Growing Lion's Mane Mushrooms in Australia: The Complete Guide

Lion's mane mushrooms are a moderate gourmet mushroom to grow, fruiting on hardwood sawdust blocks in a cool, humid, lightly lit spot.

Lion's Mane Mushrooms are a moderate gourmet mushroom to grow, and this article walks through everything behind our one-page printable guide in a good deal more depth than a single card allows.

Every crop earns its place in a garden differently, and lion's mane mushrooms are no exception. At a glance, they're rated moderate, with light of indirect light; moisture of high humidity, 85–95%; substrate of hardwood sawdust, supplemented; temperature of 15–21°C for fruiting; spawn of grain spawn — details that matter more once you're actually planning around them than they do on a first read. The rest of this article works through exactly what each of those means day to day, with the reasoning behind each recommendation rather than just the recommendation itself.

Climate and Timing Considerations

Australia's climate zones change growing timing more than most general advice accounts for. Cool temperate zones (Tasmania, the Victorian highlands, southern NSW) have recurring frost risk well into what other zones call spring, which compresses the safe planting window for frost-tender plantings. Warm temperate zones (Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth) sit closest to what general advice assumes by default. Subtropical zones (Brisbane, northern NSW) rarely see frost at all, and the growing calendar shifts as a result. Our site-wide zone setting adjusts the advisory note shown on the Planting Calendar for exactly this reason — worth setting once if you haven't already. The same zone setting also feeds the Harvest Calendar, so both ends of the growing cycle reflect wherever you actually garden, rather than a generic Australia-wide average.

• Cool Temperate (TAS, VIC highlands, southern NSW, ACT): a good fit through most of the year; its cool preference suits cold winters and mild summers.
• Warm Temperate (Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne, Perth, coastal NSW/WA): works well in autumn to spring; in hot summers grow in a cool room or skip a season.
• Subtropical (Brisbane, northern NSW, coastal QLD): challenging in summer heat; grow in the cooler months or in an air-conditioned room.

Shaggy white spines

Lion's mane grows as a white, shaggy pom-pom covered in soft spines. Pick it while the spines are short and the flesh is firm and white; it yellows and turns bitter as it ages.

Setting Up Lion's Mane Mushrooms

Method. Buy a ready-to-fruit sawdust block, cut a slit or X in the bag, and keep it humid and cool. Making your own blocks needs sterilised, supplemented sawdust and grain spawn.

Substrate. Supplemented hardwood sawdust blocks (bought or home-made), or fresh hardwood logs.

Timing. Fruits in cool weather, 15–21°C. In warm regions grow in autumn to spring, or in a cool room.

Start. A ready-to-fruit block is the easiest way to begin; it fruits within 2–3 weeks of opening.

These few details do most of the actual work, more than any single trick or shortcut would.

Day-to-Day Care

A few things matter most here:

• Mist the air, not the fruit; water lodged in the spines causes rot.
• Keep temperatures at 15–21°C; fruit stops forming above about 24°C.
• Give a little indirect light and fresh air.
• After harvest, rest the block and expect one more smaller flush.

These aren't equally important, but all of them are worth building into your routine — cool temperatures and humid air matter most, since heat and dry spines stop good fruit forming. Treat this list as a routine to build rather than a one-off checklist, and it becomes second nature within a season or two.

What Can Go Wrong

The key things to get right:

• Too warm — pins abort or turn yellow above about 24°C; move the block somewhere cool.
• Dry or drooping spines — humidity too low; mist the air and use a humidity tent.
• Green mould — contamination on the block; bin it and sterilise tools.
• Picked too late — old fruit turns yellow, brown and bitter; pick while white and firm.

None of these are complicated on their own, but skipping one is a common source of trouble — heat in particular is worth watching for, since it can stop fruiting altogether in summer. Treat this list as a routine to build rather than a one-off checklist, and it becomes second nature within a season or two.

Harvest and Storage

Signs. Pick when it is white and firm and the spines are still short, under about 1cm.

Method. Cut the whole fruit at the base with a clean knife.

Aftercare. Rest the block for 1–2 weeks, then expect one more, smaller flush.

Storage. Best fresh. In a paper bag in the fridge, 3–5 days.

Eating. Cook thoroughly; pan-fry slices until golden, as the texture is similar to crab or lobster.

None of these are difficult individually — the value is in getting all of them right at once.

Preserving. See Dehydrating for drying mushrooms for storage.

Companions & rotation

Lion's mane needs no companions. Keep it cool, humid and lightly lit, and keep the block away from heat sources and direct sun. Spent blocks can go to the compost or be used as a garden mulch.

Related Guides

If lion's mane mushrooms suits your garden, these related guides in the same category are worth a look too:

• Oyster Mushrooms
• Shiitake Mushrooms
• Wine Cap Mushrooms
• Ginger

That's the full picture behind lion's mane mushrooms. The printable A4 version of this guide — with the quick-reference gauges and diagram in one page — is available on the main guide page below. As with every guide on this site, this is general information based on our own research and experience, not professional advice — your specific soil, climate, and circumstances will always vary from ours to some degree.

Beyond the printable card, our Planting Calendar and Harvest Calendar tools will show a zone-adjusted note for lion's mane mushrooms specifically, and the Companion Planting Checker covers companion pairings in more detail.

Frequently Asked Questions