Brown Beech (Hypsizygus tessulatus), also known as buna-shimeji, is a clustering gourmet mushroom that rewards a little patience with a striking, restaurant-quality harvest straight from your Flush.
What to expect
Beech grows in tight bunches of small, marbled brown caps on slender white stems. The flavour is nutty and savoury with a gentle, pleasant bitterness that cooks away entirely, leaving a rich, buttery depth. Its firm, crunchy texture holds up beautifully where softer mushrooms fall apart, so it shines in stir-fries, soups, pasta and slow braises. Beech is always eaten cooked, never raw.
Growing in your Flush
In Basic mode, choose the Beech preset and the cabinet holds 15°C, 93% humidity and around 750 ppm CO₂ for you. In Advanced mode, set those same targets from Set targets on the Home screen.
Beech is a slower, deliberate fruiter, so give it time once pins appear. It needs steady fresh air and light to form well: lower CO₂ encourages broader, more developed caps, while higher CO₂ draws the stems longer and keeps caps small. Expect your first flush roughly two weeks after fruiting conditions begin. Harvest the whole cluster once the caps have opened and rounded out but before their edges flatten and turn upward.
Harvest & beyond
Pick just before the caps fully flatten, when the cluster is at its plumpest and firmest. Twist the whole bunch away cleanly at the base. After harvesting, rest the block back under fruiting conditions and keep it lightly misted; beech will often push a second, smaller flush over the following weeks.