how to grow mushrooms the easy way

What do you guys use to cover the holes when you put the jars in the pressure cooker

What holes?

The holes in the lid that are used for injecting the spore culture into the growing medium. I just put common masking tape over them, then aluminum foil over the entire lid.

That isn't part of this tek

I put holes in mine, after I inoculate them can I leave the holes open or tape them shut?

so.nice: based on your original question I assumed you're talking about the PF-TEK method of growing mushrooms. As a helpful inmate here has pointed out, your question is off-topic from (or not part of) the original post of this thread. Based on your latest question, I am going to continue to assume you're referring to the PF-TEK method.

Answer - I would re-tape the holes, to prevent any form of contaminant from entering. Sterile medical tape is best for resealing.

Yeah I'm doing the pf-tek on youtube because the popcorn method seemed too complicated having to soak and wash, and thanks I don't have medical tape but I'm just gonna shoot the syringe into the original tape and put more tape over it after..

More regular tape will still work. There should be a layer of vermiculite between the top of the growing medium and lid, acting as a buffer to keep out contaminants. You're good to go - best wishes!

so.nice said:

Yeah I'm doing the pf-tek on youtube because the popcorn method seemed too complicated having to soak and wash, and thanks I don't have medical tape but I'm just gonna shoot the syringe into the original tape and put more tape over it after..

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Yeah. Sounds like you should pf first if boilin' the corn is too complicated. Get used to that. Then switch to corn.

Thanks guys, I'm doing three tapalpa since it grows fast and two B+, I have golden teacher as well but those are too big

This is not a pf thread. Pf tek, as I have said over and over again is neither the easiest nor the quickest nor the most productive.

It is simply a very complicated method of getting around purchasing a pressure cooker.

The method in this thread uses no holes in the lid, which would be silly, no fruiting chamber, no perlite, no exotic mixtures, no birthing no dunking no rolling.

Just growing.

so.nice said:

Yeah I'm doing the pf-tek on youtube because the popcorn method seemed too complicated having to soak and wash, and thanks I don't have medical tape but I'm just gonna shoot the syringe into the original tape and put more tape over it after..

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Why is boiling corn more complicated than mixing a bunch of stuff?

I half assed washed my popcorn and just boiled it till I saw a few of them were splitting open, not complicated at all . Find out how much popcorn you need beforehand tho, I just followed this tek exactly and boiled up 25 pounds. I ended up with like 15 pounds left over after half filling 12 quart jars

canndo said:

Tell us your ideas on improvement.

Remember, this was meant to replace pf as a starting point. Now you see how it all works. Bet you can get 80peecent next time. After that, please abandon this method.

Move on. Make your own way.

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Canndo - here is a long overdue response to your request.

With regards to improvement, I was referring to my own inability to read the instructions carefully. For example, I drained the popcorn overnight after boiling but neglected to roll it on a towel to absorb external moisture the following day. This moisture together with the 1-2 ccs of inoculant caused (I believe) my substrate to contaminate and/or stall completely. It was a few months ago so I can't recall what the issues were w/ each jar specifically but i lost 8 out of 10 jars.

Inoculation - I used a quick DIY still air box. Cut two holes, wiped out w/ alcohol and worked inside of this with latex gloves and a procedure mask all inside of a heavily Lysol'ed room. HOWEVER, all the precaution proved to be ineffective considering the above oversight. All in all, it was a good exercise to go through and should prove useful for my next attempt...

Second flush - I noticed while harvesting the first flush that the substrate shrinks significantly. This makes sense considering how much water the fruits require. I read up a bit and learned that soaking overnight with distilled water is common practice. It doesn't seem to hydrate completely but w/o the addition of water there is no way a second flush would occur.

Temperature - I happened to have a small space heater lying around so this helped me regulate the different optimum temperatures for the mycelium growth and fruiting stages. Again, I made this adaptation to the tek w/o having first tried doing it w/o so I can't say weather or not it contributed anything.

Light - I have some questions about this... Mycelium like dark, correct? I see recommendations for wrapping the jars to colonize in a large trash bag. I assume this is to keep out light but could be to regulate temperature (or both). Back to the light... A kelvin spectrum of less than 5000k won't cause a living organism to grow (half speculation). Therefore, my closet light of 2500k should have no bearing at all on the mycelium growth (or fruit for that matter) in the jars if they are not covered/wrapped. Si o no?

Drying - not covered in the tek but it's worth mentioning that an oven is NOT the way to go! My lowest temperature setting is 170F and the first flush came out dry but completely brown. I tossed them assuming that the active ingredients had been toasted out. Round 2 went in a tray w/ paper towel liner for 2 days on a shelf over the portable heater and then into a coffee filter that was set over desiccant inside of an airtight container. This worked very well for me.

Ok, firstfirst, your second flush does not need more water.

Second, a glove box is fine but technique is alway better.

Third, light just doesn't matter, mycelium will grow in darkness or light, the fruit need only a tiny bit for trigger.

The wrapping is only to avoid side pins.

And finally, your 170 degree oven works just fine if you prop the door open.

I do that very thing with oysters that will rot before they dry

Read this whole thread and I must say the most informative I found on this site thus far. Thank you Cando for all the insight. I will try this with out skimping at any point. Pressure Cooker being very important. Harvest my NYC diesel to pay for supplies ...lol. thanks again

The easy way: stumbleupon (them in a forest). I'm kidding.... I've been looking in forests for.... a year and a half.... nothing interesting except Amanita Cokerii, which contains--apparently-- toxic amino acids.

AthenaDaze said:

The easy way: stumbleupon (them in a forest). I'm kidding.... I've been looking in forests for.... a year and a half.... nothing interesting except Amanita Cokerii, which contains--apparently-- toxic amino acids.

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Most of them don't like forests

canndo said:

Most of them don't like forests

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Which is why I was joking about that being a smart idea.

I just became a member here... And this is the first thread I began to read.... I couldn't even finish it. This is horrible information ..... Jesus I would be here all dam night if I pointed out all the nonsense in this tek... This tek is Garbo. If you want to learn how to grow cubes the correct way go to mycotek.org