North Spore vs Hodgins Harvest: I Weighed Every Flush So You Don't Have To

Hodgins Harvest doubles North Spore’s first-flush yield. North Spore requires half the daily misting. If you’re trying to settle the North Spore vs Hodgins Harvest mushroom grow kit debate, those two facts are the whole comparison, and somehow no one has put them in the same article before now.

But the Consumer Reports testing that named North Spore their “Editor’s Pick” and Hodgins Harvest their “Highest Producer” buried the distinction in prose. So here’s what that actually looks like as a table:

North Spore’s second flush at 90.7g is 62% of the first. That’s the best retention ratio of any kit in the Consumer Reports test, and it matters more than it sounds because most blocks trail off fast after flush one. Flush-count economics across four kits are in my price-per-gram comparison .

Product Rating

Lion's Mane Mushroom Grow Kit, 4 lb (Packaging May Vary) 4 lb Lion's Mane kit produces edible mushrooms in 10 days, ideal for beginners growing gourmet mushrooms indoors at home. ~$24.6 4.1★ (1,023) Check Price on Amazon Hodgins Harvest Extra-Large Pink Oyster Mushroom Grow ... 7 lb USDA-organic pink oyster kit with humidity dome, first flush in 7-12 days, 3+ lbs claimed yield ~$24.99 4★ (54) Check Price on Amazon North Spore Organic Lion's Mane Mushroom Grow Kit, 4 lbs 4 lb lion's mane kit yields 0.5-1.5 lbs mushrooms in 14-21 days with daily misting, ideal for indoor countertop growing. ~$24.99 4.2★ (1,799) Check Price on Amazon

The Yield Gap Is Real, and So Is the Effort Gap

Hodgins Harvest buy on Amazon isn’t just slightly ahead on yield. It produced roughly double what North Spore put out in first-flush testing. On a 6.8 lb block at about $30, that works out to around $0.10 per gram fresh. For context, lion’s mane at a health food store typically runs $15-30 for 60g dried, which at 85-88% water content translates to something like $0.07-0.15 per gram fresh equivalent. So the kit economics are actually competitive for fresh cooking.

What the price-per-gram number doesn’t show is the daily commitment. Hodgins Harvest needs 2-4 misting sessions per day. North Spore check current price needs 1-2. That difference sounds small until you’re on day 8 of setting an alarm at 7am and 11pm to spray a mushroom block, and honestly, that alarm routine gets old fast, especially when you miss one session and watch the edges of the block start to curl. And it’s irritating that a kit sold as beginner-friendly requires that kind of schedule discipline, there’s no mention of the alarm-setting reality on the Hodgins Harvest product page, which is the sort of omission that feels more like marketing than honesty. For some households that’s totally fine. For others, it’s the thing that lets the block dry out and collapse on flush one.

Hodgins Harvest also has a pink oyster variant see on Amazon if you want the high-yield oyster experience rather than lion’s mane. Same brand, same aggressive output, same maintenance commitment.

What North Spore Actually Does Better

Setup is simpler. You cut an X into the plastic where indicated, spray the cut area, and that’s it. No soaking the block overnight, no removing it from the bag, no complicated humidity chamber unless your home is very dry. North Spore kits are USDA certified organic and can be refrigerated for up to 6 months before activation, which is useful if you’re buying them as gifts or want to start on your own timeline.

The second-flush performance is where North Spore earns its “Editor’s Pick” label. Retaining 62% of first-flush yield on flush two is unusual. Most blocks drop 40-60% between flushes as nutrients deplete, so holding at 62% means you’re getting more total value from the block over its lifetime even if flush one looks smaller. Hodgins’ oyster kit gets the same flush-by-flush treatment in Hodgins Harvest vs BloomBox .

North Spore Organic Lion's Mane Mushroom Grow Kit, 4 lbs 4 lb lion's mane kit yields 0.5-1.5 lbs mushrooms in 14-21 days with daily misting, ideal for indoor countertop growing. 4.2★ ~$24.99 Check Price on Amazon

And the guarantee matters: if your kit doesn’t fruit within two weeks, North Spore sends a replacement. That kind of policy is worth something when you’re spending $30 on a biological product that could arrive compromised from transit.

The Lion’s Mane Soak Mistake That Kills First-Timer Grows

This is buried in North Spore’s FAQ and I want to pull it out because it trips up a lot of first-time growers.

For oyster varieties, the standard soak protocol when triggering a second flush is 20 minutes of block submersion in cool water. Do not apply that same timing to lion’s mane. Lion’s mane check price on Amazon mycelium is delicate in a way oyster mycelium isn’t. Soaking it for more than 5-10 minutes can break apart the mycelial structure and prevent pinning entirely. The block looks fine from the outside, and then nothing happens.

The correct lion’s mane protocol: cut-side down in cool water, 5-10 minutes maximum, drain cut-side down for another 10 minutes, pat dry, return to bag. That’s it.

But the fact that this protocol difference isn’t printed clearly on the box, and instead lives in an FAQ that most people never read, is a real problem. First-timers who over-soak their lion’s mane block and get nothing have no idea what went wrong, and that’s a failure of product documentation, not grower error. Yellowing on lion’s mane is usually a sign the mushrooms are past peak maturity or that you’re misting too aggressively from close range. Spray from further away so you’re getting a fine mist rather than soaking the fruiting body directly. Leggy or sparse growth usually means not enough airflow rather than too little misting.

Lion's Mane Mushroom Grow Kit, 4 lb (Packaging May Vary) 4 lb Lion's Mane kit produces edible mushrooms in 10 days, ideal for beginners growing gourmet mushrooms indoors at home. 4.1★ ~$24.6 Check Price on Amazon

Honest Economics: What You’re Actually Buying

The water content math matters here. Mushrooms are roughly 85-88% water. So Hodgins Harvest’s 302g first flush is about 36-45g dry weight. That’s one generous serving of dried mushrooms, or maybe two modest ones.

That’s not an argument against buying kits. It’s an argument for being clear about what you’re buying. Kits make sense if you want fresh mushrooms for cooking, if you want the experience of growing, or if you have kids who’d find it interesting. They do not make sense if your goal is building a supply of dried powder. The math doesn’t work, and growers who’ve gone from kits to larger liquid culture setups consistently report that a setup costing roughly the same as three kits produces 10-20x the yield.

For fresh cooking goals, at $0.10/g the Hodgins Harvest kit is competitive with buying fresh from a specialty grocer. The North Spore kit at $0.19-0.24/g is still cheaper than most health food store pricing. Both make sense if you’ll actually use what they produce.

Where kits fail is in the “value vs. buying powder” comparison. If you’re buying lion’s mane for cognitive supplementation and want powder, you’d need to produce 2-2.5 kg of fresh mushrooms to get 300g dry. No countertop kit does that. Buy the powder.

This article is part of my Gourmet Mushroom Grow Kits: The Complete Guide , a complete resource for growing gourmet mushrooms on your counter.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best home mushroom grow kit?

North Spore is the easiest to set up and maintain, with the best second-flush retention of any tested kit. Hodgins Harvest produces the most raw yield at first flush. The honest answer is that “best” depends on your maintenance tolerance. If you want something forgiving that still produces real food, North Spore. If you want maximum output and you’ll actually mist 2-4 times daily, Hodgins Harvest.

How much yield can I expect from a mushroom grow kit?

Most kits produce somewhere between 300g and 1 kg across all flushes combined, the actual range in testing ran from 35g first flush (Back to the Roots) up, and even Hodgins Harvest’s 302g first flush puts total yield well under a kilogram in practice. Each subsequent flush is smaller as the substrate nutrients deplete, with most blocks dropping 40-60% between flushes.

Are mushroom grow kits worth buying?

For fresh cooking, yes. The cost-per-gram is competitive with specialty grocers, and growing your own means you’re harvesting at peak maturity rather than buying product that’s already days old. For powder production or supplementation goals, the economics don’t hold up. Around 302g fresh becomes only about 40g dry, and scaling to meaningful dry weight requires liquid culture setups that produce 10-20x more for similar cost.

What is the easiest mushroom to grow for beginners?

Oyster mushrooms in general are more forgiving than lion’s mane. They pin faster (Forest Origins hit pins at day 4), tolerate a wider range of conditions, and are less sensitive to over-soaking. Lion’s mane produces more total flushes with good care but needs more precise moisture management. If this is your first kit, start with oysters.

What are common lion’s mane growing kit mistakes?

Over-soaking is the main one. Lion’s mane mycelium breaks apart if you soak the block for more than 5-10 minutes, which is the opposite of the up-to-20-minute protocol for oyster varieties. The second common mistake is misting too close and soaking the fruiting bodies directly rather than creating a fine ambient mist. Third: harvesting too late. Lion’s mane should come off before the teeth start browning at the tips.

How do I get more flushes from a mushroom grow kit?

Keep misting after the first harvest and wait. If pins don’t appear within two weeks, try a brief soak: cut-side down in cool water for up to 20 minutes for oysters, 5-10 minutes for lion’s mane. Drain, pat dry, return to the bag. North Spore’s kits are designed for at least one flush; with consistent misting and a proper soak between rounds, growers have reported three or four flushes before the block goes off. Once the block starts going green, black, or orange, it’s done, and it’s time to compost it.

If I had to pick one for someone who’s never grown mushrooms: North Spore, without much hesitation, because the lower misting requirement means it’ll actually survive contact with a real household schedule. If you’re buying for someone who’s already grown a kit or two and wants to push yield, Hodgins Harvest is the obvious next step.