Shiitake Mushroom Outdoor Log Growing Kit














Skill level | Beginner |
Grow location | Outdoors |
Incubation | 9-12 months |
Spawn shelf life | 6 months (refrigerated) |
Flavor profile | Savory, buttery, umami |
Shiitake (Lentinula edodes) is a nutritious mushroom that produces medium-to-large, brown, umbrella-shaped caps that tend to fruit throughout the summer to fall growing season. They are a delicious edible fungus from East Asia and their flavor is often described as rich, savory, buttery, and umami. Shiitake tends to produce generous flushes and they are a great mushroom for beginners. They colonize quickly and are the most reliable producers of any species.
Each outdoor kit contains:
- A drill bit
- Log sealing wax
- A wax applicator
- 100ct plug spawn or voucher
- Instruction guide
That's not mold, it's mycelium!
Your kit includes plug spawn colonized with mushroom mycelium. It may appear covered with a soft, white, mold-like substance - that's the mushroom mycelium! It is completely normal. The mycelium of some species is more prominent than others.
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Ordering a log kit with a voucher allows you to redeem your plug spawn at a later date. Vouchers make a great gift and are good for projects beyond a 3 month start date.
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Ordering a kit with live spawn is best for projects that will be done within 3 months of ordering.
Plug spawn is living and perishable. It can live unrefrigerated for up to three months or refrigerated for up to 6 months.
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Shiitake works best with the log method. It will take at least 9-12 months of colonization before producing mushrooms and tends to fruit throughout the summer to fall growing season and after rainfalls. Preferred wood species are oak, maple, or beech.
For our complete plug spawn pamphlet, click here.
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If you don't plan to use immediately, you can refrigerate your spawn for up to 6 months.
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Shiitake has a meaty texture when cooked and is good for drying and reconstituting in winter soups. It pairs beautifully with tamari, ginger, and garlic and can bring needed umami to many different dishes. These mushrooms are delicious sauteed and can be used in stir-fries, risottos, ramens, on pizzas, or simply eaten by themselves.
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The spawn used in our mushroom plugs is grown on USDA certified organic grain and made with organic cultures from our own culture bank. Our plugs are handmade from a blend of locally sourced, all-natural, organic, and non-GMO woods 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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The perfect gift!
I haven’t used these yet as I have them as holiday gifts. But I am psyched about all the shiitakes I have grown over the years and am looking forward to sharing that. These kits are beautifully presented and have just about everything you need to get started. Such a great and unique gift for anyone with a green thumb or a passion for cooking!
Get a great start
This kit is awesome for getting started, and makes a great gift.

Great Kit for Growing On Logs
This kit was very easy to use with great instructions and came with everything you would need to inoculate some logs for a shiitake grow. I inoculated May 2021 and by fall had a lot of mycelium showing on both ends of all my logs with zero signs of contamination. Northspore customer service was also great in quickly answering any questions I had along the way. Can't wait for the spring to come for these to finish and start producing my favorite mushrooms to eat.

Great product and easy to configure!
The product came within a reasonable timeframe and arrived in perfect condition without contamination to damage. The instructions were easy to follow and everything needed (minus a log medium, of course) were included. The shiitake plug spawn kit was fairly intuitive to use and the mushrooms ended up growing! Would recommend.

Excellent products & so easy!
We received our Shitake mushroom growing kit for logs when they said it would come. Everything you need is in the kit, even the drill bit to make the holes in the log! The process is easy & directions are easy to follow. We are waiting now to see our mushrooms grow. We previously grew Lions Mane mushrooms from a North Spore kit & they were amazing & so fun to grow! North Spore has the best products, prices & customer service!

Can't wait
So far so good. This kit is easy to use and it's fun to plug the logs. The directions are clear and customer service is friendly and prompt. Can't wait for them to grow. I also ordered the wine caps and the lions mane.

Excited to Try Log Innoculation
Having only grown in buckets to varying degrees of success, I am eager to do a more long-term mushroom grow using logs from my area. Wanting to wait for my local hardwood to be at the peak point in the season, it was nice to be able to use the voucher system on the spawn itself. Will have to see how successful I am, but I believe even a small, inexpensive kit like this does the trick to get started.
Excellent product
Everything needed other than the logs. Easy to follow instructions. Can't wait for the Shitakes.

Excellent product, everything you need to get started.
Just finished my Shitake log kit, adding to my mushroom growing setups. Previously grew lions mane in the house. The log inoculation kits are excellent and easy for the whole family to get involved in. Simple instructions and includes everything you need to get started. Anxiously waiting for the first harvest of Shitakes. Highly recommend North Spore.

Easy process
I found the contents of the kit and the instructions easy to use. Looking forward to the harvest.