Mushroom lovers, where you at?
Stop spending on wilted mushrooms in the grocery store and start growing them in your kitchen. Just like veggies, you can’t beat the taste of freshly picked mushrooms. But unlike growing baby greens, mushrooms are easier to grow, especially when you have a kit that sends you daily text reminders on what you need to do.
Check out the ten best mushroom growing kits and our fun-guide to all things mushroom.
10 Best Mushroom Growing Kits (Beginner-Friendly; No Special Tools Required!)
Mushroom growing kits are fun and usually low-maintenance. We chose a good range of mushroom varieties to keep your taste buds wanting more. Check out the best mushroom growing kits of 2023 that are easier to grow than the EZ grow mushroom kit of the past.
| PRODUCT | NAME | DETAILS | |
|---|---|---|---|
Best Overall Best Overall  | Back to the Roots Organic Mushroom Growing Kit |
|  |
Runner Up Runner Up  | North Spore Lion’s Mane Oyster Mushroom Grow Kit |
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Budget Pick Budget Pick  | Dave Mushroom Oyster Mushroom Growing Kit |
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 | Michigan Mushroom Company Lion’s Mane Mushroom Grow Kit |
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 | SnoValleyMushrooms Blue Oyster Mushroom Growing Kit |
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 | Root Mushroom Farm Shiitake Mushroom Growing Kit |
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 | Gourmet Mushrooms Morel Mushroom Growing Kit |
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 | Gallboys Reishi Mushroom Kit |
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 | Root Mushroom Farm Golden Oyster Mushroom Growing kit |
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 | Forest Origins Specialty Trio Mushroom Grow Kit |
| |
Still unsure which mushroom grow kit is the best for you? Continue reading for everything you need to know about each kit.
1. Back to the Roots Organic Mushroom Growing Kit – Best Overall
Specifications
Mushroom Type: Pearl Oyster
- Harvest/Sprout Period: as early as 10 days
- Growing Temp: 68℉ to 72℉
- Grow up to: 2 times
Growing your own mushrooms is easy and fun. It’s even better when you can choose the color and size of your kit. This variety is the regular pearl oyster mushroom – it has a delicate but pungent flavor. But you can also get pink oyster mushrooms.
Overnight soaking is an extra step you need to take with this kit. But Back to the Roots makes up for it by reminding you of what your growing mushrooms need.
Check out the phone number registration info on the instruction sheet to sign up for daily text notifications. And don’t worry, you won’t get annoying spam messages from them.
So, how do you grow this best mushroom growing kit for beginners?
This best edible mushroom growing kit has everything you need out of the box-yes, it has a spray bottle too! On the first day, soak the mushroom bag overnight. From days 2-6, mist the growing mushroom kit at least twice a day.
Feast your eyes on the ultra-satisfying timelapse of our top pick in action.
After seven to ten days, you get enough delicious mushrooms to feed a family of four. Repeat the same process on the other side and get a second flush of fresh mushrooms.
2. North Spore Lion’s Mane Oyster Mushroom Grow Kit – Runner Up
Specifications
Mushroom Type: Lion’s Mane
- Harvest/Sprout Period: 2 weeks
- Growing Temp: N/A
- Grow up to: 2 times
“Dude, the Lion’s Mane mushroom tastes like crab!” We highly recommend it if you’re sick of the ordinary, earthy edible mushrooms. It’s hard to find this variety in the supermarket. But this grow-your-own-mushrooms-at-home kit is easy to set up.
Just open the box flap, cut through the plastic with a sharp knife, and spray the mycelium block. North Spore also has other varieties like pink oyster mushrooms, blue oyster mushrooms, and golden oyster mushrooms.
It takes over a week before you see some action since the mushroom grows in big clumps. But, don’t worry; multiple harvests reward your patience. Just be extra careful of loose spores because the block is not compact. And keep a close eye on them when you see your first clump.
Sadly, it falls short of being the best kit because you need to remind yourself to take care of the growing mushrooms. Our top pick made their kit worry-free using a simple tech feature.
3. Dave Mushroom Oyster Mushroom Growing Kit – Budget Pick
Specifications
Mushroom Type: Oyster
- Harvest/Sprout Period: Sprouts as early as 4 days
- Growing Temp: 56℉ to 68℉
- Grow up to: 2-4 times
Let’s talk about the mushroom kit that gives you a big oyster mushroom harvest in under a week. The growing kit from Dave Mushroom Farm also gives up to three more flushes over a couple of weeks.
As with all budget buys, you have to compromise on some things. In this case, you only get a growing log, a mist bottle, and poorly written instructions. We know, it’s not much to go on.
Your main issue will be setting up the mushroom growing kit. Here’s some advice that saves you time digging through reviews. Dip one corner of the paper towel into the water. It keeps the paper towel tent from drying up.
Keep the setup in a shaded area of your kitchen, and it should be smooth sailing from there.
4. Michigan Mushroom Company Lion’s Mane Mushroom Grow Kit
Specifications
Mushroom Type: Lion’s Mane
- Harvest/Sprout Period: N/A
- Growing Temp: 50℉ – 75℉
- Grow up to: 3-4 times
There are a lot of gardening projects that result in a pretty-looking setup. Unfortunately, growing mushrooms is not one of them. And this setup probably has the worst packaging on our list.
But as they say, don’t judge a book by its cover. The plastic bag method works well enough to give you a whopping four pounds of Lion’s Mane mushrooms over two months.
It needs a bit more care and patience compared to other varieties and setups. Misting your lion’s mane growing kit at least twice a day is the key. Another helpful tip is to squeeze the excess air out before starting a new flush.
Finally, you want your clusters growing outside the inoculated bag where there’s ventilation. If you do things right, you can keep growing mushrooms at home up to four times.
5. SnoValleyMushrooms Blue Oyster Mushroom Growing Kit
Specifications
Mushroom Type: Blue oyster
- Harvest/Sprout Period: Within 10 days
- Growing Temp: 64℉ – 75℉
- Grow up to: 3-5 times
This next growing kit adds some excitement to the usual way of cultivating mushrooms. Instead of using a box, you’ll have to set up a cool mushroom terrarium. You can use any 5-gallon tub, but a plastic or glass aquarium makes this system a living exhibit.
Adding to the already “theatric” growing appeal of this blue oyster mushroom growing kit is its requirement of perlite and water. Or, you can go all out by giving the mushroom some stage fog, AKA humidifier.
Yes, the SnoValley kit is a bit of a diva, needing many more materials to set up than others. But the initial effort doesn’t go to waste because the growing kit gives you up to 5 flushes of beautiful (and tasty) blue oyster mushrooms.
Plus, when it stops growing indoors, you can plant it in a shady spot in the garden for an instant immortal blue oyster mushroom patch!
6. Root Mushroom Farm Shiitake Mushroom Growing Kit
Specifications
Mushroom Type: Shiitake
- Harvest/Sprout Period: Harvest as early as 7 days
- Growing Temp: 55° F to 75° F
- Grow up to: Several flushes over 16 weeks
Log substrates are fantastic because they yield multiple flushes over a longer timeframe. But don’t worry, Root Mushroom Farm makes it easier to grow shiitake mushrooms on logs!
Their shiitake mushroom growing kit includes a big inoculated log and a mushroom box that doubles as the humidity tent. The simple setup lets you grow mushrooms indoors in the most natural way possible.
Unfortunately, the all-natural structure invites a common roommate for shiitake mushroom – green mold. These unwanted tenants can easily outnumber your shiitake mushrooms, causing them to stop growing.
The kit includes a step-by-step instruction sheet that also outlines some tips to make the most out of one log. Honestly, you get less yield for the time and work compared to a quick grocery run. BUT the flavor of homegrown shiitake mushrooms is so much better. You pay for the experience of growing your own mushrooms and getting the freshest taste rather than quantity.
7. Gourmet Mushrooms Morel Mushroom Growing Kit
Specifications
Mushroom Type: Morel
- Harvest/Sprout Period: 1 year
- Growing Temp: 68°F to 72°F
- Grow up to: NA
Morel mushrooms are superstars in the culinary world because of their intense flavor. But these tasty mushrooms cost a fortune because they’re so hard to find in wild forests. Luckily, you can now buy the best morel mushroom growing kit guaranteed to grow in your backyard. Sorry, these can’t be grown indoors.
Many morel mushroom growing kit reviews name the Gourmet Mushrooms as the top choice because you just have to put the kit into the ground.
Before you get too excited, know that growing morel shrooms is unpredictable at best. And it will test your patience because it can take between 80 days to a year before you see anything sprout. It can be either super rewarding or incredibly frustrating. But oddly enough, that’s all part of the appeal of this Morel mushroom grow kit!
8. Gallboys Reishi Mushroom Kit
Specifications
Mushroom Type: Reishi
- Harvest/Sprout Period: 1-2 months
- Growing Temp: 60°F to 85°F
- Grow up to: 2-3 times
“Woah, what’s that strange-looking mushroom!” is a common reaction to seeing Reishi mushrooms for the first time. As much as the photos are both intimidating and intriguing, growing these mushroom kits is a breeze. You get an almost complete kit with clear instructions and just need to look for a spray bottle.
After the first bud appears, it takes a couple of months before you can harvest this red and brown fungus. But watching this mushroom grow is half the fun! They go from buds to coral or antler-like stems before you start seeing a mushroom resemblance.
If you love Chinese traditional medicine, we highly recommend you try growing this immunity-boosting tea mushroom. Yup, that’s right; these are not your regular edible mushrooms because they are too tough to eat.
9. Root Mushroom Farm Golden Oyster Mushroom Growing kit
Specifications
Mushroom Type: Golden Oyster
- Harvest/Sprout Period: 7 days
- Growing Temp: 65°F – 80°F
- Grow up to: 4 times
The great thing about Root Mushroom farm is their all-in-one kits, especially their golden oyster mushroom.
Unlike the ever-so-popular shiitake mushrooms, you won’t need to do any soaking. You just set up the log in the humidity tent and mist every day. You also don’t need to keep it in a dark place since this mushroom variety likes indirect light.
Besides, you wouldn’t want to keep such a pretty thing hidden. It’s so fun to watch the golden caps grow! This kit is an incredible gift idea because of how low maintenance and decorative it is. Plus, you can get a lot of delicious mushrooms from this log. If anything, your problem is the excessive harvest that your log can’t contain.
10. Forest Origins Specialty Trio Mushroom Grow Kit
Specifications
Mushroom Type: Brown, White, and Pink Oyster Mushroom
- Harvest/Sprout Period: less than 2 weeks
- Growing Temp: 68°F – 78°F
- Grow up to: 2 times
If you want to start mushroom madness at home, this oyster mushroom trifecta is the way to go. You get three types of oyster mushrooms that each have their unique taste and texture.
Growing all three at the same time is easy because they have the same requirements and growing time. However, don’t put them all in one crowded place because you end up with more spores floating around.
This is the best mushroom grow kit for mushroom lovers. It’s a fun and yummy way to get to know the different varieties of the oyster mushroom. It grows fast and big but also takes a good chunk out of your wallet.
Your Buying Guide to the Best Shroom Kit
Great, we have you hyped on the mushroom craze. But don’t just go buying the coolest kit you see. You might end up regretting the choice because you don’t like the taste. Or it might not grow because you didn’t give it what it needs. Let’s avoid all that by getting you ready to grow mushrooms at home.
Type of Mushroom
We’ve barely touched the surface of edible mushrooms with the varieties we listed. But we did choose a good mix of edible mushroom growing kits. Let’s focus more on what they look and taste like. Let’s focus more on what they look and taste like (1).
| Mushroom Variety | What it looks like | Taste & Texture | Growing Difficulty |
| Oyster | – Clustered mushrooms growing in stacks – Come in different colors | – Mild and sweet – Soft with a chewy stem | Beginner-friendly |
| Shiitake | – Dark brown mushrooms grow individually with short stems | – Umami flavor. More intense when dried – Meaty texture with tough stems | Intermediate |
| Lion’s Mane | – Looks like cauliflower – Can grow long teeth that flow over the round body (like a lion’s mane). | – Tastes like crab or lobster – Plump and meaty | Beginner-friendly |
| Morel | – Look like something from outer space. – Have cone caps with lots of sponge-like holes. | – Intense woody flavor – Tender texture – Perforations absorb sauces well | Expert |
| Reishi | – Blood-red mushrooms with coral-like stems and huge, ringed caps. | – Raw, earthy flavor but can be slightly bitter – Cork-like texture | Intermediate |
Some varieties are more sought-after than others because of flavor and rarity (2).
“Morel mushrooms are a marvelously earthy and nutty fungus all the more treasured (and highly-priced) for their elusiveness—the petite spongy caps are quite difficult to find since they often blend into their surroundings.”
The Morel Mushroom Growing Kit makes it easier to grow these elusive mushrooms in your backyard as a Morel patch.
Oyster mushrooms are pretty much the poster boy of fresh edible fungi. However, they have different color varieties, and they each taste different. The pearl oysters have the mildest earthy flavor, while the brown ones are an earthy and rich variety similar to shiitake mushrooms. Pink oysters, interestingly, have an almost ham-like taste. Specialty Trio by Forest Origins gives you a chance to try all of them in one growing period.
The SnoValleyMushrooms Blue Oyster Mushroom tastes like white pearl oyster mushrooms but with a cooler color. On the other hand, the Golden Oyster Mushroom Growing kit produces more aromatic mushrooms, making them great as soups or pizza toppings. And this edible fungus is pretty enough to use as a garnish.
Growing Rate and Conditions
Some mushrooms take only a few days to grow and harvest. Others like Morel mushrooms take up to a year before you can harvest them. But in any case, different factors affect mushroom growth.
In general, mushrooms grow best in high humidity and mild temperatures. But these fungi also don’t like direct sunlight.
Most of the mushroom grow kits we mentioned need a humidity bag. You can be creative with it—the Dave Mushroom Oyster Mushroom Growing Kit gives you setup ideas.
But, you should know that a humidity tent doesn’t have to be elaborate. For instance, the Michigan Mushroom Company Lion’s Mane Mushroom Grow Kit only needs a simple plastic bag. Other mushroom kits like the Root Mushroom Farm golden oyster kit use the packaging as the humidity tent.
John Hosie, co-founder of Shroomunity, and avid mushroom cultivator advises that while your local climate might not be ideal, you can find pockets in your household that will work:
“Your kitchen counter under the top cabinet is an excellent place to set up your edible mushroom growing kit.”
Keeping the set up near a window is fine as long as it doesn’t get direct sunlight. Keep the temperature relatively cool in the mid 60°Fs to 70°Fs, and your mushroom growing kit will be happy (3).
Some mushrooms, however, like the Gallboys Reishi mushroom growing kit, need a warmer environment with a little bit of light (4). If you leave it a cooler place when the antlers start to show up, the mushroom grows slower.
Mushroom Growing Kit Setup
The growing instructions of mushroom kits differ from one variety to another. But, they all have a colonized growing medium that needs water activation.
In the wild, you can find mushrooms on logs or crevices. Growing them indoors means you need to mimic their natural environment.
The Root Mushroom Farm Shiitake Mushroom Growing Kit gives you a log growth medium that you need to soak in water overnight. Mushrooms feed off the compounds of their decaying growing medium, and wetting the log speeds up the growing process.
Most mushroom growing kits come in a bag with sawdust or wood chips as the grow medium. The top pick, the organic mushrooms by Back to the Roots, uses a block of compact sawdust that also needs overnight soaking. But not all kits need this step. For example, the runner-up North Spore Lion’s Mane Oyster Mushroom Kit is a ready-from-the-box, spray and grow kit.
Each mushroom growing kit aims to be a fun and easy process. But some setups like the SnoValleyMushrooms Blue Oyster Mushroom Growing Kit need more materials like a big container with perlite and water. This extra effort has its reward because it makes maintenance more manageable in the long run.
Care Requirements
Most mushroom grow kit reviews rave about the ease of care for these mushroom habitats. That’s one of the biggest appeals for these make-at-home projects. Misting is the most crucial part of growing mushrooms (5).
“Mushrooms require moisture to produce their fruit; however, they have no skin, so moisture is easily lost. For this reason, mushrooms need an environment that has a high humidity to avoid water loss.”
Notice that kit instructions say to mist the environment. You don’t want them to water them like plants because they will drown or mold up and rot.
The boxed mushroom kit like the North Spore Lion’s Mane mushroom growing kit needs more frequent misting. It loses moisture faster because of exposure to fresh air. Remember the fancy setup we mentioned for the Sno Valley Mushrooms kit? Well, if you set it up with a humidifier, you don’t need to maintain it at all.
You don’t have to worry about forgetting your edible mushrooms if you get the oyster mushroom growing kit by Back to the Roots since you get text reminders.
FAQs
Yes, mushroom kits are safe as long as you don’t have spore allergies. It’s also recommended to grow mushrooms one at a time if you stay in a small space. You can start more than one mushroom growing kit at a time. But do it in a room or area wherein you don’t spend so much time.
Yes, mushroom growing kits are worth it if you choose the kits that grow even after the flushes stop indoors. Some kits can grow into a mushroom patch in your backyard, producing mushrooms all year round- WORTH IT.
Growing delicacy mushrooms like Morel are definitely worth it if you grow them successfully. These mushrooms sell anywhere from $30 to over $100 a pound, depending on the season and quality.
Yes, mushroom kits can go bad. Check the packaging for the viability of the mycelium. On average, mushroom grow kits can last for a couple of months before they die out. Keeping the kits in your fridge extends their viability. But generally, it’s better to grow mushrooms as soon as you receive the package.
References
- 14 Types of Mushrooms and their Uses. Retrieved from: https://www.epicurious.com/ingredients/how-to-buy-and-store-different-types-of-mushrooms-recipes-article
- Serious Eats Mushroom Shopping Guide. Retrieved from: https://www.seriouseats.com/mushroom-shopping-guide
- Indoor Production. Retrieved from: https://smallfarms.cornell.edu/projects/mushrooms/indoor-production/
- Reishi (Ling Chi) Mushroom. Retrieved from: http://tcpermaculture.com/site/2014/02/20/reishi-ling-chi-mushroom/
- Environment for Mushroom Growth. Retrieved from: https://homeguides.sfgate.com/environment-mushroom-growth-28551.html
