Growing Mushrooms

Growing Psilocybin Mushrooms certainly has a process to it, and once you master that process you will be capable of producing as much, or as little as you like. On this page you will learn everything you need to know to be capable of continuously producing mushrooms, how to store and preserve them, how to consume them, and some of the benefits and potential risks.
Step 1 - Components Required

  • Rye Berries

  • Organic CocoCoir

  • Vermiculite

  • Gypsum

  • Mason Jars or Grow Bags with Injection Ports/Pre Sterilised Rye Berries Bag with Injection Port

  • Mushroom Spore Syringe/Liquid Culture

  • Plastic Storage Container

  • Micropore Tape

  • Pressure Cooker

  • Bin Liner

  • 70% isopropyl Alcohol

  • 2 x Misting Spray Bottles

Once You Have Everything You Need, Head over to Step 2
Step 2 - Preparing Grain Spawn

Here is where you have two options.

Option 1 - Buy pre-made Sterilised Grain Spawn Bags.

Option 2 - Make your own Sterilises Grain Spawn

Option 1 is pretty self explanatory, so lets focus on option 2.

First off you will take your grain and put it into a jar or bucket fill with water and leave to soak for 12 to 24 hours.

Next you will need to add the grain to water in a saucepan and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, keep a close eye on it and make sure the grains are not cracking open or getting mushy.

Now the grains have been soaked and simmered its time to drain them off and dry them for around an hour, you can use a towel to place them on, a colander or even the kitchen sink with the plug.

After the grains have dried for 1 hour, its now time to add them to your mason jars with injection ports. Fill the jars to about 80% full, you will need a little room to shake them at a later date.

With all your jars filled and closed it is now time to sterilise. We recommend covering the lids with tin foil to reduce the risk of water getting in. Place all your jars inside your pressure cooker and set to cook at 15psi for 90 minutes.

Once complete, leave to cool overnight.

Step 3 - Inoculating Grain Spawn

Now that your jars or bags have been sterilised and cooled down. You are ready to inject your spores.

Inject 2 -5 CC of spore syringe into one location in the jar via the injection port.

The reason you don't want to spread it around is that the mycelium will take longer to develop and multiple colonies will take longer to connect with each other, remember they are a living organism and require male and female to grow.

Place the injected jars in a dark, warm dry location. The time for the jar to become inoculated can vary significantly. However, check them daily, once you notice the mycelium has spread more than 50% of the grain its time to shake up the jar to break down the mycelium so it can spread more easily to new locations within the jar.

Once your jars have reached full colonisation, then its time to move to step 4

Take your container and bore some holes around the tub, two on either side of the tub should do. Make sure that the holes are at least 6 inches from the base of the tub to leave room for the substrate and bin liner.

Next you will cover the holes with microporous tape, this allows air exchange to take place and will prevent bacteria and mould from entering your tub.

Now that the tub has ventilation we need to add a bin liner to line the bottom and up to 4 inches up the walls of the tub, this liner will block light reaching the sides of the mycelium and will help reduce side pinning.

Fill one of your misting bottles with 70% isopropyl alcohol and mist down the whole tub, let it sit for a minute then re spray and wipe down with a clean cloth or tissue.

Step 4 - Preparing The Monotub

Once you have completes this step continue to Step 5

Step 5 - Pasteurising & Mixing Substrate

Firstly we need to make sure there are no contaminant in the ingredients, to do this we will use a simple pasteurising method.

Find a container that can be sealed with a lid. Clean the container with 70% isopropyl alcohol, let it air out for a moment then wipe it down with clean tissues or cloths. Next, add your substrate mix of coco coir, vermiculite and gypsum, we will be mixing Coco Coir & Vermiculite in a 1:1 ratio, this will be the bulk of your substrate, however much you decide to use mix in gypsum to around 5% of the total mix. An example would be 2 litres of coco coir, 2 litres of vermiculite = 4 litre of substrate so 5% of that would be 200 ml of gypsum. Gypsum is optional but provides a stronger resistance to mould and nutrients for better growth.

Next add the mix to the container and pour in boiling water, stir this a little as the coco coir will expand and fluff up. Once mixed in add a little extra water to make sure all of the mixture is fully saturated then close the lid for 90 minutes. The aim is to reach field capacity which is where the substrate is completely saturated. If you take a handful it should not be dripping but if you squeeze it, there should be a few drops.

Congratulations your mixture is now pasteurised! While the mixture is cooling down you can clean your prepared monotub from step 4 with isopropyl alcohol, air out and wipe down, then once your mix is cool its time to mix the inoculated grain spawn & substrate together in the monotub.

Add 90% of the substrate to your monotub and mix in 1 full jar of inoculated spawn. Mix them together thoroughly to ensure the grain is evenly mixed throughout the substrate. Spread it to make an even surface and ensure all corners and sides or packed down so there is no gaps. Now add the remaining 10% of the mix to the surface to create a cover layer, also known as a casing layer.

Place the lid on the monotub, place the tub in a dry dark space ideally around 18-25c. The mycelium growing in the grain will slowly spread and consume the substrate, this can take up to 7 to 14 days. Make sure to look into the tub through the sides to check if the surface casing layer is fully covered in white mycelium. Once the entire surface is covered it is time to move to step 6.

Now that your monotub is ready to fruit. its time to take it out of the dark and bring it into indirect light.

Step 6 - Fruiting

Take the lid off the tub and using a misting bottle with sterile water in it, spray the walls and lid of the tub, fan the surface of the mycelium with the lid of the tub for 30 seconds then place the lid back on.

You should start to see little pin like mushrooms showing up all over the surface. Simple open the box once every other day, mist the walls and fan for 30 seconds.

It will take around 5 to 7 days before all of these pins have become full sized mushrooms. Check daily as growth is extremely rapid at this stage.

Your now ready for Step 7!

Step 7 - Harvesting & Drying

The ideal time to harvest is just before the veil under the cap breaks.

Ideally you want to harvest them all at once, however there will be times where one mushroom is ready to harvest and the majority of others are not. In this case you would carefully grab and twist from the stem to remove the mushroom without disturbing the substrate.

Once you have harvested your mushrooms unless consuming immediately or making into a tincture you want to dry them for storage. For best results use an electric dehydrator. If you do not have one, you can place them spread out across some non stick baking paper and run a fan to blow air just above them, this will help them dehydrate faster.

Once dry put into a jar or sealable bag and store in the freezer. freezing is the best way to preserve potency and keeps them from rotting.