Shiitake Kit – additional flushes, do I need to rest the block?

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Shiitake mushrooms need a long period of rest between flushes to reabsorb more nutrients in order to fruit again.

Step 1, after you have harvested your first flush of mushrooms, make sure all the bits of mushrooms are off the block
step 2, place somewhere dry outside of your fruiting container and that’s it, rest somewhere dry and dark and cool with good airflow
if its wet other things will try and grow on the block.
step 3, after the 6 week rest period, soak in water overnight and go again like your first flush, just don’t mist as often as the first flush, you want to try keep the surface of the block dry so other things that have landed on it don’t start to try and grow.

a few things to be mindful off

Shiitake are very slow-growing, even though their mushrooms grow really fast from when they first ‘popcorn’ to final maturity/ready to harvest; There is a slow build-up to that final phase of growth happening out of sight.

*Did you know that it takes more than 3 months of incubating our kits before we send them to you ready to grow?

With this in mind, be patient and allow your kit to rest for at least 6 weeks in a clean and dry environment before trying to reinitiate a subsequent flush.
Remove it from the growing space – if kept in a humid space you will encourage other things to jump on the block and grow, so make sure it’s kept in a clean, dry space during this time.
*If you do not give it enough time to rest you will find it will be highly susceptible to attracting moulds and will not provide you with additional mushrooms.
*When ready to start growing a second flush, have your fruiting chamber more on the dryer side as well, this will help keep things at bay.

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