Lykyn turns mushroom growing into living room theater
A smart fruiting chamber grows mushrooms in a week with theatrical lighting and fog, but the show is brief and the downtime between harvests is long.
In brief
A smart fruiting chamber grows mushrooms in a week with theatrical lighting and fog, but the show is brief and the downtime between harvests is long. The Lykyn is a stylish, low-maintenance mushroom-growing box that produces results in days rather than weeks, but at three hundred dollars it sits empty most of the…
A mushroom box that looks like sci-fi
The Lykyn is a clear box with theatrical lighting, fog, and theatrical presentation. It looks like something from a science fiction movie and really does in real life.
Made in Turkey, shipped free from Istanbul
Lykyn manufactures all fruiting chambers in Turkey and ships them straight from Istanbul for free. The reviewer's unit arrived in just eleven days with no customs issues.
Assembly takes patience with the sliding door
The thirteen by thirteen by fifteen inch unit arrives mostly disassembled. The sliding door was fiddly to install and still takes two hands to open, even after loosening.
The misting system needs a little troubleshooting
The ultrasonic humidifier works but the mister initially produced no mist. The reviewer had to push the preinstalled wick farther down and prime the membrane with water.
No fruiting block comes in the box
While you can use any brand of fruiting block up to six pounds, no block is included with the Lykyn purchase. The reviewer tested with the brand's own five pound shiitake and pink oyster blocks.
Mushrooms fruit in days, not weeks
With precisely controlled lighting and humidity, both mushroom blocks fruited within several days, compared with several weeks using other methods. This is especially impressive for shiitake, which are notoriously fussy.
Designed as decor, not for volume
Lykyn founder Ibrahim Berber said the company wanted the chamber to read more like an aquarium than an appliance.
“read more like an aquarium than an appliance”
The harvest is brief, then emptiness
The mushroom growing process takes about a week from fruiting block receipt to harvest. Then the three hundred dollar chamber sits empty. Lykyn fruiting blocks cost thirty dollars each, or twenty two if you subscribe.
Most blocks have two to three flushes
Lykyn says most blocks should have two to three flushes. Only the reviewer's shiitake block had a second flush, about three weeks after the first and less voluminous, leaving the chamber displaying a moldy compressed…
Worth it for the right moment
The reviewer loves the Lykyn and plans to kit it out with a new fruiting block when having people over. A centerpiece you can eventually sauté is hard to resist.
“a centerpiece you can eventually sauté is hard to resist”
The key point
The Lykyn is a stylish, low-maintenance mushroom-growing box that produces results in days rather than weeks, but at three hundred dollars it sits empty most of the time.
