Hello Nexus!

I'm a moderator at another site with 16 years of experience growing P.Cubensis. I just finished writing an all-in-one guide for absolute beginners to magic mushroom cultivation. I hope it can help many, many people grow mushrooms. As such, I'm posting it on multiple sites.

So, I humbly submit for your consideration: Magic for the Masses

Thanks. I appreciate you took the time making an easy to follow guide.

If only I found that year ago, I wouldn't have to go through hours of YouTube videos...

One thing I would appreciate as an European would be use of a metric system in your book.

Plain awesome... Thank you very much for your work!

You sir are an absolute legend !

There's some great tips in there.

+ several million

Glad to see your here around the Nexus as well sidestreet. I've already told you my praises over at the other forum.

Really well put together guide with some great advice for people starting out in mycology. Easy to follow and the picture make the process clear.

I too wish there was a good guide like this when I was 1st starting out. Like I said onntjebother site I'll help seed this around for you.

SkunK

Thank you all so much for the kind words! It's nice to get such a warm reception. I hope you will feel free to spread it around as much as you like.

Well, well, SkunK! This is a pleasant surprise! Thanks for helping me get it out there.

Noted. This is only the first version, and I'm wide open to suggestion. I will make a note to include metric equivalents.

Being from Europe, do you have canning jars similar to the ones we have here? Are there any other adjustments I could make to be more inclusive? I certainly don't want to leave the rest of the world out.

Good guide - it puts a lot of disconnected information into one spot. This is definitely a great primer for someone who is just getting started.

Any plans to do a v2 that outlines bulk grow methods?

ps

Thanks for the guide. One question, can one use the caps from say 1/2 oz of dried mushrooms to inoculate the jars? If so is there a method to this?

PaulSage - Now that this version exists I should definitely build on it. As it gets bigger, though, I want to make sure that it stays easy to navigate. There are many other things I could put into it, but for now it's intended as a relatively small and simple guide.


Mitakuye Oyasin - my understanding is that it is possible to use dried mushrooms to start new cultures, but it requires some skilled agar work. The issue is that you're starting with an inherently "dirty" source by using mushrooms that have been exposed to the drying process and who knows what else.


I really appreciate the suggestions for a second edition. Keep them coming!

Each country is different. In my country, you can get locally made jars (see the attached image) - the bigger one is 950 ml (900 ml usable) and the smaller is 346 ml (285 ml usable). I use them for grains and BRF. The wide mouth ones are originally made for storing meat (so it can be popped out) and the larger ones for vegetables and pickles. They are meant to be steamed so there are no issues when putting them in PC.

You can get Ball and Kerr jars here, but these are only sold in fancy stores and are awfully expensive.

Cool, thanks for the info!

Thank you for posting the guide here .

A couple of suggestions for future editions of the guide:

1. Use of mycobags and slide on clips as alternatives to jars (cheaper, widely available online, no messing around with fixing filters on lids and flexible both in form and volume - easier to pack into smaller pressure cookers)

2. A section on growing sclerotia (super stealthy if the need for privacy is stopping people growing their own and maintenance free). IMHO it is easier than growing mushrooms using PF-tek or similar for a newbie.

That's a surprisingly good little manual you've created! I dare say it's a perfect go-to for beginners.

Ethically, i find the use of jars to be prime. Bags, since plastic, not so much. Of course they probably provide a much easier workaround, though i can’t say they are, but they’re also not very reusable and will transform to plastic waste sooner or later. Imho, now is the time to ethically approach these sacraments, in such a way that not only the masses would bennefit from the outcome, but rather the environment aswell. Do you agree?

Thank you all so much for the kind words and suggestions. The Nexus has been one of my best sources so far on how to build on this guide. I will definitely refer back to this thread when I'm planning the 2nd edition.

That edition will definitely need to include info on bulk substrates. Does the Nexus have favored bulk teks?

I do appreciate where you are coming from, but I think it is a matter of perspective. One or two mycobags will require far less energy to produce than an equivalent sized reusable jar. If recycled responsibly, it will have as much or as little impact on the environment as a reusable jar and it's consumables like seals, aluminium foil, filters etc would. If we stretch considerations further, we could get away with using smaller pressure cookers which require less energy to heat up etc.

It doesn't take away from the fact that they are an ugly solution in many ways. My primary reason for going with mycobags was to be able to use a 6 litre pressure cooker. I was able to do 3 bags with a total of 2kg rye in one go. If I had used jars this would have been impossible.

Thanks for this, Going to go into my arsenal of shroom stuff for the future. Seems to be pretty straight forward. Love that. Cheers.

Thank you so much! I've been needing this for years, and now that I'm about to start my first cultivation this is quite the synchronicity!