Sterilised substrate kit

Sterilised substrate kit: your growing medium, your culture

The substrate in this kit works like soil does for a plant: it is the food the mycelium grows on. The mixture consists of whole oat, vermiculite, perlite and gypsum, with a moisture content of 60 to 65 percent. That mixture has been sterilised and sits sealed inside the box, so nothing is growing in it by the time it reaches you.

What does grow in it is your decision: you introduce a liquid culture through the injection port. The choice menu on this page lets you pick the option you want, from the version without spores to one of the variants on offer. Because the box stays closed during inoculation, the two most vulnerable moments of a grow, opening and transferring, are taken out of the process. After inoculation the mycelium spreads as a white web through the substrate, which usually takes two to three weeks depending on temperature.

What the box contains

• Brandless box
• Paperclip
• Fruiting bag with filter
• Alcohol swab
• Injection port

Phase 1: preparing the liquid culture

1. Wash your hands and clean your working area.
2. Clean the injection site of the liquid culture and of the spore vial or syringe with an alcohol swab.
3. Inject 2 ml from the spore vial or syringe into the liquid culture.
4. Shake the inoculated liquid culture once a day, every day, for ten days.
5. Store the liquid culture at a temperature between 23 and 27 degrees.

Result: the liquid culture is ready once you see a cloud floating in the suspension. If the liquid turns murky there is a contamination and the culture is unusable. If you are not using it for ten days, keep the liquid culture in the refrigerator.

Phase 2: inoculating the substrate

1. Wash your hands and clean your working area again.
2. Clean the injection port of the sterilised substrate and the injection site of the liquid culture.
3. Retract 10 ml for a 1200 cc kit, or 25 ml for a 2100 cc kit.
4. Inject the suspension through the injection site of the kit.
5. Turn and shake the box 360 degrees in all directions after inoculating.
6. Store the kit in a dark place at a temperature between 23 and 27 degrees.

Result: after inoculation you will see mycelium form. A white layer gradually fills the sterilised substrate. This can take two to three weeks, depending on the temperature.

Worth ordering alongside

The kit pairs with a liquid culture of 10 ml or 25 ml. At Avalon Magic Plants the same category holds liquid culture vials, alcohol preps, sterile gloves, a sterile syringe with needle, a mouth mask, a heating mat and a thermostat to keep the temperature steady. Everything is shipped discreetly packaged.