Organic Pioppino Mushroom Culture Block

Our ready-to-grow fruiting blocks let you grow your own Pioppino mushrooms at home.

• Variety: Pioppino, Cyclocybe aegerita.
• Yield: between 0.7 and 1 kg (approx. 1.5–2.2 lb) of fresh mushrooms over 2–3 harvests.
• Composition: water, wood sawdust, cereals (including alfalfa), lime, mycelium. Net weight of the block: approx. 5 kg (about 11 lb).
• Dimensions: 25 x 20 x 20 cm (about 10 x 8 x 8 in) (L x W x H)
• Origin: Belgium (Mycosphere)

Note: yield figures are estimates based on our experience but are not guaranteed. Productivity depends on growing conditions and the grower's experience.

🍄 The variety: Pioppino

The Pioppino is an excellent edible with a crunchy texture and a slightly sweet, hazelnut-like flavor. The caps (3–5 cm / about 1–2 in) start out dark brown, gradually lightening toward a beige-cream as they mature. The stems stay crisp when cooked if picked young.

Our quality commitment

We produce our mycelium under laboratory conditions, ensuring varietal purity and optimal quality.

We produce our mycelium in a 100% organic way, and all our products are certified "BE-BIO-01, Agriculture Belgium" by CERTISYS.

📦 Using the fruiting block

If you can't use the block right away, keep it in the refrigerator for about 2 weeks.

This variety likes warmth (up to 24°C / 75°F) but can also be grown in cooler temperatures, down to 12°C (54°F). Harvest the mushrooms young, just before the caps open, for better storage life and a more tender texture. Note that the mushrooms grow very quickly.

There are two fruiting methods:

• Open the top of the bag, leaving 15–20 cm (6–8 in) of plastic above the substrate, wait for the primordia (mushroom pins) to appear, then gradually lower the plastic down to the level of the substrate.
• Make a slit on the side of the block at the level of the substrate and push the air out of the bag through this opening. This method takes a little longer and tends to produce slightly less, but it favors the development of caps over stems, giving mushrooms that are slightly different in taste and texture.

Maintain a humidity of 80 to 90% while the mushrooms are growing. Use our minispray or our professional foggers to maintain optimal humidity.

⚙️ Growing parameters

🌱 Where to grow it

Grow indoors (kitchen, garage, cellar). Pioppinos need a little light to grow. Favor indirect sunlight and avoid anything that could dry out the block: drafts, radiators, direct sun. Pioppinos like humidity but don't like being constantly soaked.

💡 Tips for later harvests

To encourage growth and productivity of the second and third harvests:

• Rehydrate the bags by soaking them overnight in water, then drain them and put them back into cultivation.
• Apply a cold shock by placing the block in a cool spot overnight (refrigerator or outdoors). This mimics the arrival of winter and encourages the mushrooms to reproduce.

Legal notice for Belgium: "Organic growing substrate: pasteurized and inoculated mushroom-farm substrate" (Derogation No. EM470.J). Do not consume the substrate.