Culinary Profile
How to grow Button / Cremini at home
Agaricus bisporus, Brown cremini
Updated
Button / Cremini (Agaricus bisporus), also called white button or cremini, takes about 36 days to grow at home, from spawn to the end of the first harvest. Colonize at 24 °C (75 °F) in the dark, then fruit at 16 °C (61 °F) and 88% humidity with moderate fresh air and no light.
Compost + casing species. Low light, cool fruiting, casing required.
Use this profile on your chamber
What conditions does Button / Cremini need at each stage?
| Stage | Days | Temperature | Humidity | Fresh air | Light |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spawn run | 16 | 24 °C (75 °F) | 88% | little fresh air: fan runs 15 s every 60 min | Dark |
| Casing / pinning | 8 | 17 °C (63 °F) | 92% | moderate fresh air: fan runs 20 s every 25 min | Dark |
| Fruiting | 12 | 16 °C (61 °F) | 88% | moderate fresh air: fan runs 25 s every 20 min | Dark |
How long does Button / Cremini take to grow?
About 36 days from the start of colonization to the end of the first harvest window.
- Day 1 to 16: Spawn run
Colonize compost in the dark before casing.
- Day 17 to 24: Casing / pinning
Apply a non-nutritive casing, then drop temp.
- Day 25 to 36: Fruiting
Get dates for each stage from your own start day with the grow timeline calculator, or compare every species in how long mushrooms take to grow.
Light recipe
No light needed. It grows in the dark.
Light details
A. bisporus does not need light to fruit. Penn State rooms usually run without it. Both phases stay at 0 h and 0% on this strip.
WS2812 blue is roughly 465 to 475 nm. The RGB mix is an approximation of cited wavelengths, not a measured spectrum.
| Phase | Hours on | White | RGB mix |
|---|---|---|---|
| colonization | 0 h on | white 0% | RGB 0 / 0 / 0 |
| fruiting | 0 h on | white 0% | RGB 0 / 0 / 0 |
| pinning | 0 h on | white 0% | RGB 0 / 0 / 0 |
What goes wrong when growing Button / Cremini?
What does this profile watch for?
The device does not mix compost or apply casing. Use a cased tray in the chamber. Portobello is the same species allowed to mature.
No pins after colonization
Make sure the block is fully colonized first. Then check that the chamber reaches the casing / pinning conditions: 17 °C (63 °F), 92% humidity, and moderate fresh air. Pins need more fresh air than colonization. More on this.
Dry, cracked, or curled caps
Usually humidity is too low, or air is blowing straight on the mushrooms. This profile holds 88% humidity while fruiting. More on this.
Green, black, or slimy patches
Patches that are not white mycelium are usually contamination such as green mold or bacteria. Bag the block, take it out of the chamber, and clean the chamber before the next grow. More on this.
Kit or block doing nothing? Work through grow kit not growing. To check your fresh air, put your chamber size and fan into the fresh air planner.
Button / Cremini growing FAQ
What temperature does Button / Cremini grow at?
In this profile Button / Cremini colonizes at 24 °C (75 °F) and fruits at 16 °C (61 °F). Spawn run: 24 °C (75 °F). Casing / pinning: 17 °C (63 °F). Fruiting: 16 °C (61 °F).
What humidity does Button / Cremini need?
88% while fruiting. Spawn run: 88%. Casing / pinning: 92%. Fruiting: 88%.
How long does Button / Cremini take to grow?
About 36 days with this profile: 16 days of spawn run, 8 days of casing / pinning, 12 days of fruiting. Real blocks vary, so move on when the block is ready, not only when the days run out.
How much light does Button / Cremini need?
Spawn run: dark. Casing / pinning: dark. Fruiting: dark.
How much fresh air does Button / Cremini need?
Moderate fresh air: fan runs 25 s every 20 min while fruiting. Colonization runs with little fresh air.
Is Button / Cremini good for beginners?
It is one of the harder species in this library. Try an oyster first if you have never grown before.
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- How much humidity and fresh air do mushrooms need?
- All species and conditions
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Sources
- Baars et al. 2020. Johan J. P. Baars et al., Critical Factors Involved in Primordia Building in Agaricus bisporus: A Review, Molecules 25 (2020). A. bisporus does not require light to fruit. Triggers are temperature, carbon dioxide, casing, and volatiles.
- Penn State Agaricus. Penn State Extension, Basic Procedures for Agaricus Mushroom Growing. Mushrooms are usually grown without light. Darkness is not a requirement, and light is not listed as a fruiting control.
- Sakamoto 2018. Yuichi Sakamoto, Influences of environmental factors on fruiting body induction, development and maturation in mushroom-forming fungi, Fungal Biology Reviews 32 (2018). Light is a fruiting cue for many basidiomycetes. Blue light is the usual photomorphogenesis signal. Agaricus bisporus is called out as not needing light for a cap. Flammulina velutipes can fruit in the dark as a long stem with a tiny cap.