Grow guides

Mushroom growing conditions for 20 species

Updated 2026-10-27

Most culinary mushrooms colonize warm and dark, then fruit cooler with high humidity, regular fresh air, and some light. The table lists fruiting temperature, humidity, light, and total days for every species in the library, straight from each grow profile. Open a species for the full stage by stage guide.

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Grow guides

• How to grow mushrooms at home. The simple way to grow mushrooms at home: pick an easy species, then manage humidity, fresh air, light, and temperature through each stage. Step by step.
• What is the easiest mushroom to grow at home?. Oyster mushrooms are the easiest to grow at home, with lion's mane close behind. Compare beginner species by temperature, humidity, and days to harvest.
• Grow kit vs monotub vs smart chamber. A plain comparison of mushroom grow kits, monotubs, and smart fruiting chambers: effort, control, harvest size, and who each one suits best.
• How much humidity and fresh air do mushrooms need?. Most culinary mushrooms fruit at 82 to 93% humidity with regular fresh air. How to tell if you have too little or too much of either, and how to fix it.
• Why are my mushrooms not pinning?. Mushrooms usually fail to pin because the block is not fully colonized or nothing told it to fruit: no cooler air, fresh air, light, or humidity.
• Why do my mushrooms have long stems and small caps?. Long, thin mushroom stems with small caps almost always mean too much carbon dioxide from too little fresh air. Low light is the second cause. How to fix both.
• Why are my mushroom caps dry or cracked?. Dry, cracked, or curled mushroom caps mean the air is too dry or air is blowing straight on them. How to raise humidity without stale air, species by species.
• Is my mushroom block contaminated?. How to tell mushroom contamination from healthy mycelium: green, black, pink, and gray molds, wet bacterial spots, and what to do with a contaminated block.
• Mushroom growing terms, explained plainly. Plain definitions of the words home mushroom growers use: mycelium, spawn, substrate, colonization, pinning, flush, casing, monotub, and more.
• Shrooly app not working? What you can do. If the Shrooly app will not log in or start a grow, you can still use the chamber. What owners report, quick checks, and how OpenShrooly runs it over Wi-Fi.
• How long does it take to grow mushrooms?. Mushrooms take 20 to 78 days from spawn to first harvest at home. Oysters are fastest. Days by stage for 20 species, and from a kit.
• Mushroom grow kit not growing? Check these causes. A kit that does nothing is usually not done colonizing, too warm or cold, too dry, short on fresh air, or not cut open. A checklist by cause.

Common questions

What temperature do mushrooms grow at?

Fruiting temperatures in this library run from 14 °C (57 °F) to 24 °C (75 °F), depending on the species. Colonization usually runs a few degrees warmer than fruiting.

What humidity do mushrooms need to fruit?

Between 82% and 93% while fruiting for the species here. Most sit near 90%.

Which mushrooms grow fastest?

Pink Oyster (about 20 days), Golden Oyster (about 24 days), Blue Oyster (about 25 days) are the quickest profiles in this library, from the start of colonization to the end of the first harvest window.

What is the easiest mushroom to grow at home?

Oyster mushrooms. Blue Oyster, Pearl Oyster, Pink Oyster are tagged beginner here because they colonize fast and forgive small mistakes.