Organic Pioppino - Agrocybe aegerita - Pure Culture

Organic Pioppino - Agrocybe aegerita - Pure Culture

Synonyms: Black Poplar, The Swordbelt Agrocybe, Yanagi-matsutake, Zhuzhuang-Tiantougu ​ 

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The Pioppino Mushroom is known for its delicious taste and was already cultivated in ancient Rome, where ripe mushroom caps were placed between poplar wood. The convex brown caps of the young mushrooms expand to plane at maturity. The stem is white with a well-developed membranous ring. The texture is crunchy and the fragrance is mealy. To prolong shelf life this mushroom should be harvested before the veil breaks. ​ 

This mushroom is extremely versatile: chopped small and fried in a pan, baked as a filling or in a cream sauce, the pioppino adds flavour to meat and fish dishes. Pioppino should be harvested in good time, preferably before the velum tears. Then it not only keeps longer, but also has a more intense flavour.

Production time is 3 - 6 weeks, as this material is made fresh on demand.​
The material should be processed immediately after delivery.
It can otherwise be stored in the refrigerator at 4 °C for up to 2 weeks.
Please consider these timings when placing the order.

Suitable cultivation methods: 
wood logs, mushroom patch, spawn bags for indoor greenhouse

Suitable substrates: hardwood 
Suitable woods:  maple, birch, beech, oak, alder, ash, aspen, poplar, elm or willow
Outdoors: this strain produces fruiting bodies in autumn. 

You receive living, actively growing, axenic Agrocybe aegerita cell culture, entirely free of other strains or contaminating organisms, for further propagation. Our pure cultures are custom-made and produced freshly after ordering - in a class 100 clean room environment on a solid nutrient medium (MEA) based on plant-derived raw materials. The pure culture needs around 2 to 3 weeks until the culture is mature enough for shipping. The culture is supplied in special cell culture flasks (Filling volume: 15 ml culture medium, Growth area: 25 cm², Measurements: L x W x H = 79,7 x 42,6 x 26,53 mm) with breathable, hydrophobic membrane. This special design prevents introduction of contaminants and enables optimum gas exchange thanks to the high air flow rate of the membrane. In this packaging the mushroom culture can also survive longer shipping distance and time without loss of quality or germinative ability.  

This product is intended for professional production of grain spawn to further propagate this strain of fungi. Working with pure cell cultures requires detailed mushroom cultivation skills. For beginners we recommend starting with grain spawn or sawdust spawn. 

We highly recommend reading this book - gain further detailed knowledge for successful mushroom cultivation: 
- Growing Gourmet & Medicinal Mushrooms, Dr. Paul Stamets, ISBN: 978-1580081757 (English)

Taxonomy: 
Kingdom: Fungi
Division: Basidiomycota 
Class: Agaricomycetidae 
Order: Agaricales 
Family: Strophariaceae 
Genus: Agrocybe 
Species: Agrocybe aegerita 
Spores: Smooth, ovoid to slightly ellipsoid, brown, 9 - 11 x 6 - 6.5 µ  

Growing conditions:
Phase 1: Mycelial growth 
Temperature: 21 - 27°C 
Humidity: 95 - 100% 
Duration: 20 - 28 days 
CO2: >20,000 ppm 
Fresh air exchange: 0 - 1 per hour 
Light: n/a  

Phase 2: Primordia formation / Fruiting initiation 
Temperature: 10 - 16 °C 
Humidity: 95 - 100 % 
Duration: 7 - 14 days 
CO2: <2,000 ppm 
Fresh air exchange: 4 - 8 per hour
Light: 500 - 1,000 lux

Phase 3: Fruiting and Harvest
Temperature: 13 -18°C
Humidity: 90 - 95%
Duration: 4 - 6 days
Co2: <2,000 ppm
Fresh air exchange: 4 - 8 per hour 
Light: 500-1,000 lux 

Harvesting cycle: 2 crops, 10 - 14 days apart