Mushroom Spawn

The biggest factor in successfully preserving your spawn are the storage conditions you plan to keep the spawn before use. When properly refrigerated you can maximise the shelf life of your spawn. As with all things fungi-related, the specifics depend on your species and spawn type. 

Here is a general overview for expected refrigerated shelf life:

• Grain spawn: 1-2 months
• Sawdust spawn: 2-4 months
• Plug/dowel spawn: 3-4 months

Whilst our specialist production facility can offer longer shelf life, most home setups will unlikely meet the same requirements. We would recommend using your mushroom spawn as soon as possible after receiving it.

Mycelium is extremely sensitive to temperature and heat poses the biggest threat to the quality and longevity of your spawn. In higher temperatures (the actual temperature will depend on the species), the mycelium will begin to grow and self-heat resulting in the maturing and consequent quality reduction of the spawn.

Preserving mushroom spawn can be challenging without proper equipment. If you are unable to use the spawn immediately, the best way to preserve your mushroom spawn is by refrigerating it at between 1-4°C. However, for some varieties, this is around 10°C. Please read the storage instructions of each variety.

There are some key things to understand the difference between spawn and spores and a basic understanding of a mushroom is needed.

As a mushroom matures throughout its life cycle, the mushroom cap opens and exposes its gills. Mushroom spores are microscopic spheres produced in the gills that can be thought of as the “seeds” of a mushroom. The gills of a mushroom are like manufacturing powerhouses – producing incredibly large numbers of spores to spread into the external environment. In some species, mushroom spores can be produced in numbers of up to 40 million per hour! As spores germinate and grow, a thread or wool-like mycelium develops which is used by laboratories to develop mushroom spawn using a medium such as grain. The mycelium/grain mixture is what is usually referred to as mushroom spawn, which can then be used to ‘seed’ a mushroom compost or substrate.

To put it simply, the mushroom substrate is the material or medium in which mushroom mycelium can grow and develop to spread its network of hyphae. The substrate you use will provide the mycelium the nutrients, moisture and energy it needs to develop and fruit.

The right substrate for the job depends on the mushroom species you are growing. Different types of species prefer different substrates, so it’s important to select the optimal substrate for your mushroom. Popular substrates include straw, sawdust spawn, wood chips, coffee grounds and more. 

For commercial growing, supplementing your substrate with bran or seed derivatives can help increase the yield of mushrooms.

Our mushroom growing kits – particularly our oyster mushroom growing kits – are very popular with beginners and are a great way to try growing your own mushrooms. 

For those new to fungiculture, we would recommend purchasing one of these grow kits before going further, as they give you a detailed step-by-step walkthrough of the process and all of the necessary growing supplies to get started. Once you’ve tried out the kits and are ready for something more challenging, we would recommend exploring expanding with our quality grain spawn for a more hands on experience.