What temperature do oyster mushrooms fruit at?

Most blue and pearl oyster (Pleurotus ostreatus) fruit best at roughly 10–21°C (50–70°F). Warm-loving pink and golden oysters prefer 18–30°C (64–86°F). All oysters want 85–95% humidity and plenty of fresh air.

What are the ideal fruiting conditions for lion's mane?

Lion's mane (Hericium erinaceus) fruits at about 18–24°C (64–75°F) with 90–95% humidity, low CO₂ (under ~800 ppm), and high fresh-air exchange. Too much CO₂ produces branchy 'coral' growth with no spines.

What humidity do mushrooms need to fruit?

Most gourmet mushrooms fruit at 85–95% relative humidity. Lion's mane and nameko prefer the high end (90–95%), while shiitake tolerates a bit drier (80–90%). Pins abort if humidity drops too low.

What is FAE in mushroom growing?

FAE stands for fresh-air exchange — replacing CO₂-rich air with fresh air during fruiting. Most gourmet species need high FAE; too little fresh air causes long stems, small caps, and aborted pins. Reishi and the cultivated long-stem enoki form are exceptions that use high CO₂ deliberately.

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Mushroom fruiting conditions, by species

The numbers growers look up constantly — colonization and fruiting temperature, humidity, CO₂, fresh air, and light — for 14 popular gourmet & medicinal mushrooms, in one place. Search, filter, and switch between °C and °F.

Growing one of these right now? Log your batch and watch it hit these numbers — days in each stage, an overdue-flag if a stage runs long, contamination rate, and your real biological efficiency at harvest. Free, no sign-up. Open the free Grow Log →

How to read this. Ranges reflect common cultivation practice for healthy commercial strains — your strain, substrate, and room will shift them. FAE is fresh-air exchange (venting CO₂-rich air); CO₂ targets are the fruiting-room level, not colonization (colonizing mycelium likes high CO₂). Temperatures are the fruiting optimum unless labelled "colonize."

Fruiting conditions reference table (all 14 species)

The full cheat-sheet at a glance — fruiting temperature (°F / °C), humidity, CO₂ target, fresh-air need, colonization time, and typical biological efficiency for each gourmet & medicinal mushroom.

Mushroom	Fruiting temp	Humidity	CO₂ (fruiting)	Fresh air (FAE)	Colonization	Typical BE
Blue Oyster Pleurotus ostreatus	50–70°F (10–21°C)	85–95%	<800 ppm	High	10–14 days	75–100%+
Pearl Oyster Pleurotus ostreatus	55–70°F (13–21°C)	85–95%	<800 ppm	High	10–14 days	75–100%
Pink Oyster Pleurotus djamor	64–86°F (18–30°C)	85–95%	<800 ppm	High	10–14 days	65–90%
Golden / Yellow Oyster Pleurotus citrinopileatus	70–86°F (21–30°C)	85–95%	<800 ppm	High	10–14 days	65–90%
King Oyster Pleurotus eryngii	59–64°F (15–18°C)	85–90%	500–800 ppm	Moderate	14–21 days	50–75%
Lion's Mane Hericium erinaceus	64–75°F (18–24°C)	90–95%	<800 ppm	High	10–14 days	50–75%
Shiitake Lentinula edodes	50–70°F (10–21°C)	80–90%	<1000 ppm	Moderate–high	35–70 days + browning	75–125%
Chestnut Pholiota adiposa	55–64°F (13–18°C)	85–95%	<800 ppm	High	14–21 days	50–75%
Pioppino Cyclocybe aegerita	59–70°F (15–21°C)	85–95%	<800 ppm	High	14–21 days	50–75%
Nameko Pholiota microspora	50–61°F (10–16°C)	90–95%	<800 ppm	High	14–30 days	50–75%
Enoki Flammulina velutipes	46–55°F (8–13°C)	80–90%	High (long-stem form)	Low (restricted)	14–21 days	50–75%
Maitake Grifola frondosa	55–64°F (13–18°C)	85–95%	<800 ppm	High	30–60 days + initiation	~30–50%
Reishi Ganoderma lingzhi	75–84°F (24–29°C)	90–95%	High → antlers / Low → conks	Varies by form	14–21 days	~30–50%
Turkey Tail Trametes versicolor	64–75°F (18–24°C)	85–95%	<1000 ppm	High	14–30 days	medicinal — not weight-based

Fruiting temperatures are the fruiting-room optimum; colonizing mycelium runs 3–6°C warmer and tolerates high CO₂. Biological efficiency (BE) is fresh yield ÷ dry substrate weight — see the BE guide.

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Keep going: Grow Calculator · Substrate Recipe Calculator · Biological Efficiency guide · How long to grow mushrooms? · How to get mushrooms to pin

General guidance from common cultivation practice, not guarantees — your results vary with strain, substrate, and conditions. Mycro is for legal culinary & medicinal mushrooms only.