Three weeks and 2 days ago, I inoculated my jars. Today I tripped! This method could be perfect for first-time growers.

I. An Explanation (verbose)

I believe that I have a good system here for those who want to hide their chamber and for those who want faster results. Also, there is a sublime mathematical law somewhere (?) that says that if you take a spore print and innoculate more jars while these are still in the chamber, that somewhere it will all balance out and though this is theoretically half the yield in twice the time, you are replacing the jars regularly and thus you have the same amount of sporocarps or are too stoned to notice. The last tangential note, I ate 4 small abhorts today and tripped hard. I'm still going, so forgive me.

II.My variation of the PF Tek method:

Needed:

1. A box of (Ball Quilted Crystal) Jelly Jars 4 oz. - Please note the size. It is half the size of PF Tek's. This started out as an accident, but I am pleased with the results thus far.
2. A Sterlite 12 quart storage box - Wal Mart $2.50
3. An aquarium air pump - $10.00
4. 5 feet of air hose - 10 cents per foot where I went.
5. You probably need an air stone, I didn't get one.

Prepare the jars according to PF Tek. I used a large stew pot and fold-out vegetable steamer. Of course, put half the amount of substrate. As far as innoculation goes, I can re-trace my steps for you. However, theoretically, one should divide all of it among 6 jars. I put 1 cc in 7 jars and 3 cc's in a single jar, my intention being to ingest the mycelium. Use rye if you want to do this.

After 2 weeks and 1 day, I noticed strange almond shaped growths that were in my jars. I knew that these jars should go in. I put all of them in after a few days because the growths were developing red heads in the jars. My first sporocarp came less than 3 weeks after innoculation. It convoluted and decided to do a gravitotrophic trick for me.

The Chamber:
-->First, wipe the inside of the box with bleach and let dry. I have the box UPSIDE-DOWN. It makes sense when you see the box. I drilled a small hole in the side and ran an air hose into the chamber into a small jar. I may put a larger one in, as this splashes water around the sides and I have to keep my cakes at a distance. Now, why 5 feet of hose? I keep the chamber under the bed and when I leave for the day, I pull it out a few feet into indirect sunlight. The only problem that you will have with this system is the noise of the bubbling. I have a small desk fan to cover the noise.

III. In Closing:

Take a spore print and re-fill the syringe when a good mature sporocarp comes. Innoculate the other jars and when the ones in the chamber are finished, replace them. One thing that I am impressed with is the fact that I have zero contamination. When I worked with Homestead's kit about 10 years ago, contamination was a banal part of the process. You would just cut away the mold on the agar media. This method has had no problems.

Happy Trails,
Peter Pan