Any Substrate Alternatives?

[alv]

Any Substrate Alternatives?

[Fungus Maximus]

Like what do you mean? Coir instead of vermiculite? I"m sorry I dont understand.

You can grow mushrooms on a variety of subs. Like BRF, horse poo, cow poo, chopped straw, WBS, popcorn, there are a bunch of different methods.

[alv]

Its just that every where i see mushroom growing guides i see the same vermiculite-brown rice substrate. and i wanted to know if there were any good alternatives to the vermiculite or the hole recipe

[Fungus Maximus]

I understand, in the past i have ground up wheat kernals right from the co-op grain place in the small town I lived in then, put it in my coffee grinder and turned it to powder and substituted the brown rice with the wheat flour and had success. I think you could use other things because I know myselfpeople add corn meal, worm castings, bee pollen, and calcium to the BRF recipe.

I remember reading that the professor, the original inventor of the BRF tek saying that he had tried virtualy every other sub he could think of, I also remember reading that the only thing that ever worked better than the BRF was some elephant poo He obtained from a friend that worked at the zoo.

I would say if you are using jars that the work and testing has already been done by many on this and the best thing IMHFO to do is stick to the BRF formula but supplement it with bee pollen, worm castings, calcium, and some blue corn meal and you will have a bad ass formula. It has worked very well for me so far.

The reason vermiculite shows up all the time in the recipes is moisture retention, there is nothing that works better in the small microclimate of that half pint jar than vermiculite, it also is essential for cased subs like wild bird seed (WBS) to maximize fruiting potential and retain the much needed moisture. Most casing layers are 50/50 coir/vermiculite, or vermiculite/poo etc.

[alv]

gee thanks...

[crazyray143]

in my limited experience, the best beginner substrate would be rye nuggets. Available anywhere organics are sold. the light grey colour of the substrate hides mold. i prefer the dark berrys.

[yetimach]

I am new to the mushroom growing hobby : ) I have recently ordered some South American spores from Spores101. I have my fingers crossed that they will get through customes without a problem because I live in Peru. (I have a feeling there are lots of great mushrooms growing all around me here, but I don't trust my identification skills. So I'm growing some.) I feel almost like there's a conspiracy to keep me from growing because I can't find any of the things I need for a good substrate. (I don't want to use any poo). I can't even find rye berries. But I did find some whole wheat kernals. I'm planning to use these. I also thought that the texture of soy meat looked promising. Almost like vegetable vermiculite. I feel like experimentation is part of the fun, and it always helps to hear what others have learned.

[AnotherDimension]

idk if spores101 will send em international, I think you probably got beat cuz they opened an overseas spores101 and then closed it....spores cannot be shipped into many countries without a permit.

[loaded111]

Im new to growing. I ordered a kit with rye grass seed substrate. Will all or most of the magic mushrooms strains grow on this. How do i find out what strains to order for this substrate ?

[slandshroomynewbie]

yeah i think it would ,,rye is a good sub,,,
u can use lots of oganic stuff,,
but the pf tek is for beginners and if you tweak it it might not work ,,,
it works fine though,,u could just knock up some pf tek jars and do a bulk with them,

[loaded111]

Im looking to get golden teacher and B+.

my substrate will contain # Hi Yield Horticultural Blood Meal ( delivers nitrogen)
# Hi Yield Horticultural Hydrated Lime (corrects acidity level)
# Organic Garden Gypsum
# Granulated Coffea canephora
# Horse Dung
# Natural Spring Water
# Medium Course, Horticultural Vermiculite.
# Premium WinterRye70

will B+ and Golden teacher grow on this ?

[slandshroomynewbie]

i think they would do yes,

[NHMI]

Simpler is better, the less you put in the better you will do IMO

[DR. ZOWIE]

loaded111...rye grass seed is usually used for growing sclerotia forming strains such as psilocbye mexicana, psilocybe tampanensis and psilocybe atlantis. While you can eventually get mushrooms....these varieties are best known for forming truffles (aka sclerotia or Philosopher's Stones). These form in the jar...they love grass seed...and are pretty resistant to contams. They taste pretty good...and are in the moderately potent range. I like em!