Skill Level: Beginner Cultivation Location: Indoors Growing Time: 1 to 3 months Storage Life: 6 months (when refrigerated) Kit Dimensions: 6 inches H x 9 inches W x 6 inches D Kit Weight: 5 lbs Fruiting Temperature: 65-80°F
Our reishi (Ganoderma lucidum) fruiting block showcases a strain widely cultivated in Asia. Reishi, known as "Ling Zhi" in China and "Reishi" or "Manetake" in Japan, is an edible medicinal mushroom. Reishi mushrooms are exceptionally user-friendly among our fruiting block kits, being highly reliable producers and requiring minimal maintenance. Remarkably, they can complete their entire life cycle within an unopened bag!
Reishi mushrooms take their time to grow, exhibiting slow and deliberate growth. Depending on your preferences, you can harvest the kit early when the mushrooms resemble antlers and are only a few inches tall. Alternatively, you can allow the mushrooms additional months in the bag to develop more intricate growth patterns. For those seeking mature mushroom caps, a more involved approach and bag opening are required, as detailed in the instructions below. While this method is more challenging, it can be highly rewarding for individuals with prior experience with reishi kits.
Upon receiving your kit:
Promptly remove the kit from the shipping box. Unfold the top of the bag to allow for airspace. Ensure that the filter patch is unobstructed, facilitating proper breathing for the organism and sustaining its vitality until you are ready to cultivate your fruiting block!
Reishi Grow Kit
For the majority of mushroom species, initiating fruiting, or triggering the growth cycle, requires a shift in environmental conditions—specifically humidity, light, temperature, and adjustments to oxygen and CO2 levels.
For optimal outcomes:
If you aim to grow reishi antlers, a fruiting chamber is unnecessary. However, if your goal is to cultivate reishi conks (caps), we recommend placing your reishi block in a fruiting chamber (such as a monotub or martha tent), as a controlled environment reduces contamination risks and enhances success.
Creating optimal conditions:
For reishi antlers, no specific parameters are needed, as the entire growth cycle occurs within the bag. The environmental parameters for reishi conks (caps) can be found on this page under "Temp, Humidity & CO2 guide" and on page 8 of our fruiting block instruction booklet.
Preparing your block:
Unfold the top of the bag to allow for airspace. Additionally, ensure the filter patch is unobstructed.
How to initiate fruiting:
For reishi antlers:
DO NOT open the bag. Reishi requires the high humidity and CO2 environment of a sealed bag to form antlers. Place the closed bag in an area with ambient light and rotate occasionally until ready to harvest.
For reishi conks (caps):
DO NOT open the bag until antlers exceed 4 inches in height. Once antlers surpass 4 inches in height, open the top of the bag. Return to the fruiting chamber until ready to harvest.
Special considerations:
Reishi mushrooms exhibit a very slow growth rate. Due to the slow growth, there is an increased risk of contamination when opened and placed in a fruiting chamber.
Harvesting your mushrooms:
Twist the base to harvest mushrooms and trim away any substrate. Allow them to dry in the open air.
Growing different blocks together:
With some compromise, various mushroom species can be cultivated together in a fruiting chamber. Consider the temperature range and CO2 sensitivity of the desired mushrooms. Humidity ranges often overlap for the majority of species. We encourage experimentation with different groupings!
