Worried about the inoculation? Find our syringe help sheet here….
Lion’s Mane is not only easy and fun to grow, but also the species produces huge delectable fruiting bodies that can be an awesome addition to any meal. As an added bonus- it also boasts some pretty incredible health benefits.
Unfortunately, you’re not likely to find Lion’s Mane at your local grocery store- so having a fresh supply means that you’ll need to learn how to grow it indoors yourself. We can help you there.
Lion’s Mane Mushrooms grows in large snowball like formations. The mushrooms are white, sometimes browning if the spines are damaged or with age. Individual mushrooms can be quite large, sometimes weighing over 1 lb. The spines or “teeth” start out quite small, but elongate with age.
The mushroom is spongy and sometimes semi-hollow. It is sensitive to direct spraying when growing and bruises easily.
Natural habitat
Lions Mane is most commonly found on dead and decaying hardwood logs, most often in the fall throughout North America.
On Agar
Lions Mane is unique on Agar. It rarely grows out to the edge of the plate, but instead form little glacier like formations emanating from the initial wedge. Long teeth grow out from the wedge in all directions. The mycelium is also slow to take off initially.
Spawn Types
Watch Lion’s Main very closely, as it has the tendency to start fruiting well before full colonization. Lions Mane grain spawn needs to be shaken often to ensure full colonization of the spawn. The mycelium can look thin and wispy, so close inspection is required. It can sometimes look like colonization is incomplete even though its fully colonized.
Substrate
Lions Mane grows best on supplemented hardwood sawdust. Supplement with wheat bran at 10-20%. Higher spawn rates are effective with Lions Mane, increasing the chances that full colonization will take place.
Fruiting Chambers
Use large autoclave filter grow bags like our XL fruiting bags to create a fruiting block. Once full colonization is achieved, fruit by slicing small “x’s” in the bag at the site of primordia, or where the Lions Mane naturally starts to fruit. Do not cut off the top of the bag. More holes will cause more smaller fruit, whereas less holes will ensure fewer, but larger fruit.
Yield
More than 2 lb of Lions Mane can be harvested from a single 5 lb fruiting block over multiple flushes. Some individual fruits can weigh well over one pound.
Harvest
Harvest the Lions Mane by cutting the “snowball” off close to the bag with a sharp knife. Be very delicate with the fruit as to not damage the spines. The mushroom will store much longer in the fridge if handled delicately. Simply leave the fruiting block in the grow room without cutting new holes in the bag. Subsequent flushes will occur, with fruits developing at the sites of previous fruits.
Storage
Please keep your spores in the fridge between 2-8c to ensure they stay fresh and viable for your studies. They can be kept for up to three months in these conditions prior to being viewed. We would recommend taking them out 12 hours prior to studying them so they can acclimatize to room temperature.
The Syringe Itself
All our spore syringes are carefully packed in the UK. To avoid premature injection during transit, the included needle is kept safely in the plastic packet and the syringe is secured with a syringe end cap. We do not include an alcohol swab as we do not want our customers to wipe the already sterile needle.
Please note all syringe needles come fully sterilized/gamma irradiated and any attempt to sterilize them further will most likely contaminate them.
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