An Important Note for our Customers in the Hawaiian Islands

The Hawaii State Department of Agriculture has recently increased their restrictions on the importation of live mushroom mycelium into the islands. This affects the sale of Fungi Perfecti's Indoor and Outdoor Mushroom Patches, Plug Spawn for Log and Stump Cultivation, and Pure Mushroom Spawn and Cultures. Customers in Hawaii wishing to purchase any of these products will need to first apply for and receive an Import Permit from the HSDA Plant Quarantine Branch. Additionally, importation of our MycoGrow™ products is completely prohibited.

The permit can be downloaded in Adobe Acrobat format online here. If you have further questions, you can contact Fungi Perfecti or speak directly to Amy Takahashi at the Hawaii State Department of Agriculture, 1428 S. King Street, Honolulu, HI 96814. Phone: (808) 973-9560.

The Shiitake Mushroom Patch™

Fungi Perfecti's indoor and outdoor Mushroom Patches™ consist of pure mushroom mycelium growing on a sterilized medium, or substrate. The substrate used will vary, depending on the mushroom being grown; for example, the Shiitake Mushroom Patch™ grows on a mixture of enriched hardwood sawdust and wood chips, while the Pearl Oyster Mushroom Patch™ grows in a bag of pasteurized wheat straw. All of Fungi Perfecti's indoor and outdoor Mushroom Patches™ are Certified Organic by the Washington State Department of Agriculture.

The Nameko Mushroom Patch™

Our indoor Mushroom Patches™ couldn't be easier to care for; all you do is place the humidity tent we provide over the Patch and water it according to the instructions (in some cases, an overnight soak in cold water might be needed to encourage the Patch to fruit). Be sure to use water that is neither chlorinated nor distilled: chlorinated water can kill the mushroom mycelium, and distilled or heavily filtered water lacks vital nutrients that your mushrooms need to grow. Spring, rain or well water work best, although boiled tap water will also work well.

The Giant Morel Mushroom Patch™

Our outdoor Mushroom Patches™ need to be mixed into a bed of material such as soil, ash or hardwood chips (the type of material will depend on the mushroom being cultivated, and is not provided) and allowed to grow out and colonize the bed. Inoculations should take place between March and October in the Northern latitudes, year 'round in the Southern latitudes. As the Mushroom Caretaker, your job is to carefully select the location of your mushroom bed, then monitor the condition of your Patch and water it according to the instructions (Outdoor Mushroom Patches™ can be watered with chlorinated water because there is much more material both in and around the bed to which the chlorine can bond, thus greatly reducing its effect on the mycelium). After the bed is fully colonized with mushroom mycelium (typically 9–12 months), mushrooms will begin to form. With appropriate care, mushrooms should continue to appear for several years thereafter.

The Pearl Oyster Mushroom Patch™

The amount of mushrooms you will get will vary from species to species, and to some extent, from Patch to Patch. For example, the Shiitake Mushroom Patch™ will produce 2-3 pounds of mushrooms over a 12-16 week period, in crops or flushes that will spring forth in approximately two week intervals. Our outdoor Mushroom Patches™ can take up to two years to begin fruiting, and will continue to fruit for two or more seasons thereafter. Due to the many and various contributing factors found in Nature, we cannot accurately predict the amount of mushrooms an outdoor Mushroom Patch™ will produce.

The Garden Giant Mushroom Patch™

All of our indoor Mushroom Patches™ are "disposable", eventually running out of the nutrients needed to produce mushrooms. At that point, there is no practical way to re-infuse the Patch with more nutrients. However, many of them can be broken up and subsequently launched outdoors, in compost piles, bales of straw, or on hardwood chips or logs. For more information on this subject, please consult our online article "Maximizing Your 'Mycelial Mileage'". Our outdoor Mushroom Patches™ can often be expanded by taking colonized material from the original bed and transferring it to new beds, preferably adjacent to the old one. With planning and a little luck, vast beds of meandering mycelium can be established in your yard or garden.

Nutritional Value of Mushrooms

Many myths have been spread about mushrooms. One of the most inaccurate is that mushrooms have no nutritional value. To properly consider them for their nutritional benefits, they must be viewed from a dried weight perspective. And mushrooms give you maximum nutritional benefit only upon cooking. Mushrooms are relatively high in protein, averaging about 20% of their dried mass. Further they contribute a wide range of essential amino acids. Low in fat (between .3 and 2%) and high in fiber, mushrooms also provide several groups of vitamins, particularly thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, biotin, ascorbic acid and Vitamin D. For more information on the nutritional properties of mushrooms, Paul Stamets, founder of Fungi Perfecti, published an extensive study of 24 major nutrients in 16 mushroom species and varieties. See: Stamets, P., 2005. "Notes on Nutritional Properties of Culinary-Medicinal Mushrooms", International Journal of Medicinal Mushrooms, vol. 7: 103–110.