My current understanding is that "grow kit" you get from most vendors is basically a mini-monotub. There are however some differences from the common monotub design:

1) no lining to avoid side pins
2) no FAE holes - it's simply a plastic box
3) there seems to be just pure grain, no manure/straw/coir

Even though the grow box has such minimal design, it can provide fascinating yields:



Could anybody shed some light on how these grow boxes are made?

Are they simply just pre-sterilized boxes with grain spawn? Or are there any additional secrets?

I think you pretty much summed these pre-made grow kits.

My opinion on this is that there isn't too much thought put into most of these pre-done-up kits; as it's seemed to me for the most part to just be produced to turn a quick buck. Though I understand if some might just want a handful of dosages, give or take [as most of those kits i've seen are relatively small].

I think its wise to just invest the money into building a bad@^& tub/setup, or even if wanting to keep it basic - do the famed pf-tek with one to two dozen jars [which with multiple flushes can yield quite alot, especially with the dunk n' roll method for the cakes, ime].

Cheers

Thanks. I see.

Yes I compared the PF Tek and growbox yields and they are basically the same volume-wise. The growbox has some 1 200 cc giving you about 400 grams of fresh mushrooms in 3-4 flushes.

I wanted to make some mini-monotubs for fellow psychonaouts who are not growers and they need something simple. So it's good to know a simple grain-filled box will suffice.

The only question is how to sterilize since most plastic will melt in PC. Maybe just fill it with pre-colonized grain and let it consolidate inside the box.

Of course a bad$*^& tub is my choice for indoor grow.

In my experience so far nothing has beat mixing in colonized jar grains into an oven pasteurized monotub with a nutritious substrate (total 3-4 inches after adding grains). Let the grains colonize a substrate (50% to 30% colonized grains in the final mix) to get more out of them I say.

Yeah, my motivation here was not maximizing the yield but rather be able to make simple grow kit for friends who are not growers but are familiar with purchased grow boxes (ones that come in closed plastic box with filter bag and clips). They know nothing about FAE, controlling humidity etc.

Maybe the proper (manure-based) monotub is more prone to contamination or something that "commercial" grow box is not?

If monotub with pasteurized substrate is superior to what is offered by most vendors in all ways, including simplicity of use (by layman / non-grower), that I will go for it of course.

I had one of those.
The pre sterilised rye bag wasnt really and it quickly molded.
But i just made my own jars.
It worked pretty well i gotta say but prolly not much different from buying a pound of rye a platic box and some bag of vermiculite in a store.

Mine came with a box and a platic bag with air filters tho so i will def reuse it.

In my opinion for PC the best and simplest gift would be a closed substrate monotub with proper air exchange holes that has been inoculated. Why? No FAE or water spray needed. Simply sit back and enjoy watching the micelium spread in preparation for a (hopefully) massive flush.

Not sure why pros don't do it like this. Maybe because they can't get the monotub back which makes it expensive? Also shipping a bulky monotub would raise cost?

Thinking about it, downside of a large flush would be a possible temptation to mix the mushroom teacher with money. Not only is this against the teachings from the mushroom (in my personal experience), but it could bring a lot of trouble. Something to consider before gifting a monotub. Not claiming that anyone here would make the wrong call, just putting all my thoughts out there just in case.

Looking back at what I wrote I wasn't entirely correct in what I said; I'd imagine there are kits out there that are of reasonably good size - in order to fruit a considerable amount as if you were doing a giant monotub, though the main reason I said what I'd said is because most of the kits I saw in the past before ever getting into growing mushrooms were relatively small sized tubs/domed-lid container style kits; most looked like they'd only yield a small bit, compared to say pf/pf-casing, or especially spawn to bulk substrate monotub, etc

I do love those giant pre-sterilized spawn bags with the resealable injection holes.

Random post, but just wanted to clear that up in case I hadn't been clear [sorry]. Cheers

Yes a very small and reliable tub is fine. I throw out lots of plastic boxes so my idea was to fill them with leftover substrate and make tiny monotubs as gifts that would produce enough for 1-4 people.



I should look more into these. They look very practical.

Not much to add other than my limited experience in a locally sourced mini-kit, of which was cubensis dormant. It's pretty amazing what can be done with packaging. Although(and unfortunately so); within a couple weeks of successful mycelium growth and small pins, I ended up tossing it a week after due to microorganism infiltration and contamination. The set-up was a classic four step process including pasteurization through boiling method(straw substrate) followed by spawning, casing and fruiting. The plastic enclosure box was about 12x12 inches.

For how much $ I used to purchase the whole kit to begin with was actually quite reasonable, given the short delivery distance. And for non-accustomed folks who don't have much experience with growing mushrooms from scratch(such as myself) can benefit. I mean, it worked but I probably fell short through some non-sterilized materials.

I have seen and grown quite a few grow kits and based on my observations of both the kits and of my own grows, I would say that the grow kit producers put a lot of effort in nurturing a strain that does well within the constraints of their kits. Even a totally uninformed novice can get results, even impressive results, from these kits by following the two or three instructions after unpacking.

On the other hand, I am not very impressed by the impeccability of the aseptic handling that goes into producing the kits. Even when I used impeccable procedures that have kept my own grows clean, these kits always succumb to infections after one or two flushes. Often the bacterial contamination is evident already during the initial flush, even when opened, handled and dunked under fully sterile conditions.