Mushroom Grow Kit Instructions: BAGTEK

Our mission is to teach proper cultivation methods, and strengthen the advocacy for Psilocybin research & integration to improve Mental Health, not only in Canada but globally. 

Thank you for purchasing one of our featured products! If there are any problems before starting your kit, please contact our staff immediately so we rectify the situation. 

These Grow Kits include most everything you need to perform ‘cultivation research’ in your own home, lab or office space by providing the ideal growing condition & simple instructions that you can reference as your Grow Kit journey unfolds. BEST OF ALL-- our kits allow you to produce results in a FRACTION of the time.

Be sure you are practicing in the cleanest possible manner. This is the most important part of your journey! If your Grow Kit contaminates-- GAME OVER! You will need to work on your sanitary techniques-- & start all over. This happens to the best of us, so don't be discouraged, please contact our staffing so we can discuss possible replacement or promotional savings on your next purchase. 

Things you may want to consider before you begin:  

1 – Pair of Nitrile gloves  

1 – dust mask or equivalent  

1 – 70% Isopropyl alcohol or disinfectant spray
 

GET ORGANIZED

Pick a room you an use for you planting or 'lab' space. An ideal room to use will be draft-free, such as a bedroom or perhaps your kitchen. Take everything you will need to your designated clean space before you begin. Its best to keep air currents to an absolute minimum, shut off any fans or heating - close doors and keep them closed until you are finished; this will lower the chances of competing organisms landing getting in the Grow Kit while its exposed to open air environments. 

CLEANLINESS

Take the time to ensure you are completely clean - change into fresh clothes, wash & wipe down your workstation well. It is best practice to use 70% isopropyl alcohol spray or Lysol-type disinfectant. Make sure your hands & forearms are clean before you begin. You can equip a dust mask and gloves also as this will help reduce the chance of contamination considerably.

TEMPERATURE

Psilocybe cubensis is a sub-tropical species & prefers warm climates during fruiting, but there is a balance- because so do lurking competitors! If your mycelium is going strong, it can outrun many types of other bacteria, molds & fungi that may be present in your substrate. 

Keeping the Grow Kit somewhere between 68F & 76F is ideal for fruiting (76F will prove to have noticeably faster growth than 68F but with some patience it will still fruit the same).

*If you are determined to have a warmer environment for faster fruiting times, we strongly advise against the use of heat mats-- as they can cause over-evaporation of the substrate and potentially overheat and contaminate the Grow Kit.

SETTING

Once you are ready to begin, its time to open your box if you haven't already, Take out the welcome contents of the box, here you should find: Alcohol wipes, Spore-swabs, Misting bottle and any other extra goodies we have or you! 

This is a good time to put your gloves on, and wipe down the spawn container and your gloves using the alcohol wipes. Once you are ready, locate the container marked SPAWN, then open the lid & pour the contents of the spawn container into the designated fruiting bag. Next, open the substrate container and pour it also into the fruiting bag. Now make a double fold-over (twice) to close the top of the bag and mix the contents thoroughly to homogenize both spawn & substrate. Be sure to break down any clumps of mycelium for even dispersion. When you are all finished the mixing process, very lightly tap down the bag on the working surface to level it out & Proceed to close the bag, using the gusseted edges, make a double-fold (twice) over the opening to ensure it remains sealed. This will prevent dry-out from too much evaporation. Set the paperclips on the fold to secure it from opening & you are all set!

NICE JOB! 

Simply Right? I know--- its only going to get better.

It is now time to clean up and set the Grow Kit in a safe place to fully allow the mycelium to begin colonizing. We recommend placing it in a minimal airflow environment and out of direct sunlight. Ambient room lighting is sufficient for mushroom cultivation. This will reduce chance for anything to enter the bag and also to give your mycelium the advantage for maintaining a stronghold against any potential competing organisms). Ambient room lighting is sufficient as this organism is not photosynthetic, it simply needs lighting to recognize which direction to grow towards. This stage can take anywheres from 10-14days.

FRUITING (upto 14days later)

Now your substrate should be fully consolidated (completely white surface). You can now allow your Grow Kit to breathe by opening the lid or bag briefly allowing fresh air to exchange with the CO2 that has built up inside the Grow Kit (A biproduct of the mycelium consuming its substrate). This exchange will begin to encourage mushroom pinning. After doing this, allow 24hours before opening the Grow Kit again.

If your grow kit looks dry, the spray bottle may be necessary encourage moisture on the surface, by opening the bag and lightly misting over the surface with water. this will allow for increased evaporation needed for the pinning mushrooms to form.

AFTER 24HR. 

Be sure to check your Grow Kit (1-2 times) daily. 

Each time you check, look at the surface conditions. Is there tiny water beading present along the surface or is the surface bone dry?

Evaporation of moisture from the substrate surface is the primary trigger for mushroom pinning to form and grow. However, you want the Grow Kit to remain humid & have a moist surface condition for best results & highest yield (90%RH (Relative Humidity) inside the bag or chamber is ideal).  

Be sure to carefully replace lost humidity on the surface (if needed) by misting indirectly overhead using the finest mist setting. You want to see tiny beads along the surface after misting, not large beading or pools of saturation this damages the top layer of mycelium and can cause bacterial infection.

Proceed to close the bag, using the gusseted edges, make a fold over the opening (twice), to ensure it remains sealed.

3-7 DAYS AFTER OPENING

You may begin to see very small knotting of the mycelium along the surface. This is what is called hyphal knots followed by primordial forming mycelium. These primordial are what will form into 'pins' or the beginning stage of your mushrooms.

Once you can visibly see the mushrooms sticking out of the substrate, you should no longer need to mist the Grow Kit. However, if your Grow Kit is in a very dry climate, A heavy misting can be applied once every 24hrs. to encourage the mushrooms into maturity. Caution: This can lead to bacterial blotching &/or contaminating colonies from forming if you are continuously over-saturating. Less is more.

(If your Grow Kit has not began to form pins, or knotting in the timeframe above-- please be patient, this is a living organism and its lifecycle is not always predictable to a set timeframe.)

HARVESTING

When your mushrooms are matured in size, they are ready for harvest. Best time to do this is before the caps are fully opened, as this is when the mushroom prepares to release its spores, covering the all over the Grow Kit & other mushrooms (this is considered undesirable, however not harmful to consume). Carefully check for contamination on the substrate surface before fully opening the Grow Kit (green, black, yellow or pink mold patches). If you notice contamination, take the Grow Kit outside your growing space to harvest.

You can either use a pair of alcohol sanitized scissors or a scalpel/knife to cut them off the cake. Do so as close to the base as possible. Some prefer to just twist & pull them off the substrate-- but be aware of this method it can often pull some of the substrate off with the mushroom, so this may not be the best method for beginners.

Once you have harvested all the mushrooms from the Grow Kit, its time to rehydrate the Grow Kit by pouring 1/2cup of COLD WATER into the substrate and/or misting the surface heavily. Allow 4-6hours resting period before draining off any excess water (This can be placed in the fridge). After that time, the Grow Kit can be drained off of any excess water & placed back into its fruiting area for continued fruiting. The Grow Kit will produce another 'flush' of mushrooms and grow much quicker this time, which you can repeat these steps until the substrate nutrition is “spent” or once it is deemed overly contaminated. Once the substrate is finished, simply discard the contents into the garden, or compost. The bag can be recycled with the other household plastics. 

WANT TO TRY AGAIN?

You can purchase one of our many other available Grow Kits & products at https://ramushrooms.ca 

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Thank you for your continued support & we hope you enjoy the experience! 

RA MUSHROOMS