This page collects the equipment, supplies, and books I use or have used. Some of these links are affiliate links — if you buy through them I get a small commission at no extra cost to you. I only list things I have actually used or that come well recommended in the cultivation community.
Grow Room Equipment
Mushroom Grow Tent with Grow Lights and Timer (60″ x 27.5″ x 20″) — Purpose-built for mushrooms with integrated lighting and a timer. Compact enough for a spare room or garage corner.
4-Tier Mushroom Grow Tent with Shelves — Fits up to 8 monotubs. Better option if you are running multiple species or scaling up.
All American 30-Quart Pressure Cooker and Sterilizer — The one I have. Built in the USA, all metal construction, no gasket to replace. It is expensive but it is a buy-once item. I have used mine for years and it has never given me a problem.
Presto 23-Quart Pressure Canner and Cooker — More affordable starting point. Good if you are not ready to commit to the All American yet.
LEVOIT Classic 300 Ultrasonic Cool Mist Humidifier — Reliable and quiet. Works well paired with a humidity controller.
Inkbird IHC-200 Digital Humidity Controller — Plugs between your humidifier and the wall. Set your target humidity and it handles the rest automatically.
Govee Temperature and Humidity Sensor with App Alerts — Remote probe version. Useful for monitoring conditions without opening the tent.
ThermoPro TP49 Mini Digital Hygrometer Thermometer — Inexpensive and accurate. Good backup or secondary unit.
Inoculation and Sterile Technique
Bella Bora Still Air Box — Made in the USA, designed specifically for mycology. A cleaner option than a DIY still air box if you want to skip the guesswork.
Still Air Box Mushroom Grow Kit — More affordable option. Gets the job done for home growers who are just getting started.
1-Pint Mason Jars — Standard for grain spawn and liquid culture. Wide mouth lids are easier to work with.
Injection Port Lids — Self-healing injection ports built into mason jar lids. Makes inoculation cleaner and reduces contamination risk significantly.
10ml Syringes — For inoculating grain jars and transferring liquid culture.
Magnetic Stir Plate — Used for mixing liquid culture. Keeps the culture in suspension and distributes mycelium evenly before inoculating jars.
Stir Bars — Goes with the stir plate above.
Agar Plates — For culture work, cloning, and isolating clean genetics. More advanced but worth learning.
Substrate and Grain
Mushroom Grow Bags with 0.2 Micron Filter Patch — For bulk substrate grows. The filter patch allows gas exchange while keeping contaminants out.
MushroomMediaOnline 100% Oak Hardwood Pellets — Clean, consistent hardwood substrate base for wood-loving species. What I use.
Wheat Berries — My preferred grain for spawn. See the grain spawn guide for the full recipe.
North Spore Organic Millet with Hulls — Good beginner grain. Easier to handle than wheat berries.
Rye Berries — High performance grain for experienced growers. Faster colonization but more contamination risk.
Liquid Culture Supplies
Distilled Water — Use distilled, not tap. Minerals and chlorine in tap water can interfere with culture health.
Raw Honey — Beginner-friendly liquid culture nutrient. See the liquid culture recipe for ratios.
Dried Malt Extract (DME) — More reliable than honey for liquid culture once you have the basics down. Produces a very clean culture.
Cordyceps Cultivation
Cordyceps Militaris Liquid Culture — Species-specific culture. Cordyceps requires its own source — you cannot use a generic mushroom culture. See the Cordyceps cultivation guide for the full recipe.
Cordyceps Cultivation Containers — Wide mouth containers widely used in Europe for Cordyceps. More surface area means more fruiting bodies.
Nutritional Yeast — Used in the Cordyceps substrate recipe for B vitamins and amino acids.
Azomite Rock Dust — Trace mineral supplement in the Cordyceps recipe. Small amount, big impact on fruiting density.
Cordyceps Growing Kit — If you want to try Cordyceps before committing to the full DIY process.
Mushroom Supplements
Reishi Mushroom Capsules — A reputable brand. Good starting point before you commit to growing and extracting your own.
Lion’s Mane Mushroom Capsules — For cognitive support and mood. See the nootropics post for more on what the research shows.
Reishi, Lion’s Mane and Cordyceps Blend — All three in one product. Convenient if you want to run the full stack without managing separate supplements.
Books
Permaculture: A Designers’ Manual by Bill Mollison — The foundational text. Dense but worth it.