🍄 Gardening 🍄 CVG substrate for Golden Teacher.

[Daddydopedick]

I want to grow golden teacher shrooms, and I know whetger the substrate I've found is appropriate and mainly, whether my method of housing the fruited CVG substrate would work. I've come across the bucket tek, where you use coca coir bricks and boiling water, then use vermiculate and gypsum as an alternative as they help, but aren't necessary.

Basically, I'm new to this, and had a question or two about the substrate. Firstly, is sterilised, premixed CVG substrate okay to use? I found some on eBay and it gets great reviews.

As for using premixed sterilised CVG, will I have to hydrate it before I put it in a fruiting bag and inject it with the spores or not?

Then there's what I should grow it in. Is it a bad idea to place the substrate in one container (should I put it in something, then put that something inside a larger container that is air tight, that I can air out 2-3 times per day)? Also, does the substrate need a certain amount of depth? Could I have it a couple of inches thick and still grow decent golden teacher?

You get those plastic boxes that slide underneath your bed. I was going to use one of those and once the substrate is ready to take out of the fruiting bag, I was going to put them into standard food containers (pretty much 2 inches deep and they each have a lid, they're pretty small, but not tiny).

So yeah, I was going to place those food containers with the fruited CVG into the larger plastic box, the type that slides under your bed.

I was going to place the lids of the smaller containers on top, but not air tight (leave them on top without clicking them down), but for the larger one they're in, I was going to keep air tight and air it out 2-3 times per day and spray it with sterilised water if needed (if it looked too dry inside etc).


Does this sound like it would work for golden teacher, or not? (The substrate gets extremely good reviews, and a lot, none of them are bad)


Long-ass post, would be surpsied if anybody got this far, but lmk if this would work. Thanks in advance.

Edit: If I got a monotub/made a monotub, would I be able to put the inoculated substrate in these: https://tinyurl.com/Growtrays
I was going to place them in one of these: https://tinyurl.com/Monotuborjusttub
Would putting them in this and leaving the lid ajar suffice, or should I make a full-blown monotub with the plugs and filters? I was going to get the 50 litre one with a clear lid.
Alternative: https://tinyurl.com/Cultlab
Could I leave the cultivated spawn in one of these and modify it so it has lighting on the inside when it's ready to receive light, and keep it all sealed up and in darkness until it's ready to fruit and open up the air ways/turn on the lights?




As for the trays, my thinking is that there are more of them and in varying sizes, if one fails or gets contaminated, I can take it out. Or, are they simply all too small?

 

[Opana313]

I think Mason jars with the vermiculite(or whatever) and maybe an empty fish tank.

I haven't grown them yet myself but a good friend of mine has and good lord the yield this man produced and quality...I think some of it comes down to controlling moisture.

Take what I say with a grain of salt bc I barely know shit I've just seen spores being inoculated and how wonderful everything turned out. But yeah all the ins and outs I'm sure someone will come along shortly and prove me a fool.

I'm sure there are teks n shit if not on here, shroomery for sure.

 

[Daddydopedick]

I think Mason jars with the vermiculite(or whatever) and maybe an empty fish tank.

I haven't grown them yet myself but a good friend of mine has and good lord the yield this man produced and quality...I think some of it comes down to controlling moisture.

Take what I say with a grain of salt bc I barely know shit I've just seen spores being inoculated and how wonderful everything turned out. But yeah all the ins and outs I'm sure someone will come along shortly and prove me a fool.

I'm sure there are teks n shit if not on here, shroomery for sure.

The thing is, I've done my research, but it's like trying to drink water out of a fire hose.

I don't have jars, but I plan on buying plastic ones (glass ones are expensive in the UK, but plastic ones should work just as well...)? They're not quart jars, but they're litre jars, and if you look up "1 quart in litres", a litres is verrrry close to being a quart, so I aren't worried about that, I think a litre is just over 0.97 quarts or something.

Anyway, as for fruiting bags, I don't know what spawn to put in there. I'm stuck for what grain is best for golden teacher. As for the container I'm going to put the inoculated spawn in, I'm going to use plastic shoeboxes.

My main concern really is the light. How much light does the mycelium need, and when? I'm lead to believe that during colonisation (in the bag), they're to be left in the dark. Then, when you put them into the shoe boxes, in the fruiting chamber, you mix it with CVG, then place a layer of Coco coir or CVG over it and let it get a little bit of indirect light or even light from a lamp/LEDs, but I aren't sure.


Soooo much info, it's just overloading my brain and I don't wanna fuck it up.

As for keeping the shoeboxes covered, I was maybe going to put a bin liner/clear plastic bag with small holes pricked into it. Either that, or I buy a large plastic container, and make myself a monotub with the holes on the side to allow me to place plugs in that I can change to air filter plugs when the fruiting begins. I think the second option is more ideal tbf. I'd be able to get a good 3-4 plastic shoeboxes of inoculated CVG/grain substrate in there.

My main questions are:

Light? How much does it need, and when?
Spawn? I have spawn bags with the filters you inject etc, what seeds are best for golden teacher inoculation? Also, is it just seeds I need? Or should and Coco/CVG be in there, too?

Bonus: Could I substitute a monotone with a grow tent? One that has flaps you can open and circles that allow air flow (that's shiny on the inside. I was thinking of maybe getting one of those and placing led light strips inside to modify it (if said strain needs light, LED light should do, at least from what I've heard. If golden teacher during the fruiting stage needs light, I might just go for the tent and use LEDs. Does your mate leave his fish tank in specific places during different times, or does he just keep it in one place?
Heat is an issue too, everybody says room temp is fine, but I live in the UK, houses here don't have AC, so could easily get too hot in summer and too cold in winter (heating is off during night due to saving money and the fact electric bills are so high, so it's be too cold, a tent would be good for keeping heat in, especially if I got a heat mat with a thermostat.

Edit: You are right about the fish tank and vermiculite, however, fish tanks are expensive and plastic, transparent shoe boxes work the same. As for the vermiculite, it's not necessary, but helps. You can use the bucket tek to make bulk CVG substrate (C = Coco coir, V = vermiculate & G = Gypsum). It's really cheap if you buy bricks of Coco coir, bags of vermiculite and bags of gypsum, that's the bucket tek that gets you bulk substrate for cheap. However, I don't need that much, it's my first go, so I don't mind shelling out for premixed, sterile CVG substrate (I just hope it's the right ratio).

Another burning question I have, is EHAT DO I PUT IN THE SPAWN BAGS J HAVE BOUGHT FOR WHEN I INJECT THEM?? Do go for just seeds of a certain type? Do I use seeds mixed with CVG, do I use seed mixed with just coco coir. If I do use a certain seed as well as CVG sub, do I later them in any sort of way? I have Golden Teacher spores and these bags, what is the best thing to put in these bags?


(I'm not asking you btw, as you said you're as new to it as me, I'm just hoping someone else sees it and can answer).

 

[afk]

I spent 5 years growing cubes, hope I can help you out.

First of all, check out "mini monotub" teks. I think these are the best balance between beginner teks and decent yields. You can always check out "pf tek" for an introductory mushroom tek but I think it's a lot of work for how few mushrooms you get, and a monotub isn't much harder. Success in this game comes down to patience, procedure, cleanliness, and patience.

You're talking about inoculating the substrate directly. Unless you are working with agar or liquid cultures this isn't really advised. You should be knocking up grain bags or jars with your spore syringes, then once those are fully colonized you can mix them with your CVG (or just CV in my experience, I used the bucket tek for years with great results). This will give you a working medium to propagate into new jars, as well as act as a chance to catch contaminations. You can do grain to grain (g2g) transfers once you have an established jar.

You can purchase pre-sterilized grain bags and jars but I would recommend learning how to make your own, it is pennies vs dollars once you have it figured out. I used bird seed and after I got my moisture levels dialed in I rarely got any contams.

For growing container, I used those clear bins from IKEA. The lids don't snap on they kind of just sit there. I used 2 sizes (the shoebox ones and the next size up). I lined each bin with a garbage bag, filled with ~3 inches of substrate, mixed with a couple jars of spawn (colonized grains), then trimmed the garbage bags to the height of the substrate. Lightly sprayed with some water then put the lid on and forget about it. I find the more patient you are the better your results. Put them in the dark for a week and check for pinning every couple days after that. They do fine in the darkness but grow weird, if there is light in the room they will grow fine.

Hope this helps let me know if you have specific questions

 

[afk]

The thing is, I've done my research, but it's like trying to drink water out of a fire hose.

Soooo much info, it's just overloading my brain and I don't wanna fuck it up.

You're probably going to fuck something up (here's hoping you don't) but that's how you learn. This should really be approached as learning a hobby, not a one-time thing to grow some mushrooms. Trust me, there's not much better than tripping on your own supply, especially when they are fresh.

Anyway, as for fruiting bags, I don't know what spawn to put in there. I'm stuck for what grain is best for golden teacher. As for the container I'm going to put the inoculated spawn in, I'm going to use plastic shoeboxes.

Whatever grain you can find and get to colonize. Don't overthink this. Most recommend rye berries if you can find them, but in my area all I could get was bird seed. This worked just dandy.

My main concern really is the light. How much light does the mycelium need, and when? I'm lead to believe that during colonisation (in the bag), they're to be left in the dark. Then, when you put them into the shoe boxes, in the fruiting chamber, you mix it with CVG, then place a layer of Coco coir or CVG over it and let it get a little bit of indirect light or even light from a lamp/LEDs, but I aren't sure.

You are right on the money. I used a casing layer a couple times but didn't see any results other than longer fruiting times. I mix my substrate / spawn at a pretty heavy ratio so it colonizes quickly and doesn't get contaminated. If you have limited spawn a casing layer might be a good idea.

 

[Ismene2]

The problem is going to be finding viable spores in the UK. 99% of spore syringes I've bought in the UK arn't viable. I think I've had one with enough spores to spawn a tiny cake - and that was 20 years ago.

My advice is get the smallest, cheapest stuff you can find - just make one tiny cake - then buy a spore syringe and see if you get anything other than a coin sized peice of spawn. Then start spending a bit of money on it. I went the way of buying everything first - cost a fortune - and then you get jackshit because there's about 3 spores in the syringe. Spore syringes are a fucking joke in the UK - I'd not be surprised if they were just selling syringes filled with tap water and then saying "It must have been your technique". Ordering from abroad might be the only way forward.