Organic Lion's Mane Mushroom Sawdust Spawn












Skill level | Intermediate |
Grow location | Outdoors |
Spawn shelf life | 6 months (refrigerated) |
Bag weight | 5.5 lbs |
Incubation | 12-24 months |
Fruiting temps | 55-70°F |
Lion's Mane (Hericium erinaceus) is a delicious hearty mushroom that produces plump, dense, shaggy "pom pom" clusters. It also makes a great seafood substitute, as it has a consistency and flavor similar to crab meat. What's more, it's highly versatile, as it can be enjoyed cooked, dried, extracted, or even steeped as a tea.
If you're looking for a faster growing lion's mane, we recommend growing it in buckets (as it's a great side-fruiting mushroom). For those who don't mind waiting, lion's mane is ideal for growing on logs and totems. However, these methods require patience, as it can take 1-2 years from inoculation to get your first flush. But once established, a single log can continue to produce for several years if kept in the right conditions!
"5 of the Best Lion's Mane Mushroom Recipes"
Recommended use:
- Lion's mane sawdust spawn is recommended for log and bucket projects.
- Best wood species are maple (hard), beech, and hornbeam. Click here for other compatible species.
- Sawdust spawn is ideal for larger log projects of 10 or more logs.
- This is not a mushroom grow kit. Lion's mane sawdust spawn must be used in log inoculation in order to fruit.
Upon receiving your spawn:
Remove it from the shipping box as soon as possible. Then, unfold the top of the bag, making room for air space. It's also important to check and confirm that the filter patch is not obstructed. This will help the organism breathe and continue to thrive!
Scroll down for cultivation, inoculation, and storage guides.
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To grow on logs using sawdust spawn, you will need a Log Inoculation Tool, Log Sealing Wax, and Wax Daubers.
For larger log projects you may also want to purchase an Angle Grinder Adapter and specialized 12mm drill bit.
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Click here to download our pamphlet on growing mushrooms on logs and totems.
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Lion’s mane prefers the Totem Method, though it can work with Log or Stump methods. (Yields tend to be smaller with log or stump methods). Colonization is 12-24 months and fruits in the fall. Lion’s mane prefers maple but can grow on many hardwood species and on logs with large or small diameters.
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If you don’t plan to use your lion's mane sawdust spawn right away, store in the refrigerator. Use within 6 months of receipt.
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"5 of the Best Lion's Mane Mushroom Recipes"
Its unique flavor and consistency make it ideal as a seafood substitute in recipes. We like to slice it into rounds and pan-fry it in olive oil or butter. We also recommend ripping it up and making vegan or vegetarian crab cakes with it. You can find some amazing recipes online!
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All our spawn is made using organic cultures from our own culture bank. Our sawdust spawn is handmade from a blend of locally sourced, all-natural, organic, and non-GMO woods and supplements from farms and forests in New England and North America.
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If you’re going to consume home-grown mushrooms, make sure to cook your fresh mushrooms thoroughly with heat. If it is your first time eating this species, it is best to start with a small amount to check for allergies, even if cooked.
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Beautiful spawn!
Top quality sawdust spawn, mycelium is very happy in the substrate and already making its way into 18" totems at this very moment. Very happy with North Spore, now my go-to place for spawn.
North Spore
Thanks for sharing, Dirk! Let us know how they turn out!
Haven't had luck
Haven't had luck yet with them. Could be wood I'm using.

Great spawn!
These arrived packaged well and as expected. The Lion’s mane spawn looks healthy and ready to use!

5 stars so far!
I peaked under the bags on the four totems I created just two weeks ago and, I found small fruiting bodies about 11/2 inches across, maximum, already forming at the base of the totems! I was pleasantly surprised at that! They were growing from the bottom of the totem on the cardboard! Our weather has been superb the last two weeks , being low fifties at night and high sixties/ low seventies F. by day. We have had several light rains. I am super happy and energized about the future crops I hope to harvest and will be starting more operations soon. In fact I will be starting a couple beds for oyster varieties this week, as soon as my new order arrives! Thanks North spore for the healthy sawdust spawn and the tutorials/videos!

active mycelium growth
I received the sawdust spawn packaged well and with clear instructions included. The bag contained mycelium growing in the sawdust. I expect to harvest Lion's Mane mushrooms in the future from the four totems I created.

High Quality and Fast Growing!
My Lion's Mane sawdust spawn came extremely quickly and was very safely packaged. The block was already colonized with mycelium and was actually growing lion's mane already! I broke up the block into much smaller bags and cut holes in each of the bags before suspending them in a humid chamber to grow them for my own personal use. I was thinking of attempting a monotub approach but am not brave enough to try and grow lions mane this way. I will absolutely order from north spore again!

High Quality Spawn
I inoculated a totem log on June 26 and on July 3 it began fruiting from the sawdust! The photo shown was taken on July 7. I'm sure this flush will be small due to the log not being colonized yet. I put a nice thick layer in each totem cut so I'm sure that helped. But I've been more than satisfied by the customer service and high-quality spawn so far.

Lions Mane Spawn
I ordered two bags and received them promptly in good condition. I've started several Big Leaf Maple totems out here in the Pacific Northwest, and am excited for future mushroom growth! Used the North Spore inoculation tool with Reishi sawdust spawn on alder logs last year, just about time to bury those logs. I'm looking forward to Reishi and Lion's Mane in my future! Great and clear instructions, good materials, can't wait for my logs to start fruiting but patience is the ticket here.

So Very Excited
I received my lion's mane. When I received my package I was so excited. Customer service was outstanding. Once you receive your package @northspore will answer any questions you have so that you can achieve great results. I have 4 types morels shiitake lions mane wine capsnow and three more on the way. Thanks guys can't wait to see the end product.

My Pre-Schooler’s Favorite Mushroom
We received our lions mane spawn in spring 2020, inoculated in late April totem style on both sugar maple and ailanthus. We had our first fruits in mid-June, first on the maple then on the ailanthus. We didn’t have too much production in the fall, but look forward to more this spring as we see plenty of mycelium. My pre-school age daughter loves Lions Mane, they are her favorite wild mushroom and we loved starting to grow our own.