Reishi

Reishi is a revered medicinal mushroom with recorded use spanning over 2000 years!  

A striking spectrum of reds and oranges, the fruit body of Reishi is woody, with a glossy finish.  Often prepared as a tea or tincture.

It is a medicinal species, rather than a gourmet edible.  Used for thousands of years in China and Japan, this mushroom is heralded as increasing lifespan, fighting cancer, improving immune response and bolstering recovery from all manner of diseases!

Reishi fruits on hardwood logs or hardwood sawdust.  G. lucidum favours hardwoods, in particular Oak, Maple, Willow, and Elm.  Close relatives G. tsugae and G. oregonense will also grow on conifers.

Grown on supplemented sawdust fruiting blocks, fruiting can be started inside the sealed bag to encourage ‘antler’ formation, before exposing to natural atmospheric conditions to encourage ‘conk’ formation.

Logs should be partially buried, or buried shallowly due to the species’ high moisture requirement.  Reishi grown on logs can take between 6 months and 2 years to fruit, and will continue to do so for up to 5 years.

Morphology can be influenced by manipulating fruiting conditions.  High CO2 levels will result in long ‘antler’ form.  Introducing fresh air exchange (FAE) will result in formation of the wide ‘conk’ form.

This strain fruits from 21-27˚c.