Search growing guides, species profiles, recipes and New Zealand mushroom articles.
Articles
A careful look at questions involving Fungus Among Us Aotearoa and MycoLogic: what culture provenance can establish, what remains unverified, and how to handle threats or disputes.
Articles
A sourced examination of Good Vibes Fungi, blue oyster mushroom identification, cultivation practices and New Zealand biosecurity requirements.
Articles
What Sporeshift Mushrooms' 'just landed in NZ' Black King Oyster promotion establishes, what remains unknown, and why scientific identity and import records matter.
Articles
Fungus Among Us Aotearoa and the wider question of mushroom culture identity, provenance, native-origin claims and New Zealand biosecurity requirements.
Articles
A documented New Zealand observation of a North Island robin repeatedly pecking a Pleurotus fruit body, with context on robin diet, fungal identity and bird–fungus ecology.
Articles
Did Thomas Brain and Oak and Spore normalise unlawful blue-oyster cultivation through YouTube? An evidence-based review of the videos and MPI's unnamed investigations.
Articles
What sales records, photographs and DNA results can establish about cultivated mushroom identity, with Oak and Spore and New Zealand's blue-oyster investigation as a case study.
Articles
A New Zealand reference to Pleurotus species, native and cultivated oyster mushrooms, trade names, culture identity, import rules and biosecurity evidence.
Articles
An evidence-based guide to Pleurotus djamor in New Zealand: import status, identification, cultivation, cooking, spore control and possible risks to indigenous oyster fungi.
Articles
An evidence-based New Zealand guide to Pleurotus purpureo-olivaceus: taxonomy, field identification, ecology, culture collections and the unresolved challenge of reliable cultivation.
Articles
A New Zealand guide to Schizophyllum commune: identification, ecology, traditional food use, rare respiratory disease, cultivation precautions and biosecurity.
Articles
A closer look at the advertised Snow White, Blue and Black King oysters, New Zealand’s import requirements, and the information growers should ask for.
Articles
Did Sporeshift Mushrooms make an illegal claim to Google? A review of the Google question, MPI's unnamed blue-oyster investigation and the evidence involving Sporeshift.
Articles
Tūwāka in New Zealand: how Cyclocybe parasitica lives on broadleaf trees, what a fruiting means for tree health, and how to approach cultivation responsibly.
Articles
Was Sporeshift caught selling illegal blue-oyster spawn? A review of the invoice, Trade Me listing, spawn photograph, MPI investigation and independent culture records.
Articles
A simple creamy garlic sauce with browned oyster mushrooms, butter, herbs and cream. Recipe by Carina Esguerra.
Articles
Roasted pumpkin gnocchi with golden oyster mushrooms, fresh herbs, cherry tomatoes and a light cream sauce. Recipe by Berit Abrahall.
Glossary
Plain-language definitions of culture, spawn, substrates, fruiting and species terms, with links to practical guides.
Learn
A beginner guide to mushroom agar media, clean transfers, tissue cultures, contamination checks, plate sealing and useful culture records.
Learn
Plan a first mushroom grow in New Zealand: choose a documented culture or ready-to-fruit bag, understand growing stages, manage conditions and harvest carefully.
Learn
Understand mushroom grain spawn, choose a documented culture, prepare grain, work cleanly and recognise problems before inoculating a fruiting substrate.
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Understand hardwood-and-soy-hull mushroom substrate, hydration, heat treatment, inoculation and contamination risks for growing oyster mushrooms in New Zealand.
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A practical introduction to choosing, inoculating and caring for mushroom logs in New Zealand, with Ellen Schindler's illustrated four-page manual to read or download.
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What mushroom liquid culture is, how to assess a culture before using it, and why species identity and provenance matter for New Zealand oyster mushroom growers.
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Understand filtered mushroom bags, straw tubing, bag materials, heat compatibility, incubation gas exchange, and fruiting ventilation.
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Work through common mushroom growing problems: no pins, long stems, dry caps, stalled colonisation, wet grain, contamination concerns and later flushes.
New Zealand
Understand mushroom identity, EPA new-organism status, MPI import requirements, domestic culture records and the separate rules for producing and selling food in New Zealand.
Species
A species reference for New Zealand shiitake, covering its endemic status, woodland habitat, identity, culture records and careful cultivation trials.
Species
A reference to Pleurotus australis in New Zealand: native status, wood associations, identifying features and the difference between recorded culture growth and a reliable growing recipe.
Species
Understand Pleurotus parsonsiae, its indigenous but non-endemic status, the djamor species complex, documented cultures and the limits of appearance-based identification.
Species
Learn about Pleurotus purpureo-olivaceus in New Zealand, its violet-brown appearance, indigenous treatment in multi-gene research, beech wood records and experimental cultivation.
Learn
How to fruit a fully colonised oyster mushroom grow bag: choose a site, cut the bag, balance humidity with fresh air, harvest and prepare for another flush.
Learn
Prepare straw for oyster mushroom cultivation: choose clean material, understand hot-water and alkaline treatment, measure the process, and inoculate carefully.
Learn
Prepare a suitable oyster mushroom substrate bag, add identified spawn, allow colonisation, then fruit, harvest and troubleshoot the bag in New Zealand conditions.