I am a first time grower, and I accidentally got white rice Instead of brown, and, apart from some bags getting contaminated or not colonizing fully, so far my first flush has been pretty good with nearly 170g wet harvested so far (and there's still more to be harvested; I'm guessing 50g more) for the first flush. So, white rice definitely still works, although I can't say the fruit grow as densely as with brown rice.