Lion's Mane

Hericium erinaceus

Available as

Mother cultures (Petri dish)
Grain spawn
Sawdust spawn
Plug spawn

About this strain

Lion's mane is one of the most unusual cultivated mushrooms. Our strain comes from China and is well known and valued in supplement production. Unlike other strains, it forms dense, firm, compact fruiting bodies covered in very long, hanging spines — resembling a lion's mane or a sea anemone. They are usually 8–10 cm across, but 15 cm specimens are not rare. The flavour is delicate and slightly nutty, and when fried the texture resembles crab or lobster meat.

It also fruits well at lower temperatures than ML5003. It grows well on sterilised hardwood sawdust blocks with added bran, and on beech and other hardwood logs inoculated with plugs. In Polish forests it is a rare, protected species — growing it is the only way to enjoy it in the kitchen.

How to grow it

Preparation

Substrate: blocks: hardwood sawdust (fine and coarse) with approx. 20% supplement, e.g. bran, sterilised; outdoors: hardwood logs
Spawn rate: 1–2% on sterilised sawdust

Growing stages

Spawn run (incubation)
Temperature
21–24°C
Humidity
95–100%
Duration
15–20 days
CO₂
>5,000 ppm
Fresh air
0–1 per hour
Primordia formation
Temperature
cool to 10–15°C, then approx. 18–21°C
Humidity
90–95%
Duration
3–5 days
CO₂
500–700 ppm
Fresh air
5–8 per hour
Light
approx. 500 lx
Pinning is triggered by cooling and fresh air; once pins form, return to the fruiting temperature.
Fruiting
Temperature
15–21°C (copes well with cooler conditions)
Humidity
85–90%
Duration
4–5 days
CO₂
500–1,000 ppm
Fresh air
5–8 per hour
Light
<500 lx
With too much CO₂ the mushrooms branch and form long, sparse spines.

Harvest

Flushes: 2–3
Between flushes: approx. 14 days

Pick when the spines are approx. 0.5–1 cm long, before the mushroom starts to yellow. The mushrooms are delicate and bruise brown easily — handle them gently.

Please note: these growing parameters bring together the experience of practising growers — a starting point, not a guarantee of results. Every grow has its own substrate, climate and equipment, and even small differences can noticeably change the yield. Adjust these values to your own conditions.