Separate substrate scar symptoms from fruit-body rot.
Record hydration/drying and postharvest history.
Photograph a healthy same-strain comparison under the same lighting.
Normal is not always the same across mushrooms
Brown pigmentation and changes during drying can be normal. Colour alone does not diagnose brown rot.
Evidence boundary: Scar and brown-rot studies are host- and country-specific; the library preserves these limits.
Read the relevant condition guides
These links are a differential list, not a claim that your crop has all these diseases. Each entry states whether it is an established host report, a regional study or a generic process/safety risk.
Some mites damage crops or carry contaminants; others feed on mould or other small organisms. Their presence may point to an underlying contamination problem.
A small moving speck is not enough to identify a harmful mite.
Identification can prevent the removal of useful organisms. Biological control still needs the correct pest, product, conditions and local legal status.
A decision guide, not an instruction to release an unapproved organism.
Interpret shape against the intended crop. Air exchange, carbon dioxide, light and crowding interact; a single photograph cannot choose a ventilation setpoint.
Species and strain matter: a shape desired in enoki or king oyster may be undesirable in another crop.
Counting days is not the same as checking readiness. Poor fruiting can follow immature substrate, an unsuitable transition, culture quality or infection.
Species-specific induction and fruiting systems, including cased and uncased crops.
Rapidly spreading orange growth is an operational contamination problem. A history of food use for selected Neurospora strains does not make an unknown colony safe.
Generic substrate-contamination differential; not a confirmed disease report for every crop listed.