FAE isn’t the Fae or Faeries that people often think with Mushrooms in the growing community. FAE is an acronym for Fresh Air Exchange.
As it turns out, Mushrooms Breathe in oxygen and breath out carbon dioxide, much like humans. So Fresh Air Exchange is essentially -not suffocating your mushrooms- as you grow them.
Typically many growers grow in isolated tubs or boxes, and they might not offer the best ventilation or room to breath and get the Fresh Air that mushrooms need.
So these tubs might have holes for air to enter and many growers recommend filters on these holes to only allow air in and out. Like the Mushroom Grow kit that North Spore has;
Some builds use a small HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) Filter to allow only the air to get through into their tubs and not allow contamination from other bacteria or spores in the air to affect the grow. It’s similar to a mask or vent filter.
Additionally, when the fungi fully myceliate and colonize to a big size on the substrate, the fungi becomes robust enough to have a sort of colony defense and can fight off smaller foes from other spores and bacteria. Although they’re not invincible and impervious to all threats, so care should be considered.
There are many guides online that recommend adding FAE when the fungi is pinning or growing it’s mushroom fruiting body. Take a look at some research out there to learn more and find out what works for YOU.
Some other Food for Mushroom Thought
If you do intend on growing mushrooms, it is very helpful to get a Hygrometer, a small device that measures relative humidity. It also might help to get a CO2 monitor. Heck, it might even help to just have those in your house if you worry about not getting enough fresh air or if you worry about humidity. In European Cultures, they would open the windows to let stagnant air out and freshen up the place. Mushrooms are similar. and need a nice environment to grow in, some are resilient but would still appreciate the help.
Specifically Lions Mane (Hericium erinaceus) is very resilient, I grew a few from a fruiting block on a table in my living room. Just spritz water on it. Many companies offer grow kits or mushroom fruiting blocks that are pre-myceliated and ready to fruit. I got mine from HiFiMyco while scrolling through the ‘tiktoks’. Just note that there are other types of mushrooms like Hericium Americanus that might have different care instructions if you decide to try something new. I often trust that businesses sell a product that they have optimized to work or function, so I suggest starting from there but you can do what suits your lifestyle.
Another side story, the ideal humidity from online research for Lion’s Mane is about 80 to 90% humidity, but Myc Tyson or Myco Mentor mentions that he was able to be successful with about 50% humidity.
From personal experience, I didn’t even monitor the humidity, so Lion’s mane is for sure resilient. Here’s some of the Lions’ mane that I grew from the fruiting block that I got;
Notice how it’s on my living room table?
You don’t have to go all out when starting a grow, you just have to find what works. There are some relatively cheap basic Hygrometers and CO2 monitors out there.
-And I didn’t even use any for my first mushroom grow kit.
To Recap
Mushrooms need oxygen and fresh air to breath and thrive, much like many living organisms. So it helps to get fresh air. How you achieve that, well, that’s up to you and your FAE.
