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Price: $24.99
Our Maitake (Hen of the Woods) grow kit is a 5 lb block fully colonized with first-generation Grifola frondosa. It fruits cooler and wetter than any other kit we sell, growing dense, overlapping gray-brown fronds. Give it a cool room and steady humidity, and it rewards you with one of the best-tasting mushrooms you can grow at home.
Fruits at 50–65°F, so a basement or cool spare room that's too cold for oysters is ideal.
Nutty and savory, and it gets deeper with cooking. Roast it hot and the thin frond edges crisp up.
A prized fall mushroom that's hard to find in stores. Growing it is the easiest way to cook it fresh.
The hard parts (sterilization, inoculation and colonization) are done before the block ships. Maitake's two needs are cool temperatures and higher humidity than most kits; get those right and the rest is simple.
Make one slit across the face of the block as shown in the instructions. Fresh air on the mycelium is the signal to stop feeding and start fruiting.
Aim for 50–65°F. A basement, cool room or unheated space works; warm rooms slow it noticeably.
Mist often to hold humidity near 90%. A 12-hours-on, 12-off light cycle helps but isn't required.
Cut the cluster at the base once the fronds have spread. Then stop misting for about a week to let the block rest before the next flush.
This one wants it cool and humid: Maitake fruits at 50–65°F and wants about 90% humidity, more than any other kit we sell. A warm, dry room is the most common reason a Maitake block stalls.
Get more from your kitA Tabletop Humidity Tent holds moisture around the block so you mist less and get fuller clusters, especially in dry winter air. Ready to grow Maitake from scratch? Start with our Maitake liquid culture syringe.
Maitake takes longer than oyster kits and depends heavily on temperature. In a 50–65°F spot with steady humidity, expect fronds to form over a few weeks. If it's slow, check that the room is cool enough and the surface isn't drying out.
Getting close matters. Maitake is more humidity-sensitive than our other kits, and dry air slows frond development and can dry the surface before pins form. Frequent misting works; a humidity tent makes it much easier to hold that level.
Typical yield is 1–2 lb wet weight per block, with potential for more in good conditions. After harvesting, pause misting for about a week to let the mycelium rebuild, then resume.
It has a reputation for being tricky, mostly because it wants cooler temperatures and more humidity than other gourmet species. With a cool spot and consistent misting it's very manageable; the main thing is not treating it like a warm-fruiting oyster kit.
Indoors is strongly preferred. The block needs steady temperatures and protection from wind, direct sun and insects; fungus gnats find an exposed block quickly. A kitchen counter, bathroom shelf or any spot out of direct sunlight works well.
The kit is already colonized and ready to fruit, so there's no sterile work. Our Maitake liquid culture syringe is for growers who make their own grain spawn and want to scale up or run multiple grows.
Sold as a mushroom growing kit for cultivation. Maitake is the subject of ongoing scientific research, but nothing on this page is intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
I enjoy mushroom foraging and the flavor of Maitake is incredible. This kit was good except just know that it takes 2-3 months to get any mushrooms. They slowly add layers to the fruiting body and then one day they start growing fast and you get some decent mushrooms. Patience is needed with this strain, but 100% worth it!
I love Hen of the woods mushrooms, and the chance to grow my own was too good to pass up. They grew perfectly, and they tasted fantastic.
Seeing cluster growth in week 4! Directions are spot on! Thanks!!
I've tried growing Maitake's from a different vendor and was not successful in growing anything. With this kit I followed the instructions that is included and used Method 1. It worked like a charm! Took longer than I initially thought, but after doing more research I found that this is normal. I now have some pretty spectacular mushrooms!
My Maitake is coming along just as Myco Labs describes. I did one single 24 hour cold shock once the first pin-blobs appeared. Cut the bag and they are off. A few very sweet looking clusters growing. Thank you so much MycoLabs 🤘🕉?🤘