How to Grow ~ Lion's Mane (Hericium erinaceus)

​So, where does one begin? There are different ways to get into the growing process! We
will cover all the entry and exit points for you to understand the entire process completely!

​Culture: If you know all about sterile workflow, cloning

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wviahdwIrw , a lion's mane culture is the best way to
start! If in dire need of a culture, check out our friends at Fungaia.life to get one shipped to

your home!

Agar: Lion's mane is not like other fungi, and it shows the most on Agar plates. It takes a
while to get started and looks very flimsy, and sometimes it is hard to see at all! We noticed
it really likes Malt Yeast Agar (MYA) or Potato Dextrose Yeast Agar (PDYA). We like to add
some activated charcoal to make the agar dark, this way; it's easier to see the mycelium

growing on the agar!

​The ideal incubation temp is between 21-24 degrees Celsius.

​Grain: Once you have a good culture on agar or LC, it's time to make some grain spawn!
We really love working with sorghum but know rye is a favorite amongst growers in North
America! The main thing to remember is that Lion's Mane is known to fruit prematurely.
Some people deal with this issue by shaking the grains often to prevent early pinning!
Container wise, jars, bags, whatever floats your boat! A little pro tip here, we like to add
gypsum (calcium sulfate) to our grains. The lion's mane seems to love it absolutely!
​The ideal incubation temp is between 21-24 degrees Celsius.

Bulk: So you got your grain spawn; next up, you want to prepare your Lion's Mane for its
final food source, known as the bulk substrate! The most popular recipe for wood loving
mushrooms is known as the MASTERMIX...

● 1 lb sawdust
● 1 lb soybean hulls
● about 3 lbs (1.4 liters) water

But, we have had lots of success with other additions of nitrogen. We use about 10% cacao
shells to our substrate right now. This mixture needs to be sterilized at 15PSI for about 2.5
hours.

However, we have heard of people having success with simply hot water pasteurizing their
unsupplemented wood chips and using 50% spawn and 50% pasteurized sawdust or wood
chips.

​We even have successfully fruited lion's mane from coco coir in monotub before!

Remember, we as humans don't know jack shit about fungi and cultivation, so going off the
beaten track can be pretty rewarding! Your container should be colonized in 10-14 days if
you stick to the ideal incubation temp of between 21-24 degrees Celsius

Fruit: Here we are, you made it to the final stage! Or you have bought a ready to fruit bag

from a website, however you get to this stage, we don't judge.

Now you want to turn this mycelium into a beautiful mushroom! The best way to go about
this, especially if you have several bags, is to build yourself a Martha Fruiting Chamber!
First things first, you want primordia to form. According to MycTyson, pinning conditions
are as follows:

​Temperature: 50-60° F (10-15° C)

​Humidity: 95-100%

​CO2: 500-700 ppm

​FAEs: 5-8/hour

​After 3-5 days, you should see some stunning pinheads appearing on your substrate. You
need to up the temperature a bit for the ideal conditions to form their stunning fruitbodies!
Again kindly borrowed from MycTyson the IDEAL conditions should be as follows..

​Temperature: 65-75° F (18-24° C)

​Humidity: 85-95%

​CO2: 500-1,000 ppm

​FAEs: 5-8/hour

4-5 days later you should be looking at some of your beautiful home-grown mushrooms!

You can use them for cooking up or for making an excellent tincture.