Lion's mane growing and fruiting conditions, with numbers

Lion's mane growing conditions by stage

The chart follows one indoor block through three stages. Spawn run (colonization) is the time the mycelium spends growing through the sawdust in a closed bag. Pins are the first tiny mushrooms, which on lion's mane look like small white knobs. Fruiting is the growth from pin to harvest.

Compare lion's mane with other species in the chart →

What temperature does lion's mane need to grow and fruit?

Lion's mane wants two temperatures. The spawn run is warm: 68 to 75 F (GroCycle), or 68 to 72 F on the Field & Forest sheet. Fruiting is cooler: North Spore prints 55 to 70 F, and Field & Forest gives 55 to 65 F for its ready blocks and 55 to 70 F for home-made ones. The band all of them share is 55 to 65 F. A room at 68 to 70 F is still inside the span, at its warm edge. Growth runs faster when warm and slower when cool.

During the spawn run the block makes its own heat. Keep the room in range and leave space between bags so the core of a bag never passes 90 F. To see whether your room suits lion's mane or another species better, enter its temperature in the growing temperature chart.

What humidity do lions mane mushrooms need?

Humidity is where the guides disagree most: the figures run from 70 to 95%. North Spore gives 90 to 95% while pins form and 80 to 90% for fruiting. GroCycle gives 85 to 90%. Field & Forest accepts 70 to 85% and tells growers to mist daily when the air is drier than that. Aiming for 85 to 90% keeps you inside most of these ranges.

On a kitchen counter, mist 2 to 4 times a day and cover the kit with a humidity tent: a loose plastic bag with plenty of 1/2 inch holes. In a growing tent, a humidifier on a controller set to switch on near 70% and off near 90% averages about 85%.

Note.Mist the air and the inside of the tent, not the mushroom. Water left sitting on the spines is the usual cause of dark, wet brown patches.

Fresh air and light in lion's mane fruiting conditions

North Spore lists lion's mane at 500 to 700 ppm of CO2 while pins form and under 1,000 ppm after that, which in plain words means a lot of fresh air. Few home growers own a CO2 meter, so read the shape instead. Field & Forest notes that mushrooms come out malformed without enough air exchange. A kit in an open room usually gets enough. A tent needs plenty of holes or a few minutes open several times a day. A closet or cabinet does not work.

Lion's mane needs light, but not much: Field & Forest asks for 8 to 12 hours a day of indirect sun or added lighting. Keep the block out of direct sunlight and away from heat sources, which dry the mushroom out as it develops.

Yellow, brown, pink or coral-like: what the mushroom is telling you

Lion's mane shows a wrong condition in its color and shape before it stops growing. Match what you see to the row, then change that one thing and watch the next few days of growth.

What to do when lion's mane is fruiting early in the bag

Lion's mane often sets pins inside the bag before the block looks finished. Its mycelium is thin and faint, so a healthy block can look half bare when it is ready. Redwood Mushroom Supply's growing guide suggests cutting a small X next to the pins when the bag looks mostly colonized, and letting them grow from there. North Spore's kit advice is to break off any early mushrooms you can reach and start fresh at the cut.

To make early pinning less likely on a home-made block, the same guide says to press the air out of the bag and keep it in the dark during the spawn run. The full sequence from knob to harvest is in lion's mane growth stages.

From pins to harvest, and the next flush

Once pins show, harvest is 5 to 10 days away. Pick when the spines are 1/4 to 1/2 inch long and before the top yellows: twist the whole cluster off the block. Then keep the same conditions. A flush is one crop, and the next one usually starts after 2 to 3 weeks of rest. If the block has dried out, soak it for 5 to 15 minutes only, because the delicate mycelium breaks apart in a long soak. Expect 2 to 4 flushes, each smaller. The setup steps are in how to grow lion's mane.

Quick answers

The short version of the chart, for the questions growers ask most. All figures are ranges from the supplier guides named above.

• What is the lion's mane mushroom growing temperature? 68 to 75 F for the spawn run, then 55 to 70 F for fruiting. Every source checked agrees on 55 to 65 F.
• What humidity do lions mane mushrooms need? 90 to 95% while pins form and 80 to 90% while they grow, per North Spore. Field & Forest accepts 70 to 85% with daily misting.
• What are lion's mane fruiting conditions in one line? 55 to 70 F, 80 to 95% humidity, CO2 under 1,000 ppm and 8 to 12 hours of indirect light.
• Why is my lions mane fruiting early? The species tends to pin inside the bag before the block looks white. Cut an X beside the pins and move it to fruiting conditions.
• Why is my lion's mane turning yellow or brown? Dry air, water sprayed on the mushroom, or plain maturity. Check the spines: at 1/4 to 1/2 inch it is time to harvest.