Each species of mushroom is a different growing experience. Even if you have grown mushrooms before, please read the instructions for your kit carefully before proceeding. If you run into any problems please see our FAQ.
Step 4: Initiating Fruiting Reishi
Undo the twist tie and make some space in the bag for your mushrooms to grow.
Use clips to close the top of the bag
Step 5: Finding an Ideal Location
Reishi is a slow-growing mushroom producing one crop per year. It grows best when it is warm, out of direct sunlight and located somewhere where it will remain undisturbed. Your 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 reishi can remain undisturbed for a long period of time. A temperature reading between 16°C-27°C is ideal.
Step 6: Growing
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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 form 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. Want to try an alternative to growing your Reishi in the bag? See our FAQ for a solution that will give your mushroom more room to grow!
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As your mushrooms grow, you will likely notice small patches of competing organisms (usually green) on the surface of your block. This is because non-sterile air has entered the bag when it was inflated. It will not affect the growth, health or quality of your mushrooms and can be cleaned off after harvest.
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Once the reishi has climbed 10-20cm tall you can cut the top of the bag off to expose them to the fresh air and help them form bracket, or you can leave them sealed inside the bag to maintain the antler formation (be aware that if you leave the mushrooms in the sealed bag, they may punch through the filter patch or through the top of the bag. This is not a problem, but you will have to follow the instructions below to prevent spores getting all over your house!)
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If you choose to cut open the top of the bag, brackets will begin to form at the ends of 'antlers'. With the bag now open you will need to add water to your reishi block to maintain a humid growing environment.. Try to keep 2cm of water in the bottom of the bag at all times. At this time your reish should be moved to a location where its spores will not be easily breathed in. This is best practice as breathing in large volumes of spores can be hazardous to your health.
Step 7: Harvest
As the brackets grow, their rims will turn white. Once the rims have turned from white to orange and finally to red, the mushrooms are ready to harvest!
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When your 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 8: How to Prepare your Mushrooms
Fresh reishi are very tough, which means eating them directly is impractical. You can chop up fresh Reishi mushroom and boil in water for 20-30 minutes to make a tea to extract its medicinal compounds or prepare your own tincture.
Step 9: What to do with your kit when it stops 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 block has finished flushing, Once your block has finished flushing, you can compost the block and dispose of the fruiting bag in general waste.
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!