Nameko Mushroom Spawn
North SporeNameko Mushroom Cultivation
Pholiota nameko: Nameko mushrooms grow well in cool temperatures and are a popular thickening agent in soups due to their gelatinous caps.
Nameko spawn comes in two distinct styles:
Grain Spawn - Indoor only! The indoor method of growing nameko takes basic laboratory/clean space infrastructure, though they are a great mushroom for indoor commercial cultivation for intermediate to advanced level growers. They require adequate cooling and humidity to grow.
Sawdust Spawn - Used for larger mushroom log projects, or by those wanting to inoculate logs every year. Used for small to large enthusiast or commercial projects. Best for inoculating 10 or more logs. *You need an Inoculation Tool to use Sawdust Spawn! For larger projects you may want to purchase an Angle Grinder Adapter and specialized 12mm drill bit! Sawdust spawn comes in bags approximately 5.5lbs each.
Inoculation:
Indoor Commercial Production - Use Grain spawn for indoor cultivation. nameko mushroom grain spawn can be mixed into sterilized hardwood sawdust to create nameko substrate blocks. This process requires a fair amount of infrastructure. We recommend purchasing a book on mushroom cultivation if you are interested in pursuing this style of mushroom production as a hobby or profession. We recommend 'Radical Mycology: A Treatise on Seeing and Working with Fungi' by Peter McCoy, 'Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation' by Tradd Cotter, or 'Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms' by Paul Stamets.
On Logs - Prefers Log and Stump methods. Nameko produces mushrooms in the fall when cooler temperatures set in.
Check out our Spawn FAQ to figure out what type of logs you can use!
Difficulty: Advanced
Nameko mushrooms prefer cooler temperatures and need constant humidity when fruiting.
Cooking: Nameko is a lesser known culinary mushroom in the Americas, but it is used widely in East Asia. It has a gelatinous cap that can thicken soups and sauces and has an aroma that walks the line of being both fruity and earthy. Nameko mushrooms go well with dark green vegetables, red meats, and shallots, and are used traditionally in Japanese miso soups.
Properties: Mushrooms in the Pholiota genus have medicinal qualities that inhibit tumor and microbial growth. In one study conducted on lab mice, polysaccharides taken from Pholiota mycelium reduced the growth of cancerous tumors by about 60% (Ohtsuka et al., 1973). Acting as an antimicrobial, an extract of Pholiota was shown to inhibit the growth of bacteria including E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus (Dulger et al., 2004).