Cultivation – Another term for growing mushrooms, which can be done indoors or outdoors. Cultivation has four key phases: Inoculation, Colonization, Fruiting, Harvesting.

Colonization – When mycelium is growing, but no fruiting bodies (mushrooms) are present.

Culture – Mushroom mycelium of a particular species or strain, usually kept on a petri dish or slant.

Culturing – The act of isolating mushroom genetics into a culture.

Flush – A ‘crop’ of mushrooms. Mycelium tends to produce fruits in groups, followed by a brief resting period.

Force Fruiting – A process used to trigger the mycelium to produce fruiting bodies. Also called “shocking.”

Fruiting – The phase of growth in which visible mushrooms begin to appear on the substrate.

Fruiting chamber – An enclosed space mushroom growers often use to create an optimal growing environment.

Laying yard – The place where logs are incubated and routine maintenance is performed.

Inoculation – The process of introducing spores or spawn into a substrate.

Mycelium – The vegetative part of fungi that grows underground, consisting of fine white filaments.

Pins or pinning – When tiny fruiting bodies (the ‘baby mushrooms’) first begin to appear.

Spawn – The colonized carrier that holds a specific strain of mushroom mycelium until it is ready to transfer to another substrate.

Spawning – The act of adding mushroom spawn or spores to a media to kickstart the colonization process.

Spawn run – An incubation period after inoculation in which mycelium colonizes wood.

Spores – What mushrooms release into the air to reproduce. In the lab, you can use them to isolate specific mushroom genes and create a mycelium.

Strain – A specific variety within a mushroom species.

Substrate – Any material on which mushrooms can grow.