We guarantee our Grow in a Bag Kit to the fully colonised stage provided you adhere to the following Grow in a Bag Kit Instructions:
- Use one 10ml MyShrooms syringe with one Grow in a Bag Kit.
- Inoculate the Grow in a Bag Kit within 4 days of receiving it. If this is unavoidable we suggest storing it in the fridge.
- Follow all of our growing instructions below.
- Email pictures if it is not growing correctly to sales@myshrooms.co.za with your order number.
- Once we are happy that you have followed the instructions and been given the go ahead that we will replace the kit, please replace your order through our online store. When you checkout choose the EFT option (do not make payment) and get back to us with your invoice number so we can process your replacement order.
Please note that while the culture syringes can be stored for a few weeks the Grow in a Bag Kit needs to be inoculated as soon as possible after the delivery.
All time frames below are estimates and depend on many factors such as strain and temperatures. You should not go by time but rather by waiting for the mycelium to correctly colonise each step. Don’t rush things.
Step 1
Gather everything you need:
- Liquid Culture Syringe
- Grow in a bag kit
- Alcohol Swabs
- Lighter
It is best to work in a clean room with as little airflow as possible, with all windows and doors closed. Make sure you do a visual inspection of the Kit to ensure there is no contamination – the most common form of infection will appear as a green mould. If you are unsure take a photo and email it to sales@myshrooms.co.za.
Step 2
Keep clean, take a shower scrub your hair, hands and arms.
Use the alcohol swabs provided to wipe down and around the grey injection port.
Step 3
Remove the rubber band keeping the syringe plunger in place, shake the syringe thoroughly.
Step 4
Use the lighter flame to sterilize the syringe needle until it glows.
Let it cool down for about 15 seconds before use.
Step 5
Insert the needle fully into the first grey plastic inoculation port. DO NOT inoculate through the white filter patch – this is specifically for airflow.
Try to angle the needle and inject the culture so it covers as much popcorn as possible
When removing the syringe hold down the grey injection port with two fingers while removing the syringe with your other hand.
If when squirting syringe into Tek Kit if feels like it is getting blocked try draw some liquid back in and push again.
Step 6
With a marker clearly label your Kit with the inoculation date & type of mushroom you are growing.
Place into a dark cupboard at room temperature and wait for the popcorn to colonize.
Depending on the species the fastest growth occurs between 16 C – 27 C and will usually take 2-3 weeks.
Step 7
You will know the popcorn is colonised when you see white mycelium growing through it, wait until about 70% is covered with mycelium.
Step 8
Once the popcorn is colonized you need to break it apart and mix the popcorn well through the bulk substrate ( soil ) Try mix as evenly as possible.
Once well mixed hold the top ot the bag and tap all the contents down to the bottom of the bag and gently squeeze it to compact the substrate together slightly.
Put this back into a dark cupboard and wait for the whole contents to turn white with mycelium growint through it.
Depending on the species the fastest growth occurs between 16 C – 27 C and will usually take 2-3 weeks.
Step 9
Once the substrate turns white it is ready to fruit.
There are a few ways of fruiting this. The easiest way is to fruit it in the bag it came in. Take the kit and leave it in a lit room, leave the bag closed at this point, you should see mushrooms growing inside within around a week of taking it out the dark. Once you see little mushrooms you can simply cut the top of the bag off, mist the inside walls of the bag a couple of times a day.
Another way of fruiting would be to purchase our shotgun fruiting chamber. Once the kit is fully colonised cut the bag open. Prepare the shotgun chamber by cleaning the sides with a bleach and water solution. Then add the perlite that would come with the shotgun chamber and moisten that with water. Take the inside contents of your kit and place in the middle of the shotgun chamber on top of the perlite on a piece of tinfoil. Spray the sides of the shotgun chamber a few times a day so the inside walls are consonantly moist. It should start fruiting within about a week.
Once fully colonised
Prepare the fruiting tub by firstly giving it a clean by wiping it with a bleach solution.
Empty the bag of perlite at the bottom.
Add about a cup of water and mix into the perlite until moist (try keep the perlite moist while the mushrooms are growing this will create the humidity).
Cut the top of the bag off about 3cm above the mushroom cake.
Put the mushroom cake in the centre of the tub on top of the perlite.
Spray the sides of the tub a couple of times a day so it is constantly moist.
Keep the tub in a lit area with ambient sunlight (not direct sun).