This post is for mycophiles interested in PF
and those that practice the PF TEK.  Save it
to disc and check it out.

Go to your web software and enter
HYPERREAL in your web searcher.  Follow
the drug signs to psychedelics and
mushrooms.  There you will arive at the
growers page.  At the top is a site called
"Magic mushroom cultivation".  Click it on.  It
is a big file and takes a couple of minutes.  It
is an HTML hypertext web document with
graphics.

First of all let me thank the mycophiles that
gave me due credit for the authorship of the
techniques.  All the basic techniques therein
were first published and copyrighted in their
entirity in 1992 - library of congress.  Also I
thank them for the free advertizing of my
syringes and company, Psylocybe Fanaticus.

This document is suppossed to be an
improvement in the PF TEK which according
to the web page authors has "errors and
omissions".  Then they say that the "second
problem is that Psylocybe Fanaticus'
teknology report is very simple".  Which infers
theirs to be more complete.  After studying
this web document version of the PF TEK I
have found several serious flaws that could
easily misdirect the beginning mycophile. 
One of the web documents "additions" to my
PF TEK is using pint jars.  I dropped that
technique a couple of years ago.  It is not
worth the problems.  Most of the difficulties
my earlier customers experienced was with
the pint jar tek.  After many many years of
living with the PF TEK, I have found that the
little half pints are small but carry a big stick. 
They really rock.  They are consistent fruiters
with PF substrate.  But of course, pints are
fun to experiment with using the PF TEK.

Quote (web document) "The one idea that is
unique is the vermiculite barrier".  I challenge
that statement.  Here is a list of my original
tek ideas that I have never seen published.

1.  PF substrate  -   Brown rice powder and
vermiculite.
2. Using half pint jars to produce fruiting
cakes.
3.  The dual chambered terrarium.  -  Simple I
know, but new.
4.  Using desiccant to cool dry the fungi to
optimum power retention.  This report written
by myself was first published in Dr. Ralph
Kurtzmanns' Bay Area Mycological news
letter in 1980!!!
5.  Using vermiculite as a contaminant barrier
with the PF TEK.

The authors of the web document make
some really strange statements about WR
GRACE and some patented (1994) shroom
growing substrates with cereal grain powder
and vermiculite.  My PF subsrate formula was
released in 1992.  Brown rice powder and
vermiculite can be bought anywhere.  Is it
now against the law for me or you to combine
them and add water?????  I seriously
question this statement made by the web
authors!

And then they say that my idea of a
vermiculite contaminent barrier should have
been patented by myself, but "now it is to
late".  You can't patent simple ideas or
methods.  That is what makes me think that
the web authors sources are not accurate.

The drawings and photos that come with the
PF TEK are  superior to the graphics of the
web document in clarity.    Although the web
documents graphics are interesting and well
worth studying.

When the web document is downloaded and
saved to disc, it reads only in text mode.  No
graphic drawings!  But then the text is much
easier to read in your own word processor. 
The web documents fonts are really small.

When the neophyte mycophile first views the
web document, it is confusing.  The hypertext
programing intended to bring clarity, makes
for a confusing look.  Downloaded to your
wordprocessor makes it much easier to read.

The following points are direct criticisms of
the web document.  These points are
important in that they set up the beginner to
easy failure, and I don't think that does the PF
TEK justice.

1.  The web document authors misconstrue
my dual chambered terrarium and automatic
humidification technique.  They seperate the
two.  I realize that both have their
insufficiencies but TOGETHER they provide
everything the shrooms need.  The immediate
100% humidity provided by spraying the
spray shield is then bolstered by the aquarium
bubbler for non stop perfect conditions.  The
web document author did not report this
important concept that I clearly define in the
PF TEK.  

2.  The web document author than continues
with his (of her) description of using a ultra
sonic humidifier.   This part is really bad.  The
secret to using ultra sonics or cool spray
home humidifiers is in using the right timer. 
(The web document mentioins no timers). 
The moisture coming out of these devices
must be cut back, or the cakes will drown in
water droplet buildup.  The web documents
authors' solution is an electronic modification
of the humidifier performed by dismantling the
device and resoldering things and all of that.   
They also show how to construct elaborate
piping systems to cut back on the humidity
flow.  All one needs to do is get a timer that
will turn the device on for a minute or two until
the terrarium is totally fogged and then turn it
off for a long period, say a few hours and
then repeat the cycle.  I used to do this for
years untill I discovered the bubbler technique
COMBINED in action with the dual
chambered terrarium.  Now my mushroom
growing is no trouble with the cheapest
equipment buyable.

An important point that the web document
ignores is my admonition to daub the cakes
with lose toilet tissue or cotton balls after they
come out of the jar.  There is usually a lot of
free water deposited on the surface of the
cake as it comes out of the jar.  This can be a
negative influence in that the mycelium under
the water drops can drown and then recede
which leaves substrate re-exposed for
contamination.  The daubing sponges up any
free water, setting the cakes up for perfect
growth in the terrarium.

Another bad bit of advice is in the hand
sprayer for the dual chambered terrarium. 
They suggest using one had by some
"Kitchen product sprayer".  These sprayers
work very poorly (weak mist) and then they
can have a toxic residue.  Just go buy a
plastic bottle plant sprayer at the hardware
store for a couple of bucks!  They work
perfectly and put out a good controllable
spray.

Next they suggest using a humidity gauge in
your terrarium.  Those gauges lie.  They are
notoriously inaccurate at high humidities and
a good one costs plenty.  If one just follows
my dual chambered terrarium tek with the
aquarium bubbler, 100% humidity is assured.

Another serious error is the web documents
info on taking a spore print.  They say that the
"Amazonian" strain needs to be young and
"convex" to produce spores.  The opposite is
true.  The shroom needs to be mature and
the shape of the cap becomes plane or
upturned.  

Then they suggest taking a spore print on
flimsy paper.  Those are the worst.  Printing
should be done on card stock (oven
sterilized) or glass.  There is nothing worse
than trying to work with a spore print that is
on flimsy paper.

Another of their "additions" is a suggestion of
packing the PF substrate tightly.  I have found
that the looser the substrate, the more airier it
is and the happier the mushrooms are.  In my
new PF TEK, I employ my personal formula 
(1/8 cup brown riced powder - 1/2 cup
vermiculite - 40-45 cc's water - loaded
LOOSELY).  That is the point of the PF
substrate - to give the mushrooms head room
to move and breathe.  Don't pack the PF
substrate into the jar!

Another non PF technique suggested is to
inoculate the PF subsrate jar in one spot.  I
understand that this is a "last ditch" effort to
get mushrooms from a contaminated syringe. 
But if this technique is used to "maximise" the
syringes, this is extremely bad.  The first thing
that happens is that fruiting begins before
complete colonization.  This just screws up
everything.   Their "solution" to the problem
that they have created is to "cauterize" the
cake where it is uncolonized by the mycelium.  

Another problem with the web document is its
enfatuation with high temperatures.  They say
that temperatures in the 80's and 90's
produce better crops.  The only thing true
about that is that the fruiting is very fast. 
Otherwise, cool growing results in similar
fruitings, but very slowly.  Plus I have a
suspicion that cool grown fungus has higher
levels of alkaloid.  (That is only a theory) 
Heat is an enemy of the fungus when grown
artificially.  Contamination is easier to occurr. 
While heat is OK, I don't stress it.  I suggest
room temperatures that people live at.

A novel idea they have suggested is to drill a
hole in an ageing cake to inject water for
further fruiting.  I have never done this so I
don't know the veracity of the idea.

So all in all, the web document is a hatchet
job.  Any mycophile that gets the PF TEK
from PF has the advantage of my new
rewritten PF TEK and its contents derived
from several years of receiving mail
(complaints and compliments - many more
compliments) and then rewriting it to insure
first time success.   The PF TEK is written for
absolute neophytes in mushroom growing. 
After the foundational method has been
learned and mastered, the PF TEK can be
taken into an infinity of possibilities (larger
containers - casing experiments ect.) 

The PF TEK is now a little shorter (excess fat
removed)  with some very important new tips.    

Don't ask me to post the PF TEK to these
newsgroups.  It has photos and hand
drawings that are essential to its impact.  A
text only version is unacceptable to PF.

The "new - sept 95"   PF TEK  -  complete  
$10 post paid  ( includes 2 pages of photos
and 1 1/2 pages of drawings)

Spore syringes   -   $10  each

Psylocybe Fanaticus
1202  E  PIKE   #783
Seattle  Wa   98122