just got my grow kit in the mail. it's a tupperware box with some stuff in it and a bag with some strips of white stuff that kind of look like zippers? no instructions. i'm lost.

any suggestions or did i just screw up here...?

L&G

ant the mushroom noob...

Hmmm, got a picture?

Is the bag a sealed bag with sterilized substrate in it?

Not sure about zippers....? Actual zippers? Is it like foam tape?

Can you described more of what exactly is in the tupperware tub?

I'm pretty experienced in the area of blue thumbing, so I can probably help you here.....It's been a while though.

No no, it's all there man.
They should have included paperclips aswell

If what I'm thinking is correct you should just follow this link for instructions:

watch the video

Good luck,

Elpo

elpo- that is the exact kit i have and that video is absoloutely priceless!!

cross yer fingers boys n' girls!! next stop- the land of the golden teachers...

L&G!!

hey ant, outta curiosity, why'd you go with a kit instead of spore syringes/prints? Just curious, cuz even though several of my first runs a couple years ago never got anywhere due to contams, the educational experience was invaluable. Doing the whole shebang from start to finish is a truly rewarding experience...Granted if you just want some Fun Guys, i completely understand, but its so awesome to watch and learn about the whole mushroom life cycle.

Earlier this year i did my first syringe to Liquid culture and i still have about a gallon or so of liquid culture with massive mycelial networks growing in it. It truly blew my mind to watch the mycelium grow even before inoculating grain (in the past I had gone straight from syringe to grain, being somewhat apprehensive about LC's due to my living situation).

I wouldn't be surprised if your kit grow inspires you to go the full route, it's such an awesome process. And, by making your own LCs (or even using syringes and grain to grain transfers)you'll have so many mycelial colonies that you can experiment with inoculating and fruiting in all kinds of crazy setups...

peace

Pre-colonized substrate, delivered to/within the U.S.??


^^ And yeah, LC's are the way.

well, at the point where it's "pre-colonized" it shouldn't have any actives in it, right? I'm not 100% on that, but i'm fairly certain that it's not until a true mycelial network forms that any of the goodies are present, and then its not until the fruits form that they're present in truly large quantities. I'm not one for eating ounces of mycelial colonies, give me fruit bodies any day (not that the kit forces you to eat colonies, just that I know some people who don't want to be "burdened" with real growing will just churn out a ton of mycelium and eat those instead...the shroomery is full of interesting people).

No, I meant 'pre-colonized' as in colonized for you before it's mailed out....like a fully colonized sub that's been dehydrated ( as it seems to be in that video), but is essentially near ready to fruit.

These are legal?

It's says on that website, that they don't ship that product to the States.

I'm just a bit confused. I didn't know this was being done now??


Haha, and no, I'd never eat any amount of mycelium.

yea, to my mind that wouldn't be legal in the US as it contains a controlled substance. Mebbe it falls into the same category as possessing MHRB and the like and all the issues that BBB's bust is bringing up.

Man, isn't it weird all the legal grey areas we wind up creating when we try to go around making living organisms illegal? I mean really, could you imagine a "higher being" coming to you and telling you that you were outlawed on the grounds of you physiological makeup, it's like, fuck...what does that even mean?

YEAH! it took about a month to arrive and i was starting to think i had just been swindeled but they showed up yesterday... i just soaked the substrate and will put it in the sack 12 hours from now.....very excited...

snozz- i agree this is kind of a half-assed way to enter this realm. however, since i am in the process of selling everything i own and getting ready to go travel the world for the next two years writing my book....i didn't want to buy a bunch of equipment and supplies this time around. i do love the wisdom that mushrooms have to share and, once settled again, i will most definitely get into this fascinating art...

i'll let you guys know when we have fungus among us!!

L&G!!

Yeah, it's just when I was cultivating friendships with the funguys, colonized subs being sent through the mail or even offered on a website would have been suspect and.....I don't know. I feel like I've missed something here....and I'm no mushroom noob, that's for sure. It's been a while (a year or two??), but.....




Nah, I wouldn't say it's half-assed. It suits your current situation and that works....nothin' more to it.

The whole gathering of equipment thing can be almost daunting, lol.

If you wouldn't mind sharing in a pm or something, could you show me where this kit came from? Do they happen to carry copelandia kits?

Yea, that's why I posed the question as I did, I had serious doubts that you would half-ass anything in this realm. Your situation is pretty much along the lines of what I figured, that should be incredible. I wish you well with your kit, I can't even express the joy I felt upon seeing my first caps pushing up through their casings .

Woah..now your going to travel the world and write a book?..everything i read from you just blows my mind..best of luck on your journeys brother!..you have a big fan here..

Good luck with the mushrooms as well

Hey guys

these kits are legal in the Netherlands, where you can't buy mushrooms anymore since december 2008. It is really weird cause you can still buy philosopher's stone...

You can't get the copelandia kits, they are too difficult to prepare in that way...

Concerning the half assed way subject, i myself agree that i would prefer to do all the process but at this moment it is really difficult. You need a lot of equipment and good knowledge of things. I will eventually get to it through one way or another though but now i must say i learned a lot in this way too.

I also think some people with certain abilities will be better at it, and i hope to become one such person...


@ Ant: have fun, you are gonna love the moment they show their little caps. Remember that after picking you need to start the process all over again. In general you can get a minimum of 3-4 flushes with one kit. I heard people getting a total of more than 500 g out of it.

Peace

ant - Actually doing the kit thing is a great way to do your first attempt. You learn a little bit, without all of the more technical first phases. It's a good baby step. You'll do it once, and then want to move on to the full cycle. The end-to-end cultivation process IS amazing however! It will suck you in like nothing else. There is so much love and care put into growing perfect fruits. I just love it, love it, LOVE IT!

Good luck brother, and have fun! Contams can happen easily, so don't get frustrated if things go awry the first time.

Hey Snozz, Dimitrius, anyone else. What do you make your LC's from? I love the LC tek! You get soooo much bang for you buck with a LC, however, I have only used a LC that I purchased as a powder that you add to water ("Magic's Liquid Culture Inoculum Powder". I don't know what the powder was however. I'm guessing it's just a simple food product, and I paid way too much for it. Care to share your LC ingredients? Thanks!

Peace!
-idt

Good luck antrocles, I hope it turns out good! When you have traveled the world and written your book, you should indeed get into the fascinating art of mushroom cultivation. Take a look at these pictures (not mine), and let the water drip from your mouth!

Hmmm, it's been so long.......I made some from vanilla extract, some from malt & dextrose powders, some from corn syrup, some from a mixture of vanilla extract and dextrose powder.... all as a 4% solutions. I forget which one I liked best....but I think dextrose came out the clearest.

Mycotopia is the place to learn....seriously. Comb the vaults.

I use Karo, the one with vanilla in it and the red label. It's the clear corn syrup. Anyways, 2 teaspoons of Karo for every pint of water (mason jars ftw!), and I add a piece of broken glass from a wine bottle to slice up the mycellium to speed up growth and make em easier to suck out.

Also, USE THESE LIDS FOR LIQUID CULTURES, seriously, they rock and as I said earlier, I've had my cultures for over a month and they're still looking beautiful.

gt - nice choice of strain dude.

and evening glory - nice pix but the bleeding blue necks ... - aarg