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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Strain Spotlight: Pleurotus pulmonarius AX

Pleurotus pulmonarius, also known as the Phoenix mushroom, or the Italian oyster, is very similar to its Pleurotus ostreatuscousins, often causing confusion when being identified. Its name is derived from its shape, Pulmonarius, Latin for 'lung'.  The Phoenix mushroom generally prefers warmer temperatures than the more cold weather ostreatus, making it a popular species for commercial growers in hotter climates.

The best example of Pleurotus pulmonarius Aloha has is the AX strain. Typically grown on Straw, these hearty mushrooms will also thrive on sawdust (alder, maple, oak, poplar, elm, aspen or cottonwood), and on some conifers. Growing small and flat in large cluster, this strain's fruit body is often round shaped, not the eponymous lung shape. Long thin stemmed with small gils extending down the stem. The caps of AX provide thick meat however and are delicious when prepared like most oysters. Like all pulmonarius, the AX strain grows better in hotter climates, with 75-85 F (24-29 °C) for the spawn run, and 50-70 °F (10-24 °C) fruiting temperature. AX yields very efficiently, with a BE of 120%+ weight biological efficiency. This strain is perfect for oyster growers in a hotter climate that don't want to air condition their growing chambers.

This strain is available at Aloha Medicinals Inc. for those interested in growing it. It is available as pure culture or spawn.

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Strain Spotlight: Agrocybe aegerita Swordbelt

The Agrocybe aegerita species sometimes referred to as the brown cap mushroom, is a small white-rot fungi looking very similar to a button mushroom, but with a brown cap. Sometimes confused with poisonous varieties within the genus makes these mushrooms deadly to pick in the wild but if properly identified provide a great taste raw or cooked. 

The Swordbelt strain is said to taste like bacon. How could you need a anymore to be sold on this culture? The A. aegerita Swordbelt, grows large, providing constantly big fruitbodies, brown caps getting darker toward the center and growing in large clusters. the provided fruitbodies are of a sterotypical 'mushroom' shape and have gills that stop at the thick stem. This is another mushroom with a median fruiting temperature of 50-65 °F (10-18 °C) and grown on sawdust or straw (alder, poplar or other hardwood and conifers) it is paired well with a Shiitake grow. There is downside to this tasty strain however, it happens to be difficult to fruit and rather picky about its climate, however if one is able to fruit that it provides decent yields of around 60% biological efficiency (biological efficiency, or BE is a measure of how many fruit bodies, by weight, a growing block produces compared to the raw dry weight of the substrate). This isn't a strain for beginners or growers looking for a very variable temperature mushroom, but when grown it is very rewarding.

Anyone interested in growing this particular A. aegerita strain is invited to contact Aloha Medicinals Inc. in order to purchase mushroom spawn.  Directions on how to fruit this mushroom may be found here. 

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Strain Spotlight: Lentinula edodes 75

The Shiitake mushroom, scientifically known as Lentinula edodes has a long and storied history ranging all the way back from 199AD in China, to this day it remains in wide spread use as an edible and medicinal mushroom. Grown normally on hardwood substrates, conifer sawdust or wood-chips supplemented with wheat bran or another type of grain.

 Our L.E. 75 strain is a shining example of this lineage. Easy to grow and easy to fruit. This resilient strain just seems to fruit in almost any condition. Producing a very consistent medium sized meaty brown cap and thick stem. Delicious with a beautiful texture this strain is ideal to spice up any meal when grown from home. Our 75 strain is a very efficient grower as well, producing a Biological Efficiency of 100% and above (calculated via wet weight substrate). The temperature range for L. edodes 75 is limited to the lower end, however with a suggested (10-24 °C) fruiting temperature. Our Lentinula edodes 75 strain is an ideal shiitake to start out with, durable and easy to fruit.  It provides people interested in kits with many meals of delicious mushrooms!

If you are interested in growing this particular shiitake strain you can find mushroom spawn of L. edodes 75 at Aloha Medicinals Inc. Below you'll find details on how to grow this strain. 

Materials needed:

• Tub (large enough to mix substrate in)
• Water
• Scoop
• Filter kit bags
• Woodchips/sawdust (oak, chinkapin, tanoak, hornbeams, alder, aspen, poplar, cottonwood, beech, birch, chestnut, hickory, maple, sweetgum, tupelo, willow)
• A grain supplement
• Eggshell (Calcium carbonate)
• Gypsum
• Measuring Cup
• Autoclave or pressure cooker
• Bucket
•  Sharpie
• Heat sealer
• Grain Spawn

PROCEDURE

Sterilization or pasteurization of a substrate is a key step in growing mushrooms, it ensures the best starting point for your culture to thrive and grow and avoids as much contamination by molds and bacteria as possible. Here is a step by step guide on a simple easy to do method for sterilization of sawdust substrate for use in kits.

1. First pour the sawdust or woodchips into the mixing tub, all measurements in this procedure will assume 30lbs of dry substrate
2. Next, add the grain supplement to your substrate. This amount should be 10-15% of your total substrate, around 3 pounds for this procedure.
3. Add the Eggshell (Calcium carbonate) and gypsum next, 1 cup each.
4. Mix thoroughly by hand or with a scoop or shovel, until the supplements are mixed seamlessly into the substrate, breaking up clumps when they are seen.
5. Add water with a hose and spray nozzle or a pitcher next. Mix very thoroughly, feeling the substrate as you go, the moisture content should be at around 70%. An easy way to check if you have enough water is to take a handful of sawdust and squeeze until only a couple drops of water come out of the substrate. The saw dust should not clump up when squeezed.
6. When proper water level is achieved used scoop to fill filter bags to a desired level. 6lbs of wet substrate is a recommended weight.
7. Clean the inside edges of the bags, this is to ensure a proper seal after sterilization.
8. Place bags into your autoclave or pressure cooker and sterilize at 121°c and 15 psi for 2 hours.
9. Remove bags into a clean environment. Using proper clean room procedure inoculate bags with desired grain spawn then heat seal them.
10. Mix grain spawn into substrate via shaking, this is to achieve the fastest colonization of your sawdust.
11. Place bags upright in growing rooms, with substrate packed down tight into a mostly solid block and wait to colonize then follow further growing instructions based on the chosen strain.

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