Mushroom growing glossary

A gelling agent used to make a solid culture medium. The nutrients added to it depend on the medium recipe.

Handling that reduces the chance of introducing unwanted microorganisms during a transfer. A tidy room alone does not make a transfer aseptic.

Measures and rules intended to prevent or manage risks from organisms. In New Zealand, import clearance and new-organism approval address different parts of that process.

Growth of mycelium through a culture medium or substrate. Visible growth does not by itself authenticate a species or prove purity.

Unwanted organisms in a culture or substrate. Colour or a photograph alone usually cannot identify the contaminant.

Living fungal material maintained for study or propagation. Keep its source and identity records with it.

Naturally restricted to a particular geographic area. A species indigenous to New Zealand can also occur naturally elsewhere.

A crop of fruiting bodies produced over a relatively short period. The number and timing of flushes vary.

The reproductive structure commonly called a mushroom. Much of the fungus remains as mycelium in its substrate.

Movement of gases into and out of a container. A filter helps a colonising culture exchange gases; it does not replace fresh air around fruiting mushrooms.

Grain colonised by mushroom mycelium, used to inoculate another substrate. Uncolonised grain is not yet spawn.

Hyphae are the fine filaments of a fungus. Mycelium is the network formed by those filaments.

Occurring naturally in a region. This describes biogeographic origin and does not establish permission to import a particular culture.

Introducing a culture or spawn into prepared material so the fungus can grow through it.

Mycelium maintained in liquid nutrient medium. It is different from a suspension of spores.

A treatment used to reduce competitors in a substrate. It does not establish sterility.

Early developing fruiting bodies. Their appearance signals a transition towards mushroom production.

The documented source and transfer history of a specimen or culture. A trade name alone is not a provenance record.

A species is a taxonomic identity; a strain is a particular isolate or line within a cultivation or research context. Neither cap colour nor a product name is a complete identification.

A validated process intended to eliminate viable microorganisms, including resistant forms. An equipment setting alone does not prove the whole load received an effective treatment.

The material a fungus grows through and obtains nutrients from, such as suitable wood, straw or prepared sawdust.

A preserved specimen with collection details that supports a recorded identification and can be re-examined.