Hodgins Harvest vs BloomBox: Yield Numbers on Both Oyster Kits

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Hodgins Harvest is the better kit. More substrate, better yield data, and a 4.93-star rating from buyers who clearly knew what they were getting into. BloomBox costs $5 less and has 339 Amazon reviews to Hodgins’ 14, but that review gap tells you something about who’s buying each one, not which one grows more mushrooms.

When weighing the Hodgins Harvest vs BloomBox mushroom grow kit options side by side, the price difference is smaller than the performance difference. BloomBox is fine for a first-time grow or a gift, but if you want to maximize what you harvest, the extra $5 is worth it. And the substrate weight gap alone, 3.5 lbs versus 1.79 lbs, makes that case before you even look at yield data.

Product Rating

Forest Origins Pink Oyster Mushroom Grow Kit, Beginner ... Single pink oyster fruiting block yields harvest in 10 days with daily misting, ideal for indoor beginner growers. ~$28.99 4.3★ (1,428) Check Price on Amazon BloomBox Blue Oyster Mushroom Grow Kit – Spray & ... Pre-inoculated blue oyster block kit, first flush in about a week, up to 1 lb total yield ~$24.99 4★ (339) Check Price on Amazon BloomBox Lion's Mane Mushroom Grow Kit – Spray & ... Pre-inoculated lion's mane block kit, pins around day 4-5, first harvest in about a week ~$24.99 4.1★ (624) Check Price on Amazon

What You’re Actually Buying

Before anything else, the numbers that matter:

That price-per-pound gap is the number nobody publishes. Hodgins gives you 3.5 lbs of colonized substrate for $29.95. BloomBox gives you 1.79 lbs for $24.99. You’re paying $13.96 per pound with BloomBox versus $8.56 with Hodgins. The cheaper kit is actually more expensive where it counts. The same pattern showed up when I compared four kits by price per gram .

The review count difference deserves a mention too. Hodgins Harvest sells primarily direct-to-consumer through their own site, so most buyers never leave an Amazon review. A 4.93-star rating across 14 reviews is a tiny sample, but it reflects an audience that sought the product out and understood what they were buying. BloomBox’s 339 reviews include a lot of casual buyers and gift recipients, which drags the average down in ways that have more to do with expectations than kit quality.

🌱 Best for Beginners Forest Origins Pink Oyster Mushroom Grow Kit, Beginner ... Single pink oyster fruiting block yields harvest in 10 days with daily misting, ideal for indoor beginner growers. 4.3★ ~$28.99 Check Price on Amazon

The BloomBox Color Problem

Buy BloomBox expecting blue mushrooms and you’ll be disappointed. Ten out of eleven color-related reviews flag the same thing: the mushrooms come out tan or brown, not blue.

This isn’t a defect. Blue oysters (Pleurotus columbinus) only express their characteristic blue-grey coloring in young pins grown at cooler temperatures, typically below 60-65°F, often with some blue-spectrum light exposure. A kitchen counter in a normal apartment runs 68-72°F. At that temperature, your “blue” oysters fruit brown. The kit name is accurate in a technical sense and misleading in every practical one.

Nobody warns buyers about this before purchase. It’s in the review section, buried. If color matters to you, or you’re buying this as a gift for someone who’ll be expecting the picture on the box, know that going in.

Hodgins Harvest’s Pink Oyster kit doesn’t have this problem. Pink oysters actually stay pink at room temperature. The caps are vivid and noticeably different from anything at a grocery store, which makes the daily progress more satisfying to watch.

Misting, Setup, and Daily Routine

Both kits are legitimately easy. Neither requires any equipment beyond what’s in the box, and neither involves inoculating substrate yourself. You’re starting with a colonized block and just triggering fruiting.

Hodgins Harvest walks you through it on the side of the box: pull the circle off the back, mist 2-3 times daily, expect pins in about 5 days. The included humidity dome makes a real difference early on because it keeps moisture consistent around the block while pins are forming. That’s the part where most beginner grows fail, too much evaporation before the pins establish. Having a dome removes most of that risk.

BloomBox requires twice-daily misting and ships without a dome. The instructions cover the basics but leave some gaps. Cobweb mold handling and side-pinning aren’t addressed in the pamphlet, which creates confusion when either happens. Not a dealbreaker, but it means some first-time growers end up problem-solving on their own for things that could have been covered upfront. I’ve covered how to handle cobweb mold in more detail in my guide to mushroom kit troubleshooting. My kit troubleshooting guide fills those gaps in.

One consistent BloomBox issue worth flagging: contamination. Of 64 growth-related reviews, 27 report either no growth or green mold (trichoderma). That’s a high failure rate. Some of those failures are almost user error, warm environment, inconsistent misting, kit left sitting too long before opening. But the “arrived dry as a rock” complaint shows up more than once, which points to storage or shipping issues that aren’t within the buyer’s control. NuBlume does offer a free replacement guarantee, but NuBlume’s direct website was under construction as of mid-2026, so buy through Amazon to keep that protection within the return system.

Hodgins Harvest includes storage instructions that actually help: keep the kit at 45-50°F for up to 6 weeks, or at room temperature for up to 3 weeks before starting. That flexibility matters if you’re ordering as a gift or can’t start immediately.

Yield Reality Across Multiple Flushes

The first flush numbers are where this comparison gets clearest. Consumer Reports testing put Hodgins Harvest Pink Oyster at 302g for the first flush. BloomBox claims 170-340g (6-12oz) but verified reviewer data points more toward the 90-170g range for typical grows, with one Feb 2026 reviewer logging 90g on their first run.

Flush counts matter too, especially if you’re trying to get actual cooking value out of a kit. Hodgins Harvest customers report up to 4-5 additional flushes beyond the first. BloomBox claims 2-3 total flushes, not additional, total, and that’s the ceiling most buyers hit.

Between a heavier starting block and more reported flushes, Hodgins Harvest looks like the better long-term producer. But I want to be honest: flush yield drops off a lot after the first. The second flush from any kit is typically 40-60% of the first. You’re not doubling your harvest just because a kit claims five flushes.

So if you’re planning your grocery budget around a mushroom kit, temper expectations after that first flush.

The Lion’s Mane Upsell Worth Knowing About

Hodgins Harvest also makes a Lion’s Mane kit, and it deserves a mention for anyone who wants to push flush counts further. Lion’s Mane grows slower than oyster, which is frustrating early on, but the tradeoff is longevity. Growers who’ve run both have reported five flushes from Hodgins Lion’s Mane versus two from comparable oyster kits. If you’re the type who wants to get every possible harvest out of a block and doesn’t mind waiting an extra week or two for the first pins, the Lion’s Mane kit is worth considering alongside (or instead of) the pink oyster. The species tradeoffs are in lion’s mane vs oyster kits .

And for anyone who enjoys the growing process as much as the harvest, the slower pace of Lion’s Mane can actually be more satisfying to watch develop over time.

Which Kit for Your Situation

For first-time growers who want to spend as little as possible and just see if mushroom growing is for them: BloomBox is fine. It’s cheaper, widely available on Amazon, and most people who follow the instructions get something edible on the first flush.

For anyone buying as a gift for someone who cares about cooking or wants a satisfying repeated harvest: Hodgins Harvest. The heavier block, included dome, and better yield data make it a more rewarding experience, and the pink oysters actually look like what’s on the box.

For kid science projects: either works, but Hodgins Harvest’s humidity dome makes daily growth more visible and easier to maintain without constant adult supervision of the moisture level.

For anyone buying based on the “blue” in BloomBox’s name: don’t. Buy something that matches what you’ll actually get.

This article is part of my Gourmet Mushroom Grow Kits: The Complete Guide , a complete resource for growing gourmet mushrooms on your counter.

Frequently Asked Questions

Which mushroom kit company is considered the best?

At the $25-30 price point, that depends on what you’re optimizing for. For overall value and yield data, Hodgins Harvest has the strongest customer rating in the category at 4.93 stars. North Spore’s Spray and Grow kits and Back to the Roots are the most-recommended options for beginners who want an established brand with a long track record. BloomBox has the most Amazon reviews of any kit in this tier, which makes it the most visible option but not necessarily the best performing one.

What are the common problems with mushroom grow kits?

Trichoderma (blue-green mold), bacterial contamination (slimy patches with a sour smell), and cobweb mold (gray, fast-spreading fuzz) are the three failures that end most kit grows. If you see green mold, remove the block from your kitchen immediately. Cobweb mold is less serious and can sometimes be managed by reducing humidity slightly and improving airflow. The other common failure is user error: starting the kit too late, misting inconsistently, or keeping the block somewhere too warm or too dry. If you want a deeper breakdown of each failure mode, my post on mushroom grow kit failures covers the recovery steps.

Are mushroom grow kits worth buying?

For most people, yes, with realistic expectations. You’re not going to replace grocery store mushrooms with a single kit. What you get is an interesting growing experience, one or two meals worth of fresh mushrooms with noticeably better flavor than store-bought, and a concrete understanding of whether home mushroom growing is something you want to pursue further. At $25-30, that’s a reasonable trade.

How many flushes can I get from a mushroom grow kit?

Most kits advertise 2-3 flushes, and that’s accurate for most buyers. What they don’t tell you is that yield drops off a lot after the first flush. Soaking the block in cold water for an hour between flushes is the standard way to rehydrate it and trigger the next round. Hodgins Harvest customers report up to 4-5 additional flushes, which is better than average, though later flushes tend to be much smaller than the first.

Why are my blue oyster mushrooms not blue?

Room temperature. Blue oysters express their characteristic color in young pins grown at cooler temperatures, typically below 65°F. At the 68-72°F most kitchens run, they fruit tan or brown. The color isn’t a defect and it doesn’t affect flavor, but it’s not what the BloomBox product photos suggest you’ll get.