Blood Reishi Mushroom Growing Kit Instructions
Sanguinoderma rugosum is a polypore mushroom found in China, Indonesia, Taiwan, Equatorial Guinea, and Australia. Like Reishi, it is in the Ganodermataceae family and potentially has powerful medicinal compounds particularly phenolics, flavonoids, and unique sterols, that may provide strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. It also produces a blood red liquid that can be used as dye or ink and has a beautiful glow under UV lights!
Each species of mushroom is a different growing experience. Even if you have grown mushrooms before, please read the instructions carefully before proceeding. If you run into any problems please see our FAQ.
Step 1: Mycelium Check
Inside of this box, mycelium has has been happily breaking down the organic growing medium and converting it into energy.
Open the box and remove the bag of mycelium and growing medium from the box. DO NOT OPEN THE BAG but instead inspect the block through the bag to determine what stage the mycelium is at.
What colour is it?
Mostly brown =
needs more time in a warm / dark location
This Blood Reishi block is ready to move into fruiting conditions. The substrate is well covered with white mycelium. The presence of black areas is normal for this species and is a sign that it’s time to begin fruiting.
If your mycelium needs more time to develop, return it to the box and place it in a warm location - over 15°C and NO MORE THAN 25°C. Check it once a week until it is almost completely covered with white mycelium.
If you're not sure how your kit is looking, send us an email or message us on WhatsApp with some photos so we can take a look.
Please note that blood reishi cannot withstand cold temperatures, so this kit should not be refrigerated.
Step 2: Initiating Fruiting
Cut open the top of the bag just under the seal along the top edge. Be careful to maintain its sterile environment as much as possible. WITHOUT BREATHING INTO THE BAG, inflate the bag to create space for your mushrooms to grow and carefully reseal the top edge using sellotape.
We demonstrate how to do this in the video below.
Step 3: Finding an Ideal Location
Blood Reishi grows best when it is warm, out of direct sunlight and located somewhere where it will remain undisturbed. It is a slow-growing mushroom, producing one crop per year.
Your blood reishi will grow inside the fruiting bag which is fitted with a special microfilter patch, allowing some gas exchange but inhibiting moisture loss and interference from competing organisms.
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Find a spot in your house with indirect sunlight where your blood reishi can remain undisturbed for a long period of time. A temperature reading between 18°C-27°C is ideal.
Step 4: Growing
Over the coming months, your mushrooms will begin to grow from the top of the growing medium inside the bag. As they grow, the mushrooms will search for any available oxygen and grow in an 'antler' formation. Your mushrooms may also climb up the sides of the bag, so be careful not to disturb it. Disturbing the bag can result in it aborting the growth of your first mushrooms and needing to start again.
In nature, blood reishi mushrooms are a perennial bracket fungi. This means that they grow over the course of several years. They are among the slowest growing mushrooms, and sometimes take 2 months (depending on environmental conditions) before the young caps even start to emerge. Once they do, they often start off as lumps and bumps on the top of the block and sometimes cling to the wall of the bag as they climb upwards towards more oxygen rich environments. Try not to disturb them by moving the bag as they can be easily damaged during this stage and may need to start over again.
Over the course of the year you should expect to have amushroom ready to harvest. If you leave it for longer it may grow bigger!
If using clear display box
For best results, start your kit as outlined in step 2 and wait until your mushrooms are at least 15cm/6 inches tall to transfer to the display box.
Once your mushrooms are this size, you can carefully cut the bag down to the level of the top of the mycelium block and transfer it to the box. Mist the block and sides of the display box daily to maintain humidity. If antlers are clinging to the bag, cut just above their level to avoid disturbance. Once the antlers have grown above the level of the bag, you can trim it down further.
Common Questions
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There are some green spots on my block. Is this a problem?
As your mushrooms grow, you may notice small patches of competing organisms (usually green) on the surface of the block. This is because Blood Reishi is a slow grower and microorganisms from non-sterile air have managed to also grow in the mean time. You can carefully cover the patches with salt, leave for one day and clean away with isopropyl or alcohol gel. Be sure to sanitise your hands first before doing this and monitor things to ensure it does not spread.
If you notice any mould beginning to grow on the fruiting bodies of the mushroom, harvest everything immediately. This can be safely cleaned away after harvest.
Unsure about anything you’re seeing or need advice? Drop us an email with some photos at fatfoxmushrooms@gmail.com
My Blood Reishi mushroom has gotten large. I really want to see what's going on! Can I open the bag?
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While we generally suggest that you grow your Blood Reishi mushroom inside of the bag to keep the humidity up, if you're just itching to know what's going on inside, you can cut open the top of the bag once your mushroom has reached between 10-20cm. Add 1/2 inch of water into the bottom of the bag to keep the humidity up. Without added moisture your mushroom will dry out and stop growing prematurely.
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If you'd like to give your blood reishi more room to grow you can choose to make your own growing chamber! A large plastic storage tub turned on its side will give your mushrooms more room to grow and will contain any spore drop inside. Spray the inside of the container every 1-2 days to keep up the humidity. Keep the lid clipped on to continue growing in a high CO2 environment to encourage the antler formation or leave the lid unclipped to encourage brackets (this will require more frequent misting). We also sell clear display boxes with a magnetic hinged door for this purpose (see image below).
Bood Reishi growing in one of our clear display boxes. The box must be misted regularly to keep humidity levels up.
Step 5: When to Harvest
As the mushroom grows, the white tips will get smaller and smaller and eventually turn black. If you are using your mushrooms to create dye or ink, it is best to harvest while the mushrooms while the tips are still soft and white, as it will be easier to squeeze out the liquid.
Younger mushrooms have longer white tips, will be softer and will be easier to make into ink or dye.
If you're using your mushrooms for medicinal purposes you can wait until the white tips become small or even disappear completely. This is a sign that your mushroom is fully grown.
Step 6: Harvest
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When your Blood Reishi are ready to harvest, carefully cut away all of the plastic bag.
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Remove the fruiting bodies from the block of growing medium.
Step 7: How to Prepare your Mushrooms
For Medicinal Purposes:
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Fresh Blood Reishi are very tough, which means eating them directly is impractical. You can chop up fresh mushroom and boil in water for 20-30 minutes to make a tea or prepare your own tincture. To make a dual extract tincture please see our blog : How To Make A DIY Dual-Extract Mushroom Tincture At Home
For Ink & Dye:
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Squeezing your Blood Reishi will produce a red liquid that will turn black as it dries. We've used it to draw on paper directly, but welcome customer feedback on the best ways you've found to use this liquid to create art or dye! Drop us a line at fatfoxmushrooms@gmail.com with photos and ideas!
Step 8: What to do with your kit when it's finished producing mushrooms
Did you know that fungi play a key role in storing carbon? Trees and plants remove carbon from the atmosphere and fungi break down plant waste to create new carbon-rich soil. Clean air, healthy soil and delicious mushrooms: just one of the many ways fungi are incredible!
Once your kit has finished flushing, discard the bag in the general waste. You can now recycle the box and additional packaging and compost the block. Alternately, plant it in the garden to see if it will gain a some energy and produce one last seasonal crop for you! Simply dig a hole in a shady spot, bury the block and cover it over with around 5cm of soil. Water it occasionally to keep the soil moist.
We hope you've enjoyed growing your Reishi mushrooms!
We're passionate about sharing the diversity of the fungi kingdom & making more of its edible & medicinal delights easy to grow. Want to try another strain or learn how to cultivate mushrooms? See our full range of mushroom growing kits and cultivation workshops!