This blog is about my journey with bipolar depression. After 15 years of suffering with depression, I have finally found relief. 11 years of suicidal thoughts have finally been stopped. I have energy and a desire to be with my family! I've got my life back!
Takes Approximately 48 - 72 Hours: Prepare the grain, jars, and lid. Pressure cook the jars of grain. Prepare the clean room, and inoculate the grain with spores.
Takes Approximately 1 Month: Grow the mycelium
Once the mycelium has grown throughout the grain, this is called "grain
spawn" in the mushroom growing world.
Above is a picture of grain spawn that has
been fully colonized by mycelium in a grain jar. As you can see, the whole jar will look white.
It took about 4 weeks
for the mycelium to completely grow in my jars of grain.
Can I really do this?
YES!! You really can do this. Anyone can grow mushrooms. It just takes knowledge, patience, time, planning, and organization.
I'm here to help you with each of these. I had never done anything like this before. I scoured the internet, read books, watched videos, read articles, stalked different reddit and facebook groups.... but I did it. I figured it out.
If I can do this, so can you!!
Please do not just go step by step and not read the whole article. You will need to read this blog like five times before you
actually do this. Don't skip any of the steps. Watch the videos. Take notes. Picture in your head
what you are going to do, before you do it.
You don't want to waste time and money on doing this wrong and having to start the whole process over again.
You have done it!!! This last step is by far the easiest of phase one.
Be patient. I remember at around day 10 after inoculation, I was ready to throw out the whole lot, because NOTHING was growing in those jars. I couldn't see any of the white of the mycelium, or any other weird stuff growing (which is great!).
I would look everyday, sometimes twice a day. I was praying over them, talking to them... and nothing!
It was around day 12ish that I saw the first growth. I was so crazy excited! From there it just took off. I was shocked that it took a full 4 or 5 weeks to colonize the whole jar. It was so long ago, I don't remember the exact time. It felt like in my mind that it was about a month.
I also remember that I was not ready for phase 2 yet. I was able to wait about a week, but there were sooooo many hyphal knots, I was sure it was going to start pinning anytime.
I'll talk about timing of this later in the article. You can make it last a couple weeks longer or make it grow a week, maybe two faster.
🟧
Box with a lid (not clear... the mycelium needs the dark). It can be multiple boxes if needed. The quart jars will
need to fit in the box, with the lid on.
🟧Thermometer and Humidity Reader,
you won't need the humidity part for phase one, but the thermometer is
helpful to find out what temperature your grain spawn is growing in.
What to do
Now that the jars have been inoculated, it's time to get these jars into the darkness, and let the mycelium grow.
Label the inoculated jars.
I personally didn't need to do this,
because all of my jars had the exact same mycelium growing.
Additionally, this was going to be my only grow for years to come. But if you
do need to label them, be sure to do this before you put them away for a month.
Place the jars in a box with a lid - or in a dark cupboard.
The jars will need to be in
darkness as the mycelium is growing. Think about how nature does this. Mycelium grows under the ground... in the dark! We are trying to create those same circumstances.
After I bought my pressure cooker, I
realized that box was the perfect size for this. It fit all 10 jars,
with some extra room. I just shoved an old towel in there, so the jars
were packed in tight.
If you don't want to use a box, that is fine. You can put them under a bed, or in a cupboard. You just want to make sure they have darkness. Some ambient light will be fine.
The box is helpful so you don't accidentally drop one of the jars as you are looking at them. You can pull all of the jars out at once.
Place a thermometer next to the jars, to keep an eye on the temperature.
Depending on the type of mushroom you are growing, you are going to need to keep a certain temperature range for the mycelium to grow at.
You want the mycelium to grow as fast as possible, decreasing the chances of other contaminants to take hold.
For instance, I grew Golden Teachers (psilocybin cubensis). They love warm climates. The mycelium really likes to grow when it's between 78-80 degrees.
Check on the jars at least twice a week. There are several reasons for this.
It's really fun to do! Watching the progress of the mycelium growing is quite satisfying.
It help you figure out how much time you have until you need to start phase 2.
It will also let you keep an eye out for any contamination. If there is contamination, you will need to throw it out immediately. I will write more about contamination in another post.
Keep an eye on the moisture. Once the mycelium is growing, the inside of the jars should have beads of water on them. If it's getting to dry, you might need to have a different type of heat source. See below for other ideas about keeping the mycelium warm.
Do not ever open the jars.
This might be tempting, if you think they might need more moisture, or you are curious.
If you open the jars you will most likely get a contamination. The food source in those jars WANTS to be colonized. So keep those jars closed until they are fully colonized and ready for phase 2.
Let it grow! This part is easy... just wait.
When the mycelium is first growing, you don't want to disturb it by shaking the jars. I talk more about this in the next section about encouraging growth.
How to Encourage or Discourage Mycelium to Grow
Because of timing (maybe you will be out of town for a long period of time, or you are having surgery or something) you might want to encourage or discourage growth of the mycelium.
If you want to encourage growth, make it warmer (not too warm
though!), and break up the mycelium so there are strong patches of it
throughout the jar. You want at least 30% of the jar established before you shake it up. If the temperature is right, this can happen between week 1-3, depending on the type of mycelium you are growing, and the growing conditions.
To discourage growth you will do just the opposite. First, you can make the temperature cooler, but realize you will risk more contamination, so beware! If the mycelium grows too slow, it can give other contaminants the chance to start growing.
Secondly, you can also just leave the jars without breaking up the mycelium.
Temperature
Temperature plays a crucial role in both the growth of the mycelium and the then the fruiting of it, to make the mushrooms. So do the research on the type of mushrooms you are growing.
Here are some common mushrooms types and the temperatures they like when growing and fruiting.
Psilocybe Cubensis (Golden Teacher, B+, penis envy, hillbilly, etc.) mushrooms are tropical mushrooms. The mushrooms and mycelium are generally the happiest
between 70°F – 80°F (21°C – 27°C). While they will grow in colder
temperatures, their growth rates will be be far from nominal, and not
ideal for cultivation. Sometimes the mushrooms will not fruit if the temperature drops below 68-70°F (20°C – 21°C). So if you are struggling to get them to fruit, this might be the reason.
Psilocybe Cyanescens (wavy caps, potent psilocybe) are very different than cubensis. You can grow the mycelium in 65-75°F (18-24°C). However, fruiting will only begin with the simulation of a fall environment, at temperatures between 50-65°F (10-18°C). So these are great to grow during the winter! You can grow the mycelium indoors, and then just put them outdoors when you want them to fruit in the fall and spring.
Temperature Control
Temperature can be super tricky. If you don't have an HVAC system to control the temperature, and you have to use a smaller AC/Heater unit, this InkBird heat thermostatis a really helpful tool to keep the temperature even.
InkBird Thermostat Power Draw Considerations
This thermostat can be used to accurately to regulate grow room temperatures. This is
required as both the ACs and heaters are not sensitive enough to
accurately control the temperature by themselves. The InkBird thermostat
in the link is a reliable device which works well, and supports
electric devices that draw up to 1800W.
So do your homework. Make sure your device you hook up to this doesn't draw more than 1800w of power, or this won't work.
Too Warm or Hot
Mycelium likes it warm, but not hot. Mycelium will struggle growing at 96.8° F (36° C), and will die at 104° F (40° C) .
Keep in mind that the temperature surrounding the jars is different than the temperature INSIDE the jars.
If the temperature around the jars is lets say 80° F (26.5° C), the internal temperature of the jar could be as high as 84° F (29° C). This is what I've heard. I have not done any experiments with this myself.
You will be shocked how warm those jars feel! As they mycelium is growing and eating the grains, they produce heat. They feel like little hand warmers.
So be careful not to kill your mycelium by overheating it.
If you have an
AC in your home or grow room, then keeping the optimum temperature is
just a matter of setting your AC temperature control between 74-76°F (23-24°C).
If you don’t already have an AC, you have two options.
I am an amazon associate, thus if you click on this link and purchase that way, it does help me out. I have not bought or used either of these specifically. I have a home HVAC system.
You can
purchase a portable air conditioner,
although these are pricey ($250-$500). These usually require a vent
hole from your grow room to the outside, which is typically done through
a window.
A slightly less expensive option is a small portable misting air cooler.
This cooler chills the area directly in front of it and can be used in
any size space.
AC Unit Strength (BTUs) and Grow Room Size Considerations
A
British Thermal Unit, or BTU, is an international energy measurement.
By definition, a British Thermal Unit is the amount of heat needed to
raise one pound of water, 1° Fahrenheit. The table below gives a rough
estimate of the AC Unit Strength (BTU) which you will need for cooling
your space, according to its size. For a more precise calculation, you
can visit this link.
BTUs per Hour
Room Size (m²)
Room Size (ft²)
5000
9-14
100-150
6000
14-23
150-250
7000
23-28
250-300
Too Cold
This can be a serious problem too. The mycelium won't grow well, or many mushrooms won't fruit if it's too cold. Many of the commonly easy to grow cubensis like it really warm. They are tropical mushrooms.
If it is on the cooler side, expect the mycelium to grow slower, potentially allowing other contaminants to take hold.
You can always wait until the spring, summer, or fall to grow, and make sure you grow enough to last until next year. You can freeze mushrooms, as well as store them in honey for long-term storage.
If you REALLY need to grow in the winter (like I did) there are a few tricks I have heard of and learned in my search for understanding all of this:
Warm Room Or Closet
I'll tell you what worked for me. I'm lucky to have a room in my home that is warmer than every other room. If I set my thermostat to 68 degrees, that room is 70 degrees. That was super helpful for my mycelium!
When I later needed the mushrooms to fruit, I needed it even warmer. I increased the thermostat to 70 degrees, and that room was between 72-74. It was perfect!
Space Heater
You should choose
a heater that is appropriate for the size of your room. To this end,
you can refer to the table below.
Please, please, please be careful with these! They cause hundreds of home fires each year. Here are 10 basic space heater safety tips:
Check the space heater’s safety certifications, choosing one with a safety certification label from a respected independent testing
organization, such as Underwriters Laboratories, Intertek or CSA Group.
Make sure the space heater has safety features like it automatically shuts off when it
starts to overheat or tips over.
Don’t use extension cords and power strips if possible. If you have to, the InkBird heat thermostat is the best choice because it is meant to control units like these, and is another fail-safe if the unit overheats.
Place the space heater out of harm’s way, keeping it at least three feet away from anything
flammable, such as curtains, rugs, beds and clothes. Also, avoid placing
space heaters on carpet or in high-traffic areas where they could
become a tripping hazard.
Keep kids and pets away from space heaters
Place space heaters on a flat and level surface to avoid tip overs.
Don’t hide space heater cords by running it under a rug or pice of furniture. This poses a fire risk.
Turn off your space heater when you can’t monitor it. If you need to, using the InkBird heat thermostat will be another fail-safe in case the safety mechanisms in the heater fail.
Get rid of space heaters running too hot. If your space heater or its power cord is hot to the touch,
turn it off and unplug it ASAP. Don’t plug in the space heater again. Throw it away.
Regularly inspect your space heater, and immediately replace it if there is a cracked or frayed cord, damaged prongs or loose connections.
You should pay close attention to
safety considerations when choosing a heater. I am an amazon associate, thus if you click on this link and purchase that way, it does help me out.
This heater has an auto shut off if
the heater falls over, an auto shut off it it gets too hot, thus preventing fires. If you intend to use the
InkBird Thermostat Regulator I recommended above, make sure your heater doesn’t
draw more than 1800W. This space heater I'm recommending pulls 1500 w.
Heater Strength (wattage) and Thermostat Considerations With Grow Room Size
Heater Watts
Room Size (m²)
Room Size (ft²)
250
4
43
500
7
75
750
12
129
1000
14
150
1500
21
226
Heating Pad / Blanket
I've seen many people saying that they use a heating pad or heated blanket successfully. However there are some serious concerns to take into consideration.
Heating pads or heating blankets are not meant to stay on 24 hours a day for 2 months! They could easily cause a fire. Here are basic safety tips if you choose to go this route:
Check the heating pad/blanket for safety certifications, choosing one with a safety certification label from a respected independent testing
organization, such as Underwriters Laboratories, Intertek or CSA Group.
Make sure the heating pad/blanket has safety features like it automatically shuts off when it
starts to overheat.
Don’t use extension cords and power strips if possible. The InkBird heat thermostat will not work with these because it only controls the temperature of the room itself.
Get rid of heating pad/blanket running too hot. If your heating pad/blanket or its power cord is hot to the touch,
turn it off and unplug it ASAP. Don’t plug it in again. Throw it away.
Regularly inspect your heating pad/blanket, and immediately replace it if there is a cracked or frayed cord, damaged prongs or loose connections.
Additionally, keep in mind that heating pads/blankets fluctuate in their temperature (you could kill your mycelium). Often they run way too hot, and dry out your grain jars. If your jars of grain get too dry, you are out of luck. You are not able to mist them with additional water. This will contaminate them.
If you choose to use the heating pad method, there were several good ideas that people proposed to help with these issues listed above.
Put the heating pad on top of dresser, with the jars in the top drawer.
Place the heating pad on top of your box or bin.
Be sure to place the heating pad above the jars. This is safer and will not dry your jars much.
Oven Light
A method I've seen in forums is to put the jars in the cabinet
above the oven light and keep the oven light on...the heat from the
oven light gets the temp above 80 degrees!
Keep a close eye on the temperature. As mentioned above, the internal temperature of the jar is different than the temperature in the surrounding area. It's a LOT hotter inside the jar by several degrees.
Lamp / Incubator
How do you keep small animals warm at night? You can use a special lamp for this, or an incubator. These were intended to be on for long periods of time. It seems like a lot more safer route to me.
This could be a great way to maintain temperature in the area.
Keep the jars in a box (for darkness), and possible think about wrapping it in a blanket. However, this might not give enough oxygen to the mycelium. So watch it closely.
The InkBird heat thermostat will help keep the temperature in the room stable if you use this method.
Aquarium Heater With Tubs
First get two of the big rubbermaid tubs, the same size.
Then get a fully submersible fish tank heater. You can set these to an exact degree, and are very consistent in their temperatures.
Secure the heater so it is
slightly elevated from the bottom but don't let it float so that it
doesn't touch any plastic. Also make sure the heater is completely
submerged.
Now
put the heater and some water in the bottom tub. Then put the second
tub inside the first one. The second one will will be floating on top of
the water, but will stay dry.
The containers together fit snugly, but you can still let the power cord come out between the containers.
Put the inoculated grain jars into the top
tub, and make sure there's always enough water in the bottom tub with the heater, or you'll start a fire.
Aquarium Heater with Jars of Water
Get an aquarium heater, 50 watts is enough. Put the heater in a jar of water. One guy used two of these, one in each corner of the box the grain jars are in.
Watch you water levels. You can cause a fire if the water levels get too low.
Water Bed
One guy mentioned that he used his water bed to keep them heated. Clever!
Reptile Heater
Go to a pet store and in the reptile section they
have heaters that look like rocks. One guy bought a small one and use it in conjunction with other methods mentioned above.
Water Heater
One person puts the jars on top of a hot water heater. Its always about 86
degrees. the perfect temperature. Since the heat radiates to the
bottom it encourages the bottom to colonize faster, too. It costs no
extra money, and its a dark area where no one ever goes, so its discreet.
How Long Can I Wait to Start Phase Two?
Once the jars are fully colonized, you can't wait too long to start phase two. At the top of the jars you will see huge masses of beautiful white mycelium, ready to grow some mushrooms for you (fruit bodies).
Grain spawn contains a lot of energy or food for the mycelium
to consume. It’s a bit like rocket fuel for mushrooms. Once it’s added
to your substrate, it will grow like wild fire.
Eventually, the mycelium wants to start fruiting. To do that it will first create something called a hyphal knot. You can think of a hyphal knot as the beginning of a young mushroom, which is also knows as a primordium.
These baby mushrooms or "pins" form a pinhead as it starts to evolve
and sprout from it's mycelial phase. This phase is also called pinning.
The
picture below shows both pins and hyphal knots. The pins are colored brown,
and look like the tiniest of baby mushrooms. The knots are white
concentrated spots, that look like some thread has knotted up (what a great name for it... "knots").
When
you read about others growing mushrooms, they will talk about "pins",
and now you know what they are talking about. It's the smallest form of a
fruiting body of the mushroom starting to grow. They look just like the
top of a sewing pin.
If you try and wait, even in the darkness, the mushrooms will start to pin and WILL start to grow! You don't want this, because you will have a tiny flush of mushrooms.
You want to get the mycelium it into substrate (kind of like dirt) before the mushrooms start pinning. That way, you will have a HUGE yeild of mushrooms.
You have not put in all this effort, time, and money to get it wrong now!!
I prayed over these grain jars from the very beginning of this process. I was growing these mushrooms for medicine, and see them as a sacred medicine. I pray over them in gratitude and love, asking God to watch over them, and to help me know how to take care of them.
Please read this article to understand my intentions and for you to understand yours as well:
My prayers were answered! I was helped every step of the way.
I recommend you do the same. If you don't believe in God, then pray to the universe or the energy of the earth. Pray for help. You will get it.
With 10 jars of grain, I was able to grow over 420 grams of dried mushrooms, in which the majority I gave away. I just kept the little that I needed for my own medicine, to treat the suicidal bipolar depression I have.
9 Steps of Growing Psilocybin Mushrooms: Making Grain Spawn
Please do not use the information on this blog to do either of those things.
I know I can't stop you, but I hope that you will honor my request.
My intentions of creating this blog is for those people that recognize the sacred nature of this medicine, and want to grow these mushrooms for medicine.
I stand with my indigenous sisters and brothers who have brought
this medicine to us. They see psilocybin as a sacred medicine, as do I. I hope you will also recognize this as well.
Why Grow Your Own Mushrooms?
If you are using these mushrooms for medicine, you might need that medicine more often than you think. Some people only need one dose every few years, kind of like a check up.
Others, like myself, need this medicine every 3-4 weeks. Or maybe you are someone that is interested in microdosing.
Whatever the reason, it's nice to not have to buy your mushrooms from sketchy strangers. I did not want to support the underground "drug" culture. I wanted this sacred medicine for exactly that - medicine!
I wanted to know and to control how those mushrooms were being grown, and with what products.
I didn't even recognize how important intentions were, but now this is my biggest I want to grow my own.
Mushrooms will suck up the intentions of the people growing them. If you grow them in love and light, they will give you more love and light. You can feel that love and light in your journey.
If you grow them for profit, they will tell you and show you that they are angry, and that this is not right.
Why Have I Made This Blog?
I have spent hundreds of hours putting all this information together. Why have I done this?
Freedom
Psilocybin has given me my life back. I have suffered in the darkness of suicidal depression for over a decade. I used to spend over 6-8 hours in bed each day, unable to function as a mom, wife, sister, daughter, community member, and church member.
I started taking psilocybin mushrooms for my suicidal bipolar depression on Dec 11, 2022. My life will never be the same. I have been given a second chance to live! I have energy! I don't have suicidal thoughts anymore. I want to make love to my husband. I want to spend time with my children. I'm volunteering in my community and at my church again.
- I am free -
It felt like I was caged up in my dark room, all by myself. It felt like my husband was dragging my sick carcass around with him, trying his best to hold up the family by himself. I can't tell you how many times I would enter my house with the image of being put into a prison cell.
So now... it is my purpose and my passion to turn around and help those that are coming behind me. I am turning around, to pull my other brothers and sisters out of their own darkness of hell.
This beautiful sacred medicine can do that! YOU can do that!
Your Intentions Matter
I'm a very conservative religious woman. I never thought in a million years that God would lead me to use psilocybin mushrooms as a medicine. Never did I imagine I would be making a blog on how to grow those mushrooms.
When I felt God leading me (as well as my psychiatrist) to psilocybin, I had no idea where to start with it. Thee first and most difficult hurdle was trying to find the mushrooms, from not a sketchy source.
As I stated above, I have very conservative friends. I do have some friends that used to know people that grew mushrooms. I asked everyone. I asked everyone to ask their people as well.
Nothing. No mushrooms in sight.
Four months pass.
At the end of October 2022, I feel an urgent call from God to sign up to be a facilitator of psilocybin in the state of Oregon. I start applying to the different schools. I get accepted into a school early November 2022. Someone had dropped out and their spot was open!
I was in this class early December, when a fellow classmate posted a link to a store in Portland, Oregon that were selling mushrooms to the general public. This was against the law in the state of Oregon... but there they were... mushrooms!
I saw this article on a Tuesday. I knew instantly that I needed to go to Portland to buy these mushrooms. The next day off my husband had was on Friday, that was when I would plan on going.
However, God knew something that I didn't. I felt a STRONG urge that I needed to go the next day - Wednesday!
Portland is a 4 hour drive away. The lines at the mushroom shop were anywhere from 4-8 hours long. I'm a stay-at-home mom. Who was going to take care of my kids while my husband was at work?
I called in my people. I asked them to pick up my kiddos, and to be on call during the day if one of them got sick. I ordered pizza for dinner.
I drove up to Portland Wednesday morning, and got home later that night around 2am, with what I thought would be a year supply of mushrooms. Come to find out it was about 4 months worth.
The next day... literally 17 hours after I had purchased those mushrooms, the Portland mushroom shop was closed down. If I had waiting until Friday like I first wanted to, then I would not have got the mushrooms.
This was inspiration from God. Thank you God!!
These Portland psilocybin mushrooms (there were 4 different strains that I had bought), were the mushrooms that I took for the first 4 months. The journey's were healing and the medicine was working.
However, in almost every journey I had, the mushrooms told me how angry they were that they were being used for people to gain money. The mushrooms I bought from Portland, were mushrooms that were grown by a corporation. Their only purpose in growing the mushroom was to earn money.
The mushroom sucked up that energy! The mushrooms were offended! I totally agreed with them. It literally hurts my heart when this sacred medicine is used recreationally or sold for huge profits.
I love that little cartoon above, where it looks like the mushroom is gagging and sick. That is EXACTLY the way that the mushrooms told me they felt, and they way I did as well.
It wasn't until the 5th journey I had, that I used my home grown mushrooms.
What a difference!! I could FEEL the intentions of the love, faith, and hope that I had put into those mushrooms through prayer, through my singing to them, through talking to them and telling them how much I loved them.
I even had one of my ancestors tell me in a journey that they had been waiting for me to use my mushrooms all along. They had helped me grow those mushrooms.
I was shown a vision of angels walking beside me, whispering in my ear as I tended to my mushrooms.
I remember so vividly, opening the tops of each of the mushrooms bins, praying over them, talking to them, thanking them, singing to them, and telling them how much I loved them and what a good job they were doing.
As I would open the lid of one of the bins of mushrooms, I would know what needed to be done. Thoughts would come to me....
"Hold off on watering. There is enough."
"This one needs A LOT more water. MORE! MORE! Okay, that's good."
"This one just needs more humidity. Spray only the sides of the bin, not the actual mushrooms."
"Time to harvest that one!"
I remember telling my husband about this. I knew that my prayers were being answered, and that I had help. I had never done this before. I'm not a great gardener. How else would I have possibly known what to do?
There is only one answered - I was helped by my ancestors that God sent to me.
It was only months later that I was shown in a vision those helpers standing next to me, whispering in my ear what needed to be done, or what needed to be held off.
I feel so blessed, so honored, and so privileged to have been trusted with this. Because of these blessings, I have felt a strong urge to share this information with others that are wanting to grow their own medicine too.
So here we are. Are you ready to join me in this depression revolution?!?
Reading this article will give you the basic understanding of mycelium, inoculation, germination, spores, and so much more.
Grain spawn is a little known secret weapon of the world of mushroom cultivation. Grain spawn is sterilized grain, that is spawning or growing the mycelium of the chosen mushroom type you want to grow.
Once the grain has been sterilized, you introduce ONLY the chosen spores of the mushroom you want to grow. This introduction of mushroom spores to sterilized grain is called inoculation. This introduction can be from other grain spawn, spore syringes, liquid culture, or agar.
These spores will fully colonize or grow the mycelium throughout the container, eating and breaking down the food, or the grains, as the mycelium takes over. This allows for the mycelium to spread over each piece of grain. This makes it harder for other contaminants (other bacteria, mold, or fungi) to take hold in the grain because the mycelium you are growing is strong and extensive.
You can grow any type of mushroom this way.
It’s made from sterilized grains (like the rye berries that we are using), that have been inoculated with a live mycelium culture containing mushroom spores. These inoculated grains are consumed by the growing mass of mycelium.
The fully colonized grain spawn can then be used as a start for a new culture, a start for a new jar of grain spawn, or it can be used in substrate (a special type of dirt that we will learn how to make later), in which the mushrooms can then grow their fruit body.
Why Use Grain Spawn?
Grain spawn contains a lot of energy or food for the mycelium
to consume. It’s a bit like rocket fuel for mushrooms. Once it’s added
to your substrate, it will grow like wild fire.
Eventually, the mycelium wants to start fruiting. To do that it will first create something called a hyphal knot. You can think of a hyphal knot as the beginning of a young mushroom, which is also knows as a primordium.
These baby mushrooms or "pins" form a pinhead as it starts to evolve
and sprout from it's mycelial phase. This phase is also called pinning.
The
picture below shows both pins and hyphal knots. The pins are colored brown,
and look like the tiniest of baby mushrooms. The knots are white
concentrated spots, that look like some thread has knotted up (what a great name for it... "knots").
When
you read about others growing mushrooms, they will talk about "pins",
and now you know what they are talking about. It's the smallest form of a
fruiting body of the mushroom starting to grow. They look just like the
top of a sewing pin.
Before
you start this part, visualize what is on the table in your clean room, and what you are
going to do.
The isopropyl alcohol is incredibly pungent so you need to be very efficient, very clean, and very quick about this.
Take off clothing if you put some back on from the last time you entered the clean room.
Put on the hair net.
Put on a mask.
Wash your hands.
Put on your gloves.
Get the second alcohol sprayer. One is already in your clean room, but you left
one out by the grain jars.
Spray
down a paper towel generously with alcohol. The paper towel should be
very wet with the 70% isopropyl alcohol.
Rub down the isopropyl alcohol container and the sprayer head
with the wet paper towel.
Spray alcohol on the gloves. Rub the gloves together, getting the alcohol all around, like
you are disinfecting your hands... well because you are! You are
disinfecting those gloves.
Be very generous with the amount of alcohol you are using. You need it on every surface for 3 minutes to truly kill all the germs and spores.
Spray down the box you are going to
put the grain jars in. Remember to spray the bottom of it as well, that
is where you will be holding the box, to transport the jars of grain. Use a paper towel to spread the alcohol around well. I know this isn't perfect. The alcohol will be sucked into the cardboard, and so you can't be perfect about disinfection. We are just doing our best.
Alcohol your gloves again.
Spray alcohol on the outside of your PC, where you are going to touch to open it. Let the alcohol sit on the PC for 3 minutes before opening it, to assure disinfection.
I only open the PC, once I am ready to take them into the clean room. Again, this is to decrease the chances of contamination.
Open
the PC, and pull out all the grain jars. They should look close to
something like this picture below. You can see in this picture that they
put the top three grain jars on a second canning rack. You don't need
to do this. A canning rack (the large metal circle thing) only needs to
be on the bottom, so the jars do get overheated by directly touching the
bottom of the pot, which is directly touching the heating element.
Put the grain jars in the box. Leave the tin foil on them. This will keep them protected from any spores and germs.
Pick up the box full of the grain jars, and take them to the clean room.
Open the door to your clean room gently. Close the door gently.
Place the grain jars on the table.
Put the box aside, or on the ground.
You know the drill... use paper towels to clean the bottle of alcohol and the sprayer handle. Use alcohol on the gloves.
Get
the alcohol sprayer, and spray down everything again on the table,
including the outside and top of the grain jars. Remember the tin foil
should still be on those grain jars. You will take the tin foil off
right before inoculation.
So spray the tinfoil super well. along with the whole grain jar.
Spray, spray, spray! Spores probably have landed on everything. You need to kill those spores! Spray everything on the table.
Spray and wipe down the table where you are going to be working.
Let's Talk About Needles
Before inoculation time, we need to chat about needles. I see people do really strange things with needles in mycology.
I used to be an infusion registered nurse. So I know my needles!
When a needle comes in a package, it is sterile. Inside that package, every part of that needle is sterile. Zero germs.
The cover of the needle is sterile, the needle is sterile, the hub of the needle is sterile (that yellow thing in the picture above).
The hub of the needle will twist on perfectly onto the end of the syringe, called the luer lock. You will twist the hub onto the luer lock, and it locks it into place... thus the name.
The luer lock and the hub are sterile. Once they are turned and locked into place, then all the sterile parts are locked away inside the syringe. That's a good thing.
DO
NOT clean the needle with alcohol when you pull it out of the package.
The needle is already sterile! In fact, in trying to disinfect the needle, you
will actually contaminate it. Your gloves are not sterile, they are clean. They have been disinfected with alcohol, but that is not as awesome as sterile.
You want to keep that needle sterile!
Do
not re-use your needles or use fire to sterilize them. They are super
cheap. Just buy a new needle the next time you want to grow.
Some
people think that you need a new needle every time you access a new
port on a spawn bag or grain jar, or that you need to sterilize the
needle with fire in between the jars. That's not needed.
Again,
think about this logically. You have just disinfected the jars and
grain (went through the PC). If one jar is contaminated then all of them
are. It's the same grain in the same jars that all went through the
exact same process. If one is contaminated then all of them are.
Some
people say this will decrease contamination to use a new needle with
each jar, or to burn the needle in between jars. I think otherwise. I
think messing with the needle will increase contamination with the
increased time that it's exposed to air.
You DO NOT need to use fire to sterilize a needle if it has never been used.
Heating the needle to that degree takes extra time, and you will also
risk killing your spores if the needle has not cooled enough when you
use it.
Additionally please remember... fire and 70% isopropyl alcohol do not mix.
The alcohol is incredibly FLAMMABLE!!
You don't want to start a fire. Look how easy the alcohol lights on fire in this video!!!
Use one syringe with one needle and then throw the needle away. This will decrease chances of contamination.
I do use a new needle for each syringe, but NOT for each jar of grains.
I
think changing needles that often would increase chances of
contamination, touching the luer lock (the top of the syringe) on
accident or contaminated air getting spores on it.
I use 4 cc of spore syringe fluid for one grain jar, or one 10cc (or ml) syringe for 3 different jars.
Jar one gets 4 cc, jar two gets 4 cc, and jar three gets two cc of the first syringe.
The second syringe I put 2 cc in jar three, 4 cc in jar 4, and 4 cc in jar 5.
Jar
three will have the greatest opportunity to get contaminated. That jar
has spores from two different syringes being put in there. So if one of
the two syringes are contaminated then that jar will also be.
That's just what I do. I've seen on videos that some people will only put 1 cc in one jar.
Personally,
I wanted to make sure that there were enough spores to get the mycelium
growing. The 4 cc worked for me, so that's what I'm going to stick to.
The spore syringes are really not that expensive, so do what you think
is right and the least risky for you.
I was able to do it this way with 0% contamination.
Inoculate The Grain Jars With Mushroom Spores
All
that hard work... you are finally to the last steps! Good job!
This
next part comes super easy for me. I used to be a nurse, so I'm very
good at understanding what is sterile (NO GERMS), what is disinfected
(SOME GERMS), and what is dirty (Has normal amount of germs, but it can still look like its clean). I will explain this as I go, hopefully in a way that is easy for you to understand.
As
you look at your table you should have on there
Paper towels
Grain
jars
Spore syringes
Needles
Gloves (4 pair)
Alcohol prep pads - 40 of them
70% isopropyl alcohol sprayer
Again,
go over all of this process in your mind, many times before you enter
your clean room to do it. The alcohol in the air is really hard to
breath. You want to spend as little time in your clean room as
possible.
Everything
has been sprayed down and that alcohol is now disinfecting everything
that you have sprayed it on. It really needs about 3 minutes to complete
that process.
Preparing the Syringes - Putting the Needles on the Syringes
Pick
up the spore syringe. You will see there is a cap at the end of the
syringe. In the picture below you will see that they are red. The caps
can come in all sorts of different colors like blue, black, clear,
green, etc.
This cap twists off. It can be incredibly tight. So you want to loosen it to make sure it can come off.
Don't
take off the cap yet! You just want to turn it SLIGHTLY to make sure
that it can come off, then tightening it lightly again.
Turn it to the left to loosen it. Rightly tightly lefty loosely.
Under
the cap of the syringe it is sterile. You want to keep it sterile, so
that's why you won't want the cap off, until you can immediately attach
the syringe to it.
Additionally, once the cap is off, there is potential for anything in the air to land INSIDE the syringe. The cap is covering the entrance to the syringe.
Once you know that the cap is loose put the spore syringe back down on the table.
Pick
up the package of one needle. You want to open the package on the side
of the needle that has the needle hub (see picture below). The package
will have an easy open part on that side of the needle.
You
don't want to pull the whole package back yet. Be VERY CAREFUL not to
touch the hub of the needle. That is sterile and you want to keep it
that way.
The only thing that will touch the hub of the needle is the
luer lock on the syringe. That is the very tip of the syringe. The leur
lock, makes it so the hub of the needle will turn onto the syringe, and
lock it all very tightly, so there won't be any leaks when the fluid in
the syringe passes through the needle.
So
in one hand you have your open needle package, and now the other hand
will pick up your spore syringe. The needle package will naturally stay
closed even after you open it a little bit. That's a good thing. You
want the least amount of exposure as possible on the needle hub.
Take the cap off the spore syringe, being very careful not to touch the leur lock.
Open
the needle package and attach the hub onto the luer lock. It turns on there, just like the cap did. To tighten it on there, turn
left.
This video shows the needle and syringe part very well. She does a lot of other weird things you don't need to do.
If
you also notice, she doesn't loosen the cap of the syringe first. You
can see that she struggles doing this with also holding the needle as
well. That is why I suggest you loosen it first.
She says "keep the syringe upright to avoid any spilling"
Nothing will spill from the syringe unless you push the plunger and spray it out.
You
keep the syringe upright, so you are not contaminating it. It's very
easy to touch the end of the syringe - the luer lock on stuff, so you
want to hold it in your hands, upright.
Start watching at 2:41 and go until until 3:23
DO NOT WIPE OFF THE NEEDLE WITH ALCOHOL!!!
She does that right at 3:24. This can contaminate everything!
I've already explained this above in the needle section. You are actually contaminating the needle by cleaning it with alcohol.
The needle is sterile. Sterile is the step above disinfection.
Alcohol can disinfect, not sterilize.
Sterilization means there is 0% of any kind of contamination. Disinfection means that most of the stuff has been killed.
The needle is sterile, don't bring it down the ladder of contamination by wiping it with anything.
Keep
the cap on the needle until you are going to use it. Once the cap is on
the needle, then everything that is sterile is inside the syringe and
inside the needle. You are now good to place it on the table.
The needle has the cap on. The syringe will look like the picture below. It will have the needle now attached to it.
The
table is considered a "dirty" area. It's been disinfected, but you do
not want sterile stuff hanging out open on that space.
The outside of the syringe is also "dirty" but disinfected.
The needle, under the cap, is sterile.
So prepare all of your spore syringes, by putting the needles on.
After
the needles are all on, take the spore syringes and give them a good
shake. Spores are often heavier than the sterile water they are in. You
want to make sure that the spores are throughout the whole syringe.
Let's
talk a second about what the spore syringes will look like. Some look
yellowish like the picture above. I've seen some that have black spots
in them (probably from chunks of spores off a spore print). I've seen
some with a clear fluid, but if you hold it up to the light you can see
some stuff floating in there.
The
ones that I got looked completely clear! I couldn't believe it! I
thought for sure I would see something in that syringe, but I didn't.
Honestly, I wondered if I had been tricked, that I was just sent some water
in a syringe.
Nope! My syringes worked perfectly, and I got a great harvest.
So just because it looks like it's only water, it's most likely not!
If
you have a microscope, you could put a little of the fluid on a slide,
and look for yourself. I don't have that equipment, so I just prayed
that it was going to work! Thank you God for helping me, because it did
work.
Inject The Spores Into The Grain Jars
You are ready for the last and final steps! YAY!!!
You
are going to inoculate three jars at a time, with one syringe. If you
have several types of mushrooms you are growing, you will want to keep
close track of what syringe is used on what jar. Just keep the empty
syringe next to the jar you inoculate, if you need to keep track.
You
will label the jars AFTER the inoculation is done. You need to get this
done ASAP, so you can breath! You need to get out of that clean room,
and air the clean room out.
Disinfection....
AGAIN! I know we've done this so many times, but it's important. There
are millions of spores all over the place. Even with all the precautions
we've taken, there are still some around... so use that alcohol
liberally!
Disinfect the sprayer and the alcohol bottle by spraying a paper towel with alcohol and wiping down the bottle.
Disinfect your gloves again by spraying with alcohol.
Disinfect the tin foil on top of the grain jars by spraying with alcohol.
Disinfect
the spore syringe, wiping with a paper towel, and/or spraying with alcohol. You want to disinfect all
sides of the syringe you will be touching.
Do NOT open the cover on the
needle. You can spray and wipe down the outside cover, but remember that the
actual needle under the cover is sterile.
Spray over the alcohol wipes, to try and disinfect the outside part of the box and the wipes themselves.
Take the tinfoil off the first grain jar.
Take
one alcohol wipe, and rip it open, and wipe the alcohol wipe over the
black sticker port on one jar. Wipe it for several seconds.
Take a second alcohol wipe, and do the same.
Do this on all three jars quickly.
Pick up your first syringe, shake it a couple of times.
Take off the lid to the needle.
Inject the needle into the black port.
When the needle goes through and you can see it go into the jar, you can then start injecting the spores.
Keep track of how much liquid you are injecting. I inject 4 cc (also called ml or milliliters. They are all the same thing).
I
will usually inject 1 cc in one spot, then change the angle of the
needle and spray another 1-2 cc and change the angle and spray another
1-2 cc. That way the mycelium will start growing is several places.
I inject 4 cc into each jar, but I've seen others say as little as 1 cc is enough.
After
you inject the 4 cc into one jar, take the needle out of the first jar,
quickly wipe the next jar with an alcohol wipe, and immediately inject
the needle into the next jar.
Do not touch the needle, do not let anything touch the needle. Do not put the syringe down.
Do this for the three jars, until all the fluid in the syringe is gone.
If
you have to put your syringe down, put the lid of the needle back on
first, very carefully to keep the needle as clean as possible.
This
video below has all sorts of problems with it, but I want you to see
what it looks like to inject the syringe into the jar and spray the
spores.
It's a good video to learn what you shouldn't do. He's
not wearing a mask. He sanitizes his hands instead of washing them (do
both!) He's not wearing gloves. He's not working in a clean room. This
is how you get lots of contamination!
He
also rubs the STERILE needle with the disinfected cloth! 🙅 Every part
of me shudders when I see this! Don't do that!! The needle is sterile.
Don't touch it with anything!
How
he uses the towel with the alcohol is a great way to save money. That
would work to use instead of alcohol wipes. So wherever we use alcohol
wipes or a paper towel with the alcohol, this method would work well.
But the video shows you the process of putting the needle in the port, squirting the liquid, and what that looks like.
Start it at 3:14 and go until 3:44
He
shakes his jar after the inoculation. I didn't do that, but I'm sure it
would be fine. The issue for me, is that it's important for those
spores to be next to each other for the mycelium to grow. So that's why I
don't mix up the jar until after the mycelium is growing well.
Pat Yourself on the Back!!
You did it!!! You have done the hardest part of phase one!! CONGRATS!!! Great job!
Now go put your feet up and get a cold drink. You deserve it!
