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Topics

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Spawn run

Manage colonisation by reading compost activity, room load, distribution and contamination risk together.

Practical explanation + detailed referenceSources & review ↓
White button mushrooms on casing soil in long shelf beds inside a commercial cropping room near Eger, Hungary.
Real cultivation photograph. Read its source for location and context; it is not a universal operating specification.Andrew Bossi · CC BY-SA 2.5View full photograph ↗
On this pageChoose a section, or keep reading below

Read this in the full guide: Run a Button mushroom crop from receipt to room reset →

Understand the topic

Start with the explanation.

During spawn run, the crop is biologically active inside compost. Compost temperature may diverge from room air, so equipment state and one air reading cannot describe the full bed.

Part 01

Why this matters

Spawn run converts a mixed inoculation into colonised compost ready to interact with casing.

AI teaching cutaway of Button mushrooms above a distinct dark casing layer and deeper fibrous compost; proportions are illustrative.
AI teaching illustrationSee inside the bed

Compost and casing are separate layers with different jobs. The crop needs both a colonised food base and a suitable surface environment.

Conceptual explanation—not a real farm photograph, diagnostic finding or construction specification.
Part 02

What to look for

Build a record before making a change.

  • Colonisation pattern
  • Compost heat by zone
  • Room-air and compost relationship
  • Abnormal patches or odour
Part 03

How to make the next decision

Use the observation to narrow a decision, then verify the response.

  • Adjust room operation from mapped evidence
  • Avoid unnecessary disturbance
  • Investigate uneven zones
  • Confirm readiness for casing
Part 04

What to check before moving on

This topic cannot be interpreted in isolation.

  • Spawning uniformity
  • Compost quality
  • Heat-removal capacity
  • Sensor placement
  • Room hygiene
Part 05

On the farm

Start in the room with colonisation pattern and compost heat by zone. Record location, stage and recent events before changing the process.

Part 06

The technical explanation

The technical model joins spawning uniformity, compost quality, heat-removal capacity. Any operating value must be attached to a registered parameter, measurement location and applicable condition.

Part 07

What the evidence can tell you

This page is grounded in: Mushroom Cultivation, Marketing and Consumption; Farm Design for White Button Mushroom Cultivation. Source provenance does not remove the need to check stage, system, date and local applicability.

Illustration of careful Button mushroom harvesting into clean food-contact containers.
AI teaching illustrationHarvest and reset

Picking, grading, packing and room reset are connected tasks. A strong flush can still lose value through poor handling or delayed dispatch.

Conceptual explanation—not a real farm photograph, diagnostic finding or construction specification.

Go deeper

Technical reference, records and tools.

Detailed crop-stage information, parameters, diagrams and specialist tools are kept together below. This material retains its source conditions and review limits.

Open the complete technical reference

Button Mushroom · cultivation stage

Spawn run

Agaricus bisporus

Manage colonisation by reading compost activity, room load, distribution and contamination risk together.

Publication
Public editorial page
External review
Not yet recorded · needed from Button Mushroom technical reviewer
Updated
2026-08-22
Evidence records
2
Close-up of white Agaricus mycelium running through dark compost with small button pinheads, Pradejón, La Rioja, Spain.
Mycelium (spawn run) and pinheads on compost (Spain). Photo: Pradejoniensis, CC BY-SA 3.0. Source

Button mushroom crop cycle

  1. CompostDay 0Pasteurised, ammonia below 10 ppm
  2. Spawn run12-15 days22-25 °C in the dark
  3. CasingDay 153-4 cm layer, pH 7-7.5
  4. Case run7-10 daysMycelium reaches the surface
  5. PinningDay 25Air the room, 15-18 °C
  6. FlushesDay 32-70Three flushes, 7-10 days apart
Stage09

Crop-stage dashboard

Spawn run

Biological state
Mycelium colonises the compost and generates metabolic heat
Operator objective
Support uniform colonisation without avoidable stress
Handoff
Apply casing only after readiness review
ObserveColonisationcompost heatdistribution
Depends onSpawningroom capacityhygiene

Quick orientation

During spawn run, the crop is biologically active inside compost. Compost temperature may diverge from room air, so equipment state and one air reading cannot describe the full bed.

01

System role

Spawn run converts a mixed inoculation into colonised compost ready to interact with casing.

02

What to observe

Build a record before making a change.

  • Colonisation pattern
  • Compost heat by zone
  • Room-air and compost relationship
  • Abnormal patches or odour

03

Decision framework

Use the observation to narrow a decision, then verify the response.

  • Adjust room operation from mapped evidence
  • Avoid unnecessary disturbance
  • Investigate uneven zones
  • Confirm readiness for casing

04

Dependencies and handoffs

This topic cannot be interpreted in isolation.

  • Spawning uniformity
  • Compost quality
  • Heat-removal capacity
  • Sensor placement
  • Room hygiene

05

Practical layer

Start in the room with colonisation pattern and compost heat by zone. Record location, stage and recent events before changing the process.

06

Technical layer

The technical model joins spawning uniformity, compost quality, heat-removal capacity. Any operating value must be attached to a registered parameter, measurement location and applicable condition.

07

Evidence boundary

This page is grounded in: Mushroom Cultivation, Marketing and Consumption; Farm Design for White Button Mushroom Cultivation. Source provenance does not remove the need to check stage, system, date and local applicability.

Progressive depth

Go deeper without losing the field question.

PracticalWhat to notice in the room
  • Colonisation pattern
  • Compost heat by zone
  • Room-air and compost relationship
  • Abnormal patches or odour
TechnicalHow the interacting system is interpreted
  • Spawning uniformity
  • Compost quality
  • Heat-removal capacity
  • Sensor placement
  • Room hygiene
ResearchWhich evidence records govern this page
  • ICAR-DMR-CULTIVATION-MANUAL
  • ICAR-DMR-FARM-DESIGN

Technical registry

The numbers for this stage, with their source.

Values are published from ICAR-DMR guidance with the stage and measuring point they apply to. A parameter still marked pending has no published Indian value yet.

BUTTON.SPAWN_RUN.COMPOST_TEMPERATURE

Compost temperature during spawn run

22 to 25 °C

Hold the compost at 22 to 25 °C (room air 22 to 24 °C) in the dark for 12 to 15 days at about 95 percent humidity.

Stage
Spawn run
Measured at
Within compost at representative bed positions
Crop meaning
Metabolic heat, room load and colonisation speed.
Applicable conditions
Crop age; Bed depth; Room loading
published sourced
BUTTON.CLIMATE.AIR_TEMPERATURE

Room air temperature

14 to 25 °C

Spawn run 22 to 24 °C, case run 23 to 25 °C, fruiting 15 to 17 °C in controlled rooms; the seasonal tables give 14 to 18 °C for fruiting.

Stage
Crop-wide
Measured at
Defined crop-zone position
Crop meaning
The control variable that interacts with compost temperature, evaporation and crop stage.
Applicable conditions
Stage; Strain; Sensor location; Room system
published sourced
BUTTON.CLIMATE.CO2

Carbon dioxide concentration

800 to 15,000 ppm

10,000 to 15,000 ppm during spawn run with no fresh air; 800 to 1,000 ppm for pinning; 1,000 to 1,500 ppm during cropping with 20 to 30 percent fresh air.

Stage
Spawn run through cropping
Measured at
Representative room and rack positions
Crop meaning
A crop-activity and ventilation signal that needs stage context.
Applicable conditions
Stage; Crop load; Fresh-air strategy
published sourced
Evidence and review record2 mapped sources

Sources support the page architecture and conceptual guidance. Technical values remain governed separately in the Button registry.

Tier A · foundational

Mushroom Cultivation, Marketing and Consumption

Broad cultivation, post-harvest and market context. Values are not promoted without page-level review.

Accessed
2026-08-22
Publisher
ICAR-Directorate of Mushroom Research
Open original source
Tier A · foundational

Farm Design for White Button Mushroom Cultivation

Room planning, workflow, environmental-control architecture and engineering vocabulary.

Accessed
2026-08-22
Publisher
ICAR mushroom research institute
Open original source

Read the evidence

Sources & review.

Editorial update: 2026-08-22. Independent technical review is not recorded for this entry.

  1. Mushroom Cultivation, Marketing and Consumption ↗

    ICAR-Directorate of Mushroom Research

  2. Farm Design for White Button Mushroom Cultivation ↗

    ICAR mushroom research institute · Foundational official bulletin. Engineering guidance must still be checked against current codes, equipment and project conditions.

Reading a source is not the same as applying its instructions to every farm. Confirm species, strain, crop stage, system, region and publication date. Old chemical recommendations are not current-use instructions.

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