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groovygardener42069 wrote

Nice! I have some syringes for sclerotia-producing spp in my sock drawer, but I've been too broke to purchase substrate, sterilization materials, etc. I recently started a new job, so it's about time to get this train rolling :)

Do you have a link to a beginner's guide I can use and put in the sticky?

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[deleted] wrote

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groovygardener42069 wrote

Thanks! I just added that to my bookmarks :)

In your opinion, how important is a pressure cooker -really-? Would I be able to make do with a regular pot of boiling water? I know the difference between 95% and 100% sterility is fairly significant, but people were cultivating these before pressure cookers were invented, yeah?

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[deleted] wrote (edited )

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groovygardener42069 wrote

Lmao the people on the other site were acting like I'm gonna get botulism when I asked about this. Thank you!

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throwaway OP wrote

I've had a good deal of success with a boiling pot, but have since moved to a pressure cooker, mainly because it's not such a hassle, and secondarily because getting a whole session of jars contaminated every now and then really sucks.

I'd say you'll be fine with just a pot, really, if you don't mind a bit of extra work.

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groovygardener42069 wrote

I'll try that next weekend, then! I generally dose low and infrequently, and I'm doing this to pull myself -out- of black markets, so a little extra cost/labor isn't a killer for me

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throwaway OP wrote (edited )

That's cool! I've never played with sclerotia, but I imagine the concept is similar. I harvested my first couple flushes from a simple coco coir substrate, spawned from jars full of brown rice. I sterilized the jars simply by covering the lids with tinfoil, placing them in a pot filled halfway with water, and letting them steam-sterilize for a few hours.

All in all, I paid for nothing but the rice, coco coir and spore syringe.

As a broke bonus, you can take spore prints from the best shroom of the bunch, and make a new syringe from that, or cut out a piece of the stem and use that to inoculate your next jar - although I'm not sure how that would work with sclerotia.

As for a beginners guide, just look around on shroomery - there's a shitton of well-written teks. My favorite author is bodhisatta, who goes simply by Bod.

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moonlune wrote

How did you get your syringes? Postal service?

I remember seeing a reddit sub where they used uncle ben's rice as starter: it's full of the right nutrients and already sterilized.

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groovygardener42069 wrote

Yes, spores are legal in most US states, to my understanding. I was able to pay with a debit card and my order didn't come in any special stealth shipping. I ordered the syringes several months ago and I haven't had any visits from Officer Friendly in the meantime.

I have heard of the uncle ben's method, but you do want the vessel they're growing in to be properly sterilized as well, yes?

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moonlune wrote

In eu it's more or less the case too. I'll probably buy some soon, I'm as intrigued by the harvest add by the adventure of growing mushrooms.

I think you're meant to keep the rice in the packet for the first few critical days and only take it out once the mushrooms have started growing.

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throwaway OP wrote

I'm as intrigued by the harvest as by the adventure of growing mushrooms

A friend of mine is just like that; he makes an impressive tub, but hasn't tripped himself in years. He sells them for cheap, and spends the money on resources for the local homeless people: food, warm clothes and such.

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throwaway OP wrote

I've played around with Uncle Ben's multiple times - stay away from those. Learn it properly from the get-go.

My experience with Uncle Ben's has been real slow grow times, enormous chance of contamination, mutated or very small mushrooms, and a serious decrease in potency. Uncle Ben's contains a bunch of chemicals, as well as a good deal of salt, which really messes with the process. As if that wasn't enough, they're not nearly as rich in healthy nutrients as a bag of organic brown rice.

It's a bit of extra work, but it's better to do it whole-heartedly and right, than half-heartedly and half right.

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