Expectations

[B. Self Reliant]

I always told myself that I wouldn't try mushrooms until I could grow them myself. I've always had a great desire to try them, but since I grow my own bud & find it much more rewarding than smoking bud that I buy, I figured that growing my own would be a great first experience.

I've read through most of the threads here on ICMag, and I've read through many guides and threads on the shroomery. I think I have a pretty good grasp on the PF Tek, which is what I'll probably use first, and the process itself doesn't intimidate me at all. It actually seems very straightforward.

I still have one question though. How invasive is the process of growing a personal stash? I'm talking about a rubbermaid bin as a fruiting chamber here, not some huge grow for commercial purposes. Growing bud, even with a 1-2k personal grow, can be a huge inconvenience that affects your whole life. Cannabis grow rooms stink, they take up large spaces, security is an issue, etc. What about growing shrooms?

I can't imagine the jars that are inoculated are much of a security risk or a huge inconvenience. Seems I can just put them in a closet somewhere and let them sit. Am I way off base here? What about the fruiting chamber? Will it smell? How much? Are they generally very finicky, or are they pretty straightforward as long as I do my part to maintain the environment?

I'm going to be buying a home here this winter, and it's gonna take me a while to get my new grow room up & running. I was thinking that maybe right after I move in would be a good time to start a mushroom grow. I could probably set it all up in a day or so, where as my cannabis room is gonna take weeks to complete.

So what's the deal? I picture a small fruiting chamber sitting in a corner of the basement out of sight and out of mind, and overall being a pretty easy endeavor. Am I way off base?

 

[79towncar]

For a small personal grow you won't be inconvenienced much at all. Far less then weed actually.. The most involved part of the preperation is making spawn.. Which takes a 10-15minute simmer and 90 minutes in the pressure cooker.. After that Pastuerizing a bulk substrate takes some time.. There are some parts that seem like alot of work but after a few runs you will be able to do it in your sleep.. Daily maintnance is not that bad. All you really need to do is mist when your bins are fruiting.. You also have to fan the bins unless you have a good fan.. All in all you can have a small perpetual grow with a small tub that can pump out about 3-6 ounces every 2 months with only about 4-12 hours a week of actual "work"..

The real hard part is waiting.. Waiting sometimes a month or so for jars to colonize then for your bulk sub to colonize then for pins then for drying.. So if you keep a good stock of colonized jars on hand for spawn you will be fine.. The biggest advantage here is start-up costs and risks.. If your not selling I can see somebody growing a small batch of shrooms for the rest of there lives without much risk of being caught.. Weed it's different. Not only do you have to spend alot of money to get things rolling the risk is higher.. Shrooms don't smell they don't take up much space, don't need alot of resources and money to grow and materials are very unasumming and you could get up and running a perpetual system pumping out a pound every 2 months for less then $250.

In conclusion there is some "work".. And shrooms are easy to mess up.. You have to really be clean and organized.. With plants you can grow them in a filty enviorment easily.. Shrooms not so much.. You not gonna be able to just throw a bin in the corner of your room and watch them grow.. But with planning and know-how you really can have a very well running system that will not take up much of your time at all...

 

[Bababooey]

Listen to 79towncar, the man gives good advice. 79 and Justa really helped me with my shroom grows.
Yeah, as far as invasiveness, a rubbermaid bin in a corner is pretty much it (although I would think you wouldn't want the fruiting chamber to be in too cold of an area...).
Once they start growing, they grow fast, and expect to be picking and drying shrooms for a few days, so you'll need an area to dry them (I used a food dehydrator from walmart, its overkill but a few hours in the dehydrator and they were cracker crisp).

 

[B. Self Reliant]

Thanks for your help! This is all great news. It sounds like I can get a shroom grow going right away, while I take the time to construct my new cannabis growroom. I'm kind of a clean freak, so I think this is going to be a good fit for me!

79, I noticed you mentioned the time it takes to colonize the bulk substrate, but if I'm not mistaken, the PF Tek that I was planning on using my first time around doesn't include that step. Are you suggesting I use a different technique, or I am confused about some aspect of the PF Tek? I was planning on using that because I've read in multiple places that's it a good way to start out, but if you suggest something different, I'm all ears.

If either of you has a link to a method that you suggest, that would be ideal. . .

 

[Bababooey]

I believe, and 79 please correct me if im wrong, that with the PF-Tek, since you're using BRF cakes, you can fruit directly from those (just case them in peat or verm or both, etc).
So no, you dont have to colonize a bulk substrate with PF-tek. You'd probably get bigger yields if you did but I think thats one of the benefits of using pf-tek anyway, is that you dont need a bulk substrate. Plus, from personal experience, that bulk substrate step makes the process longer and is another step where contams can occur.
Ive seen some pretty decent harvests from pftek and it should be more than sufficient for the hobby grower.

 

[B. Self Reliant]

Ok, I think I see what you're saying. . . So, if I wanted the bigger yields, how would I go about colonizing the bulk substrate? I still have to colonize the jars, right? I'm guessing that I then have to sterilize the bulk substrate and expose the jars to it, right? How would I go about doing that?

Also on a side note, I'm all about automating things if at all possible. 79, you mentioned I could avoid the fanning of the fruiting chamber if I had a good fan. How is that fan setup? IS there some specific way of doing it, or can it be done by any method as long as certain target temp/humidity levels are maintained? What kind of fan is best? Do most people need a timer? I'd be willing to buy whatever I needed to make my life easier and avoid any human error.

Thanks to both of you again for all your help.

Bababooey - I'm reading your mushroom grow thread right now. It's very helpful!

 

[79towncar]

Just a normal oscilating fan would work fine.. This is only for fruiting.. You can cut holes in your fruiting bins and stuff them with polyfill.. Then put a fan on a timer and let it blow on a low to medium setting near the fruiting bins.. This will help you out alot. Also if you get your moisture content perfect from the beginning you won't have to worry about misting until after your 1st flush..

I always advocate against using the PF Tek.. Only because spawning to bulk is a much better method and it is just as simple.. If you can prepare PF Tek style jars you can prepare a bulk substrate inside a monotub for fruiting.. You can easily get 3-6 ounces dry from one 66qt monotub.. Cubensis are soo easy to grow.. You'll see.. This girl who taught me everything barely did anything.. She spent alot of time making spawn and alot of time isolating and perfecting her genetics but other then that her systems were very very smooth operating and very low maintnence..

 

[B. Self Reliant]

Alright, I think I understand now. A fan on a timer set to come on a few times a day. Just enough to mimic the fanning action, and only during the fruiting phase. I read all your advice to Baba in his thread and that helped a tremendous amount. Thanks for taking the time to help him out, as I'm sure many others have been helped by it as well.

After reading through his thread, I think I'm going to try coco as a substrate with no casing. I'll probably use rye inside the jars, just because the WBS seemed hard to differentiate from the contamination, and that's going to be the hardest part I think.

 

[79towncar]

Did you see my Tek on Coco preperation? If not I can repost it here or link you.. Coco is a great substrate.. Alot of people like manure but I just can't imagion ever even looking at horse shit.. Haha, anyway makre sure you properly pastuerize your Coco and try and get the moisture content perfect.. Usually about 1 gallon of water to 1 brick or Coco/Coffee/Verm mix.. Sometimes you can use alittle more or alittle less water depending on how much the Coco expands...

 

[B. Self Reliant]

I saw & bookmarked the Coco Tek and it seems pretty simple to prepare, although I'm sure getting the moisture content just right takes practice. I remember when I first started growing cannabis and it took me all evening to make sure my ebb & flow reservoirs were mixed correctly! Now it takes ten minutes to get them done. Hopefully the preparation of the coco progresses in a similar fashion. One of the reasons I grow hydro is because I can't imagine having organic materials like horse whit in my house, so coco seems like the tek for me!

One stupid question for you. . . What's poly fill? I've seen it mentioned a couple times when I read about making the monotubs to fruit in. In some pics I've seen it looks like the spray foam you get in a can at Home Depot. Is that what it is? If I ask someone at a hardware store for "poly fill" will they know what I'm talking about? The spray foam I've used for sealing grow rooms seems pretty airtight, but maybe it allows air to pass through (in which case I need to find another material for my grow rooms!).

 

[medi-useA]

Just found this subject....seems interesting....exactly what shrooms are you growing?

muA

 

[79towncar]

I saw & bookmarked the Coco Tek and it seems pretty simple to prepare, although I'm sure getting the moisture content just right takes practice. I remember when I first started growing cannabis and it took me all evening to make sure my ebb & flow reservoirs were mixed correctly! Now it takes ten minutes to get them done. Hopefully the preparation of the coco progresses in a similar fashion. One of the reasons I grow hydro is because I can't imagine having organic materials like horse whit in my house, so coco seems like the tek for me!

One stupid question for you. . . What's poly fill? I've seen it mentioned a couple times when I read about making the monotubs to fruit in. In some pics I've seen it looks like the spray foam you get in a can at Home Depot. Is that what it is? If I ask someone at a hardware store for "poly fill" will they know what I'm talking about? The spray foam I've used for sealing grow rooms seems pretty airtight, but maybe it allows air to pass through (in which case I need to find another material for my grow rooms!).

Polyfill is just plain pillow stuffing.. Its used because it allows air to pass through and it also cannot support microbial growth.. So it cannot get contaminated.. Thats why it's used so much. Go to the dollar store and buy a huge pillow you should have enough for a long time..

 

[indicameds]

I agree with 79, go bulk your first grow. Alot shy away from it but its no harder than the PF tek and the rewards are ten fold better. The only reason I could ever see anyone using PF tek is because of the lack of a pressure cooker. And even still you can find used ones at flea markets and yard sales for less than 40 bucks. I got about 300 wrapped up in my OP and about 100 in upkeep with buying new subs and such every few months. And I turn out an average of 4 Oz's per tub X 16 tubs in two flushes i let em go on a perpetual cycle.

 

[B. Self Reliant]

So that's what polyfill is! Growers of illicit species always find the craziest uses for things! I love how all the materials for this endeavor seems to be quite cheap.

Yeah, it sounds like the extra step of colonizing a bulk substrate is well worth the extra few days. After researching all of this, buying the materials, and waiting for the jars to colonize, it seems that there's not a whole lot of reasons not to go big. I have no idea how long mushrooms will keep, but assuming I grow something worthwhile, I would like to go a little bigger and have a nice stockpile that will last me and my friend a long time. I doubt I'll mind growing them, but on the other hand sometimes it's hard just to keep up my grow room, let alone with mushrooms going at the same time!

 

[northernlightss]

Honestly the pf tek is for teens, if you have any kind of common sense, which you do, go bulk. I get better potency with the bulk substrates using grain spawn. Think about it, if the mycelium only has a few tablespoons of brown rice flour to feed off of in pf tek, how vigorous could it be? I use popcorn spawn mixed with aged horse manure, hay and coco. Completely colonizes underbed boxes in a week.

I run an underbed box every couple of months to stock up. Just keep plenty of liquid cultures and/or spore syringes and prints around. On average per flush for the first two I get around 4 oz's wet of cubensis, currently running the "hawaiian". Each flush after that is less but for under 10 bucks in material to fill a underbed box with subtrate consisting of coco, horse manure, and hay all using the hot water heater method of pasteurizing in a hot water bath, how can you go wrong?

My method works for me, but I have been growing them since I was sixteen and started with bulk from the start, I suggest going with a monotub as it is a little easier to keep the enviromental parameters in check. I fill a underbed rubbermaid box that has been painted black on the outside with substrate, mix in my colonized popcorn spawn and wait a week than start fruiting. Its only a short amount of time longer you have to wait to enjoy your goodies if you do bulk, in my house the difference is about a week. When ready to fruit I take another underbed box thats clear and put it on top like a dome. Gives my fruits room to grow nice and tall. I fan a few times daily since I am always home and don't need to automate.

Bulk is also awesome because I find it gives some big fruits when you use deep substrates, when people see you eating shrooms the size of your hand their jaws drop. Most don't believe there active, since they are used to seeing what people call "dro" shrooms, aka pf tek indoor shrooms, and they usually end up small and not quite as potent which is another factor for me.

 

[northernlightss]

Also once the mushrooms are cracker dry, stick them in a mason jar, with a little desiccant if possible, and put them in your freezer. Should last a few years that way. Mine never usually last that long tho.

 

[B. Self Reliant]

So how deep should the bulk substrate be in a monotub?

Glad to hear they last a long time if stored properly.

 

[79towncar]

I get better potency with the bulk substrates using grain spawn. Think about it, if the mycelium only has a few tablespoons of brown rice flour to feed off of in pf tek, how vigorous could it be?.

Northern while I agree with you that mushrooms grown under perfect conditions will be at the top of there potency potental.. I have to say that type of substrate does not effect potency at all.. The key is to get the enviorment dialed in perfectly but there is no substrate that is better then another in terms of making your mushrooms more potent.. If that were the case all other substrates would be obsolete.. I do agree there should be a variety in a substrate but PF Tek shrooms that are grown right are just as potent as any other substrate..

Genetics have more to do with potency then any other variable.. You can literally use one half of a spore syrings to colonize and fruit a substrate and use the other half to colonize and fruit another substrate and develope very very different results potency wise.. One could be bunk and the other will knock your face off.. Isolatin and presrvation of potent strains and a well dialed in enviorment are the keys to potent mushrooms..

B Self Reliant... You can store fully dried mushrooms a very long time.. But they really have to be bone dry.. Don't ever try and freeze wet mushrooms.. Make sure they are bone dry..

 

[79towncar]

So how deep should the bulk substrate be in a monotub?

Glad to hear they last a long time if stored properly.

I generally reccomend 4 1/2 inches.. You can also go deeper and shallower but 4 1/2 to me seems like a good starting debth. After a few runs try going to 5 inches deep. Generally the deeper the substrate the bigger the mushrooms...

 

[nepalnt21]

good luck man

treat em right and they just may return the favor