Lion’s Mane Liquid Culture

Description

This is a 10 ml syringe of living lion’s mane mycelium in a sterile nutrient broth. Each batch is grown from a single isolated culture, so the genetics stay the same from syringe to syringe. You inject it straight into sterilized grain. Because the mycelium is already alive and growing, it usually shows on grain within about a week. Spores take 10 to 14 days just to start.

Lion’s mane grows as a single clump of soft, hanging spines with no cap and no gills. A good fruit is about the size of a fist, bright white to cream, with spines a quarter to half an inch long. A faint pink blush is normal.

Flavor and kitchen uses

Lion’s mane tastes mild and a little sweet, and many cooks compare it to crab or lobster. The flesh is dense and tender, and it pulls apart into shreds the way cooked crab does.

• Tear it into pieces, sear in a dry pan until the edges brown, then finish with butter and garlic.
• Shred it and bind it into crab-style cakes.
• Slice it into thick slabs and press them in a hot pan like a steak.

Pick it young, while the spines are short and white. Yellow or brown edges mean the fruit is overripe.

Growing profile

Parameter	Lion’s mane
Colonization temperature	70 to 75°F (21 to 24°C), in the dark
Fruiting temperature	55 to 70°F (13 to 21°C). A drop from colonization temperature helps trigger pins.
Humidity	85 to 95%
Light	Indirect light about 12 hours a day. No direct sun.
Fresh air	High. Keep CO2 under about 1,000 ppm.
Days to colonize	14 to 21 days on grain, then 14 to 21 days on a sawdust block
Days to first harvest	8 to 17 days after fruiting conditions start. Pins show in 3 to 7 days and are ready 5 to 10 days later.
Syringe to first harvest	About 5 to 8 weeks (our estimate from the stages above)
Substrates	Hardwood sawdust or pellets (oak, maple, beech) with about 15% wheat bran. Hardwood logs or stumps outdoors.
Typical yield	2 to 3 flushes per block. The first flush gives 50 to 70% of the total.

Difficulty: Beginner. Lion’s mane colonizes quickly and fruits readily once a block is fully grown through. The usual trouble is air. It needs more fresh air than most indoor species, and in stale air it grows long, branching, coral-like spines instead of a tight clump. It does not grow well on straw or softwood.

Tips for success

• Shake the syringe hard for 30 seconds to break up the mycelium. Wipe the injection port and needle with alcohol, then inject 1 to 2 ml per quart jar of sterilized grain, or 3 to 5 ml per all-in-one grow bag. One syringe covers about 5 to 10 jars.
• An all-in-one bag of sterilized grain and supplemented hardwood is the simplest route from a syringe to a fruiting block.
• Fruit from a small X or slit cut in the bag. Lion’s mane fruits from the opening.
• Fan or vent the fruiting space several times a day. Long, branching spines mean CO2 is too high.
• Mist the air and the walls of the fruiting space, not the spines.
• Harvest when the spines are a quarter to half an inch long and still white. Cut at the base with a clean knife.
• Between flushes, soak the block in cold water for 4 to 12 hours.

Healthy culture or contamination. A healthy culture has clear to slightly hazy broth with white, cloud-like wisps or clumps of mycelium that settle when the syringe sits and spread out when you shake it. It smells mild or earthy. Warning signs are broth that turns evenly milky or murky and stays that way, a sour or rotten smell, a film or slime on the surface, or green, black or pink growth. If you are unsure, put a drop on an agar plate before you inoculate grain.

Kit includes

• One 10 ml luer-lock liquid culture syringe of living Hericium erinaceus mycelium in sterile nutrient broth.
• One sterile needle.
• One alcohol prep pad.

To use it you also need sterilized grain jars or an all-in-one grow bag with an injection port.

Storage

Refrigerate the syringe at 2 to 8°C (36 to 46°F) as soon as it arrives, and keep it in the dark. Do not freeze it. Use it within 3 months for the fastest, strongest growth. The mycelium stays alive longer in the fridge, but it slows with age. Before use, let the syringe warm to room temperature for a few hours and shake it well.