How to identify the pros and cons of common mushrooms and fungi, teaching you to pick good mushrooms

Enoki mushroom (Flammulina velutipes) spawn is of good quality when the mycelium is snowy white, thick and strong, or appears as a fine powder, with strong vitality, and later forms fruiting bodies in clusters on the substrate. If the mycelium cannot grow downward deeply and yellow droplets appear, the spawn is aged and must not be used.

Button mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) spawn is of good quality when the mycelium is grayish white, slightly bluish, thread-like, with no yellowish-white mycelium. If the mycelium is pale yellow and shrunken, the spawn is inferior.

Shiitake mushroom (Lentinula edodes) spawn is of good quality when the mycelium is snowy white, cottony, grows evenly, and readily forms primordia. If the mycelium in the bottle is sparse, pulls away from the bottle wall, and shrinks, the spawn is degenerated or aged.

Straw mushroom (Volvariella volvacea) spawn with white, transparent mycelium is young spawn. Spawn with yellow, white, or grayish-white, transparent mycelium is spawn of suitable age. Spawn with dense mycelium and shrunken upper-layer mycelium is old spawn. Spawn that is too young or too old must not be used for cultivation.

Oyster mushroom (Pleurotus ostreatus) spawn is of good quality when the mycelium is snowy white, dense, thick and strong, cottony, with a tendency to climb the bottle wall; for spawn grown on sawdust, when the decomposed sawdust turns pale yellow and a few primordia appear, it is good-quality spawn. If the mycelium is sparse or forms strands, pulls away from the bottle wall and shrinks, yellow liquid accumulates at the base of the bottle, or mold spots appear on the surface of the substrate, the spawn is inferior.