Premium Tawaka 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.
 
Tawaka (Cyclocybe parasitica, formerly Agrocybe parasitica), also known as the Poplar Mushroom, is a striking golden native New Zealand edible mushroom prized for its rich, meaty flavour and dense, steak-like texture. This wild culture is a great producer but she's still an untamed wild strain that will try fruit all over the block!
 
Unique Tawaka Mushroom Culture Information
 
Scientific name: Agrocybe Parasitica
Flavour & texture: Tawaka has a rich, deeply savoury, meaty flavour that I would say is one of the best among New Zealand edibles. Often compared to a juicy Philly cheese sandwich filling, it delivers deep umami with subtle nutty notes that pair beautifully with cheese, garlic, and butter - making it a gourmet favourite for stir-fries, pasta, burgers, and hearty soups.
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: Easy - Medium - Beginner friendly just watch closely come pinning time.
Growth speed: Fast
Incubation time & temperature: 14-21 days @ 23-25°C
Fruiting temperature: 18-26°C
Inoculation to Harvest: 21-30 days
Yield: Medium yield - often with multiple sets of fruit bodies over the block.
CO2 Tolerance: Good - fruits best below 1000ppm
Ideal Fruiting Humidity: 80-90%
Native status: Native
Recommended Fruiting Substrates: Masters Mix (50% wood pellets / 50% soy hulls) or 20% Bran + 80% Pine Fire Pellets.
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: Top & side-fruiter Tawaka often pins under the filter-patch plastic on grow bags. Leave the pins to develop for a few days, then cut the bag around each cluster so the mushrooms can push through and form big, meaty clusters.
 
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 Mushroom 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:
 
>> Sterilised Grain for growing mushrooms
 
>> Dowel (Plug) Spawn - for mushrooms logs (Tawaka Option)
 
>> Mushroom Cultures on Agar (Tawaka Option)
 
Always identify any mushroom before consuming!