<aside> ✍🏼 Unlike the Illustrations and Experiences galleries, the pages here follow a more traditional blog format. Much of the content here I’m consolidating from the different platforms that I’ve posted through time.
</aside>
12 June 2020: Choosing the right species to cultivate is half the battle won
The Pareto Principle states that 80% of our results arise from 20% of our (focused) efforts. In mycoculture, I believe that good aseptic techniques during agar culture and transfers exemplifies that 20%.
Going one step upstream, however, I think that selecting the right species suited to our climate, across spawn growth, primordial initiation and fruiting body formation stages, is also key.
In tropical Singapore, our average temperature ranges between 24 deg C to 32 deg C (expect the upper limit to climb with our climate crisis). As a consequence of the heat, many species that require temperate conditions during development or fruiting (E.g. Pleurotus eryngii, King Oyster) would be a stretch for the typical home grower.
Here are 4 gourmet species that would thrive in our hot and humid environment without specialised cooling. This would ensure that we are at least one factor closer to success, whilst keeping costs and our carbon footprint low. Did I miss any species out? Please holler if there are more that I can add to this list, thanks!
*Information from Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms (3rd Ed, 2000) by Paul Stamets.
