GETTING YOUR MUSHROOM FRUITING CHAMBER STARTED
1) Select a clean room. Sanitation is not a major concern at this stage, but do make sure that there aren’t any fans running, windows open, or pets roaming around. You will do an “open-air” spawn where the colonized grain will be mixed with the substrate. The area should still be clean (i.e., you have a clean surface available to work on, there isn’t any mold present in the room, and so on.)"
2) Give the fruiting chamber bin—the “monotub”—a liberal wipe down with a paper towel moistened with alcohol. 70% isopropyl rubbing alcohol is great. Allow a few minutes to dry.
3) Place a square of micropore tape over the inside and outside of each pre-drilled hole of the fruiting chamber. Alternatively, you can use polyfill stuffing, available at any craft store or as included in our Complete All-In-One Mushroom Grow Kit. Stuff the holes of the fruiting chamber with the polyfill.
4) Lining the Fruiting Chamber:
Method 1- Line the interior: Fit the bin liner into the interior of the fruiting chamber. Trim the liner so it only rises up about 4 inches on the sides of the fruiting chamber. Masking tape can be helpful to temporarily hold the liner in place.
Method 2- Line the exterior: Fit the bin liner onto the exterior of the fruiting chamber. Trim the liner so it only rises up about 4 inches on the sides of the fruiting chamber. Secure the liner to the outside of the bin with masking or duct tape.
5) Using your hands, break up a block of colonized grain spawn in its bag. Ensure that the bag is white. Once it is thoroughly broken up, use scissors to cut open the bag and dump it into the fruiting chamber.
6) Cut open your Super Shroom substrate and dump it into the fruiting chamber as well.
7) Using your clean hands, preferably while wearing latex gloves, thoroughly mix the substrate and grain spawn. Once mixed, spread evenly throughout the fruiting chamber. The surface should be somewhat level.
8) Fasten the lid to the fruiting chamber.
9) Place the fruiting chamber in a room that receives natural lighting and is between 70-75 degrees.
GENERAL FRUITING CHAMBER MAINTENANCE
After your fruiting chamber is set up, it will take 2-3 weeks to fully colonize.
An important step in your mushroom growing equipment procedure is to monitor your tub for dryness. This is critical! If you see lighter patches of substrate, lightly mist with a spray bottle of clean tap water until darkened. After the substrate is fully colonized, it will be important to continue to monitor for surface moisture. There should always be very small beads of water on the surface of your substrate. If you don’t see these, mist lightly once a day until small beads of water are visible. After you mist, fan the substrate for 20-30 seconds. This is to initiate evaporation, a key pinning trigger.
HUMIDIFIER SETUP (DELUXE KIT ONLY)
After you set up your fruiting chamber. It should not need any attention for at least two weeks. After this point, you should set up your humidity control kit. Set up the humidifier with the hose attachments and fit the end of the hose into the highest hole on the side of the fruiting chamber that has three holes. Remember to fill the humidifier with water. Program the timing switch to turn on for one minute each day. Plug the humidifier into the timing switch. That’s it! Set it and forget it!
USING THE HEATING MAT (DELUXE KIT ONLY))
If your room is colder than 70 degrees, you will want to employ the heating mat. Simply set up the mat on a flat surface and turn it on. Place a towel or piece of cardboard on top of the mat, then place the fruiting chamber on top. Monitor the temperature in the fruiting chamber (it should not rise above 78 degrees). If it is too hot, add more layers of cardboard until the appropriate temperature zone is reached (between 70-75 degrees).
FRUITING AND HARVESTING
Your fruiting chamber should begin to produce fruits 2-3 weeks after becoming fully colonized. Mushrooms will begin to pin-up and then grow quickly. You should harvest your mushrooms when the cap flutes out and the veil breaks, exposing the gills of the mushrooms. Harvest your mushrooms by twisting and pulling them from the substrate.
A flush of mushrooms includes all of the mushrooms that are produced in the same general wave. Once your first flush is harvested, the substrate can be “reset” for additional flushes. Gently pour tap water on top of the substrate until a small puddles form. Now pour water down the sides of the substrate to a depth of about ½ inch. After 24 hours, dump off the excess water and resume regular misting and fanning.
DRYING AND STORING YOUR MUSHROOMS
Use the included dehydration kit to effectively dry out your mushrooms. Remove everything from the plastic container, add the desiccant beads until they form a layer about a ¼ inch thick. Lay the screen on top of the beads, then add your mushrooms on top of the screen. Drying may take a few days. Once dry to the touch, store your mushrooms in the included mason jar. Note: Storing mushrooms in the refrigerator will extend their life.
In this video, Scarlett introduces the Monster Mushroom Company and our exclusive video series. We can’t wait to share everything we have prepared for you—this video acts as a bit of a teaser for all the great information we’re putting together here at Monster Mushroom! Throughout the video series, you’re going to learn…
- Step-by-step guides on how to use the products offered by the Monster Mushroom Company
- Tips and secrets only known by the most experienced mycologists and mushroom growers
- Sneak peeks at our new and upcoming products
Whether you’re using our Complete All-In-One Mushroom Grow Kit, the Mini-Boomer Mushroom Grow Kit, or even if you just picked up a couple bags of our industry-leading Super Spawn grain spawn, the video and written content available from the Monster Mushroom Company will help you get the most out of your set up. The team at Monster Mushroom Company has been involved in the gourmet and medicinal mushroom growing field for over two decades; our mission is to bring mycology to the masses by demystifying the often misunderstood process of cultivating mushrooms. Chefs, hobbyists, and amateur scientists around the country rely on our products to get the most out of their grows. If you’re in Colorado, you can find our products just about anywhere you might be. Retailers such as HTG Supply, The Grow Shop, Way to Grow, Cultivate, and the Grow Warehouse carry our products. Please see our Where to Buy page for a full directory of retailers as well as contact information. Our products aren’t hard to find! In the next video in the series, we’ll show you an unboxing of our mushroom grow kit so that you can know exactly what you’ll get when you buy one locally or order yours online.
In this video, Eric returns to show us exactly what comes with one of our Deluxe Mushroom Grow Kits—and it sure is a lot! Each kit provides you with everything you need for at least 4-6 successful mushroom grows. The most noticeable element of the kit is, of course, the 54 quart custom-made fruiting chamber—otherwise known as a monotub—which is used for both incubation and fruiting. A filtered air intake and air exchange system will be set up using this fruiting chamber by means of the pre-drilled holes, included polyfill filtering material, and a small fan. The fan is small but mighty! It’s useful for introducing fresh air to your grow: it’s small enough to mitigate the risk of introducing airborne contaminants to the chamber, but strong enough to get the job done correctly. In addition to fresh air, your grow will need to stay hydrated. In this video, Eric shows the included humidifier to help automate this process. In other kits, you’ll receive a spray bottle to mist your fungi by hand—those of you who want a more hands on experience may even prefer this. An included hygrometer and temperature gauge will help you ensure that your grow is always at the right level of humidity and temperature. Maintaining both is important for a successful grow, and that’s why in addition to the humidifier and/or spray bottle for manual misting, you’ll receive a heating pad with the Deluxe kit. The purpose of the heating pad is to maintain a relatively high temperature (70°F-78°F), which can be tough here in Colorado during certain times of the year! Finally during the video, you’ll also get a look at our Super Spawn grain spawn bags and our Super Shroom fruiting substrate. If you’re interested in a kit that doesn’t take up quite as much room and is simply perfect for beginners, you may want to watch the next video in the series where we feature an unboxing of the basic mushroom grow kit.
Here, Eric shows us the basic mushroom grow kit. Included is another customized fruiting chamber and much of the same equipment that comes with the Deluxe kit. The Basic kit, however, comes with a spray bottle instead of the humidifier and assumes that you won’t need the heating mat—during the summertime or if you live in a warmer climate, that won’t be a problem at all. However, the kit does also come with a hygrometer and temperature gauge. The kit includes one bag of the Super Spawn and one bag of the Super Shroom fruiting substrate. The basic kit also comes with a “clean kit,” which is a supply of latex gloves and a face mask. These are to be worn while working on your grow, particularly during inoculation or any other time when the risk of contamination is high. More on that in the next video in the series. The basic kit even includes a drying kit, which consists of a small container, a mesh sheet, and desiccant beads. The purpose of the drying kit is to dehydrate your mushrooms, which can be very useful if you want to store medicinal or gourmet mushrooms for long periods of time—many types of mushroom can be successfully rehydrated at the time you’re ready to cook with them, brew them in a medicinal tea, or otherwise put them to work. To dehydrate the mushrooms, you simply place them on top of the mesh sheet after harvesting. The mesh sheet will rest on top of the desiccant beads. The beads are designed to absorb moisture and ambient humidity, and while the whole process will take a few days, it’s an easy and effective process.
Inoculation
In this informative video, Scarlett demonstrates how to properly inoculate your Super Spawn grain bags. Since most amateur mycologists don’t own a flow hood—a device that can provide you with a sterile working environment—Eric instead shows how to properly perform an “open air” inoculation. When done properly, the risk of contamination is quite low. The first step is to find a clean room in your home. Make sure that there isn’t any air flow in the room from open windows, HVAC vents, or running fans. You’ll also want to shoo away any pets. Eric points out that for many, the best room in the house that meets all these criteria is often the bathroom—it’s a clean room, away from everyone else, and typically will have flat surfaces such as sink countertops to work on. Next, Eric suggests spraying disinfectant in the air of the room. This is to remove as many airborne contaminants as possible. It’s important to disinfect the surface you’re working on as well—70% isopropyl rubbing alcohol will do the job nicely. You will also want to wear a face mask and gloves if at all possible, since cleanliness is really of the utmost importance during the inoculation process. Finally, it’s time to inoculate the grain bags. First, wipe down the exterior of the bags to ensure that they’re clean as well, then massage the bags to separate and aerate the contents. Then flame-sterilize the needle of your spore syringe. Eric points out that it’s important to get the needle as red-hot as possible—if you have a butane torch, that would be ideal, but you can use a standard lighter as well (it will just take longer). Once complete, allow the needle to cool. The final step is to insert the sterilized needle of your spore syringe into the injection port of the grain bag. Inject your spore solution and remove the needle. That’s the inoculation process! Once colonized, the next step in the cultivation process will be to break up your spawn bags. Let’s take a look at how that works:
Spawn Break Up
After your grain spawn bags are fully colonized, you’re getting close to the actual fruiting stage—but not yet. In this video—comically titled “the breakup video”—you’ll learn how to properly break up your colonized grain spawn and distribute it into your fruiting chamber with the fruiting substrate. Again, cleanliness is important during this process. As we discussed in the previous section, you want to work in a clean room where there is minimal (or preferably no) airflow from windows, vents, or fans. It may be a little awkward to take all of your gear in there, but the bathroom works well for this. Wear gloves and a face mask, and disinfect the air and any surfaces you’re working with. Massage and break up the grain spawn while it’s still in the bag. Then you’ll mix it into the substrate. As shown in the video, it can help to put both into the same bag that you’ll be using as the liner for your fruiting chamber. Seal the bag and gently mix everything together by squeezing and massaging the contents of the bag from the outside. After visually confirming that the colonized grain spawn and the substrate are well-mixed together, you can simply set the liner bag down in the fruiting chamber. Remember, it’s unnecessary to pat down the substrate once the liner is laid flat in the chamber!
