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Mycelium Inoculation Technique

This is a significant add-on of the PF-Tek which enables you to grow virtually hundreds of PF-cakes with only one spore syringe! Also the primordia will appear in as little as 16 days after inoculation! The key is first to colonize a sterilized rye jar and then use this mycelium to make a mycelium syringe.

For the first part I basically use the The Foolproof Psilocybe cubensis Mycelial Culture Technique.

I use 100g (3,2 ounces) rye + 105 g water + a knife tip of gypsum(optional) in a 450 ml (1 pint) jar.
For more detail on grain preparation read Grain for Simple Minds.

There is way to prevent airborne contamination entering the jars. Take a clean plastic bag and spray the inner side with Lysol or alcohol. Rub it from outside so the Lysol is evenly dispersed on the inner surface of the bag. When the sterilization time is over, wait a few minutes for the pressure to build down to ambient. Then take a clean, folded cloth or thick gloves, open the cooker and transfer the (careful, burning hot!) jars to the bag (shake the rye jars at this stage to distribute th dryer and wetter kernels!).

Roll the rest of the bag together, so you get it pretty airtight.
As the hot air in the jars is cooling down and its volume decreases, fresh (contaminated!) air from outside is drawn in. This setup will accomplish that the contaminants from the air set down on the wet bag surface and don't come into the jars!

The sterilization time should be 1 hour to assure complete sterilization. You should shake the rye jars immediately after spore inoculation and than once after 3-4 days and optionally again after 8 days. The optimum room temperature for incubation is about 27°C (80°F).

Now comes the best part!
After the rye jars are completely colonized you will need:

• At least one empty plastic syringe with needle, 10ml or more
• A small (app. 200 ml) jar with a screw lid (I take one from a spaghetti sauce)
• Tin foil
• Alcohol lamp
• A tea spoon

Punch a hole with a small nail into the middle of the lid. It has to be big enough for the needle of the syringe fits through. Fill the jar with app. twice the amount of water you will need to fill the syringes. (for instance when you have three syringes with each 10 ml to fill, use app. 60 ml water). Screw the lid on and cover with a double layer of tin foil, sterilize in a pressure cooker for 30 minutes and then handle according to the above tips.

After the water jar has cooled down to room temperature prepare everything for the transfer of the colonized rye to the water filled jar.
Wash your hands, clean the working surface, take the colonized rye jar, loosen the lid of the water jar, but don't take it off yet. Sterilize the already washed and Lysol-sprayed spoon over the flame of the alcohol lamp. I use to cool the hot spoon by dipping it in a small glass of alcohol, but you can also wait a few moments the spoon cools down. Than open the rye jar, the water jar and transfer 2 spoon full of colonized rye to the water jar. This should obviously best be done under sterile conditions(in front of a HEPA filter on in a glove box) , but if you work fast and in a draft free room you should accomplish this without contaminating the whole jar. Replace the lids back and screw them tight. The rye jar can be kept in a fridge at least three months and be used over and over again.

Take the water jar, put a finger on the tin foil where the hole is and shake it vigorously at least 3 minutes until you see many tiny mycelium pieces swimming in the water. Take a clean, sterilized syringe, sterilize the tip of the needle over the flame and pull (holding the needle still in the flame) the plunger back 4 millimeters (¹/₅ inch). This will give you a little air bubble so later on you can shake the mycelium water prior to inoculation of the PF jars.

Remove the tin cover, hold the jar at an angle, insert the needle into water and pull the plunger until the syringe is full. Be careful the syringe needle is clean and sterilized or you will contaminate the mycelium water.

That's it! You can now use this syringe like you would use the spore-water one. You can keep the mycelium syringes in the fridge at least 2 months.

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