Lion's Mane Mushroom Grow Kit
Grow brain-boosting Hericium erinaceus at home in 7 to 14 days. Beginner friendly, app-controlled, with the highest first-flush success rate of any home grow kit we test.
Pick Your Kit
Two ways in. If you already own a humidity tent, fruiting chamber, or another smart grow box, you only need the colonized substrate. If you are starting from zero (or you want to grow year-round across 28+ species without rebuilding your setup each time), the bundle pays for itself across your first six to eight blocks. Use the configurator below to compare both routes side by side.
Just the Block ($29.95)
The 5lb fully colonized block is the same substrate we ship inside our bundles, sold as a stand-alone for growers who already have a fruiting setup. It arrives in a breathable autoclave bag, fully white-myceliated and ready to slit within 24 to 48 hours of acclimation. Best for advanced growers, classroom demos, restaurant chefs sourcing fresh pom-poms. Single block yield is typically 0.6 to 0.8 lb across two flushes when fruited manually.
Block + Smart Chamber Bundle ($329)
The bundle pairs the block with the Lykyn Smart Chamber, a USB-C powered, app-controlled fruiting box that holds 87 to 92% humidity automatically across 28+ species presets. Pick "Lion’s Mane" in the app, drop the block in, and the chamber runs misting, fresh-air-exchange, and lighting for the full 7 to 14 day fruit. the bundle saves money and the learning curve. Typical yield jumps to 1.0 to 1.2 lb per block.
Build your kit
Pick Your Kit
Two ways in. Pick the path that matches your setup, and the total updates live.
How many fruiting blocks?
Add a Lykyn Smart Chamber?
Pick a chamber colorway
Your kit total
$328.95Want to read more first? See the FAQ →
How Lion’s Mane Grows: 4 Steps
The full cycle from box-open to first harvest is four steps and roughly two weeks.
Acclimate the Block (24 to 48 Hours)
Pull the block out of the shipping box as soon as it arrives and let it rest at room temperature (61 to 70°F) for 24 to 48 hours. Transit can swing the block between cold trucks and warm porches, and Lion’s Mane mycelium fruits best when the substrate is not in thermal shock. Leave the bag sealed during acclimation. You may see fresh white mycelium re-knit any spots that broke during shipping, which is a good sign.
Cut the Fruiting Slit
Once acclimated, cut a single 4-inch X-shape or two parallel 3-inch slits through the bag. Lion’s Mane fruits from the cut surface, so size and number of slits directly control how many pom-poms you get. One large slit yields one large pom (the prettiest result for photos and chefs). Two slits yield two medium poms (more total weight, slightly less wow factor). Use a clean utility blade or alcohol-wiped kitchen knife. Fold the bag edges back so the substrate is exposed to humid air.
Hold 87 to 92% Humidity
This is the step that decides whether your pom-pom looks like a snowball or a dry brain. Lion’s Mane needs sustained 87 to 92% relative humidity with several fresh-air exchanges per day. With the Lykyn Smart Chamber, you load the block, tap "Lion’s Mane" in the app, and the chamber holds the target band within ±2% on its own, including overnight while you sleep and during workdays while you are at the office.
Harvest in 7 to 14 Days
Pin formation usually starts on day 3 to 5 after slitting. The pom grows visibly each day. Harvest when the spines (the soft hanging "teeth" underneath) are 1/4 to 3/8 inch long and the pom is still bright white, before any pink or yellow tint. Twist gently at the base to free it. A second flush typically arrives 10 to 14 days later if you re-mist or run the chamber’s "rest and re-flush" cycle.
Best Lion’s Mane Strains for a Home Grow Kit
Not every Lion’s Mane is the same. The species name covers four cultivated varieties that look, taste, and yield differently, and the best Lion’s Mane grow kit choice depends on whether you want food, photos, or maximum harvest weight. Lykyn ships all four as fully colonized 5lb blocks, and the chamber handles every one on the same "Lion’s Mane" preset.
Pearl Pom
Hericium erinaceus (cultivar)
for first-time growers
Native Forest
Hericium erinaceus (wild-type)
for deeper umami flavor
Coral Tooth
Hericium coralloides
for visual impact
Bear's Head
Hericium americanum
for maximum yield
Pearl Pom
The Pearl Pom is the workhorse strain, and the one we default to for first-time growers. It pins quickly (often by day 3), tolerates a wider humidity band than the others, and produces a clean, dense, snowball-shaped pom. Flavor is mild and seafood-like, similar to lobster or crab, which makes it the easiest Lion’s Mane to drop into any recipe. If you are buying your first kit and want the highest odds of a great-looking first harvest, start here.
Native Forest
Native Forest is our wild-type isolate, recovered from hardwood logs in the northeast. It grows slower (10 to 14 days to harvest) and produces a more irregular, lobed pom rather than a perfect ball. The trade-off is flavor: a deeper, more umami-forward, almost smoked-meat profile that culinary growers and chefs ask for by name.
Coral Tooth
Coral Tooth (Hericium coralloides) is the photogenic option. Instead of one solid pom, it fruits as a branching, coral-like structure of cascading white spines. Yield per block is slightly lower than Pearl Pom (around 0.8 to 1.0 lb in the chamber), but it is the strain that gets posted to social media. Texture is tender, flavor mild and sweet.
Bear’s Head
Bear’s Head (Hericium americanum) is the heaviest yielder of the four. Expect 1.2 to 1.4 lb per block in the chamber and dense, layered poms that read more "shaggy mane" than "snowball." Best pick if you are growing for a household that actually eats the harvest, or a small farmers-market side hustle where pounds matter.
Estimate Your Year-One Harvest
Curious what a kit pays back in fresh mushrooms? Pick a strain, set how many blocks you plan to run and how many cycles per year, and the calculator below estimates total fresh-mushroom pounds plus retail-equivalent value (Lion’s Mane retails $18 to $24 per pound at specialty grocers). The strain dropdown maps to the four cultivars above: pearlpom, native, coral, bears. Most home growers run 6 to 8 blocks per year through a single chamber and end the year ahead on the bundle’s price.
Year-One Harvest Calculator
Pick a strain, set blocks and cycles, see fresh-mushroom and retail value estimate.
Frequently Asked Questions
From the moment you slit a Lykyn block, first harvest lands in 7 to 14 days. Pin formation usually starts on day 3 to 5, and the pom doubles in size daily until it is ready to twist off. A second flush follows 10 to 14 days later. The full cycle, box-open to second harvest, runs about 4 weeks.
Yes, and Lion’s Mane is one of the easiest gourmet mushrooms to grow at home. It fruits at normal indoor temperatures (61 to 70°F), does not need direct light, and tolerates apartment humidity better than oysters. The two things it is fussy about are sustained 87 to 92% humidity and clean fresh-air exchange, which is exactly what either a misting routine or the Lykyn Smart Chamber provides.
For someone using a fully colonized kit, yes. The hard parts of mushroom cultivation (sterile lab work, grain spawn, contamination control) are already done before the block leaves us. What is left is cutting a slit and managing humidity for two weeks. Beginners running a Pearl Pom block in the smart chamber report first-flush success rates above 95% in our customer surveys.
Indoors is actually preferred. Lion’s Mane is a temperate-climate species, and a heated home in winter or air-conditioned home in summer sits well inside its 61 to 70°F fruiting range. You do not need a basement, garage, or dedicated grow room. A countertop or shelf with the chamber on it, or a corner with a humidity tent, is enough.
Two flushes is standard, and a third is a bonus. Flush one is typically the largest (60 to 70% of total yield), flush two follows after a 10 to 14 day rest, and a small third sometimes appears if the block stays hydrated. After that the block is spent and can be composted or used as garden mulch.
Lion’s Mane has a mild, sweet, seafood-forward flavor that most people compare to lobster, crab, or scallops. The texture is the bigger surprise: dense, fibrous, and meaty when seared, which is why it shows up in vegan "crab cake" and "lobster roll" recipes. It is mild enough that it picks up butter, garlic, and herbs cleanly without fighting them.
Direct from Lykyn. The 5lb fully colonized block is $29.95 and the Block + Smart Chamber bundle is $329. Both are beginner friendly and backed by our grow guarantee: if your first block does not pin, we replace it. For a deeper walk-through of the cultivation cycle, our deeper cultivation guide covers troubleshooting, advanced fruiting techniques, and second-flush recovery.
Ready to Grow Your First Pom-Pom?
Two paths, both end with fresh Lion’s Mane on your cutting board in two weeks. If you already have a fruiting setup, grab the 5lb fully colonized block for $29.95 and slit it this weekend. If you want hands-off, year-round, 28+ species growing, the Block + Smart Chamber bundle at $329 pays itself back across your first 6 to 8 blocks. Either way, you skip the lab work and start where mushrooms actually grow.
First block hit 1.1 lb in the chamber. I cooked it like crab cakes the same night and my partner wouldn't believe it wasn't seafood.
Cultivation, engineered.
Climate, automated.
Harvest, perfected.