Brown rice for Magic Mushroom Cultivation (Boerjan) 800 grams

This brown rice is the perfect growing medium for cultivating mushrooms from a mycelium colony. Whether you cultivated it yourself in a petri dish or use a ready-to-use syringe from a liquid culture.

Characteristics

• Ideal for cultivating a substrate from which mushrooms can grow.
• Nutritional values per 100 grams:
• Energy: 1492 kJ / 352 kcal
• Fat: 2.6 g
• Of which saturated: 0.54 g
• Carbohydrates: 72.7 g
• Of which sugars: 1 g
• Protein: 7.5 g
• Sodium / Salt: 0.01 mg

PF-TEK Method?

The PF-TEK method is named after a mushroom cultivation technique developed by Robert McPherson (also known as Psilocybe Fanaticus) in 1991. It remains a popular and straightforward technique for growing magic mushrooms such as Psilocybe cubensis. This method uses a growing medium consisting of vermiculite, brown rice, and water. The mixture is steamed and kept in sterile jars. Liquid culture is then added with a syringe and set to cultivate. This technique is favored due to its accessibility, affordability, and relatively low risk of contamination. PF-TEK is ideal for beginners and hobbyists in mushroom cultivation who want to go beyond a ready-made grow kit.

Brown Rice as a Growing Medium

Brown rice has only had the inedible outer layer removed. Therefore, it is a source of fiber, minerals, and vitamins. For mushroom cultivation, you can use pure brown rice, but it is even better to make it a bit lighter by adding vermiculite (see recommended products).

What not to do:

Never inject liquid culture directly into a bag of brown rice. Your liquid culture will have no chance for three reasons:

1. Brown rice is never delivered sterile. You must sterilize every growing medium and environment before cultivating mushrooms.
2. A plastic bag does not breathe enough. Like us, mushrooms inhale oxygen and exhale CO₂.
3. The rice must be moist. Mushrooms need water to grow.

We will explain in detail what you should do to successfully grow mushrooms.

How to Cultivate Psilocybe cubensis Substrate with Brown Rice

You will now make a substrate (soil) from a fungal colony from which mushrooms can later grow. These steps outline what you need to do to create the substrate. We will then show what you can do to produce fruiting bodies (mushrooms).

1. Prepare Supplies: Ensure you have a sterile workspace, your successful fungal culture (agar or liquid culture), sterile gloves, a face mask, a jar or container with brown rice, vermiculite (optional), and a sterile syringe or inoculation tool. Work extremely sterile, thoroughly disinfect your environment.
2. Prepare the Substrate: Rinse the brown rice thoroughly and cook it until it is almost done but not fully soft. Let it drain well and ensure there is no excess moisture. Place the rice in a heat-resistant jar or container (preferably with an air filter, micropore tape, or Teflon sticker with a mesh size of up to 0.3 microns).
3. Sterilize:
• Place the jars with the rice in a pressure cooker, autoclave, or normal pot with a bit of water at the bottom on a rack or towel to prevent the jars from touching the pot's base.
1. Normal Pot: Ensure the pot never runs dry. Cooking time: 60 to 90 minutes.
2. Pressure Cooker and Autoclave: Ensure the desired pressure is reached and set a timer. Cooking time: 20 to 30 minutes at 15 PSI (approximately 1.03 bar).
4. Cool Down: Let the jars with rice cool completely before handling. Never open a hot jar; this prevents contamination.
5. Inoculate the Substrate with Liquid Culture:
• Sterilize the liquid culture syringe by heating the needle's tip with a lighter until red-hot. Allow it to cool before injecting the liquid.
• Insert the needle through the top or quickly open the lid and inject in several spots around the rice edges. Close the jar immediately.
6. Incubate: Place the jar in a warm, dark place (around 21-27°C). Wait until the substrate is fully colonized with mycelium, which may take several weeks. Watch closely for any signs of contamination. Once you see white mycelium around the edges, mix the rice to speed up the process.

From Substrate to Mushrooms

1. Tip: Use Perlite as a Base Layer: Sterilize enough perlite (recommended products) to create a base for your substrate. Perlite is excellent for moisture retention and aeration.
2. Transfer to a Fruiting Chamber:
1. Once colonization is complete, move the substrate to a fruiting chamber (a humid area with sufficient air exchange, such as a large plastic container).
2. Maintain high humidity (around 90-95%) and indirect light from above. Spray regularly and ventilate to allow CO₂ to escape. It may take several weeks before mushrooms can be harvested.

Harvesting: When the mushroom caps just begin to separate from the stems, harvest all mushrooms. Twist them gently at the base with clean hands or gloves. Avoid pulling or tearing to prevent damaging the substrate. Then you can rehydrate the substrate with boiled and cooled water to attempt a second flush. Generally, you can cultivate 3 to 4 flushes with the same substrate.