is fully white, and goes from pins to harvest in 4 to 5 days.

• Too cool: it will not fruit outdoors below about 70 F.
• Cold storage: sellers disagree on chilling pink oyster spawn and kits. Field & Forest says to grow its pink blocks at once, so follow the label.
• Humidity: GroCycle fruits it at no less than 70% and prefers about 85%. North Spore gives 85 to 95%.

Yellow oyster mushroom growing conditions (golden oyster)

Golden or yellow oyster likes a warm, bright room: North Spore gives 65 to 80 F and GroCycle 65 to 86 F. GroCycle reports a first harvest 5 to 10 days after a kit is opened.

• Too dim: it needs brighter light than other oysters, about 600 lux. Pale caps are the sign of too little light.
• Too dry at pinning: its pin humidity of 98 to 100% is the highest on the chart, so a humidity tent helps in the first week.
• Outdoors: do not grow it outside. The species is naturalizing in North America and North Spore no longer sells it for outdoor use.

Growing Italian oyster mushrooms, and phoenix oyster pH

Italian and phoenix are two names for the same summer oyster (Pleurotus pulmonarius). It has the widest span on the chart and the least agreement, with only 65 to 70 F inside all three guides. Its spawn run is warmer than the others at 75 to 84 F and takes 8 to 14 days. It is also the strictest on fresh air, under 800 ppm of CO2, so long stems are the first sign of trouble.

No guide checked gives a substrate pH for phoenix oyster or for any other variety. pH matters at one step only: the cold lime bath used to pasteurize straw, which should be at pH 12 or higher. The amounts are in how to pasteurize straw.

King oyster: the exception among oysters

King oyster (king trumpet) fruits cold, and Field & Forest says the room must stay under 62 F for pins to set. Above 65 F it warns of bacterial blotch. It fruits from the top: keep the bag closed until pins form, then trim it to a 4 to 6 inch collar when the pins reach 1 inch. Humidity is disputed. North Spore and GroCycle quote 85 to 95% in the room. Field & Forest runs a drier room, 65% or less, and lets the tall collar hold moist air at the block. King oyster grows on supplemented sawdust, not straw, and usually gives one flush. The steps are in how to grow king oyster mushrooms.

Which oyster variety suits your room or season

Match the variety to the temperature you already have. Fruits well means the temperature is inside the band all sources share. Possible means it is inside the span of at least one guide. Kits for each are compared in oyster mushroom grow kits.

Note.This compares temperature only. Humidity and fresh air still have to be supplied.

Quick answers

One line per variety, taken from the chart. Figures are ranges from supplier guides, and a range on your own label takes priority.

• What temperature and humidity do oyster mushrooms need? Most fruit at 85 to 95% humidity, 95 to 100% while pins form. Temperature depends on the variety, from 50 to 65 F for king to 68 to 86 F for pink.
• What are blue oyster mushroom growing conditions? 55 to 75 F, with all sources agreeing on 55 to 70 F, plus 85 to 95% humidity and CO2 under 1,000 ppm.
• What are pink oyster mushroom growing conditions? 68 to 86 F, best at 70 to 80 F, with 85 to 95% humidity. It does not fruit outdoors below about 70 F.
• What are yellow oyster mushroom growing conditions? 65 to 86 F, 88 to 95% humidity and brighter light than other oysters. Grow it indoors only.
• What pH does phoenix oyster need? No supplier guide checked gives one. pH only matters in the lime bath for straw, at 12 or higher.