This.

http://shroomery.org

Okay, for those of you who are judging before you understand where I'm coming from, let me assert a few things. I have seen the method you posted, and it seems relatively simple for a bright mind such as myself, however, I don't know that my stove can get hot enough to boil the jars properly. It's electric, that's why. I couldn't even boil food last time I tried.

Also, as I understand it, grow bags come with vermiculite already mixed, and isn't it sterile too? That skips quite a few steps for me that otherwise I might have had to go through some trial and error. Grow bags just overall seem like the simplest, most foolproof method. I need to know how to use those.

To the person who said I probably am too lazy and poor to go through with the proper process of mushroom growing, I've already stated that cost isn't really an issue, but simplicity is. As well, if that person weren't so lazy they would have read my whole post.

Having set those items straight, I'm sorry if I came across as ignorant or lazy. It's not that I expect you all to gather data suited towards my needs, I was hoping someone already had some good advice to pass down from a pro like their self to a noob like myself.

The PF-Tek technique seems really decent but I think in the end I would fall short of having the time and know-how to pull it off. That might be good for you guys but I need to go an alternate route. I'm going to go look up information on grow bags. If you have any more advice for me, PLEASE give.

EDIT: saw a video, it's simple as fuck. you guys could have just said that there are no tricks to a grow bag a long fucking time ago. I'm off to order some shit.

Okay, for those of you who are judging before you understand where I'm coming from, let me assert a few things. I have seen the method you posted, and it seems relatively simple for a bright mind such as myself, however, I don't know that my stove can get hot enough to boil the jars properly. It's electric, that's why. I couldn't even boil food last time I tried.

Also, as I understand it, grow bags come with vermiculite already mixed, and isn't it sterile too? That skips quite a few steps for me that otherwise I might have had to go through some trial and error. Grow bags just overall seem like the simplest, most foolproof method. I need to know how to use those.

To the person who said I probably am too lazy and poor to go through with the proper process of mushroom growing, I've already stated that cost isn't really an issue, but simplicity is. As well, if that person weren't so lazy they would have read my whole post.

Having set those items straight, I'm sorry if I came across as ignorant or lazy. It's not that I expect you all to gather data suited towards my needs, I was hoping someone already had some good advice to pass down from a pro like their self to a noob like myself.

The PF-Tek technique seems really decent but I think in the end I would fall short of having the time and know-how to pull it off. That might be good for you guys but I need to go an alternate route. I'm going to go look up information on grow bags. If you have any more advice for me, PLEASE give.

Dude, you've got ten people in this thread telling you the EXACT same thing. Why don't you just follow the advice you asked for? Jars are the best way. If your stove can't get hot enough, which I really doubt as it seems you haven't even tried yet, then go to a friend's house and sterilize there. Nobody uses growbags. They're a gimmick to make things more complicated than they are and to make money off people like you. I didn't say you were poor, just that you'd be turned away by cost. And I reassert that you're a lazy piece of shit. It's gonna take about the same time either way, it's all about following directions. It's really not that hard. Either follow all this good advice or give up. Clearly you don't have the dedication required.

Dude, you've got ten people in this thread telling you the EXACT same thing. Why don't you just follow the advice you asked for? Jars are the best way. If your stove can't get hot enough, which I really doubt as it seems you haven't even tried yet, then go to a friend's house and sterilize there. Nobody uses growbags. They're a gimmick to make things more complicated than they are and to make money off people like you. I didn't say you were poor, just that you'd be turned away by cost. And I reassert that you're a lazy piece of shit. It's gonna take about the same time either way, it's all about following directions. It's really not that hard. Either follow all this good advice or give up. Clearly you don't have the dedication required.

I DO have the dedication required, fag. Stop being a fucking dick bro.

Jars are not the best way for me and EVERYONE I know has the same stove as me because we all live in the same building and all the rooms have electric stoves.

Why do you say that growbags are a gimmick? It seems like for my specific purposes it's exactly what I need. From what I understand so far, I have to get a growbag, a syringe, some alcohol, swabs, and gloves. Then I inject 3cc's into the bag and wait for it to colonize, mixing the substrate when it gets almost completely colonized. The question I have now is what do I do after that? I can't seem to find the information I'm looking for...

Does it still have to be sterile AFTER it's already colonized or do I let it breathe some free air?

EDIT: okay so I remove them and put them in a low light, high humidity environment. Should I use a blacklight for that purpose?

I DO have the dedication required, fag. Stop being a fucking dick bro.

Jars are not the best way for me and EVERYONE I know has the same stove as me because we all live in the same building and all the rooms have electric stoves.

Why do you say that growbags are a gimmick? It seems like for my specific purposes it's exactly what I need. From what I understand so far, I have to get a growbag, a syringe, some alcohol, swabs, and gloves. Then I inject 3cc's into the bag and wait for it to colonize, mixing the substrate when it gets almost completely colonized. The question I have now is what do I do after that? I can't seem to find the information I'm looking for...

Does it still have to be sterile AFTER it's already colonized or do I let it breathe some free air?

Keep it in a sterile place. Assuming you're talking about before fruiting, the only holes should be your needle holes.

Growbags are a gimmick because they're created to get people like you to pay good money for something that can be made at home with little work for a fraction of the price. In addition they have lower yields and I've heard greater problems with contamination. They just don't work as well. If you want to do it right, PF-tek. Go to shroomery, do the reading, understand it for yourself, and then go ahead and try it. Sure, growbags are already mixed. They may even be sterile. You can get enough vermiculite, BRF, jars, syringes, spores, etc. for a fraction of the price of a grow bag, and frankly, you'll have a better chance of getting it to work. Grow bags are expensive kits people sell to take advantage of people looking for a shortcut (like you). Whatever they look like, they are NOT the best way. There's a reason the PF-tek is famous.

I DO have the dedication required, fag. Stop being a fucking dick bro.

Jars are not the best way for me and EVERYONE I know has the same stove as me because we all live in the same building and all the rooms have electric stoves.

Why do you say that growbags are a gimmick? It seems like for my specific purposes it's exactly what I need. From what I understand so far, I have to get a growbag, a syringe, some alcohol, swabs, and gloves. Then I inject 3cc's into the bag and wait for it to colonize, mixing the substrate when it gets almost completely colonized. The question I have now is what do I do after that? I can't seem to find the information I'm looking for...

Does it still have to be sterile AFTER it's already colonized or do I let it breathe some free air?

EDIT: okay so I remove them and put them in a low light, high humidity environment. Should I use a blacklight for that purpose?

an electric does get hot enough, from expirience. you should colonize in the dark, flame sterilize your syringe and...

if your using a growbag where you let the mushrooms grow out the sides, then, that's what you do. once they are colonized they do not need to be perfectly sterile, they can fight off contam. , but it helps to put it in a clean environment just in case. also, don't use a blacklight or incandesent. you want to use a flourecent with a color temperature of about 5000 - 7000. and really, growbags come with instructions, it's not that hard.

and if you don't put the time in reading up, your mushrooms will pay for it. just so you know.

good luck

You shouldn't grow mushrooms in your parents house.

Grow bags are worthwhile, if you know the process the mushrooms actually grow, which means that you need a few grows under your belt.

Why don't you just find a dealer and blow your money on buying mushrooms instead of failing miserably. I'd usually try and convince you to try and get your feet wet in the mushroom growing hobby, however you're too fucking lazy to even know where to start.

"I WUNT 2 GR0 T3H SHR00MZ U DRUGG DUDEZ NOEZ WERE 2 STRT?!?!? THNX IN ADVNCE!"

Stupid fuck.

The most simple way.
1. buy spores
2. buy a growbag online
3. inject the spores
4. put in a dark place around 75-80 degrees (the growbags dont need as high heat because they generate around 5 degrees heat themselfs and you do not want the temperature over 85 degrees or else the mycelium will die)
5. once the entire bag is white with mycelium (around a month with most strains and proper conditions), lower the temperature around 10 degrees, expose to an indirect lighting source for a few hours a day, and eventually once the pins come up and grow up to be big mushrooms (can take a 1 week to 2 weeks) you can then cut open the bag and harvest. Depending on the size of the grow bag it will not be much doing it the laziest way possible but this is the most simple way to get maybe an eigth and you dont even need a fruiting chamber as long as you dont live in a really dry climate.

Simple, seriously. Its like 20 minutes of work total and 1 1/2 month wait and you can have a few mushrooms. I would recommend research to know what your doing and what is going on. I recommend getting the Brazilian strain as it is one of the fastest, easiest, and simplest of psylocybe cubensis to grow.

How much are you looking to spend? I can make you a custom kit if you give me some numbers to work with (how much you want, substrate material, etc).

No offense pooter but I don't want to get a third party involved.

Fuck puck, I live on my own.

Okay so here's what I'm planning to do, get the shit, inject, wait till it colonizes, then cut the bag open and leave it in my cooler. Are they gonna smell alot or not really?

So I can't use a blacklight, how come? Do you think it's possible for me to find a fluorescent bulb that fits my blacklight ballist? Also how will I find out if the bulb is within the right color temperature range? The reason I ask is my place isn't lit by fluorescent lighting, it's lit by normal 60-100w bulbs. What about a low wattage halogen bulb?

There are people that've given you a shortcut in the form of grow bags. Nothing wrong with using it. People bitching at you for wanting to use a growbag are twats. I've never considered using one but if you wanna there's nothing wrong with that. But I suspect you'll want to learn the basics eventually so you can use a more productive method.

Like pasteurizing manure. Manure is a lot less likely to contaminate than the shitty outdated pf tek and doesn't require a very high temperature. That's what pasteurizing is, heating at around 150 to 180 fahrenheit for a period of time. You can also make your own compost easily. Red worms will help and they make a great compost but they take some of the nutrients, so it'd be best to mix the worm poop with straw or some other non-worm compost and then pasteurize.

Azures and Cyanescens would also be less likely to contaminate because there's just not a lot of molds and crap that can quickly digest moist cardboard.

blacklights don't provide the right light spectrum. incandescent doesn't either. halogen will be ok, but florescent is the best for maximum pinning. you should also leave it next to an open window when fruiting time comes.

color temperature should generally be on the package.

the mushrooms don't smell bad, just a slight 'mushroomy' smell. if your growbag is manure, than that 'could' smell, it depends.

to initiate pinning, the main trigger is FAE. so make sure you fan it a lot. also have light on it. and you don't want it to be cold, just 5-10 degrees less than you colonized at.


Like pasteurizing manure. Manure is a lot less likely to contaminate than the shitty outdated pf tek and doesn't require a very high temperature. That's what pasteurizing is, heating at around 150 to 180 fahrenheit for a period of time. You can also make your own compost easily. Red worms will help and they make a great compost but they take some of the nutrients, so it'd be best to mix the worm poop with straw or some other non-worm compost and then pasteurize.

Azures and Cyanescens would also be less likely to contaminate because there's just not a lot of molds and crap that can quickly digest moist cardboard.If he isn't going to use the pf-tek, than he isn't going to mix his own bulk substrate.

you don't want worms in your substrate, just worm castings.

azures and cyanescens are much harder to grow, let alone fruit. yes, they are more potent (much more) but not worth failure for a first time grower. and there shouldn't be any mold and crap in your substrate, regardless of the mushroom. cubes are the least contaminate prone, not azures and cyanescens. that is not for a first time grow.

azures and cyanescens are much harder to grow, let alone fruit.
Fruiting would be easy if you setup a small greenhouse outdoors, if you don't live in a good climate for azures or cyans and of course you'd need to keep it above freezing, which wouldn't really be hard to do with a greenhouse.

There's nothing hard about growing them. Wood and cardboard are very contam resistant, so you're an idiot for saying they're hard to grow.

Mold CANNOT digest wood and cardboard as easily as it can brown rice flour, don't be a moron.

Shroomery moderators will even admit this. Growing wood lovers outdoors is easier than growing cubensis indoors if you have everything necessary to do it. When he decides he wants to use a more advanced method instead of growbags, like I said originally, he should use pasteurization and maybe wood lover shrooms if he has a decent climate or wants to setup a greenhouse for it.

blacklights don't provide the right light spectrum. incandescent doesn't either. halogen will be ok, but florescent is the best for maximum pinning. you should also leave it next to an open window when fruiting time comes.

color temperature should generally be on the package.

the mushrooms don't smell bad, just a slight 'mushroomy' smell. if your growbag is manure, than that 'could' smell, it depends.

to initiate pinning, the main trigger is FAE. so make sure you fan it a lot. also have light on it. and you don't want it to be cold, just 5-10 degrees less than you colonized at.


If he isn't going to use the pf-tek, than he isn't going to mix his own bulk substrate.

you don't want worms in your substrate, just worm castings.

azures and cyanescens are much harder to grow, let alone fruit. yes, they are more potent (much more) but not worth failure for a first time grower. and there shouldn't be any mold and crap in your substrate, regardless of the mushroom. cubes are the least contaminate prone, not azures and cyanescens. that is not for a first time grow.

Well I understand that I'm not using the most optimum method, so I just want to use the most reliable strain.

Do you think that for the colonization period that I could leave it like say, by my computer to raise the temp up to 85*F? My room is naturally like 75*F. Do you think my subwoofer would fuck with the colonization if the bag was near it? If so I guess I can just not use my subwoofer for that period of time. how long am I looking at for colonization vs. fruiting for Brazilian strain?

Fruiting would be easy if you setup a small greenhouse outdoors, if you don't live in a good climate for azures or cyans and of course you'd need to keep it above freezing, which wouldn't really be hard to do with a greenhouse.

There's nothing hard about growing them. Wood and cardboard are very contam resistant, so you're an idiot for saying they're hard to grow.

Mold CANNOT digest wood and cardboard as easily as it can brown rice flour, don't be a moron.

Shroomery moderators will even admit this. Growing wood lovers outdoors is easier than growing cubensis indoors if you have everything necessary to do it. When he decides he wants to use a more advanced method instead of growbags, like I said originally, he should use pasteurization and maybe wood lover shrooms if he has a decent climate or wants to setup a greenhouse for it.

you seriously think someone who isn't going to bother with a pf-tek is going to build a fucking greenhouse?

contamination is the last of your worries with other species. It is hard enough to get them to fruit in the first place. and wood and cardboard aren't the only substrates to grow them on. generally, people use manure and straw.

op, don't listen to this dickhead. cubes are much easier. a subwoofer isn't going to harm your myc. as far as the computer, just get a thermometer so you can always know the temp. get a small heater if you have to.

colonization could take anywhere from 2 weeks to 4. fruiting could take anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks.

you seriously think someone who isn't going to bother with a pf-tek is going to build a fucking greenhouse?

You fail to realize that I was suggesting it for when he isn't so lazy anymore and wants to know more about the process of growing them and wants to use better methods. Which means , yes he could build a greenhouse at that point, or buy one of the small portable ones they advertise on mushroom sites. Nothing complicated about this, not even about building it yourself.
One could most likely just take a sheet of clear plastic and put it over the shroom patch with a heating pad or something to keep it warm enough.

You could call that a greenhouse, a mini shroom greenhouse, sorta. More like a tent though.

contamination is the last of your worries with other species. It is hard enough to get them to fruit in the first place.

Outdoors, no it's not hard.


and wood and cardboard aren't the only substrates to grow them on. generally, people use manure and straw.
Manure and straw for spawn maybe but not as a bulk substrate for wood lovers. If you're growing wood lovers, use wood. One of the great things about wood lovers is the fact that you don't need to grow them in shit. I don't care how clean the shit is, I'd rather eat shrooms from wood than shit.

Wood lovers are also less habitat specific and adapt easier than cubensis. Which means you can spread them to public property easily, like they mention in Paul Stamets Psilocybin mushrooms of the world. And they can easily come back every year. With cubensis, you try doing that in a cow or horse pasture it's not nearly as easy.


cubes are much easier.
Idiotic.

I'm not going to keep arguing. I just think it's retarded that people always assume cubensis is easier to grow when there's a lot of proof that it isn't. The only advantage to cubensis is you can easily fruit it indoors.

You fail to realize that I was suggesting it for when he isn't so lazy anymore and wants to know more about the process of growing them and wants to use better methods. Which means , yes he could build a greenhouse at that point, or buy one of the small portable ones they advertise on mushroom sites. Nothing complicated about this, not even about building it yourself.
One could most likely just take a sheet of clear plastic and put it over the shroom patch with a heating pad or something to keep it warm enough.

You could call that a greenhouse, a mini shroom greenhouse, sorta. More like a tent though.

Outdoors, no it's not hard.

Manure and straw for spawn maybe but not as a bulk substrate for wood lovers. If you're growing wood lovers, use wood. One of the great things about wood lovers is the fact that you don't need to grow them in shit. I don't care how clean the shit is, I'd rather eat shrooms from wood than shit.

Wood lovers are also less habitat specific and adapt easier than cubensis. Which means you can spread them to public property easily, like they mention in Paul Stamets Psilocybin mushrooms of the world. And they can easily come back every year. With cubensis, you try doing that in a cow or horse pasture it's not nearly as easy.


Idiotic.

I'm not going to keep arguing. I just think it's retarded that people always assume cubensis is easier to grow when there's a lot of proof that it isn't. The only advantage to cubensis is you can easily fruit it indoors.

ok first, you're not being specific whether you're talking about Panaeuols cyanescens, psilocybe cyanescens, or copelandia cyanescens.

second, the guy fucking lives in an apartment/condo, he doesn't have a yard to build a grow patch.

third, ya gotta crawl before you run

as you want higher potency, I'll tell you about panaeuols cyanescens.

ya gotta use manure. ya gotta case it. ya gotta have specific growing conditions. and ya gotta read up.

ya gotta have very specific moisture content, co2 perimeters (measuring in ppm, mind you) as well as light perimeters.
ya gotta be very comfortable with cubes first, including spawning to bulk substrate. cubes are extremely easy compared to pan. cyans.

a high yeilding substrate is:

7 parts dried cow dung
7 parts soaked grass seed

Instead of grass seed soaked straw can be used as well for bigger fruits

2 parts fine vermiculite
2 parts coarse vermiculite

then you gotta correct the ph of this using limestone grit and granular gypsum


this is spawned using rye grain.

and then cased.

pan. cyans are less resistant to contams than cubes.

jesus dude, why the fuck am I even arguing with you?

now, op, you tell me, does this sound like something simple for you or would you rather stick to cubes in a fucking grow bag?

ok first, you're not being specific whether you're talking about Panaeuols cyanescens, psilocybe cyanescens, or copelandia cyanescens.

second, the guy fucking lives in an apartment/condo, he doesn't have a yard to build a grow patch.

third, ya gotta crawl before you run

as you want higher potency, I'll tell you about panaeuols cyanescens.

ya gotta use manure. ya gotta case it. ya gotta have specific growing conditions. and ya gotta read up.

ya gotta have very specific moisture content, co2 perimeters (measuring in ppm, mind you) as well as light perimeters.
ya gotta be very comfortable with cubes first, including spawning to bulk substrate. cubes are extremely easy compared to pan. cyans.

a high yeilding substrate is:

7 parts dried cow dung
7 parts soaked grass seed

Instead of grass seed soaked straw can be used as well for bigger fruits

2 parts fine vermiculite
2 parts coarse vermiculite

then you gotta correct the ph of this using limestone grit and granular gypsum


this is spawned using rye grain.

and then cased.

pan. cyans are less resistant to contams than cubes.

jesus dude, why the fuck am I even arguing with you?

now, op, you tell me, does this sound like something simple for you or would you rather stick to cubes in a fucking grow bag?

It's pretty obvious I was talking about psilocybe cyanescens since I said "wood lovers" and you don't seem to understand that copelandia cyanescens and panaeolus cyanescens are the same species.

I suggested psilocybe azurescens and psilocybe cyanescens because they're wood lovers and also extremely hardy and easy to grow as long as you can provide them with the environment they need.

When the guy is no longer too lazy or busy to look more into better methods, by that time he'll probably be able to move some place where he can grow wood lovers. But if not, he may live in a suitable climate for them, and then he can just grow them outdoors on public property or whatever. Just a suggestion.

Pan Cyan grows wild not far from me. But I'd never suggest any beginner try to grow them.

I grew mushrooms using PF Tek before I had ever even tried them. You can only make one or two cakes if you want. And it'll probably end up cheaper than a pre-made grow system anyway.

But if you're expecting convenience in drug manufacture, then forget it. There's a reason why there's not a shroom grow-op on every block...

- Tom

Dude, how the fuck are you capable of surviving on your own if you aren't capable of searching the web for a few fucking minutes?

Are you retarded? Or just incredibly fucking fail?

It's pretty obvious I was talking about psilocybe cyanescens since I said "wood lovers" and you don't seem to understand that copelandia cyanescens and panaeolus cyanescens are the same species.

I suggested psilocybe azurescens and psilocybe cyanescens because they're wood lovers and also extremely hardy and easy to grow as long as you can provide them with the environment they need.

When the guy is no longer too lazy or busy to look more into better methods, by that time he'll probably be able to move some place where he can grow wood lovers. But if not, he may live in a suitable climate for them, and then he can just grow them outdoors on public property or whatever. Just a suggestion.

Pan Cyan grows wild not far from me. But I'd never suggest any beginner try to grow them.

that doesn't make them easier to grow than cubes!

and this is the second time you've told somebody to move to get better drugs. jesus, it's not that important.

but whatever

not gonna waste my time

op, if you feel like doing this, knock yourself out

http://www.fungifun.org/English/Psilocybe-Azurescens-Outdoor-Cultivation

but, the first step is the pf-tek, unless you want to get into agar cultures.

seeing as you're not going to be doing that, I don't think you'll be doing this.

that doesn't make them easier to grow than cubes!

and i didnt knoez dat panaeolus cyanescens nd copelandia cyanescens were da same species

but whatever

not gonna waste my time

op, if you feel like doing this, knock yourself out

http://www.fungifun.org/English/Psilocybe-Azurescens-Outdoor-Cultivation

but, the first step is the pf-tek, unless you want to get into agar cultures.

seeing as you're not going to be doing that, I don't think you'll be doing this.
It's a good guide, but you don't actually need agar or pf tek type spawn. For spawn, I'd go with pasteurized manure/straw or cardboard. Pretty simple. If I were to use grain spawn, I'd probably ferment the grain first like Mycelio did but I'd still use cardboard initially. Grain and pf tek type spawn just gives the mushroom mycelium more easily/quickly accessible nutrients for quick strong spawn.

If you have agar skills then you're set, you can grow pretty much any shrooms. Though you don't actually need agar skills for azures or psilocybe cyanescens. The guy did say money wasn't an issue, so if he wanted whenever he's feeling less lazy/busy then he could buy all the stuff for agar isolation, which isn't really much stuff to buy. It's nothing too complicated.

It's a good guide, but you don't actually need agar or pf tek type spawn. For spawn, I'd go with pasteurized manure/straw or cardboard. Pretty simple. If I were to use grain spawn, I'd probably ferment the grain first like Mycelio did but I'd still use cardboard initially. Grain and pf tek type spawn just gives the mushroom mycelium more easily/quickly accessible nutrients for quick strong spawn.

If you have agar skills then you're set, you can grow pretty much any shrooms. Though you don't actually need agar skills for azures or psilocybe cyanescens. The guy did say money wasn't an issue, so if he wanted whenever he's feeling less lazy/busy then he could buy all the stuff for agar isolation, which isn't really much stuff to buy. It's nothing too complicated.

you made me lol

hard

thank you:D

wuteva wuteva

I got about an ounce of cubensis mushrooms grown on straight brown rice, cooked in glass salsa jars in an unpressurized pot. Every cake grew mushrooms, and all I had to buy was a dollar's worth of brown rice and a spore print. Yes a print, not a syringe.

I posted my plan on a different forum and EVERYONE told me I would fail miserably. But seven out of seven jars grew mushrooms, and me and a few friends went on some nice trips with them. Later I grew a bunch of mushrooms on a brown rice cake that was baked in an oven in a casserole dish. That one grew the first flush of shrooms just fine, but it got moldy before the second flush could come on.

That's pretty neat. Pics would be nice too.

How'd you manage to keep the moisture content correct with plain brown rice? How many holes were in the lid? Did you use a filter?

That's pretty neat. Pics would be nice too.

How'd you manage to keep the moisture content correct with plain brown rice? How many holes were in the lid? Did you use a filter?
I managed the moisture content by keeping lids on the jars. They were loose. There were no holes in them, and I did not use a filter. After the mycelia colonized the rice, I pulled the cakes out and put them in a plastic tub with saran wrap over the top and a little water in the bottom. These things normally grow in fields full of horse shit, it's not like they're extremely vulnerable to very much.

It doesn't seem like you can easily post pictures here, but here's a picture of some of my mushrooms growing. This is after I already picked most of them though, these are just the stragglers.

http://www.rollitup.org/attachments/hallucinatory-substances/195267d1221629205-seeing-what-i-can-get-pict0031.jpg

I managed the moisture content by keeping lids on the jars. They were loose. There were no holes in them, and I did not use a filter. After the mycelia colonized the rice, I pulled the cakes out and put them in a plastic tub with saran wrap over the top and a little water in the bottom. These things normally grow in fields full of horse shit, it's not like they're extremely vulnerable to very much.

It doesn't seem like you can easily post pictures here, but here's a picture of some of my mushrooms growing. This is after I already picked most of them though, these are just the stragglers.

http://www.rollitup.org/attachments/hallucinatory-substances/195267d1221629205-seeing-what-i-can-get-pict0031.jpg
Good thinking.

It's best if more people do experiments like that, although the molds can be deadly. I figured you must've had very few holes or just left the lid on loose with no holes. The whole grains rather than powder would lessen the risk of contamination as well. Scraping spores in is kinda risky, or however you did it, but I think people can have a lot of success just by being careful like you did. It beats not trying at all. I'm pretty sure cubensis spores can germinate on wet cardboard too and that can be used to spawn to something else but of course it won't grow nearly as well on cardboard as the azures or cyans.

Colonized pieces of cardboard added to cooked whole brown rice at cooler temps may work quite well. Open air transfers probably wouldn't matter, cause I think the cooking may only be necessary to add the water to the rice.. I can't picture whole grains contaminating too quickly at room temp or a bit lower and the colonized pieces would probably eat through the rice really fast.

Cardboard is very contamination resistant. People sometimes use it in agar isolation apparently so that the wood lovers grow through the cardboard into the agar since molds and other crap don't like cardboard.

Good thinking.

It's best if more people do experiments like that, although the molds can be deadly. I figured you must've had very few holes or just left the lid on loose with no holes. The whole grains rather than powder would lessen the risk of contamination as well. Scraping spores in is kinda risky, or however you did it, but I think people can have a lot of success just by being careful like you did. It beats not trying at all. I'm pretty sure cubensis spores can germinate on wet cardboard too and that can be used to spawn to something else but of course it won't grow nearly as well on cardboard as the azures or cyans.

Colonized pieces of cardboard added to cooked whole brown rice at cooler temps may work quite well. Open air transfers probably wouldn't matter, cause I think the cooking may only be necessary to add the water to the rice.. I can't picture whole grains contaminating too quickly at room temp or a bit lower and the colonized pieces would probably eat through the rice really fast.

Cardboard is very contamination resistant. People sometimes use it in agar isolation apparently so that the wood lovers grow through the cardboard into the agar since molds and other crap don't like cardboard.
Yeah, the rice holds water well, and using whole grains creates a lot of gaps for the mycelia to move through. I was actually very careful. Before scraping the spore print, I recommend moving to a dry, relatively unused room with little or no fans or ventilation. Oh, and wash your hands with a weak bleach solution and DON'T dry your hands on a hand towel, those things are full of germs. I scraped the spores off with a piece of wire I heated with a hand torch, and was careful not to stir up any dust in the room i did the transfer in. I think it's best to do the transfer when the rice is warm but not hot. This causes the water to condense on the spores as it cools, which hydrates them, plus the heat seems like it would make them germinate faster.

In the five small jars, two eventually had some mold start to grow on the surface. I actually heated a spoon with my torch and scooped out the mold for both, and the mold didn't come back on either.

I know some fungi can be dangerous, but are the ones that grow on rice dangerous at all? If they were, you'd think people would be a lot more cautious about checking bread or leftovers for mold.

Yeah, the rice holds water well, and using whole grains creates a lot of gaps for the mycelia to move through. I was actually very careful. Before scraping the spore print, I recommend moving to a dry, relatively unused room with little or no fans or ventilation. Oh, and wash your hands with a weak bleach solution and DON'T dry your hands on a hand towel, those things are full of germs. I scraped the spores off with a piece of wire I heated with a hand torch, and was careful not to stir up any dust in the room i did the transfer in. I think it's best to do the transfer when the rice is warm but not hot. This causes the water to condense on the spores as it cools, which hydrates them, plus the heat seems like it would make them germinate faster.

In the five small jars, two eventually had some mold start to grow on the surface. I actually heated a spoon with my torch and scooped out the mold for both, and the mold didn't come back on either.

I know some fungi can be dangerous, but are the ones that grow on rice dangerous at all? If they were, you'd think people would be a lot more cautious about checking bread or leftovers for mold. The basics of what most deadly molds need, or all molds, is in brown rice. The reason cardboard is selectively contamination resistant is because it has very little nutrients and it's not something molds are good at breaking down and materials which are not ground up or powdered have less surface area and are thicker and so, harder to break down/get through.

Here's one of the deadly ones http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspergillus_flavus

A Flavus can eat/rot the brain and lungs and kill you. It will grow quite well on brown rice. The symptoms of many of these molds won't show up till years or months after damage has been done. But for most people with a normal healthy immune system, it'll take a pretty large amount of the spores to kill them. This is why you can overwhelm antifungals with enough spores, whereas a small amount of spores would simply be destroyed by the antifungal/antimicrobial.

If you were attempting to cultivate p cubensis and spores of a deadly mold happened to get in during inoculation and take over before p cubensis was able to, and you thought you were growing cubensis all that time, well that's a lot of deadly mold. There can certainly be enough spores to kill you if you got a good whiff of them, and some take less to kill.

With moldy bread or other foods, it's usually not that moldy before people throw it out and fortunately it's probably usually a common green mold and not one of the more dangerous ones. But if you happened to grow a mold when you thought it was mushrooms, that's quite a bit more, and it's well established.

Sporulation will be delayed sometimes, so your all white rice cake may not be the fungus you want, and may reveal itself when it sporulates with green or black spores for example.

With a pressure cooker, you can kill the contamination if you see it in the jar, then dump the crap out and re-use the jar. Though some spores won't be destroyed with a pressure cooker. There are many deadly yeasts and molds. Makes me wonder why more aren't used to assassinate.

But how can aspergillus be bad for you? It's all natural! ;)

It's pretty easy to get a feeling for what's mushroom mycelia and what's mold, I think. Any non-mushroom fungi are usually not as white as the mushroom mycelia. I'm guessing the only real danger would come if some idiot couldn't wait for his shrooms and ate the cakes, or couldn't tell that the green stuff growing on his rice cakes wasn't shrooms. I guess if there's stuff growing on the mushrooms themselves, that would be bad too, but you'd think that'd be easy to detect.

Even experienced cultivators could be fooled by mold. You don't have to be an idiot to be fooled. It depends on the type of mold. The worst thing I can imagine happening is sporulation in the fruiting chamber, cause that could be inhaled easier than if it were to sporulate inside a jar with a filter or a sealed jar.

I'm not trying to discourage you, I'd rather you try, and get killed (which is very unlikely) than not try at all. But there is many good reasons people use sterile procedures. Hopefully someone will develop a perfect method for people that don't want to use pressure cookers or feel that they can't. It won't be difficult at all. I just hope they share their results with lots of people.

You could try a growbag, I did, but I wouldn't unless you've grown before.

Idk. Grow bags aren't as simple as you think because as for a first time grow you don't know how long things will take and you probably won't know when to mash it to get it colonized as fast as possible.

Go for it, I'm not trying to discourage you. I just fucked up and ended up getting cobweb, but I did use some of the mycellium to make a syringe to innoc PF cakes. Honestly it's way easier than the bag, you know what's going on, you can see progress, etc. I can show you my setup if you wanna see it, doesn't work amazingly - but hey, I tripped the night before last and that's all I care about.

This... no seriously... just give up.