RR: 3 lb Red Reishi Ready-to-Fruit Block

This information is specific to Red Reishi.

• Check your block upon arrival to make sure there are no tears or signs of mold from shipping. If the block has broken into pieces during shipping, press the block together and let sit 3-5 days undisturbed before moving to step 2.
  Red Reishi has notoriously leathery and sometimes yellowish mycelium.
  For antlers, go to step A
  For conks, go to step B
• A: (For antlers) Pull the top of the bag up so that it sits upright as much as possible.- Go to step C
• B (For conks) Slice a 1-2" slit into the bag or a 1" "X" into the side of the block. Be careful not to cut into the block itself and just cut the plastic.
• Fold down the top of the bag and deflate the block, tape the top down so that there is minimal room between the block and plastic except where the cut was made.
• C: Place the Ready-to-Fruit block in the most humid part of your home (not in direct sunlight) or in a grow chamber or grow tent. The kitchen is a good household place in lieu of a dedicated fruiting chamber. Red Reishi fruits best between 70-85°F.
  Search online for easy to make fruiting chambers: monotubs, shot gun fruiting chambers (SGFCs) and tents with foggers/humidifiers are all great options and will likely increase success in fruiting and producing healthy fruits. Even a trash bag with plenty of holes can be used to increase humidity!
  Antlers are produced inside the bag, they will grow towards the light source. They do not need to be kept in a humid environment or spritzed. Eventually the top of the bag can be cut and put into a fruiting chamber and conks will form if that is what is wanted.
• If cut, spritz the plastic with distilled/filtered water where the cut was made 2X daily (or more if your environment is dry) and look for mushroom "pins". These are the start of mushrooms! Pins should take ~2-3 weeks to develop from the time of opening the bag and will look like a white/yellow blob that grows outside the opening. Antlers will look like white/yellow blobs forming on the top surface of the block, towards the top where the air is.
• If cut, continue to mist the fruits and plastic while they grow. Red reishi are slow growing and are usually ready to harvest 6-8 weeks after pins form and should be harvested before too many spores are produced (conks) or when the antlers lose the white tips and stop growing or begin to grow and conk outside the filter patch.
• Cut the conk or antlelrs cluster from the block and enjoy as a tincture or as a dried supplement (see below warning)
• Soak the block in fresh distilled/filtered water for 1-6 hours while inside the bag (pour into the opening) and then drain from the bag.
• Put block back into fruiting conditions, you should get at least 1 more "flush" of mushrooms from the block. If pins do not form at the cut site, consider opening the plastic at the site of the largest set of pins for subsequent flushes and sealing the original site with tape.

*CAUTIONS AND CONSIDERATIONS:

IF YOU PLAN ON CONSUMING YOUR HOME-GROWN MUSHROOMS MAKE SURE TO COOK THEM THOROUGHLY*. IF IT IS YOUR FIRST TIME EATING THIS SPECIES, IT IS BEST TO START WITH A SMALL AMOUNT TO SEE HOW YOUR BODY RESPONDS!
*RED REISHI IS NORMALLY PREPARED IN A TINCTURE OR TAKEN AS A SUPPLEMENT WHEN GROUND AND DRIED.

MUSHROOMS PRODUCE SPORES AS THEY DEVELOP. THIS IS A NATURAL MEANS OF REPRODUCTION FOR THE FUNGUS. THEY USUALLY APPEAR AS A DUSTY SURFACE ON YOUR GROW KIT BENEATH THE MUSHROOM CAPS. PEOPLE WITH ALLERGIES OR COMPROMISED IMMUNE SYSTEMS MAY WANT TO CONSIDER PUTTING FRUITING MUSHROOM KITS OUTDOORS OR IN A WELL-VENTILATED AREA AS AIRBORNE SPORES SOMETIMES CAUSE RESPIRATORY IRRITATION. SPORES MAY ALSO CAUSE IRRITATION FOR SOME NON-ALLERGIC OR IMMUNE COMPROMISED MUSHROOM GROWERS, THOUGH THIS IS RARE. HARVESTING MUSHROOMS WHILE STILL IN THEIR YOUNGER GROWTH STAGES WILL REDUCE THE OVERALL SPORE LOAD.