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Growing Cordyceps Militaris, Lion’s Mane, Reishi & Pink Oyster Mushrooms at Home: Full Grow Log
- Dec 30, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Mar 6
Dive into the first full 30 minute episode of my beginner-friendly grow log for growing Cordyceps Militaris, Lion’s Mane, Reishi, and Pink Oyster mushrooms at home! This step-by-step tutorial will cover everything from inoculating grain spawn to harvesting your own medicinal and gourmet mushrooms. Perfect for hobbyists starting their home mushroom cultivation journey as well as advanced mycologists.
Part 2 (1 of 2) Check in Day 5
Part 2 (2 of 2) Check in Day 8
Pink Oyster Problems
Spawning to Bulk Substrates: Part 3
The Process: Part 3 (Extra Footage)
Birthing Our Lions Mane Cakes After 8 Days In Incubation: Part 4
Fruiting Lion's Mane Cakes: Part 5
Here's a look at the first 17 days of our Lion's Mane fruiting! We had some FAE (fresh air exchange) issues early on during fruiting so a few of the cakes kept colonizing a little longer than we'd normally like. That caused a lot of our initial primordia to abort. Not an ideal first flush, however, all of them are producing fruits and we should be able to get multiple harvests out of each.
Cordyceps & Reishi Update: Part 4.5
Quite a bit has gone on since we last gave an update on our Cordyceps Militaris and Reishi progress. So here is what's going on and what we have planned!
Cordyceps Update Pt 2: Part 4.5
Troubleshooting our humidity issues during fruiting. Here's a look at our Cordyceps Militaris grain spawn 5 days after adding a moist vermiculite layer. The mycelium appears to be absorbing the water from the vermiculite layer and growing again!
Birthing Turkey Tail Early!: Part 5.5
Here's an extension to Part 4 of our Cordyceps Militaris, Lion's Mane, Turkey Tail & Reishi Home Grow! We decided to birth these Turkey Tail cakes despite them not being 100% colonized and placed them straight into the fruiting chamber. In this quick update, we walk through the birthing process for Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor) and discuss why we moved them to fruiting conditions early. Stick around, because we'll check in on these and harvest our Lion's Mane in the next edition!
Lion's Mane Harvest: Part 6
Harvest time! After navigating some issues and laboring through an extended 24 days of fruiting it's finally time to harvest our Lion's Mane. Here's the summary:
We had two problems preventing optimal performance in this grow. The first, which isn't necessarily a problem was that this particular bulk substrate did not maintain moisture content as well as previous runs. Humidity was increased to compensate however, when compounded with the larger FAE (fresh air exchange) issue, which created a co2 spike during the first several days and caused the cakes to keep colonizing instead of switching to fruiting. This led to a condition called "overlay" or matting, which is when a dense layer of dead mycelium covers the surface of the substrate. Essentially defeating the purpose or function of the entire cake by choking off the surface from absorbing water and properly breathing (less airflow). Both of which are NECESSARY for healthy fruits and large flushes. Coincidentally this led to most of the initial primordia from our first flush aborting. The FAE problem was solved but not before the damage was done. Fortunately we were able to work around the inconveniences and still get a decent harvest! Typically we want to see anywhere from 3.5-4.5oz dry first flush from multi-spore cakes this size. 5oz or more per cake when using a clone or pure culture genetics.
The Final Haul: Part 7
Take a look at our final haul after almost seven weeks of growing Cordyceps Militaris, Lion's Mane, Turkey Tail, and Reishi from liquid culture! We got mixed results for sure, but so much knowledge was gained along the way. We are making room for much more, so we're wrapping up this grow log with one final episode.
