Thank You for Choosing the

Mushroom Fruiting Block Kit🍄❤️

To help you get the best out of your mushroom growing experience, we've put together this handy guide. It covers how to grow mushrooms easily, from start to finish, using our 3kg fruiting block grow kits. 

Please take a moment to read through everything before starting. Trust us, it'll make all the difference! 

We hope you'll love growing your mushrooms as much as we loved creating this kit for you!

1. Get Your Block Ready

Lion's Mane:  For top fruiting, simply cut the top off the bag just below the seal to let your block breathe some fresh air. Alternatively, you can side fruit Lion’s Mane by cutting a small "X" or slit right into the side of the block.

King Oyster: King Oysters grow best top fruited. Simply cut the top off the bag just below the seal, opening it up to the air.

Blue Oyster: Just cut a small "X" or slit in the side of the block – easy as that!

Shiitake: Leave the block in its bag until the mycelium turns brown. This browning tells you the mycelium is ready to produce mushrooms. Once most of the block is brown, take it out of the bag and hydrate it for 4–8 hours. Put a weight on top to keep it fully submerged.

Reishi: For antler-shaped growths, keep the bag sealed tight to maintain high CO₂ levels. Prefer the classic conk shape? Open the bag wide or make big slits to let lots of fresh air flow through, promoting flat, fan-like growths with red and white bands.

2. Keep Things Nice and Humid

Give your block a gentle misting 2–3 times each day, or set up a humidity tent to keep it from drying out. Just watch out for water pooling on the block to avoid contamination.

Pro tip: Try placing your block in a humidity-controlled setup like a MonoTub or Martha tent for those perfect growing conditions.

3. Creating the Perfect Environment

Humidity: High humidity (over 80%) is essential for healthy, large fruits. Use misting, humidifiers, or a fruiting chamber to maintain humidity.     

Temperature: In terms of temperature for fruiting, each mushroom has slightly different requirements, as outlined below: 

• Lion's Mane: 15-25°C (59-72°F)  
• Blue Oyster: 15-20°C (59-68°F)  
• King Oyster: 16-21°C (61-70°F)  
• Shiitake: 18-22°C (64-72°F)  
• Reishi: 21-27°C (70-81°F)  

Light: Indirect sunlight or ambient light is sufficient. Close to a windowsill (out of direct sunlight) is usually the best place to place your fruiting blocks. 

Fresh Air Exchange (FAE): Proper ventilation is necessary to provide the growing mushrooms with fresh air and prevent the buildup of carbon dioxide, which can inhibit growth.     

Sterility: Maintaining a clean and sterile environment is paramount to prevent contamination from other fungi or bacteria, which can compete with the mycelium and hinder its growth.  

4. When to Expect Your Harvest

Introducing your fruiting block to ideal conditions, you should start to see pins forming in around 7–21 days, depending on the species. Once you see those pins forming, reduce misting to keep the caps from getting soggy and focus on giving them plenty of fresh air. 

Lion's Mane, Blue Oyster, King Oyster: Your mushrooms should be ready to harvest in about 2 weeks. 

Shiitake: These take their time – expect full maturity around 30 days. 

Reishi: These grow slow and steady - they'll reach full maturity in about 60 days. 

5. Harvesting

When your mushrooms look perfectly mature, gently twist and pull them away from the growing medium. Take your time and be gentle – you don't want to take too much of the substrate with them.

After you've harvested your first flush, rehydrate your block by soaking it for 12-24 hours. Then put it back in fruiting conditions and watch for the next round of mushrooms to appear. You can repeat this process a few times before your growing medium is spent. Most blocks will give you 2-3 beautiful flushes!

Your grow is finished once mushrooms no longer grow or the substrate eventually succumbs to contamination. Dispose of the spent substrate in a compost heap.