1Cultivation - Another term for growing mushrooms, which can be done indoors or outdoors. Cultivation has four key phases: Inoculation, Colonization, Fruiting, and Harvesting.
2 Colonization - When mycelium is growing, but no fruiting bodies (mushrooms) are present.
3Culture - Mushroom mycelium of a particular species or strain, usually kept on a petri dish or slant.
4Culturing - The act of isolating mushroom genetics into a culture.
5 Flush - A 'crop' of mushrooms. Mycelium tends to produce fruits in groups, followed by a brief resting period.
6Force Fruiting - A process used to trigger the mycelium to produce fruiting bodies. Also called "shocking."
7Fruiting - The phase of growth in which visible mushrooms begin to appear on the substrate.
8Fruiting chamber - An enclosed space mushroom growers often use to create an optimal growing environment.
9Inoculation - The process of introducing spores or spawning into a substrate.
10Mycelium - The vegetative part of fungi that grows underground, consisting of fine white filaments.
11 Pins or pinning - When tiny fruiting bodies (the 'baby mushrooms') first begin to appear.
12Spawn - The colonized carrier that holds a specific strain of mushroom mycelium until it is ready to transfer to another substrate.
13Spawning - The act of adding mushroom spawn or spores to a media to kickstart the colonization process.
14Spawn run - An incubation period after inoculation in which mycelium colonizes wood.
15Spores - What mushrooms release into the air to reproduce. In the lab, you can use them to isolate specific mushroom genes and create a mycelium.
16Strain - A specific variety within a mushroom species.
17Substrate - Any material on which mushrooms can grow.