(Part 2) Top products from r/MushroomGrowers

Yes - it's Tuesday, not Wednesday, but it is Tuesday evening around 10:30 or so, close enough for the first one which I prepared on a whim after work. I haven't figured out how to schedule posts because I haven't Googled it yet. Bear with me! I've been inundated with life the past few days.

I have a specimen of L. nuda colonizing agar beautifully now, I would like to learn more about this species but I do not have the time to do all of the leg work, if you'd like a sample of this culture I will give one away to the neatest factoid you can find regarding Blewitt mushrooms, which I have not already highlighted. Highest upvoted factoid presented can received the culture or pass it on to another, shipping is on me.

Thanks folks - let me know how you like the formatting and everything. I typed up a lot of the information in the first page or two from Medicinal Mushrooms: An Exploration of Tradition, Healing, & Culture, and copy/pasta'd some other online things I was able to dig up.

Let me know - and thanks!

Myc

Hey friend! That's kind of a big question with a lot of detail. All the information is out there, but it can be tricky to find. I think we can all empathize with you there.

Generally speaking, all the concepts are the same, it's only the equipment that changes. Essentially, all you're doing is the following, without any of the details:

 

1. Get a small culture and expand it
   
   
2. Wait a few days/weeks.
   
   
3. Use the expanded culture to inoculate some spawn. Alternately you can just buy the spawn online and skip to step 5
   
   
4. Wait around a few days/weeks for the spawn to colonize (if you didn't buy it online).
   
   
5. Prepare some substrate (usually sawdust/wood chips that have been pasteurized, or sawdust/wood chips supplemented with a grain bran that has all been sterilized) and inoculate it with your spawn. You can usually source hardwood sawdust/wood chips for free on places like CraigsList. If not, you'll have to buy it in the form of mulch or pellets.
   
   
6. More waiting
   
   
7. Expose the colonized substrate to fruiting conditions
   
   
8. More waiting
   
   
9. Take pictures of your grow and pretend it was all easy
   
    
   
   I usually advocate for getting a pressure cooker and beginning with grains/jars; but you said you were on a tight budget, so I'll give you some beginner-tier options to get the above accomplished. The caveat here is that they're by no means the best or least-risky methods, but you asked for a cheap way forward that is still effective, so that's what I'll give you. It would be impossible for me to list out every detail, so just ask me questions and I'll fill in the rest one thing at a time:
   
    
   
   You could pasteurize prepared wood chip/sawdust mix (substrate) in a coffee can or plastic tub (with a lid) and buy pre-made spawn online. Spawn is ≈$10-25USD and comes as bags of grains or sawdust. You can find tubs all over the place for cheap. Then you just combine the two, wait for the substrate to colonize, and fruit from there (Steps 5-9).
   
   You could also buy a grocery store Hericium mushroom, chop it up into slices, spread that out over moist cardboard, and let that colonize. This is a little more risky with Hericium (v. Pleurotus, which is much more aggressive). After it finishes, you would add that cardboard spawn to some pasteurized wood chip/sawdust mix in layers, then wait for it to finish colonizing before fruiting it (Steps 3-9).
   
   Those are both cheap ways to start out, but don't skimp on the spawn.
   
   Depending on the tote you use, you might need to make a ShotGun Fruiting Chamber (SGFC), which is just a tote with holes in it on all 6 sides, with some perlite or grow stone at the bottom. It's as expensive as it is to buy a tote. You'll need to find a drill and bit to make the holes. I can run you through that, too.
   
    
   
   All of this is just a basic idea to point you in a direction given your low budget. It's slightly more risky, but cheap and easy. That's the tradeoff.
   
   If you're in college, you might have access to a biology lab and be able to use their equipment. Glass Petri dishes, bio-safety cabinet, autoclave, possible supply of agar, etc. Let me know if you do and I'll walk you though some more advanced techniques that also meet your budget. All you'd have to do is buy a few bags at ≈$1USD each and either some liquid culture (≈$10), or even a store-bought mushroom will do.
   
    
   
   That's a super rough, dirty version. People will probably yell at me, but that's ok. I can't type out a novel here, so just ask questions about what you don't understand and we'll go from there. If you need a source that takes you front to back, go to your college library and Inter-Library-Loan "Growing Gourmet and Medicinal Mushrooms" or "Organic Mushroom Farming and Mycoremediation: Simple to Advanced and Experimental Techniques for Indoor and Outdoor Cultivation".

Agar is definitely the way to go. A good technique for making your plates is Pastywhyte's Easy Agar Tek but the recipe he gives is no good. Potato dextrose agar might be a viable option to inoculate with mycelium, but it's not good for germinating spores, and you definitely don't want preservative-laden potato flakes. Malt extract, oatmeal, and straight dextrose have all been known to work well. Here's a list of agar media recipes. I can only personally vouch for the malt extract. If you go that route, you want the light stuff, I've had good results with this.

I do agar with an SAB and a 23qt presto also.
These pyrex bottles are awesome for making agar https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B004XR5TUM/ref=ppx_yo_mob_b_inactive_ship_o0_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Look up recipes and find what you like. I use light malt extract ordered from amazon and the telephone brand agar https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00D42CRIE/ref=ppx_yo_mob_b_inactive_ship_o0_img?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Agar is awesome but seems overwhelming at first but once you just get the stuff and try it you will love it.

Yea, you wanna aim for like no more than 105 degrees F before you pour your agar, but obviously not cool enough that the agar starts to solidify. I continually shake mine to avoid solidification. These things are great for measuring the temp of the agar in the bottle before you pour: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07X2N66D7/ref=ppx_od_dt_b_asin_title_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1
If you still get condensation, you can minimize it by stacking the plate in higher stacks. The condensation will gather more on the top plates. You can also place a flat-bottomed cup of hot water on the top plate (before you wrap the plates) and some or all of the condensation will go away. It's not a game changer if you get some condensation, but you might want to store the plates upside down so it doesn't drip on your culture. I got all this information from BOD's agar tek, which is a great tek: https://www.shroomery.org/forums/showflat.php/Number/21922023

This is what you want my friend :)

I have two and they are fackin' amazing. I also owned one of those little greenhouse things, they are not built well sadly.

The best starting advice is to read this book. Paul Stamets is like the pope of mushrooms and the book covers not only the biology but the economics of mushroom growing.


https://www.amazon.com/Growing-Gourmet-Medicinal-Mushrooms-Stamets-ebook/dp/B004GTLS2U/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1536675476&sr=8-1&keywords=paul+stamets+mushroom+book

​

As for morels, my understanding is that they require the trees they grow on and the microbiome they create. Nobody has learned how to create that condition in a controlled environment yet.

Excuse me if I sound ignorant, I'm just starting out. This is my first time growing anything, really. These are from a kit I bought so that I can make sure I can grow the simplest thing without horrible things happening.
The kit I bought is this one on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0189JPZL2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I don't even know how to go about sending you something like that, something like a spore print through the mail or what?

I bought [this] (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0189JPZL2/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_eDalybF951R0G) kit from Amazon a while back, and I just got around to starting it. About a week or so after I started misting it, the mushrooms started growing. It's great watching these things grow.

Easily the best book on the subject and covers EVERYTHING from beginner to advanced Cultivation! https://www.amazon.com/Organic-Mushroom-Farming-Mycoremediation-Experimental/dp/1603584552/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1485652059&sr=1-1&keywords=tradd+cotter Do not think it is a waste of money!

The first one you linked is FAIRLY similar to the one I am using right now - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004YTSB7C

I picked a higher flow model as I like to lay a piece of furnace filter over it as a pre-filter to keep SOME of the gunk floating around in my basement out of the humidity bucket. It lets me go a little longer between scrubs to clean out the bucket. I'm all about lazy efficiency ;-)

Bucket top

Hey! Here is the grow tent I bought, here is the humidifier, and you may want to get this humidity controller to make things a lot easier.

No problem. These are pricey but are excellent units and have a 3 year warranty.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B002QZ11J6/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_rPcXDbK3M3WTH

you could put a glass full of water in there to try to help.

If you think its that bad, go down to the pet store and pick up a hydrometer, for reptile cages. It should only be a few bucks. It won't be 100% accurate, but should give you a good idea of where you are at.

http://www.amazon.com/Exo-Terra-PT2466-Hygrometer/dp/B00026053Y/ref=zg_bs_3048857011_3

Have you tried Amazon? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000RNH7PQ/ref=asc_df_B000RNH7PQ4745251/?tag=hyprod-20&creative=394997&creativeASIN=B000RNH7PQ&linkCode=df0&hvadid=167158323047&hvpos=1o2&hvnetw=g&hvrand=1302571502979749684&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=t&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9013461&hvtargid=pla-273195472279

Unless you use brf jars, the pressure cooker is a must. I use a much older mirro (like the one in the link, just years older) and its still going strong.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B016TWGSXA/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1483648522&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=18l+pressure+cooker&dpPl=1&dpID=41tX-hPtDPL&ref=plSrch

What's wrong with this one? 20L, £89 with free shipping...

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B002MPQH7Q/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1483648682&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=22l+pressure+cooker&dpPl=1&dpID=41pHU9%2BL54L&ref=plSrch

Another big one, slightly more expensive if you don't want the cheapest thing out there.

https://www.amazon.com/Agar-Powder-4-oz/dp/B00015UC48

Here you go.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009CNHF68?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00

what you mean container

Aitoh SG-A Shoji Gami Origami Paper Washi Roll, 11-Inch x 60-Feet https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000JJMI48/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_ANWxzbZ3JMFG6

I don't really like my inoculation loop. I don't like having to "sanitize" or flame the loop and... I bet it would work but I just got a box of... https://www.amazon.com/Cotton-Tip-Applicator-Sterile-100/dp/B000BI3M60/ref=sr_1_3_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1550087680&sr=8-3&keywords=Sterile+swabs so I'm not sure if I'll ever use it. Or I use a scalpel.

That is my understanding. Remember to account for the resistance the pre-filter puts up too. When I built my first one I was getting advice from a guy who had built several, his advice was to get a larger blower than you need. It is easier to restrict the air flow by adding a speed controller than it is to replace a 'too small' blower. Start at the lowest setting and work your way up until you reach laminar flow and make a mark on your controller.

perlite link

No, you don’t need a pressure cooker. A deep pot with a tight fitting lid will do just fine. You don’t really want to mix strains because different types require different factors for fruiting. a general rule of thumb is to stay consistent