The thesis
Why strictly gourmet
Most home-mushroom-cultivation content online focuses on psilocybin species — there's a large enthusiast community, and the cultivation techniques are open-source. The studio explicitly does not operate in that space. Every SPORE cell is a culinary or medicinal mushroom species: oysters, lion's mane, shiitake, reishi, maitake. Legal in Canada. Available to ship anywhere in North America without regulatory complications.
The catalogue choice is deliberate: SPORE is for cooks and people interested in mushrooms as food. The technique is the same as for any other mushroom; the species set is what makes the catalogue legibly different from the rest of the home-mushroom-cultivation ecosystem.
Family 01
Oysters
The beginner-friendly family. Fast colonization, forgiving cultivation, generous yields. The starting cells for new SPORE customers.
SPORE-01
Blue Oyster
Pleurotus ostreatus
The catalogue's anchor mushroom. Fast colonization, forgiving cultivation, ~200g per harvest per shoebox. Pairs natively with BDRC Cell 09 (Mushroom Farro).
$28v0.1
SPORE-02
Pink Oyster
Pleurotus djamor
Tropical oyster — beautiful pink color, distinctive sweet-meaty flavor, faster growing than blue oyster. Best fresh; doesn't dry well.
$32v0.1
SPORE-03
Yellow Oyster
Pleurotus citrinopileatus
Citrus-yellow oysters. Decorative; flavor is mild and slightly sweet. Best sautéed quickly in butter.
$32v0.1
SPORE-04
King Oyster
Pleurotus eryngii
The chef's oyster. Thick stems, scallop-like texture when sliced and seared. Slower colonization than other oysters — for the customer ready for a small step up in patience.
$35v0.1
Family 02
Premium Culinary
The Michelin-restaurant mushrooms. Slower growing, more demanding cultivation, higher yields per cell value.
SPORE-05
Lion's Mane
Hericium erinaceus
The seafood-of-the-forest mushroom. Cauliflower-like fruiting body, crab/lobster texture and flavor when cooked. Also documented as a cognitive-support medicinal.
$45v0.1
SPORE-06
Shiitake
Lentinula edodes
The classic Asian culinary mushroom. Requires log or hardwood-pellet substrate rather than typical CVG. Slower (6–10 week) cycle but high-value yields.
$42v0.1
SPORE-07
Maitake
Grifola frondosa · "hen of the woods"
A challenging cultivar — slow, sensitive, but extraordinary when it fruits. For the customer ready for a real cultivation project.
$55v0.1
SPORE-08
Chestnut Mushroom
Pholiota adiposa
Caramel-brown caps with a sweet, slightly nutty flavor. Less common than oysters but easier to grow than maitake — a solid intermediate cell.
$38v0.1
Family 03
Medicinal
Cells for tea, tincture, and dried-supplement use rather than fresh culinary consumption. Long-cycle, lower fresh yield but high-value dried.
SPORE-09
Reishi
Ganoderma lucidum
The classical medicinal mushroom. Antler-form fruiting body, dried for tea or tincture. Slow (3–6 month) cycle but the cell produces multiple harvests over time.
$50v0.1
SPORE-10
Turkey Tail
Trametes versicolor
The polypore medicinal — well-studied for immune-support compounds. Dried and brewed as tea. Slow growth but the cell stays productive for many months.
$45v0.1
SPORE-11
Cordyceps
Cordyceps militaris
The orange-gold medicinal mushroom. Grown on rice or millet substrate; dried for tincture or supplement use. Requires more controlled conditions than oysters.
$60v0.1
Family 04
Specialty
One outlier cell for the advanced cultivator.
SPORE-12
Black Pearl
King × Pearl Oyster hybrid
A studio-favorite hybrid oyster. Dark cap, dense flesh, longer shelf life than typical oysters. The catalogue's "if you only grow one" recommendation for an experienced cultivator.
$40v0.1
The infrastructure
What SPORE plugs into
SPORE cells run on the studio's broader microsystem infrastructure. Mason jars (sterilized in pressure cooker, inoculated with grain spawn) → CVG bulk substrate in shoebox totes → shoebox tote fruiting on Wowlive shelving alongside GROW and KEEP. Same shelf system; different fruiting environment.
The shoebox tote fruiting environment uses ~20W humidifier on intermittent cycle — runs off the Ryobi inverter ecosystem just like GROW. A customer with the full microsystem can run GROW + SPORE simultaneously off one Ryobi battery setup.