indoor mushie tut

[Brother Bear]

again i posted these under my last handle
i wanted to collaborate them here, now that we have a nice new spot
thanks Gypsy
i'll be adding on and changing, ask any questions you might have

beginning supplies you will need
half pint canning jars with the lids (wallmart) ball or kerr brand
they have two types i like the taller ones
make sure the sides go straight up without a lip



vermiculite (the finer the better, pinch it through the bag to feel it)
brown rice flour/powdered brown rice however they word it (health food store)



you will need a veggie steamer as well



thats it for the first month about, oh yeah some half inch masking tape and some tinfoil
i'll post up pics tonight in further detail

OK here goes, i hope i don't miss anything

2 kinds of half pint jars out there, i prefer the taller skinny ones because the substrate just seems to fit better in it





prepare your lid by poking 4 holes in it about half an inch in from the edge
when the lid is in the ring the holes need to be seen
also DO NOT poke the holes from the top, flip it over to the side with the red edge and poke from that side
a hammer and a small nail works well for this, the hole should be about pencil lead size





tape the lids together like so



hope you all can follow this so far
next we want to mix our substate
the mix is as follows
1/2 cup of horticultural vermiculite
1/4 cup of brown rice powder
1/4 cup of water ( i use just a tad less)
you want to mix up one jar at a time so each jar is the exact same as the next one

this verm is as big as i would go, i much prefer the smaller grade as it works so much better - any bigger would probably not let colonization take very well



put the brown rice to the side kinda, pour water on the verm and let it soak in a few seconds
note* use a spoon to fill your measuring cup with rice, if you just dip in your formula will be thrown off



mix well with a fork, you do not want any clumps or see any rice clumps either



spoon the substrate into your jar, if you get close to the top and have a bunch left
hold the jar in one hand and smake it down on your other palm, causing the contents to settle as needed
fill to this point here





you can use your spoon to GENTLY press down to where it needs to be
NEVER pack it in there tighty
fill to the top with verm out of the bag



cap it up and move to the next jar



no need really to be sterile while making the jars, i smoke herb and ciggs the whole time, and if i drop a spoonful i just scoop it back up and into the jar
continued in next post.........................

 

[Brother Bear]

ok make all your jars at the same time
then we need to steam them



fill your steamer up till it about half an inch above the screened part
bring to a boil ( you can do this once you have enough jars to fill it, as it takes an hour to steam)
i use two of these at the same time, really cuts down on the waiting

before you put the jars in the pot the lids must be loosened, about half way is the key
play with it abit and see how they work, you do not want the lid to fall off when you pull the jar out !!
but you need the steam to get inside well enough

cut a tinfoil peice as big as your pot and cover the jars, put it right on top of them and tuck the edges down beside the jars
reason for this is so no water drips off the lid into the jars, throwing off your formula

then cut another tinfoil peice and put it over the top of the pot
stick pot lid on this piece

steam for one hour
take jars out and let cool
once cooled for a few hours tighten the lids on them
let cool fully overnight before innoculating
the jars can sit for weeks in a cool dark spot if needed, but i like to use them fresh as possable

ok your syringes will come in a box like this



and look like this, except the needle tip will not be attatched
when you put it on use quick sure movements and expose it as little as possable to the air
NEVER TOUCH THE NEEDLE OR THE SYRINGE !!!



wash your hands and no smoking now no fans in the room run a air filter for a bit before hand if you want to, but i never do
just don't touch any part of the needle thats not the clear plastic
before your gonna do the deed hold up like this



and shake back and forth, it creates a cyclone effect inside and mixes the spores very well
i mix it half way in between jars as well, do 4 mix do 4



peal back the tape from enough jars for one syringe



hold syringe like so



insert all the way and at a angle against the glass, despence a small amount so it runs down the side of the jar
again using quick and sure movements
pretend you have already done this 1000 times



close tape up, then if doing several strains use a marker to lable the tale what strain it is

after a week or so you will see 4 small white spot form and then slowly colonize the whole cake

-----------------------------------
no i am sure i missed a thing or two i'll try and make sure i have it all down though
please ask any question you want :friends:

ok guys i'll help you as much as i can
i already am past the jar stage but you can find it HERE
or order them premade like accessndx said
much cheaper to make them yourselves

i'll post jar making pix up next time i do some, untill then if you are interested
copy this post and PM it to yourself so you don't lose it

casing 101 Raistlin style

15 parts peat
15 parts vermicutite
2 parts crushed oyster shell (i use as fine as i can buy/make it)

i am using 1.5 TBLS for measuring, but a part is a part no matter the size
large bowl
15 parts verm
1 part oyster shell
15 parts peat
1 part oyster shell
over and over till my bowl is almost full, dunno the size but its a large salad bowl

some pix











mix it dry best as you can, then add water
i just use the sprayer on my kitchen sink
make it real wet but do not pool the water on the bottom

then microwave for 10min, stir well after that and add water as needed
microwave for another 10min
you want to be able to squeeze a handfull and have a few drops of water come out, any more than that and its to wet
add a little cause you can always add more later

12 quart tub is what i use now, you can use any similar sized tub
the tin ones work well to bend a bit and fit right in a 10gal fish tank



make sure your substraight is cooled off before using !!



clean dry verm from cakes



put about half inch substraight on the bottom of your tub, and crubmle cakes onto it
gloves work well, or you can do it inside a gallon ziplock



i use one syringe to make 8 cakes, here they are now



lightly sprinkle the rest of your substraight on top at least half an inch
i go about 3/4 to a full inch





cover with foil and put in a closet or under your bed, somewhere out of the way



-----------------------------------------
up-dates will follow as they happen

 

[Brother Bear]

yesterday





today

 

[happyherb]

been wanting to do this for years ...now we can talk about it here may push me to do it ...im sure i'll fail a few times at 1st but will get it right down the track.HH. =]-~

 

[Mr. Bongjangles]

Great tutorial! I saw the other thread with some of the same pics and was thinking "Tutorial please!!" - Sure enough my wish came true.

So what does one of those 12 quart tubs end up yielding per batch of dried mushrooms if you don't mind me asking?

 

[cellardweller]

 

[AbbieDoobie]

Some more excellent work, Brother Bear. I was wondering...how long does it take from start to finish? And, could I do this outside on a compost heap out in my garden this summer?

~Abbie

 

[Denial N Error]

Some more excellent work, Brother Bear. I was wondering...how long does it take from start to finish? And, could I do this outside on a compost heap out in my garden this summer?

~Abbie

Just chimin' in here, i've dabbled in the cultivation of mushroom for over 10 years.. my current averages start to finish from the time I inoculate a substrate, to the time I am harvesting fruits is around 25 days. I use birdseed as substrate and inoculate with liquid cultures or grain to grain transfers.

Gives ya a rough idea..

 

[Brother Bear]

AbbieDoobie - yes you can
however i do not know the tek, i'll go and try to find a few for ya and post them here
remember Lou Grew*, well he was Lou Blue at another mushroom forum
he has a few outdoor teks i'll be looking for to show you
my shrooms grow considerably slower than 25 days, but i am probably just a lazier grower LOL

Denial N Error - nice mang been almost 13 years for me now
mostly PF tek, i just switched to the monotubs mebbe 2 years ago "ISH"
been a bit since my last run though

 

[fully baked]

Great tutorial Brother Bear! This is quite convenient because I have a Brazilian syringe on the way

I was just wondering what it is in the oyster shells that makes you use it for fruiting? I've seen the brown rice flour around my parts but never oyster shells... I'm wondering what else I might be able to substitute in or where I can find these ground oyster shells.

A big thanks for this tutorial !!

Cheers,
FB

 

[Persistance]

Great stuff, now to buy some strains from a online bank...

 

[Brother Bear]

I was just wondering what it is in the oyster shells that makes you use it for fruiting? I've seen the brown rice flour around my parts but never oyster shells... I'm wondering what else I might be able to substitute in or where I can find these ground oyster shells.

oyster shell acts like dolomite lime does in our soils
adjusts the PH to where the mushies can use it
the mix is after all about half peat
dunno if it adds cal/mag to the mix or not though

Great stuff, now to buy some strains from a online bank...

a note to readers it is quite legal to order spores in the states, not sure on other countries
but i can provide links for Canada if needed
if you live in ( Cali - Idaho - Georgia) you cannot order spores legally sorry

 

[AbbieDoobie]

BB,

More newb Q's....It looks like you are growing in some kind of humidity dome. Is this needed? And it looks like it's sitting on a bed of perlite. Do you wet that down? I was thinking of growing in a rubbermaid tub with a lid sitting in my bedroom. How's that sound? Also, is there an ideal temperature/humidity I should maintain?

~Abbie

 

[Brother Bear]

humidity dome = check
perlite = check
wet it down = check
add a splash of hydrogen peroxide to the water to keep bacteria levels down
LOL goofy mood today

humidity should be around 92%
temps in the low 80's - i go with room temps, we keep it cold here so mushies grow a bit slower

using a clear or clear topped rubbermade tub would be a great idea my friend
put about 3-4 inches of hydroton down on the bottom
add about an inch of water to this, H2O2 as well
run some air stones under the hydroton
drill LOTS of small holes in the lid
bingo, you have a poor mans fruiting chamber

if you go with the perlite
lift the lid off 2-3 times a day and use it to fan out the tub
then mist the air above and the sides of the tub before replacing the lid
hope this helps

 

[grapepunched]

what strain is this Bear? ^^ awesome pics man! peace!

-gp

 

[Brother Bear]

strain is Chitwan
not to be recommended from Sporeworks, as i actually got 3 strains from them marked chitwan
however i still would use the company, i think they just mixed that batch up somehow
oh yeah the mushies in that particular picture did not even make one trip for as beautiful as they were
the other "chitwans" did

 

[Kelly.]

i vote for sticky!

good post!

 

[Burt]

thanks for sharing your casing recipe!
i have enjoyed this tek for 16 years now!
who remembers getting photcopied directions right from pf back in the day before the internet?
i will do a monster casing in the next few weeks using your recipe
my best trip was a psilo extract performed by sophomores at university
we would take a MAOI along with the chocos and it was smooth with no jaggedy peaks and shamanic all the way-very different than crushed mush in chocos
my most powerful trip was the first time jar tek worked and i consumed 10 or so wet grams via boiling water-ate mush leftovers too-and it was too much...literally had to go thru hell (ego death) to reach heaven-it was more mindblowing than fluff for me and i personally don't need to feel like god again anytime soon
what are your favorite strains?

 

[accessndx]

Nice threadage bro! Very kind of Gypsy to open up a mushie forum also!!!

 

[79towncar]

Brother Bear potency is one of the problems with multispore... Do you make isolates on agar at all... I had an x-girlfriend who was really into mushroom growing so I know alot from them days.. She used to run mini greenhouses but she started out doing monotubs.. Nice PF Tek tutorial.. Anyway like I was saying with Multi-spore it's really a gamble on poency, yeild, pin-sets and colonization times.. She had an amazing isolate of Penis Envy that would knock your cocks off haha.. It also colonized very rapidly and was very resistant to contams.. I miss them days.. Anyway nice post makes me very nostalgic...