Successfully growing =)

Hey all, I've been doing quite a bit of research on growing for a while and I'm gonna start accumulating materials soon. I've got a few questions that my research didn't turn up though. How much is the total cost? How long does the whole process take, start to finish? I don't have a pressure cooker, will I be ok with just boiling the jars? Will I be able to keep this away from my parents without too much trouble? Thank you!

Total cost for me was around $40. Whole process can be variable depending on temperature, humidity and strain. Maybe like 3-6 weeks? Boiling the jars works fine (it did for me) but success rates with boiling have been reported to be 0-100% effective at sterilization.

Keeping it hidden is easy. Just do the preparation and sterilization when they're at work. Keeping a prime temperature will be impossible unless your house is 85 degrees all the time. Or you have a place in the house that is. At room temperature (72oF), they will take significantly longer to colonize and fruit. Incubators are great but usually big. Look for the heatbomb.

sw0o0sh:
I attempted to innoculate 16 jars (12*250ml, 3*500ml and one purely testing 500ml with whole wheat flour). Half of them were Z strain and the other half B+.

All my Z-Strains got contamined at the same time (about week2 of colonization) by a brick-red contaminant, my wheat test with B+ got contamined too and an extra B+ died from another test to increase O2 in the jar.

So overall, 1 500ml success with Z-Strain (which is fruiting now). Somehow I think the spore solution might have had some problems and I've been lucky with the very last jar.
1 500ml B+ and 5 250ml B+.

Yep I'm doing this in a regular household as a first timer. Just went to a store to get 3 extra sirynge (Cambodian, Tazmanian and an other Z strain for free after explanations with the owner of the store). I'll do another batch probably on this saturday.

where did you guys get your spores from? any legit sites out there? haha

There are some stores selling them but you really got to know about them if you want to find them. Search for Ethnobotanical stores or hippie like stores that way you'll save shipping cost. Otherway, there are many sites selling spores but it's harder to talk to the owner about your experiments and get a free syringe if anything goes wrong. Try to buy in your own country even if spores are legal. You're avoinding customs which might be interested in you if they see you got spores

My average temperature for colonization was quite low (70-74F) but I'm buying supplies to make an incubator today for the next batch. In the terrarium it is around 73-74F when the room heater isn't on.

How much is the total cost?
Hard to say, we've been doing 2 experiments at the same time my friend and I and splitted the costs. It depends on the kind of terrarium you want to build. I'd say around $30-$40 for spore innoculation + colonization which should take a month to complete and 33-63 for the terrarium depending on medium or high quality and if you can find a free humidifier somewhere.

Consider some extra costs if you're making your own mushroom dryer.

That's how much it costed me in Canada, might be different elsewhere and if you already got some supplies available

How long does the whole process take, start to finish?
Like Geneity said, it depends on so many settings. For a first timer, it should take around 1/1½ month for colonization of the jars and I still don't know for fruitation. You start seeing pins after a week and you'll have a first flush. Afterward, you can have a 2nd and 3rd flush.

I started on Sept 10th and got my first pins yesterday... gives you an idea

I don't have a pressure cooker
Me neither it's suggested but not absolutely necessary.

Will I be able to keep this away from my parents without too much trouble?
I live in an appartment and my father noticed my strange setup pretty fast :P ok, it wasn't covered or hidden at all but depending on the size of your setup, it can be harder to hide. It depends on how many cakes you want to fruit at the same time. A small setup can be hidden if your parents do not search everywhere in your room

Good success if you take the challenge. Remember to have lots of fun with this project

When I was younger I took on growing legitimate growables and learned the ways of mushroom growing and hydroponics in a supportive way from my rents so it was all cool to have a bunch of random growing equipment laying around.

Thanks for the info guys, I'll probably buy this stuff as a birthday present to myself. Then I'll do 6-8 250 or 500ml jars of the most commonly used strain (Psyclocibe Cubensis I think). I've got a fish tank that I could use as a terrarium and a humidfier/ heater shouldn't be too hard to come by. In my bedroom there is plenty of places to hide all this stuff, and I'm a pretty sneaky person so getting by the prison guards shouldn't be too much of a challenge.


What the maximum amount of daily sunlight they will need? Is indirect alright for most of the process, since winter is coming up (unfortunately)? Can most of the ingredients be purchased at one website, and which can be found locally? Yet again, thanks again for the responses, its a big help. This thread seems like a good candidate for a sticky if it keeps on going like this.

everything can be purchased at stores in town or online

This thread is nothing compared to this website: http://www.shroomery.org/
I hope you have quite a few hours to spend reading and day dreaming about mushrooms

The advantage of doing 6-8 jars vs 10 with a 10cc syringe is that it'll colonize faster just as a hint.

Yep indirect light/sunlight is fine with shrooms.

Only a dim light is needed, anything bright or warm will harm the cakes. A fluorescent lamp or indirect sunlight is plenty of light. Mushrooms do not gain energy from the light like plants do, but in this particular species of mushroom light sends a signal to the mycelium that it is time to produce mushrooms.

from http://www.a1b2c3.com/drugs/pictures/mgg04.htm

Let's keep sharing knowledge

scored a 30cc glass syringe with a 2 bore I think 13 guage needle, happy happy...

Beh... shit happens ! My not-dunked z-strain cake stopped fruiting before shrooms maturity with only 2 interesting fruits and lots of pins. All seem to have aborted for some reason I can't figure out.

Though for every bad thing, there's good things. My friend and I have 9 new pints and 12 half pints ready to be colonized with a brand new incubator. That's promising. Also, my B+ cakes which were impossible to get out of the jars are giving so many mushrooms that it became unbelievable. Try dunking even for the first flush if your colonization took over a month. I think it might reaaaaally help.

I'm gonna harvest the Z-strain and dunk it.

Have a nice day