! ! !

Part 2: Inoculating Uncle Bens for

Colonization Shroomscout’s
Comprehensive “Easiest Way to
Learn Shroom Growing with Uncle
Bens Tek” Instructions.
Shroomscout’s Official “Easiest Way to Learn Shroom Growing with
Uncle Bens Tek”

So, you want to grow magic mushrooms. You’re a bit confused, lost, or
overwhelmed by the whole process, the many different Teks, or even the
basics and where to start. You’ve come to the right place!

I’ll break this write-up into 4 main posts. At the bottom of each post
will be a summary in bold.

Part 1: Understanding how mushrooms and mycelium grow (Very

important, do not skip!)

Part 2: How to Inoculate Uncle Bens Bags (Inoculation &

Colonization)

Part 3: How to Spawn to Bulk (Fruiting)

Part 4: How to Harvest, Dry, and Prepare for next flush

(There will also be a TL;DR at the bottom of Part 4)

--------------------------------------------------------

Part 2: Inoculating Uncle Bens for Colonization

The Basics/Why Uncle Bens?

Shroom cultivation has been around for a while, and there are many
methods (known as “Teks”) for creating colonized “spawn grains”.
Methods involve sterilizing grains in jars like PF Tek, or sterile plastic bags
filled with pounds of grains. All of these methods can be learned, but
most require utmost sterile technique, and use of a pressure cooker to
sterilize. The pressure cooker step is needed because the grains you
buy are not sterile, nor is the water you add. You need a pressure cooker
to reach the proper pressure and temperature to kill any mold spores or
microbes. Until Uncle Bens Tek started becoming popular.

I first read about it from /u/CrazyCatLushie’s “Full Instructions” post,

which I quote now:

>“Humans can be incredibly lazy. So lazy, in fact, that we think it takes

too much time to put rice in a pot of boiling water and wait for 20 minutes
for it to absorb said water and become edible. Manufacturers have
profited from our laziness (especially here in North America) by creating
instant foods that come pre-prepared and ready to go. Enter pre-cooked
rice in a bag. Uncle Ben’s is one example of a brand that offers this
product. Some store brands offer it as well. Let me be clear: this is NOT
what’s commonly sold in a box as “instant rice” or “minute rice”. This is
rice that someone cooked completely and could put on a plate with some
vegetables and protein and serve to a person. It is fully cooked, loaded
into bags, sterilized so that it’s stable and safe to be stored at room
temperature, then shipped to the store. You could eat it from the bag
with a fork if you wanted to. It comes in multiple flavors but the one you
want is just plain brown rice.”

This is the beauty of Uncle Bens. On the inside, these bags are
miniature, pre-sterilized, perfect-humidity-water-weight nutrient-filled
grains, just waiting for some spores to grow mycelium. You don’t need a
pressure cooker. You don’t need ultimate sterile procedures. All you
need is a bit of sterile-mindedness, a spore syringe, and some patience.

A note: Many growers, especially older growers, dislike Uncle Bens Tek
because they believe you don’t learn sterile procedure with a pressure
cooker and a still-air-box. And they’re right to some degree. This is an
easy, beginner-friendly Tek, that you can learn the basics of mycology
and growing your own mushrooms with. This is NOT an advanced Tek,
and if you ever want to get into other parts of mycology (sterilization,
cloning, agar, liquid culture, isolation, better yields) you will need to learn
other Teks. With that being said, Uncle Bens Tek is a fantastic way to
start, and I grew 3 dry ounces from $12 of Uncle Bens and knockoff
brand rice bags.

Materials Needed:

A 10cc multi spore syringe of P. cubensis.

Recommended varieties include Golden Teacher and B+. These

‘varieties’ are not like weed strains, and aren’t all that much
different. There’s a common phrase that “a cube is a cube”.
Don’t worry too much about the variety you have.

Buy these spores from a trusted vendor on r/sporetraders, you

won’t regret it. There’s nothing sketchy about it, unless you’re in
one of the unlucky 3 states.

10 bags of Uncle Bens Brown Rice or knockoff brands (Safeway

knockoffs kick ass) per syringe.

You ONLY want pure brown rice. This flavor has 30mg of
sodium, whereas all of the other flavors have 5-10x the sodium.
Don’t get Uncle Bens Basmati or Uncle Bens Quinoa with
Garlic. You don’t want flavors, you just want the pure Uncle
Bens brown rice.

You will want multiple bags. Expect to have a few losses to

contamination, especially for your first time.

70% Isopropyl Rubbing Alcohol

DO NOT GET 90% or higher. The 70% is perfect. It actually does

a better job of penetrating the cell walls of bacteria, and doesn’t
 evaporate too quickly. Stock up on some of this stuff, because
you can never have enough.

Gloves (Nitrile ones are my favorite)

Paper towels (to wipe things with the alcohol)

Lysol or another air disinfectant

Face Masks

Micropore Tape (here’s the one I use)

Micropore tape is essential. Don’t skip out, get the right stuff.
Proper micropore tape only allows Oxygen and CO2 to pass
through, but not much water and definitely doesn’t allow
contams through. You need this item.

A Still Air Box (SAB) (Optional but highly recommended)

Scissors

Lighter

​

Explanation:

We want to be as sterile as possible, but we don’t need to worry about

sterilizing the inside of our bags because they are already sterile inside
(the beauty of Uncle Bens Tek). To start, you’ll want to close any
windows, turn off any fans, heaters, or AC that move your air, and find a
relatively small and clean room to begin. Bathrooms aren’t always the
best, because many mold and mildew spores already thrive in your
bathroom air. Let the air stop moving entirely in your house/apartment.
Moving air circulates contaminants.

Take a shower and really scrub your hands, arms, and under your nails.
Put on your cleanest clothes, and wear a hat or a hairnet. You’ll want to
spray the shit out of your now-still air in your selected room with Lysol,
and wipe everything down with 70% ISO. You can’t really overdo the
sterility here. Make sure your Lysol settles, though.

I didn’t need a SAB (Still air box) for my first few generations of Uncle
Bens Tek, and I never lost a single bag to contamination. I also live
somewhere extremely dry, so the air already has little contaminants in it.
Regardless, using a SAB will improve your contamination rate, but
isn’t necessary to begin.

The name of the game is inoculation. You need to get your spores into
your Uncle Bens Bags while introducing as few contaminants as possible.
You also need to provide some kind of “Gas Exchange” in the form of a
small micropore tape vent. This “Gas exchange” (GE) vent is still being
debated, but it’s generally accepted that it’s helpful to keep your bags
alive as they colonize. There are a few different methods that are
currently being tested and developed, but they follow the general
instructions:

The “Corner Cutting” Method (older but confirmed):

Video example here (not my video) & Another video (not mine)

1. Wear hat, mask, and gloves. Wipe your surfaces with ISO and Lysol
the air. Let the Lysol settle. Wipe your gloves down with ISO to
begin, and repeatedly throughout the process. If you're using a SAB,
do everything inside the SAB except flame sterilization.

2. Wipe your syringe’s body down with ISO. Screw on the needle, and
wipe with ISO. I like to set my syringe down on a paper towel soaked
with ISO until I need it.

3. Wipe your Uncle Bens bag up and down with ISO. Make sure you get
every part of it covered, and especially the front where you will
inoculate. Let it dry.
4. Break up the rice through the bag with your hands. You want the rice
to no longer be stuck in a “cake”, but free-moving and soft. Break
that shit up!

5. Wipe down your scissors with ISO and let them dry. Cut a diagonal 1”
slice off a top corner of the bag. Keep the bag closed to avoid
contaminants from the air entering until you tape it up.

6. Flick, shake, and spin your closed spore syringe. The black spores
are likely clumped up, and you want to shake it each time you
inoculate to spread the spores into the solution.

7. Wipe down your syringe and needle and let it dry. Take your lighter
and flame sterilize the needle until it’s glowing red hot. If you’re
using a SAB, flame sterilize outside of your box so you don’t light
any ISO inside on fire. Once it’s glowing red-hot, bring it into your
SAB to cool.

8. Stick your sterilized syringe into the cut corner of the bag, only as
far as the needle reaches inside, and squirt 1cc (1mL) of the shaken
spore solution. If you insert more than 1cc, you will be adding too
much liquid and will throw off the perfect amount of moisture,
making it too wet. UPDATE: Many users find that brand-name Uncle
Bens bags are already too wet, so for brand-name or already-
moist bags, I recommend no more than 0.75cc per bag.
You do NOT need many spores to enter your bag; all it takes is a few.
By adding more liquid you throw off the amount of moisture. I find
that knockoff brand bags, like Aldi or Safeway, have less water
and therefore can take 1-2cc of spore solution. PLEASE err on the
side of caution, and if the bags look moist through the viewing
window on the bottom, add LESS solution than you think you need.
You won't lose them to "drowning" or contamination, and you'll be
much happier.

9. Remove your syringe and set it aside. It will need to be wiped down
and flame sterilized again for the next bag.
10. Take your micropore tape, and tape over the open corner in a way
that holds the corner-hole open to create a gas exchange vent.
You don’t want to fully seal it closed with tape.

11. Here’s an example of some good-looking bags.

12. Here’s an example of a corner that was cut too much, but is still
useable. If you have to use two pieces of micropore tape, tape it
vertically to try to only use one piece.

13. Check out the Chip Clip Method from /u/ThisIsMyShroomAcct.

Could be the best method yet!

14. Set aside your finished bag.

15. Wipe down your gloves, wipe down your next bag, then shake your
syringe again, wipe it down, dry it out, flame sterilize it, and inoculate
your next 9 bags.

16. You’re done!

​

Newer methods:

Steps 1-3 and 5-6 all stay the same. But, some clever Redditors came up
with a few great ideas to prevent contamination:

​

The most obvious one that I started using: The Chip Clip method.
The point of this method is to clip the bag shut while cutting and
taping your corner. This prevents any outside air from entering your
open corner before the micropore tape is in place. You can also
combine this method with the next method for ultimate anti-
contamination efforts:

​
 The Capri-Sun Method will likely be the next big thing, if it works
well.

Yes, like the juice pouch, you simply stab your heated needle
into the center of the bag (after sterilizing the bag and needle of
course) and inject your 1-2 cc spore solution. Tape over it with a
micropore tape, and you’re done. Initially I didn’t have success
with this method, and I thought it was because the Gas
Exchange hole created wasn’t big enough (like the corner-
cutting method). But after trying again, I’m having great
success! Same with some other redditors.

​

The Capri Sun method might need more gas exchange holes, which
is why redditors created the Hole-Punch Method. By using a hole
punch to add your air holes, you open even less of the bag up to
contam chances.

​

I think that there may be a perfect method which combines all 3:

1. Follow sterile procedures as listed in the Corner Cutting Method.

2. Swing the bag from the top to force all of the rice away from the top
(or squeeze the rice down) towards the bottom.

3. Use the Chip clip method to hold your top of your bag separate.

4. Use the Hole Punch method to add 2-6 air holes across the
‘clipped’ top. More research needs to be done for the perfect
number of holes. Leave the chip clip on.

5. Use the Capri-Sun method to inoculate your bag by sticking a

hot-tipped needle into the middle of your bag and inserting 1cc
of solution, then covering that hole with micropore tape.
 6. Remove your chip clip, and you’re ready to go!

------------

“Ok, so I inoculated my bags. What do I do now?”

Explanation: That was the inoculation step. Now, you need the
colonization to happen. Most importantly, you want fast and health
mycelium growth, so it can outcompete any potential contams inside the
bag.

1. Mycelium colonizes faster with steady temperatures. Fluctuations in

temperature will slow down growth and give contams a chance to
beat the mycelium. Find a warm, dark place in your home to put your
bags, that is free from extra humidity and mold (under a kitchen sink
or in a bathroom are both terrible ideas). A closet or shelf work
great. It’s best if it’s a steady temperature.

2. You will get the fastest colonization rates at 75-80 degrees

Fahrenheit. Below 75, and it can take weeks to months allowing
contaminants to beat the mycelium. Above 79/80 degrees, and it
may be too hot and will contaminate as mycelium can’t grow in that
heat, but bacteria can. You can also dry out your bags with extra
heat, especially if you have massive gas exchange micropore holes.

3. Many people find that their room temps in a closet work just fine.
Don’t worry about it too much. But, if you want the best growth, you
should consider finding a way to incubate your bags:

1. Some people use heat mats, but many find them to be overkill
or poorly distribute the heat. I would not recommend.

2. I personally use a closet with a $15 heater and a temperature

controller set to 79F max and 75F min. I find that my bags fully
colonize in 1-2 weeks, but sometimes faster.

3. Some people use aquarium water heaters and make a kind of

 “water bath”, often using two tubs. I tried this but would
recommend a heater and controller over this setup.

4. Once your bag is 20-30% colonized, you should break up the

mycelium chunk and shake vigorously to redistribute your
mycelium. Thanks to /u/question_tek420*.*

1. You will be able to tell it’s partially colonized because of the

viewing window on the bottom, or by feel. The rice will become
hardened and compacted where the mycelium has colonized.

2. Leave your bags alone until around day 5-7. If you feel hard
colonization about 20% worth, break it and shake it!

3. After shaking, give it a day to recover from the shaking. It may

experience bruising, where psychedelic mycelium and
mushrooms turn dark electric blue from physical touch. Here is
a great example of a bag that is NOT CONTAMINATED, only
bruised. Once it recovers, it will explode in growth and will
likely 100% colonize within days.

5. Once your bags are colonized, it’s time to move on to Part 3:

Fruiting! If you made it this far without any contamination in
your bags, get hyped!

SUMMARY OF PART 2: INOCULATION/COLONIZATION:

Sanitize everything. The more sterile you are, the better your
results will be.

Buy spore syringe and uncle bens bags. Inject 0.75cc of solution
into the bag, after sterilizing needle.

Bags most likely need a micropore vent for gas exchange. Try
cutting the corner, or hole punch, for gas exchange. If you do
the Capri Sun method for injecting, make sure to cut a vent or
use a hole punch to add a GE vent.
 Keep inoculated bags somewhere decently stable and warm,
away from bathrooms or kitchen sinks.

Using a heater to maintain temperatures can increase

colonization speed.

Once bags are 20-30% colonized, break up the mycelium and

shake vigorously. Bruising may occur, but it will recover and
growth will explode.

You need 100% colonization before proceeding to Fruiting.

[CLICK HERE for PART 3: Spawning to Bulk]