About - SoFlo Fungi

Owner and CEO, Sam Kwalwasser has been fascinated by fungi since he took a deep dive into the subject just before lock-downs began in 2020 here in South Florida. He read a book called ‘How to Change Your Mind’ by Michael Pollan which had an interview with the famous mycologist, Paul Stamets. In this interview, Stamets described a process by which he bred and trained a strain of Cordyceps militaris mushroom to naturally remediate a carpenter ants in his home. That was all he needed to read to place an order for a grow kit online. He was quickly impressed with the mycology community, and found a home among like-minded people online. He began documenting everything he did: harvesting and identifying wild mushrooms, sending samples for sequencing, growing all kinds of various fungi with a focus on novelty and engineering new techniques and processes.

SoFlo Fungi specializes in gourmet and medicinal mushroom species; however, we are now working to also provide local cultures with industrial mycoremediation applications.

Shipping Policy

Liquid cultures will ship within 1-2 business days with USPS First Class Shipping. Tracking info will be sent via email. This service is included in the cost of the item! The site is not set up for international shipping yet, but if you are outside of the US, send me an email at sam@soflofungi.com and I can work out a shipping arrangement for you (if possible) on a case by case basis.

Sterilized Rye Grain orders will ship within 1-3 business days through USPS Priority Shipping. This item is not available outside of the United States.

Who is SoFlo?

SoFlo Fungi was founded in early 2020 in Deerfield Beach, Florida, by Sam Kwalwasser. Sam has imbued the business with his passion for citizen science and analytical thinking. At the same time, we like to keep it fun and interesting, and not take ourselves too seriously.

Sam applies microbiological lab techniques to collect, preserve, and breed fungal phenotypes. At this time, we have collected more than 30 species of fungi from around the world. Of these, the strains we have tested and have confidence in are made available to customers, right here in our shop.

These cultures each have been sourced in 3 possible ways. Some strains are clone isolates made from tissue samples of native culinary and medicinal mushrooms collected in South Florida by SoFlo Fungi. Others have been collected by colleagues and friends in various regions of the globe. Finally, a few of the cultures we have are carefully curated commercial strains capable of sustaining full scale culinary mushroom farms.

All of our products are cultured, processed, and packed in front of a H14 hospital grade HEPA filter with constant laminar flow using the utmost care and meticulous sterile technique.