Cultivation 101
The following procedures should be followed in order to have a successful round of p. cubensis cultivation using a monotub or other bin with a closing lid. We run a martha-style humidity chamber for our fruiting, so our bin looks a bit different than cultivators who run a classic monotub.
Materials Needed
- flowhood or boxfan tek
- fully colonized grain (jar or bag)
- pasturized substrate
- monotub or other bin with lid
- alcohol spray bottle
- water spray bottle
- paper towel
- scissors
- scalpel / exacto knife
- garbage bag
Cleaning
-First, Using the water spray, spray the air of the room that you're working in. The idea behind this is to take any particles of contamination out of the air, and trap them in the falling water droplets.
- Next, using the alcohol spray, spray the air of the entire room. Now you're allowing the alcohol to fall on top of any trapped contamination that has settled.
- Then, Using your alcohol spray bottle, spray and wipe down any and all surfaces that you will be using during these next steps. Spray any tables, tools, and especially your hands and lower arms. Cleanliness is essential!
- If you haven't been able to tell by now, cleanliness is one of the most important steps before you actually start doing work. We recommend giving your tub or bin a thorough scrub with soap and water before use. To be extra cautious, wash out with a low-ratio bleach solution or spray down with hydrogen peroxide and wipe. Do the same with the lid of the bin, and make sure to get inside any nooks and krannies!
Lining The Bin
- using your sciscors, cut a trash bag to the proper size so that when it is inside your bin, the walls of the trash bag will be high enough so that substrate can be contained within the liner; leaving the bin itself clean. this step will be helpful when harvesting, and makes the final cleanup of each bin ten times easier.
- using the alcohol, spray both sides of the bag and wipe down with a paper towel.
- spray the inside of your bin with alcohol, as well as one side of the garbage bag. this will help the bag stick to the sides of the bin and will keep the bag stuck against the walls during the preparation and mixture of the grain and substrate.
- place the bag at the bottom of your bin and stick it to every wall. reference our IG video for proper technique.
- spray the bin and liner with alcohol one last time, and wipe down.
Preparing the Grain
- using alcohol, spray the entire bag or jar and wipe down with paper towels.
- massage the bag, or follow the break + shake jar technique to break up the clumps of mycelium into smaller sized pieces.
Preparing the Substratte
- pour enough substrate into the bin so that the entire bottom is completely covered.
- pat and pack the substrate tightly against the bottom of the bin. This will take out oxygen and press the substrate firmly into the bottom of your container. This step helps to eliminate the possibility of air pockets to form microclimates that cause mushrooms to grow on the bottom of your substrate.
- open your bag or jar of grain, and pour it into the bin.
- add more substrate and mix until there is a ratio of 2 parts substrate to 1 part grain. make sure the grain and substrate are evenly mixed and distributed together.
- continue the above two steps until youve used the appropriate amounts of grain for your container.
- pat and pack down the substrate, making sure the corners and sides are firmly filled with the substrate and that there aren't any air pockets.
- add a final layer of substrate to cover the grain + sub mix! a casing layer helps prevent contam before the sub is fully colonized.
CLEAN MORE + FINISH
- youre almost done- just spray some alcohol and clean the lid of your bin!
- spray a fine water mist on top of the substrate and against the container walls to add some humidity, spray the lid of your container, and close it up!
- label the strain and date, and let the mycelium colonize in an area with a temp between 68 and 74 Fahrenheit.
*Colonization rates are different depending on a variety of factors including strain, substrate blend, temperature, and altitude. *