Oyster Mushroom Kits Compared: Forest Origins vs North Spore vs Back to the Roots vs Hodgins Harvest

Pink oysters flush in under two weeks and look like something from a coral reef. Lion’s mane grows in a single dense pom-pom that doubles in size overnight. These are not the same experience as a back-to-basics herb garden, and the kits that sell them are not all the same product. If you’ve landed here looking for a Forest Origins mushroom grow kit review specifically, you’re in the right place, but I’d be doing you a disservice if I didn’t stack it against the other three brands that keep showing up in the same searches.

Four brands keep coming up when people shop this category: Forest Origins, North Spore, Back to the Roots, and Hodgins Harvest. Every listicle mentions them. None of them publish the numbers that actually matter for making a decision, substrate weight, yield range, price per flush. So here’s the table nobody else built. I put the same four through a price-per-gram comparison too.

Product Rating

Forest Origins Pink Oyster Mushroom Grow Kit, Beginner ... Single pink oyster fruiting block yields harvest in 10 days with daily misting, ideal for indoor beginner growers. ~$28.99 4.3★ (1,428) Check Price on Amazon Forest Origins Specialty Trio Oyster Mushroom Grow Kit 3- ... Three prepared oyster mushroom blocks (pink, brown, white), approximately 10 days to harvest with daily misting, suitable for indoor home cultivation. ~$72.99 4.3★ (628) 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 Numbers Nobody Publishes

The substrate weight column is where this comparison gets interesting. Back to the Roots ships roughly half a pound of sawdust substrate. North Spore ships four pounds. That’s an 8x difference in raw growing material, which explains almost everything about the yield gap between them. The common complaint with Back to the Roots is that total yield across all flushes adds up to barely enough mushrooms to taste, around 230g on a good run, as low as 35g in poor conditions. Another frustrating failure mode is the block arriving dry in plain cardboard with no moisture protection, leading to mold on the second attempt instead of a second flush. It’s annoying to pay $20, wait ten days, and end up with a contaminated block because the packaging couldn’t be bothered to include a moisture barrier. North Spore and Back to the Roots sit at opposite ends of it, which I dig into in North Spore vs Back to the Roots .

North Spore’s 4 lb block, by contrast, yields 0.5-1.5 lbs per flush. That’s a real harvest. That’s enough to actually cook with.

The Pre-Soak Problem

This is the detail that trips up beginners more than anything else, and almost no review mentions it.

Back to the Roots requires an overnight pre-soak before first use. You submerge the block in water for several hours, then set it up to fruit. Forest Origins and North Spore skip this step entirely, you cut a slit and wait.

The overnight soak sounds simple. The problem is transit. If a Back to the Roots block arrives dry (which happens, based on the cardboard-only packaging), the soak is supposed to rehydrate it. But a block that’s been sitting dry long enough can harbor contamination before you even open the box. You won’t know until mold shows up a week later instead of mushrooms.

Forest Origins and North Spore both require only a twice-daily misting routine, no pre-soak. That removes an entire failure point. For a first-time grower, that matters. The misting is easy to maintain; the overnight soak is easy to mess up, easy to skip, and easy to forget to check moisture levels on afterward.

And that single difference in setup, soak versus no-soak, is often what separates a successful first flush from a moldy block and a refund request. If you’re already staring at a suspect block, start with my kit troubleshooting guide .

So if you’re buying a first kit and your only goal is to actually see mushrooms grow, that distinction alone should factor into your decision.

Temperature Matching: Which Kit for Which Season

This is the buying signal nobody talks about, and it’s probably the most practical thing in this article.

Pink oysters (Forest Origins) prefer 70-80°F, making them a natural fit for summer kitchens. Most apartments in July are sitting right in that range without any intervention.

Blue oysters and lion’s mane, including the North Spore and Hodgins Harvest kits, prefer 60-75°F. That’s a fall and winter kit for most apartments. My kitchen in January sits around 68°F, which is perfect for lion’s mane. In July it creeps up to 76°F or so, and lion’s mane starts to stress above 75°F, and summer growers report exactly that pattern: blocks started in late June throwing noticeably smaller clusters and yellowing earlier than expected.

So the practical buying decision for temperature is:

• Summer kitchen (above 72°F consistently): Forest Origins Pink Oyster
• Fall/winter kitchen (below 72°F): North Spore Lion’s Mane or Hodgins Harvest Lion’s Mane
• Year-round climate control (stays 68-72°F): any of them

This matters more than brand preference. A lion’s mane block that’s too warm will pin slowly, produce smaller clusters, and be more prone to yellowing before harvest.

Forest Origins Pink Oyster Mushroom Grow Kit, Beginner ... Single pink oyster fruiting block yields harvest in 10 days with daily misting, ideal for indoor beginner growers. 4.3★ ~$28.99 Check Price on Amazon

Forest Origins: Visual Drama, Real Limitations

Forest Origins has been selling pink oyster kits since 2017 and claims to be the first company to offer pink Pleurotus commercially. The pink oyster is striking, clusters of vivid salmon-to-coral fronds that look nothing like grocery store mushrooms.

The Forest Origins Pink Oyster kit check price on Amazon (check current price on Amazon) grows without a pre-soak, the setup is simple, and first flush tends to arrive in 10-14 days. They guarantee at least one flush and say you should get a second as well.

But the block is small. Two or three flushes from a small block gives you maybe 2-3 cooking-sized portions total, and pink oysters have a shorter shelf life than other varieties once harvested. They’re also more temperature-sensitive than most reviews acknowledge, above 80°F and the kit degrades fast.

The Forest Origins Specialty Trio available on Amazon is the version worth considering if you want to compare varieties side-by-side. Three separate blocks, three different oyster species. It’s a better learning kit than a food-production kit.

And Forest Origins as a brand is a specialist. They’re not a seed company that added mushrooms to their product line, they’re specifically a mushroom operation, and that shows in kit design and instructions. The substrate quality is consistent, which matters more than most buyers realize going in.

🌿 Best for Serious Growers Forest Origins Specialty Trio Oyster Mushroom Grow Kit 3- ... Three prepared oyster mushroom blocks (pink, brown, white), approximately 10 days to harvest with daily misting, suitable for indoor home cultivation. 4.3★ ~$72.99 Check Price on Amazon

North Spore: The Kit That Actually Feeds You

North Spore buy on Amazon (see on Amazon) ships a 4 lb USDA certified organic sawdust and soy hull block. That’s a meaningful difference from every other kit in this comparison. The block takes about 8-10 days to start pinning, which is slightly longer than some competitors, but once it starts you can go from visible pins to harvest in roughly two days.

First flush is guaranteed. Two to three total flushes are expected, and the instructions are clear, detailed enough that the kit works well for classrooms and kids who need to actually understand what they’re doing rather than just spray and hope.

For cooking purposes, this is the kit that produces enough to work with. A first flush from a North Spore block can yield half a pound to two pounds of mushrooms. That’s not a curiosity, that’s enough for a real meal, and then another one.

The tradeoff is that lion’s mane isn’t quite as dramatic to watch as pink oysters, and the 60-75°F temperature requirement means summer timing is trickier.

Hodgins Harvest: The Per-Flush Value Winner

The Hodgins Harvest Organic Lion’s Mane check current price (grab it on Amazon) is the sleeper pick in this comparison. Lion’s mane kits in general tend to produce more flushes than oyster kits, and Hodgins specifically gets strong marks for instruction quality and harvest-timing guidance, knowing exactly when to cut the pom-pom before it starts to yellow is the difference between a successful harvest and a disappointing one.

The math here is favorable. At 4-5 flushes for $35-40, you’re paying $7-8 per flush. A $20 Back to the Roots kit at 2-3 flushes works out to $9-12.50 per flush, more expensive per harvest from a cheaper kit.

There’s a caveat about lion’s mane worth knowing: mushrooms are 85-88% water. If you’re thinking about drying lion’s mane for powder or supplements, 300g of fresh mushrooms yields only about 36-45g dried. That math changes the financial picture considerably if powder is your goal. Fresh cooking, though, is a different story.

The most common lion’s mane growing mistakes are over-misting (which causes rot on the surface of the pom-pom), harvesting too late when the white body starts turning yellow, and keeping the humidity tent fully sealed without fresh air exchange. Lion’s mane needs high humidity and circulation, not one or the other.

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

Are mushroom grow kits worth buying?

It depends on the kit and what you want from it. A 4 lb North Spore block at around $30 that yields 0.5-1.5 lbs per flush across 2-3 flushes is worth it for fresh cooking. A $20 Back to the Roots kit that yields 35-230g total is more of a novelty or educational project than a food source. Lion’s mane kits like Hodgins Harvest may offer the best per-flush value if you get 4-5 flushes, the price per harvest comes out lower than most oyster kits.

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

Block size is the biggest predictor. Back to the Roots ships roughly 0.5 lb of substrate and produces 35g-230g total across 2-3 flushes. North Spore’s 4 lb block yields 0.5-1.5 lbs per flush. Hodgins Harvest lion’s mane tends to produce 4-5 flushes compared to the 2-3 typical of oyster kits. Expect the smaller kits to underdeliver relative to their price.

What are common lion’s mane grow kit mistakes?

Over-misting is the most common one, the pom-pom develops surface rot that looks like a bad contamination but is usually just moisture damage. The second mistake is harvesting too late; once lion’s mane starts yellowing, the flavor and texture are already declining. The third is keeping the humidity tent sealed too long. Lion’s mane needs fresh air exchange. Most kits include a humidity tent but don’t explain clearly enough when to crack it open.

Does the pre-soak requirement actually matter?

Yes, and no review flags it clearly enough. Back to the Roots requires overnight soaking before first use. Forest Origins and North Spore need only twice-daily misting from day one. If a block ships dry (which happens with Back to the Roots in plain cardboard), the pre-soak step is supposed to compensate, but a block dry enough to have contamination already doesn’t recover from a soak. For beginners, a no-soak kit removes a real failure point.

Are mushroom grow kits safe?

All four kits in this comparison grow edible gourmet species on pre-sterilized substrate. None of them are producing anything dangerous. The main safety consideration is mold contamination of the block, green or black mold means the kit is unusable, but it’s not hazardous to have in your kitchen. Just bag it and toss it. Contamination risk goes up with dry blocks, improper pre-soaking, and inadequate misting during early colonization.

Which kit is best for kids?

Back to the Roots is the most forgiving setup for a kid who’s going to miss a misting or two. The harvest timeline is fast (10 days to first mushrooms is motivating for short attention spans), the kit is widely available, and the stakes are low at $20. The yield will probably disappoint an adult but that’s not the point. For a science project or a first growing experience, it works. North Spore is a better choice if a kid actually wants to understand what they’re doing, the instructions are more educational and the larger block gives more to observe over time.