01
Mycology Fundamentals
What fungi are, how they differ from plants and bacteria, and the vocabulary that keeps showing up on every bag, jar and forum post.
Explore now
Learn
Know what your fungus is up to
Learn covers the why — fungal biology, mycelium, life cycles and the science underneath cultivation. Growing Guides covers the how — the step-by-step work at the bench. This page is where you find out what the fungus is doing while you're busy doing the dishes, the misting and the worrying. Read either side first; they're written to work together.
Recommended order
A reading pathway for beginners
No course, no certificate — just the sequence that makes the rest of the material land more easily.
A permission slip: you do not need to study all of this before growing anything. Plenty of good growers started with a kit and a healthy disrespect for the syllabus. Come back when something at the bench makes you ask “wait, why?”
- Step 1Mycology FundamentalsThe ground floor — terms and concepts everything else builds on.
- Step 2Fungal BiologyHow a fungus actually lives and feeds.
- Step 3Mycelium & HyphaeThe organism you spend most of a grow looking at.
- Step 4Mushroom Life CycleWhy a culture eventually decides to fruit.
- Step 5Fungal EcologyWhat fungi do in the wild — and why that decides what you can grow at home.
- Step 6Cultivation ScienceWhere the biology turns into bench rules.
The subjects
Eight areas of mycology
Each subject collects the background for one part of the science. Deep-dive articles are being added; everything below already connects to live material on the site.
02
Fungal Biology
Cell structure, nutrition by absorption, enzymes — a fungus digests its dinner before it eats it. This is why clean work and agar behave the way they do.
Explore now
03
Mycelium & Hyphae
How a network grows, branches and fuses — and why colonisation speed and density across a plate, jar or bag behave the way they do.
Explore now
04
Mushroom Life Cycle
Spore, germination, mating, colonisation, pinning and spore release — and what actually triggers each transition along the way.
Explore now
05
Fungal Ecology
Saprotrophs, parasites and mycorrhizal partners — decomposition, and why some species can be grown in a bucket and others absolutely cannot.
Explore now
06
Mushroom Anatomy
Cap, gills, stipe, veil and spore print — reading a fruiting body, and why the same species can look wildly different depending on conditions.
07
Cultivation Science
Sterility, competition, nutrition, water, gas exchange and temperature — the principles sitting underneath every practical method we publish.
08
Further Learning
A glossary, diagrams and deeper species science are being written. Meanwhile, the species files are where the science gets legs — literally.
Explore now
How it all connects
Culture → Spawn → Substrate → Fruiting
Every grow runs the same four stages. Each stage has a science question behind it — and a guide that puts it to work.
01
Culture
How mycelium grows, and how its competitors behave when given half a chance.
Agar & Cultures →02
Spawn
How colonisation spreads through nutrient-rich grain, one kernel handing off to the next.
Grain Spawn →03
Substrate
Decomposition, nutrition, hydration and gas exchange — the fungus is eating the house down.
Bulk Substrates & Master's Mix →04
Fruiting
Environmental signals, morphology and reproduction — the grand finale, on the fungus's schedule.
Fruiting & Environment →
Learn through species
Meet the rule-breakers
Sometimes the easiest way to learn mycology is to watch different fungi break the rules you thought were rules. Each species file is a small science lesson with gills on.
- Lion's ManeHericium erinaceusSkipped gills entirely and grew a cascade of teeth instead. Anatomy class, taught by a rebel.
- EnokiFlammulina filiformisChange the light, air and container and you get a completely different-looking mushroom. Same organism, two outfits.
- ShiitakeLentinula edodesColonisation, consolidation and a browning block before fruiting. Patience isn't dead time — it's the process.
- Blue OysterPleurotus ostreatusFast wood decay in action — the species that makes saprotrophic ecology something you can watch happen.
Further learning
The reference shelf is being built
A glossary, labelled diagrams, deeper articles and proper reference lists are on the workbench. If there's a topic you want covered, tell us and we'll prioritise it.