for a sterilized bag-o-straw staw substrate, does r need to put casing? it is a mixture of rye grain and straw.

if it does need casing, what can r use?

if your growing a Cubensis a casing isn't needed.

also I hope you pasteurized and not sterilized it, and are you using straight straw?
if so pasteurize some h.poo and use that as well.

thanks for the advice, well what im using is a pre-prepared straw bag. with an injector sight and everything.


im a first timer with this stuff, and am trying to use the easiest way, but all the other substrates are out of stock

i would send you a link for what substrate im using, but i cant send pm's to anyone other than moderators

I am pretty sure casing is not necessary, though I remember hearing someone say that uneven surfaces of substrate = less yield; I don't know if it's true but if so a casing could help in this respect.

I used to use a mix of pasteurised vermiculite and coco coir on top of my trays.

Casing is not required for cubensis, though it would greatly help the yield, the fruiting increments, and the overall amount of time until it contaminates.

IMO, casings, even for cubies, are highly recommended. Just make sure to do it right

A sterilized casing would be fine (although a pasteurized substrate is better than sterilized, as sterilizing kills beneficial bacteria)
As for the casing ingredients, i think its called the 50/50+ casing. I forgot the contents, i think perlite, coir (debatable), vermiculite, lime, moss, and oystershell? Idk though look up the 50/50+. It was/is on the shroomery

r is gonna grow the "john allen" strain, im not sure if thats cubensis or not. overall heres how im planning to do this

inject the straw/rye bag with the spores. then shake.

keep it in a warm closet with agitation everyday until the mycellium turn the whole bag white

empty the bag into a sterilized container on top of perlite, then 2 cm of vermiculite over the substrate

would that do the trick?

Yes.... the John Allen strain is cubensis.

As for the rest... I'd do some reading on fruiting... fruiting chambers etc.

Are you just going to fruit the bag contents (once colonized) as a block/chunk? If that's the case I'd look into building a Shotgun Fruiting Chamber or something similar.

I'm pretty sure you can fruit it right in the bag as well.

If your colonizing in a bag, slitting cuts in the side may be best for fruiting.

IMO, monotubs are the best way to go; youll never go back.

Read up as much as possible on anything related to what your doing

Ps: idk if you know, but when shooting the spores in the substrate, the syringe must be STERILE, aside from spores

i know this sounds stupid, but what exactly is a monotub?

if its a container to fruit in, then thats what im planning on doing. after the rye turns completely white with mycellium, i want to move it to a sterile container and cover it with vermiculite.

go to shroomery dot org and search monotub.It's a plastic box for fruiting your shroomies. It's good way to growing it, but Shotgun terrarium [box for fruiting] is also pretty good way to go. just research and look which way your heart tells you to go there's loads of ways to do it and for you, as a first timer, just pick one. every way has it's good and bad sides. if you're lucky and careful, yields will be nice. also, if you will decide to use monotub, casing is not necessary, but if you'll decide to use casing, read a bit about "late casing tek", it did wonders with this technique.
happy growing.

If you use a monotub effectivly, there will be a huggeee canopy of mushies with at least 2 layers. Quite possible you will not be able to see the substrate looking down into the monotub, from the overcast of a canopy.

Also they self regulate (if you do it right) and require no maintenance once spawned (aside from opening the bag up once colonized, and possibly a casing)

Just make sure if you case (idk how effective casing would be inside a bag), wait until the mycelium is ABOUT to pin, then case

Gas exchange is very important to mushies; its one of the pinning triggers. As i said, monotubs self regulate if done correctly
In theory, there are 2 gases that are inside a monotub, oxygen and carbon dioxide, with co2 weighing more and sinking below the o2. the 2 or so holes at the top of the monotub allow for oxygen to be passivly pulled into the tub, while simultaeniously pushing the co2 out of the bottom 3 or so holes in the tub. Its like a nonstop passive flow (but you could block the flow if you wanted,like while colonizing)

Monotubs all the way imo
Also shroomery is a great source of info about everything mushies

Even for a firsttimer, i would suggest a monotub

Just make sure to research the fuck out of it

Also expect to fail a few times and learn from experience