Growing Paddo's with the PF-TEK method

The PF-TEK mushroom growing method is one of the cheapest ways to grow your own mushrooms in the comfort of your own home. That's why the method is also very popular. Don't feel like setting up the PF-TEK method yourself? Then simply opt for our Magic mushroom grow kits.

To start growing your own magic mushrooms using the PF-TEK method, you need your own mushroom growing kit:

• Trace sprayer
• Vermiculite
• Brown rice flour (it can be rye flour, but the most popular choice is brown rice flour)
• Clean water (distilled or similar)
• Glass jars (~250ml mason jars with wide mouths will work perfectly)
• Fruit room (large plastic storage bin with transparent top)
• Pressure cooker or a large pot
• Round metal rack (for the pressure cooker or the pan you will use)
• Mengvat
• Heavy-duty aluminum foil
• Sieve
• A big spoon
• Nebulizer bottle (it's best if you have two nebulizer bottles; one for water and one filled with alcohol sterilization spray)
• Permanent marker
• Sterilizing flame (an alcohol lamp is the best way, but a simple lighter or butane torch is also fine)

Depending on the environment, purchasing antibacterial soap, a face mask, and some alcohol wipes can also be a great idea (it's not entirely mandatory, but the more sterile everything is, the higher the chance of success).

You probably already know most of the items above, but what is vermiculite and where can I find it? Don't worry, it's not some difficult-to-obtain chemistry lab supply. Vermiculite is a horticultural product that can be found in most garden centers (sometimes even in pet stores as cat litter). Also, don't be scared if you touch vermiculite; it may feel like some kind of plastic/rubber, but this is a misconception. It's just a simple mineral found all over the earth and there's nothing toxic about it.

We hope you have all those extra sterilization supplies (gloves, mask, alcohol wipes, and some antibacterial soap) because this first step is the most crucial part of the process. How sterile and clean you are can make or break your magic mushroom grow.

STEP 1 – PREPARE THE SUBSTRATE

• Add vermiculite to the mixing bowl (the amount you need should be chosen based on the number of trays you have. Each tray needs about 3/4 vermiculite and 1/4 brown rice flour.
• Slowly add some water to the bowl, stirring with the spoon. The goal is to fully saturate the vermiculite, without having excess water at the bottom of the bowl.
• When the vermiculite is evenly wet, try to remove the excess water at the bottom of the container by tilting the container to the side and holding the vermiculite with your hand and/or spoon. If you think there is too much excess water, it may be a good idea to put all the vermiculite into a sieve and let it drip. Try to ensure the vermiculite is thoroughly wet, but not waterlogged.
• Add your brown rice flour to the tub of vermiculite. Mix it together well. The goal now is to ensure the vermiculite and brown rice flour are mixed as thoroughly as possible. The brown rice should evenly coat all of the vermiculite. This will provide the spores with a fully colonizable and fertile substrate.
• After your mixture is ready, carefully add it to your trays. Try not to disturb or put pressure on your substrate, keeping it as fluffy as possible to ensure air can flow freely. Do not fill your trays to the brim, leave at least 1 cm free from the top. Be as gentle as possible to avoid smearing the inside of your tray. If this happens, clean it with a clean paper towel (sterile!!). Any residue that is not part of the substrate may contain contaminants and ruin your entire tray.
• After filling the trays with the substrate, make sure to add an extra layer of dry vermiculite on top. This prevents and acts as a filter against any airborne contamination during the process.

STEP 2 – STERILIZE

• Take some foil, fold it in half, and place it over your containers. Make it as tight as possible; you're trying to create a snug lid for your containers. If you choose metal lids, make sure they have ~4 small holes for the syringe in the containers (pre-drill them). You can apply two layers of foil to ensure the containers are well covered.
• When using a pressure cooker, you should add about 1 inch (2-3 cm) of water. Then, stack the containers without breaking the seal, close the lid, and slowly bring the pressure cooker up to around 15 psi. Be sure to do this slowly to minimize the risk of the containers cracking. Then, reduce the heat a bit and let the containers sterilize for about an hour.
• If you use a simple large pot, place the metal rack (stand) on the bottom of the pot, fill the pot with about 2-3 cm of water. Stack the containers without tearing the film, put the lid on, and bring the pot to a simmer over low-medium heat. Let the containers sterilize for 1.5-2 hours. The water will run out during this process, so make sure to refill it every 15 minutes or so with pre-boiled kettle water.
• After sterilizing the bins, leave them in the bin or pressure cooker for at least 5 hours. It's best to just leave them overnight.

STEP 3 – REINVENTION

• Wash your hands thoroughly and sterilize your workspace. During this part of the process, everything will be most susceptible to the risk of contamination, so ensure you work as sterilely as possible.
• Take the cool bowls out and place them on the surface you just cleaned. Keep the flame source and trace spray ready.
• Shake the syringe (or culture vial) very well, to break up any spore clumps. Fill the syringe with the spores from the vial, if you have not already done so.
• Carefully loosen the film on top of the trays so you can quickly remove them when injecting.
• Heat the needle of your syringe and sterilize it that way. Then remove the foil and insert the syringe into the small holes of the lid of the container you prepared earlier. You need to penetrate the dry vermiculite layer and reach the substrate.
• Gently insert the needle and inject ~0.25ml per spot. You need to prepare each dish with ~4 spots totaling 1-1.5ml of spores. Theoretically, you don't need to re-sterilize the needle for each new hole, but you do need to sterilize the needle with a heat source before inoculating each new dish.
• Replace the foil lid on the tray before moving to another tray and sterilize the needle with the heat source.
• Repeat this process for each tray you have. Make sure to seal them well with foil after you are done with your inoculation.
• You can now identify (label) your tubs with the date and the substrate of the magic mushrooms you inoculated them with if you deem it necessary.

Important: The inoculation process is the part where spores are very vulnerable to any form of contamination, so make sure you sterilize everything as best as possible. If for any reason you need to take a break or do something else, make sure to wash your hands and sterilize the area as best as you can.

Step 4 – Incubation

• Now it is time to be patient and wait. Store the tubs in a dark place with an average temperature of ~21-27°C. The best results can be achieved with a stable 27°C, try to keep the tubs warm (but not hot!) because at lower temperatures incubation will take longer, plus growth will be slower at every step of the cycle.
• If the conditions for fruiting are perfect, you can expect the mushroom mycelium to start showing life in 3-6 days. What you want to see is white, fluffy patches on the vermiculite.
• The key to knowing if everything is going well is the color of the mycelium: it must be pure snow white, there can be no other colors in the container. If you notice gray, black, green, pink, blue, or any other color in the container, throw it away without even opening it. Do not risk the life of other containers by opening the lid of infected containers, discard them as soon as you notice that the life in the container is not pure white.
• If the conditions are perfect, it can take 2-4 weeks for the mycelium to fully colonize. A fully colonized tub means that all of the substrate in the tub has been taken over by white mycelium, and you can barely see any uncolonized substrate in the tub.

STEP 5 – PINNING

• After the substrate is fully colonized by mycelium, it is time to help the mushrooms pin. You can keep your tubs at a lower ~70°F (21°C) temperature and expose them to light (6-12 hours/day indirect light should be fine). Never expose your colonized substrate or mushrooms to direct sunlight.
• This can vary depending on your substrate of choice, but the first pins should be seen 5-15 to 30 days after you introduce sunlight.
• You can best start the pinning process while your mycelium is still in the tub, as this reduces potential risks, but you can also begin the fruiting part of the growth cycle even if no pins are visible (after giving your tubs the daily light they need to start pinning).
• If you think there are no pins visible for too long, you can try putting your tub in the refrigerator overnight (make sure to put it back in plastic to be as sterile as possible). These kinds of cold shocks usually help to start the pinning process in cases where the pins are not visible for too long. If you decide to do this, you should start the fruiting process the next day!

STEP 6 – FRUITING

• You need a fruiting chamber for that. The most common fruiting chamber is a clear plastic storage tub, but you can get more creative as long as one condition is met: it must be easy for indirect light to reach your colonized “cakes.”.
• If you can, sterilize the inside and outside of your fruit chamber as best as you can before using it. Remember to always wash your hands and sterilize the area before you start working with it.
• Spread a 1-2 cm layer of perlite on the bottom of your fruiting chamber. Water the perlite so that it becomes moist. Make sure to use demineralized water or at least pre-boiled, lukewarm water to reduce the risk of contamination.
• Remove the lids and foil from the tubs. Place them upside down (which is why you needed wide-mouthed tubs in the first place) on the perlite. Some people like to place some sterile foil about the size of the “cake” on the perlite and place only their “cakes” on top of it. It's not really necessary, but it's a good idea if you're trying to keep them as clean as possible.
• If you are having trouble removing the colonized mycelium from the tubs, try holding the inverted tub and gently tapping it. This process can become extremely difficult if you've had a very spontaneous and fast pinning phase, as you must not damage the tiny pins. Try to loosen the colonized substrate from the tub as gently as possible; if nothing else works, sterilize a knife and carefully run it around the inner wall of the tub. You are not attempting to cut anything; you are merely trying to detach the mycelium cake from the tub wall (use this method only as a last resort).
• Place your cakes at least 3-5 cm apart, as mushrooms will grow on the sides of the cake and need space for this. Close the lid of the container and place it somewhere with light all day (artificial light works too), but make sure your mushrooms do not get direct sunlight.
• After you've placed all the pies inside, it's time to take care of your small colony. Open the lid once a day and let some fresh air in; you can ventilate the inside of the box a bit.
• Each time you open the box, check the bottom layer of the box (perlite). It must be moist all the time, as this is where your mushroom colony gets all its humidity. This means you should mist the perlite if you think it's getting dry, but be careful not to accidentally spray water on your cakes or mushrooms themselves; all water should go directly to the perlite and not onto the cakes.
• Enjoy the rapid growth of your mushrooms: it should not take more than 7-14 days before you can harvest them. After small mushrooms have appeared, you should keep a close eye on them, as you do not want to miss the right time to harvest them. In some perfect conditions, mushrooms can double in size in a matter of 24 hours.
• After small mushrooms appear, they need 2-5 days to grow before they are ready to harvest. Don't rely so much on time, focus on how they look. As soon as a mushroom cap starts to try and open itself, harvest the entire flush. Don't try to gain more by letting them grow larger; large mushrooms are usually less potent, so medium-sized mushrooms, just before they open, are what you are aiming for for the best results.

STEP 7 – HARVEST

• When the time is right, wash your hands thoroughly and harvest mature mushrooms by gently twisting them. If you see “unhealthy” looking black-red mushrooms, harvest them as well. They will be small and look as though they haven't developed properly. You should also harvest them, but do not use them: separate them and throw them away.

STEP 8 – FLUSHES

• Your entire harvest is called a flush. After you have your first flush, you continue to care for the cakes in the fruiting chamber in the same way (air and humidity) and you can expect about 4 more flushes to come.
• Flushes can vary in size and potency (not radically, but there can be a small difference between different flushes).
• There is another tactic that can allow you to get better flushes after you have harvested your first flush, it is called dunking.
• If you decide to dunk your cakes, clean your hands and take your mycelium cake out of the fruiting chamber. Place it in a water-filled (clean or demineralized) container (the size of the container should be large enough to submerge the cake completely in water). Try to place something on top of the container in a way that applies pressure to your cakes, so they remain fully submerged (otherwise they will float).
• You can put this cake in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours, but the timing is important here, as the maximum duration the cake can stay there is 24 hours. If you keep the cake there longer, it could become soggy.
• Carefully remove the cake and drain it on a clean paper towel. Then place it back in the fruiting chamber and continue with the fruiting process as usual (air and misting of the perlite). You can repeat the dunking after each flush if you think it's necessary.

Endnotes

It might seem like you need to know a lot to grow mushrooms here, but actually, the process of growing mushrooms at home is quite simple. You don't need full lab conditions to do this, and simply working sterile is the key to every step. You can't be *too* sterile! This method requires the lowest investment and is easily mastered by any psychonaut. If you read this entire guide and think it might be too difficult, we recommend taking a few days to re-read it. You might realize that the process is actually very straightforward and your dream of growing mushrooms at home is much easier than you thought.

View our psilocybin mushroom spore syringes here