Premium Shiitake mushroom grain spawn – 100% colonised on locally-sourced New Zealand grown wheat and ready to be mixed into your substrate for fruiting mushrooms. Spawn is ready to use as soon as it arrives.
 
Shiitake are the classic gourmet strain (Lentinula Edodes). This strain produces attractive dark-brown to chestnut caps with medium size, creamy white gills and a firm fibrous stem. This strain is a prolific producer often fully covering the block. This is a reliable, vigorous, highly-recommended commercial strain from Japan that tolerates a wide range of temperatures and growing conditions!
 
Unique Shiitake Mushroom Culture Information
 
Scientific name: Lentinula Edodes
Flavour & texture: Rich, deep umami flavour that’s intensely savoury and slightly smoky/woody, with notes of garlic and toasted nuts. Many people describe it as “meaty” or “beefy”.
Spawn Storage: If you cannot use your spawn right away you can store it for up to 4 months in the fridge. Spawn vitality cannot be guaranteed with fridge storage.
Difficulty: Difficult - recommend for experienced growers
Growth speed: Slow - Long incubation time
Incubation time & temperature: 6-8 weeks @ 20-25°C. Temperature must be stable during incubation and blocks cannot be touched otherwise they may begin to fruit early in the bag.
Fruiting temperature: 10-20°C
Inoculation to Harvest: 7-9 weeks
Yield: Good yielding Japanese genetics
CO2 Tolerance: Good - fruits best below 1000ppm
Ideal Fruiting Humidity: 80-90%
Native status: Non native - Imported
Recommended Fruiting Substrates: 20% Bran + 80% Hardwood sawdust or 20% Bran + 80% Pine Fire Pellets. (Hardwood does yield better for shiitake)
Substrate Preparation Method: 15PSI pressure sterilised substrate in filter patch bags or heat pasteurised (90-99deg for 12+ hours) substrate in filter patch bags
Growing Style:  Fully remove block from filter patch bag when ready to fruit.
 
Receiving Spawn:
Upon receiving your spawn it is ideal to take it out of the box within a day or two, stand the top of the bag up so the filter patch is exposed and the spawn can breath. Keep in a room temperature (10-25°C) place out of direct sunlight until used.
 
Beginners / first-time growers:
If you’ve never used grain spawn before (or you’re not sure how to mix it into substrate), start with our >> Easy 5 Step Oyster Grow Kits instead.
These kits include grain spawn and bulk substrate with detailed step-by-step instructions that teach you exactly how to use spawn to grow mushrooms. It’s the easiest way to learn the whole process hands-on.
 
All spawn and culture work is done in-house in our own laboratory.
 
All spawn cultures we offer have been sourced within NZ or imported under MPI import permit with permission to on-sell.
 
Customers who buy Mushroom Grain Spawn often also purchase:
 
>> Shiitake Mushroom Grow Kits - premade and ready to fruit
 
>> Shiitake Mushroom Logs - ready made
 
>> Sterilised Grain for growing mushrooms
 
>> Dowel (Plug) Spawn - for mushrooms logs (Shiitake option)
 
>> Mushroom Liquid Cultures - (Shiitake option)
 
>> Mushroom Cultures on Agar (Shiitake option)
 
Always identify any mushroom before consuming!