Species & Strain Selection

There are many important factors when determining what mushrooms to grow. Season, Location, Available Substrate, Resistance to Competitor Organisms, Market Demand, and Cultivation Experience… Certain strains have been selected for medicinal compounds, substrate preference, and for quality/quantity of fruiting bodies. At Aloha Medicinals Inc., we are concerned with all aspects of cultivation and are constantly isolating new strains from wild specimens, or are selecting specimens for substrate preference, & medicinal properties.

Ask yourself a few questions… What material do I have to grow on? Straw, sawdust, agricultural waste… Is my growing room more cost effective to keep warm or cold this season? What is my market demand? If growing oyster mushrooms, would they prefer white, blue, grey, brown, white, yellow, or pink caps? For shiitake, do your customers prefer high quality flower shiitake, or will you be selling large, medium, or small mushrooms? Cap color light vs. dark? Or are you preserving mushrooms for powder, or canning, and volume is more important than quality? Where will you be selling to… local farmers markets, restaurants, or wholesaling? Distance to market may make a difference due to shelf life and fragility of some species.

In regard to temperature during fruiting, some mushrooms, like Pink oysters (Pleurotus djamor AM1) are warm weather species that cannot survive below 4°C (approx. 40°F). Yet other strains will fruit prolifically after being frozen, like Letinula edodes 75. Some strains are wide range and will fruit all season, which are best suited to growers that fruit outdoors under variable conditions and want mushrooms throughout the season, or curtailed to indoor growers that fruit multiple species with slightly varied conditions.

*NOTE*

*When possible, select local isolates of commercial strains due to a natural resistance to competitor organisms and its ability to produce economically viable volume.    

*When fruiting outdoors seasonally, choose wide range strains to fruit all season, or a warm weather strain for hot temperatures, and cold weather for fruiting in spring and fall. 

To simplify strain selection we have listed our most commercially viable strains for the most popular species. So you can focus on growing, while we focus on providing the best strains for your success! 

Pick up your strain at Aloha Medicinals Inc. 

Genus Species	Strain	Cap Color	Yield	Mushroom Size
Shiitake	3782	Dark –light	high	small
	CS2	Dark	high	small
	75	Light	high	medium
	Straw	Dark	medium	large
	720	Dark	high	small
	Sams	Light	high	medium
	Don	Dark	high	medium
Oysters Hysizygus ulmarius	ElmA	White	high	large
Golden Oyster	AM1	Yellow	medium	small
Pleurotus cornucopiae	Rolland	Cream	high	medium
Pink Oyster	AM1	Pink	medium	medium
	VDE1	Pink	high	large
Common Oyster	012A	Brown-Grey	high	medium
	213	Brown-Grey	high	medium
	Chief Niwot	Brown	high	large
	Prune	Tan	high	medium
	HK	Brown	high	large
	PL	Blue	high	medium
Pleurotus pulmonarius	AX	Brown	high	medium
Pleurotus Sajor-caju	AM1	Brown	high	medium
Lion’s Mane
	AM1	White	high	small
	AM2	White	high	medium
	NO2	White	high	large
KINGS
Pleurotus eryngii	KO1	Tan	medium	medium
Pleurotus ferulae	AM1	White	high	large
Pleurotus ferulae	VDE1	White	high	large
Pioppino
Agrocybe aegerita	SWORDBELT	Tan	high	small
Nameko
Pholiota nameko	AM1	Orange	high	small
Wine-Cap Stropharia rugoso-annulata	Kirch	Burgundy	high	large

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