As part of the bio-remediation artwork Transient Images that generates images while decolourising dye and then use a fungi (Pleurotis) to remediate the toxic by-product. Here, I explore the final step - the daunting task of producing an edible mushroom (oyster) from the fungi.
The main issue in going from fungi to mushroom is the time it takes to form a fruiting body. The papers we looked at suggested one month!
To make it happen, our idea was to make a semi-solid media containing Potato Dextrose Yeast (PDY) and wheat flakes. From a white looking petri dish, fungi grown on PDA, I would punch out three plugs and placed these in the flask with semi-solid media.
The flask was sealed with foil and placed at 30°C. Is one month too long?