INTRO: When I first came to this page and was considering growing shroomies, i was very intimidated to say the least. Reading about how many people lose over half of their grows to contam, made me very prepared to experience the same. I cruised every corner of the internet i could find, visiting places like r/mushroomgrowers and shroomery to get a better idea of what i can do to ensure a full harvest. From what i saw, growing shrooms via UB tek was looked down upon and was said(in some places) that it was harder and not worth it as a newb. I got the idea that i would have to purchase a bunch of things to give myself an advantange over contam. I planned on getting myself an advanced setup, grow tents, SAB, the whole works. BUT i am a broke boy, so instead i decided to purchase three spore syringes and maximize the chances at yielding a harvest by inoculating as many UB bags as i can. Using my closet, a bottle of lysol, some 70% iso, micropore tape, a pair of scissors, and a little lighter, I managed to successfully inoculate and colonize every single UB bag. With that giving me confidence, i pushed on and S2B’d the entire grow. I currently just yielded my first harvest, but i have not lost a single thing to contam.

INOCULATION: Inoculating is the most dangerous part, or so i’ve read. The uncolonized rice is a safe haven for mold spores and alike. One of the most important things that is overlooked pretty often, is to make sure you are buying from a reputable vendor. I’ve seen A LOT of people stating that the syringe they got (wether LC or Spore) was contaminated and it ruined their whole grow. Please please please buy from a confirmed safe vendor. As for actually inoculating, my piece of advice is to beforehand; take a shower, clean under yourself as much as possible, and wipe some Iso on your hands to kill any mold spores. I also put a facemask on just in case(i had some spares from 2020 quarantine). When injecting your bags, you do NOT want to put more than .5 CCs into the rice, any more creates the possibility of wet rot. One 10 CC syringe can inoculate up to 20 UB bags. Between every injection, tape the injection hole IMMEDIATELY with your micropore tape, and then take your lighter to your syringe tip(the metal part) for 5-10 seconds to sanitize it. I prefer to inject every bag first, and THEN cutting the breathing holes for the bags and taping over them with micropore tape. I feel like it allows me to minimize the time window that the bag is exposed to the air. Once set and done, just leave your bags sideways and wait. Patience is key. I prefer not to break and shake because i like keeping a low risk of contam, but if you do decide to do that, do it with clean hands. One last thing: CLEAN YOUR AIR WITH LYSOL. before and after you go into your growing space CLEAN THAT SHIT.

S2B: I used CoCo Coir as my substrate, just because i’ve read that many people use it as well, and it seemed like the easiest option. I found it on scamazon for pretty cheap. I also used a fine mister as that’s the generally agreed upon thing to do here. To start off, i boiled my water till it was 212 degrees, and then i mixed it with my substrate and allowed it to cool for a few hours. I made sure to keep the substrate covered while it was cooling, and did not uncover it until i brought it into my grow space(closet). I sanitized a few mixing bowls that i also brought up(one to put the hand squeezed substrate in, one to break the colonized rice down in, and one to mix both the substrate and rice in) Once i had mixed the substrate and broken down rice, i sent it to da growing tubs (tubs and containers i bought from walmart[ 2 30 quart tubs, and 18 single quart containers]) I accidentally misted the mycelium directly BUT IT WAS OKAY. I learned and misted the sides of the tubs afterwards. I misted once a day, and fanned it with the containers top 5-10 times a day until the fruit was ready for harvest.

ADVICE: 1. BE PATIENT this is a waiting game yall. be patient and you will see results. 2. R/unclebens is like any other place on reddit. It’s filled with a lot of good, helpful people. BUT it’s also filled with assholes who make this hobby seem way more challenging and complicated than it needs to be. don’t let them discourage you. 3. Smell your grows sweet? isolate and watch. musty? isolate and watch. any smell other than earthy? isolate and watch. earthy? you’re good 4. Clean your house. and yourself Half the time i see people who complain about contam being rampant among their grows, i notice that the background of their places always seem to be dirty. Clean your house dawg, vacuum your carpets and wash your clothes regularly. You can carry contam on you and spread it to your grow, take a shower if you’re stinky. 5. This is actually very easy. Don’t stress about it if you’re considering jumping into growing shrooms. It’s just a waiting game if you play it right. 6. Unsure about something? Ask, but be careful Take pictures, post them, get advice. as i’ve said earlier, this page has a lot of good people. but some assholes will give you wrong advice sometimes. i was told to trash my grows a few times, only for me to listen to my gut and everything ended up okay. 7. You do not need an advanced setup. I’ve said it before. 8. Stretch your bum before you get your first harvest. boofing shrooms DOES hurt the first time you do it. but it IS necessary.