Introduction to mycology part 2

Reproduction and Life Cycle

We’ve said in the previous part of this introduction that the mycelium is formed by the connection of many hyphae , but how do they germinate , expand and grow?

The life cycle of  fungi begins with the germination of spores but it’s crucial to know that the spores released by the hymenophore of a mushroom have two different polarities  ( positive or negative ) and even though an hyphae can germinate from just one spore forming what we call a primary mycelium ;  it will not have a long life unless it merges with another primary mycelium born from a spore with the opposite polarity . Once the two primary mycelium combine , they will give life to the final secondary mycelium (dycariotic) which will be able to survive and create new mushrooms which will then give birth  to new spores .

A detailed graphic of a mushroom reproductive cycle:


This reproduction just described is called “sexuate reproduction”  , but fungi can also propagate through Asexual or agamic reproduction which allows faster spread of the species into the environment .

Asexual reproduction has different modalities , one of them is the “vegetative propagation” which occurs with the fragmentation and separation of mycelium parts . This kind of reproduction is common in more simple kinds of mushrooms organisms and is called “Fission” when referred to unicellular mushrooms .

It is a personal grower’s decision if starting the propagation of hyphae from spores or from mycelium parts .  The second method is obviously faster since it skips the germination process but it may not be that satisfying for those who are interested in observing the complete natural cycle.


MushLove .



  1. estuary

    Hmm is anyone else expeгiencing problems with tһe images
    problem on my end or іf it’s the blog. Αny responses would be greatly appreciatеd.

    1. Alberto Marabelli

      Hello , You are the first one that point out such a problem , and we tried to check if it would be different the design of the website from different computers and locations .
      Everything seems working fine on our site. We hope you can fix it soon .



    Thanks, it’s quite informative

  3. Philip

    I spent a lot of time to find something like this

  4. Paige

    It works really well for me

  5. Willa

    It works really well for me

  6. Kathrin

    Thanks for the excellent guide

  7. Sergej Wart

    Zeer interessant materiaal, als je kijkt naar het feit dat paddenstoelen de oudste organismen op deze planeet zijn.


    This is really useful, thanks.

  9. Herman

    This is actually helpful, thanks.


Leave a Reply
