Mushroom Growing Terminology

Mushroom Growing Terminology
  • 1 Cultivation - 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.
  • 3 Culture - Mushroom mycelium of a particular species or strain, usually kept on a petri dish or slant.
  • 4 Culturing - 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.
  • 6 Force Fruiting - A process used to trigger the mycelium to produce fruiting bodies. Also called "shocking."
  • 7 Fruiting - The phase of growth in which visible mushrooms begin to appear on the substrate.
  • 8 Fruiting chamber - An enclosed space mushroom growers often use to create an optimal growing environment.
  • 9 Inoculation - The process of introducing spores or spawning into a substrate.
  • 10 Mycelium - 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.
  • 12 Spawn - The colonized carrier that holds a specific strain of mushroom mycelium until it is ready to transfer to another substrate.
  • 13 Spawning - The act of adding mushroom spawn or spores to a media to kickstart the colonization process.
  • 14 Spawn run - An incubation period after inoculation in which mycelium colonizes wood.
  • 15 Spores - What mushrooms release into the air to reproduce. In the lab, you can use them to isolate specific mushroom genes and create a mycelium.
  • 16 Strain - A specific variety within a mushroom species.
  • 17 Substrate - Any material on which mushrooms can grow.

Mushroom Lifecycle

Mushroom Lifecycle
Mushroom-Life-Cycle(3)