I’m not just saying that as a figure of speech. I really love the experience of eating, smelling, touching, seeing or just being near any of the Hericiums.
The new fruiting chamber is working very well. Fine tuning the misting is still ongoing but the lion’s mane mushrooms all really love it in there.
These images show a few of what was fruiting today. For some reason I failed to take photographs of the last two lots which were harvested and delivered within just the last few days.
Bags that were opened but which are showing no fruit in these images were either just harvested on Thursday and Friday or else just entered the rotation and will begin fruiting within this week.
Lots of learning is still ongoing. For example I’ve found that if I make cuts in the bags that are too large, a little bit of the sawdust and/or grain media ends up on the back of the mushroom. Not a big deal but it is also avoidable. If I make them too small, the fruit can spontaneously fall off as it gets big. If I do it just right, they almost want to drop into my hand with a very clean separation.
Alternating cycles of intense heavy fog with periods that drop to 85% relative humidity has also been appreciated by them. I’ve also increased the total chamber venting time by 8 minutes per hour due to the CO2 level increasing as the chamber started becoming more filled with bags. Exhaust fans vent the air six times every hour.
I’ve read that lion’s manes don’t like light during colonization. I’ve even grown them that way. They do fine starting in total darkness (and also do fine with ZERO supplementation) but grow much slower and take longer before their first fruiting. They seem to appreciate loght and they grow a lot better with it. As soon as they are on sawdust, the incubating bags here currently experience a 10/14 day/night cycle. I’m still learning so this ratio may change. Light also noticeably contributes positively to mycelial growth. Light does add some problems for the same reason it has value though due to the risk of the LED cables behind the trays stimulating growth through the filter patch leading to fruit forming and becoming trapped behind the bags. The precautions against light also have value for decreasing the incidence of microfruiting of Hericium on agar and grain.
The Hericium americanum are starting to really develop. I’m not sure if I am going to wait until the teeth develop or not. One that I picked and added to dinner as a test was great.
This Hericium coralloides was delicious.
Lots of Hericium erinaceus have been fruiting
And “Shanti”, a really nice multilobed Hericium erinaceus variant, is also growing very well.