Grow Kit FAQ's
A page full of questions and answers, all relating to our Ready-to-Fruit Grow Kits.
What should I do with my kit after it is depleted and finished fruiting?
You have several options at this point. You may simply throw your spent kit away but this is the least best option.
If you live near a wooded area you can bury your kit (without the plastic of course) and can watch for even more flushes as the mycelium will look for new sources of nutrition and will colonize any surrounding food that it can. If it is successful out there on its own you can expect to see mushrooms poking up from the ground after rainy days.
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If you have a garden or compost bin the mycelium makes an ideal compost additive. Many gardeners even seek out compost made entirely from spent mushroom substrate.
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And last but not least you can use part of your last harvest to create an entirely new kit for yourself! If you are interested in learning to grow your own mushrooms head over to our blog section that is devoted to DIY mushroom cultivation
What are the optimal fruiting conditions for my kit?
This question has a thousand answers as each species of mushroom will preform optimally at different temperatures. Luckily, the species and strains that we work with have large areas of overlap in their preferred conditions so they will all grow happily in your home. Generally speaking, if you are comfortable, they are comfortable (you just need to add humidity for them via the tent and misting spray bottle). For the species that you can buy from us 16-24 C (60 - 72 F) and humidity above 65% will produce reliable results. The colder in the temperature range that you keep them the more slowly that they will grow and viscus versus for the warmer temperatures.
How will I know when to harvest the mushrooms?
The answer to this question will vary depending on the species that you are growing.
For most varieties of Oyster Mushrooms you will have to pay attention to the shape of the cap as it develops. After the pinning stage the cluster will begin to grow and elongate the individual stems of each mushroom. The caps will grow larger during this stage and the longer you let them grow the bigger they will get. Bigger doesn't necessarily mean better though; peak flavour and edibility are achieved as the rim of the cap begins to curl or look frilly. The cap will be overall oyster shell shaped and should also be flat or slightly leaning down toward the ground. If allowed to grow past this point flavour is reduced and the texture will gradually become more woody. Typically, harvest of Oyster Mushrooms is best between 5 and 7 days after pinning (if your house is cooler [15-16 C] this may extend out to 8 or 9 days).
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​Shiitake mushrooms are typically harvested when the caps have fully opened but are still firm. The caps will be flat-topped when ready.
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Lion's Mane mushrooms, however, do not produce caps. Instead you will need to gauge its readiness by the length of it spines. For gourmet purposes harvest when spines reach approximately 1/4 inch in length. For medicinal uses allow the spines to reach 1/2 inch or longer as the complex medicinal compounds accumulate in the fruiting body over time.
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If you are growing Turkey Tail mushrooms you will need to be patient. These slow growing mushrooms will form tough and woody fan-like structures. Like the Lion's Mane the longer you allow them to grow the more medicinal compounds will accumulate and the more potent your created medicinal teas/tinctures will be. Allow the fruits to grow at least an inch long (form the substrate block). This may take several weeks to accomplish... keep that misting bottle working!
What is this dust around the base of my kit?
The dust that you may find around your mushrooms is likely the spores that the mushroom will release when it is fully ripened. The spores from one or two kits worth of mushrooms aren't anything to be worried over as there won't be enough of them to harm a person. However, spores are not something that you should be inhaling in any large amount. With repeated exposure to high concentrations there is risk to develop disease in the lungs. This kind of disease really only occurs in people who work with mushrooms every day and at a scale that even many kits fruiting at once will not reach (think commercial scale mushroom farms and hundreds of pounds of harvest each week).
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In short, they are not out to hurt you but should not be ingested or inhaled. Just wipe with a damp cloth to remove the spore-load in between flushes. If you are consistently finding a large accumulation of spore-dust from your grows you should harvest a day or two earlier as the spores are most heavily released when the mushroom is fully ripe and past its edible prime.
I've harvested my first cluster of mushrooms, can I do it again?
Indeed you can, and should! Each kit may be harvested many times over. All that is required is an overnight soak in a sink or bucket of water. Keep the plastic on the block but face the cut portion down so the water can work its way into the block. Once rehydrated, set it up as you had it before and start the process over again. There is usually a day or two in between harvest and pinning where the mycelium will get itself ready to fruit again. While you can flush your kit many times, each flush will be successively smaller than the previous one as the mycelium uses up all the available nutrients in the block.
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P.S. The record for most flushes on one kit is 9 times! Think you can beat the Major Mushrooms record?
I forgot about my kit and I'm worried I messed it up. Can my kit be saved?
Probably! Mushrooms are very tough and resilient. In the case of the forgetful cultivator your kit is likely to have some dried up/malformed fruits hanging off the side. To fix a neglected kit all that is needed is some hydration. Remove the desiccated fruits and soak your kit in a sink or bucket of water for 24-48 hours (depending on the severity of its condition). Afterwards, simply set it up and try again.
Think about it in terms of the natural environment that these mushrooms evolved in; rain comes and goes and period of drought are common. When conditions are poor for fruiting the mycelium will go dormant and wait for some more moisture before waking back up to produce its spores (or in your case, to grow a cluster of mushrooms for you to eat and enjoy).