If you've purchased one of our fully colonised (ready to fruit) substrate bags you can just straight to step 5 !

How to use your sterile/pasteurised substrate

What's included?

  • 2.5kg of your chosen substrate

What else will I need that's not included?

  • A sterile/clean area to work, ideally in front of a laminar flow hood or in a still air box
  • Colonised agar
  • An impulse sealer

What should I be aware of?

Cleanliness and sterility is key!

While all of our substrate is fully sterile/pasteurised and contamination free when leaving us, contaminants can enter as soon as you open the bag or even when adding grain spawn. This is why we stress you should ideally work in front of a laminar flow hood or at least in a still air box to minimise your risk of contamination, just watch the first video you come across on Youtube when searching this subject.

Given the right conditions, mushrooms grow very easily, but it can be tricky to implement the 'right conditions' so every care should be taken to minimise risk of contamination.

When using CVG substrate

  • CVG substrate is pasteurised, not sterilised, this gives more chance of contamination. Use CVG substrate within 2 weeks to reduce chance of contaminatiion

If for any reason your substrate is not free of contamination when it arrives, we will replace free of charge!

Step 1

Clean everything including yourself and your clothes

This is one of the main causes of contamination. you want to be clean, cleaned clothes and a clean workspace, any germs or bacteria will fight your mycelium to colonise the grain first, you need to give the mycelium as much help as possible.

  • You're clean
  • You're clothes are clean
  • workspace clean

You're ready to start

Step 2

Clean everything including yourself and your clothes

This is one of the main causes of contamination. you want to be clean, cleaned clothes and a clean workspace, any germs or bacteria will fight your mycelium to colonise the substrate first, you need to give the mycelium as much help as possible.

  • You're clean
  • You're clothes are clean
  • workspace clean

Step 3

Inoculate the substrate

  • Put your gloves and mask on
  • Use 70% isopropyl alcohol to clean the bag, your gloved hands, scissors and your workspace
  • Carefully cut the top of the bag open
  • add 250g of grain spawn
  • seal top of bag using impulse sealer
  • check that bag is fully sealed by gently squeezing, if air is released out the top of the bag it is not sealed properly

Step 4

its time to let your mycelium grow!

  • Place in a warm, dark area (ideally 20-24C)
  • keep your bag upright with the filter unobstructed to allow air flow.
  • Leave it alone, this is the boring bit. You just need to wait for the mycelium to do its thing and grow throughout the grain

How long?

You should start to see growth in around 7-14 days if the conditions are right.

Don't worry if it takes longer.

Even if its been 3-4 weeks, as long as there's no signs of contamination, the mycelium should still grow

Step 5

It's growing lovely!

Now the mycelium is growing nicely throughout the substrate, the mycelium is white and healthy.

the mycelium will work its way through the substrate, once the block is covered with mycelium its ready to put into fruiting conditions

Not all species of mushroom has dense white mycelium, some species like Lion Mane has thin wispy mycelium, as long as the mycelium has worked its way through all of the substrate its ready!

Step 6

Fruiting!
Species Substrate Fruiting style Temp (C) Relative Humidity (%) Fresh air exchanges per hour
Blue Oyster Masters mix Side slits 10-18 85-90 6-8
Yellow Oyster Masters mix Side slits 21-27 85-90 5-8
Pink Oyster Masters mix Side slits 24-30 75-90 5-8
King 'Trumpet' Oyster Masters mix Open top 12-18 85-90 2-4
Black Pearl Oyster Masters mix Open top or Side slits 17-20 85-90 5-8
Lion's Mane Masters mix Side slits 15-21 90-95 3-5
Shiitake Hardwood Remove bag completely 12-18 80-90 4-6
Maitake Hardwood Open top 13-18 90-95 4-6
Nameko Hardwood Side slits 10-15 90-95 2-4
Reishi Hardwood Open top 21-29 95-90 2-4
Pioppino Hardwood Side slits 13-18 85-90 4-8

Skip all the faff

If you don't like the idea of making your own fruiting block using substrate and colonised grain or simply don't have the environment to do it, we can take all of the stress out of the process for you, you'll find fully colonised substrate in our shop!

we do make this to order so please allow 2-4 weeks for dispatch