When you receive your grow box, if you aren't ready to use it over the next couple of weeks, put it somewhere cold like a basement or refrigerator until you're ready to use it. When ready, follow the steps below. 

Step 1: Open the box, remove the misting bottle and alcohol wipe, and close the box back up.

Step 2: Turn to the back of the box and remove the perforated window in the center.

Step 3: With the alcohol wipe, wipe off the window and a sharp knife, box cutter, or pair of scissors. Allow alcohol to dry and then cut an 'X' across the entire window.

Step 4: With the misting bottle, mist the window where it's been cut. There is no need to move the flaps - they are there to help prevent moisture loss and contamination. The biggest vector of contamination is your fingers, so it's best to leave the flaps alone.

Step 5: Continue misting the window twice a day. Over the next week or so, you'll begin to see 'pins' form. These are the start of your mushrooms. If you previously refrigerated your box, please be patient while it warms back up and comes out of dormancy.

Step 6: Watch your mushrooms grow over the next few days as you continue to mist twice a day. Your mushrooms will be more firm and last longer in the refrigerator the earlier you harvest them. Also, with oyster mushrooms in particular, they can release a lot of spores as they near the end of their lifecycle. We recommend placing a piece of dark paper under your box as the mushrooms reach maturity and that you harvest as soon as you begin to see a dusting of spores. 

Step 7: Harvest your first flush of mushrooms! To harvest, either cut them off flush with the window, or just pull them away from the box and then cut any remaining substrate off of the base of the mushrooms.

This substrate is just sawdust and soy hulls that have been sterilized and then colonized with mycelium.

Step 8: Keep spraying your box to get a second smaller flush, and possibly even a third!

What should I do with my mushrooms now?

What should I do with the box of substrate?