Growkit Neptune: growing without the messy preparation
Anyone growing mushrooms for the first time usually gets stuck on the sterile part: preparing substrate, inoculating it and hoping nothing else hitched a ride. With the Growkit Neptune that stage is behind you. The substrate was fully colonised with mycelium in a clean environment, which leaves you with moisture, temperature and a bit of patience to manage. Neptune takes its name from the planet furthest from the sun and belongs to the same line as Jupiter, Mars and Pluto.
Moisture and fresh air
Two things decide how the kit performs. The first is moisture: mushrooms consist largely of water, so during fruiting they need topping up regularly. You do that by spraying against the inside of the cover, never straight onto the substrate or the young fruiting bodies. The second is fresh air, which you control with the cloth over the ventilation holes. The further you pull the cloth back, the more holes open up.
Step by step
- Take the lid off the transparent inner tray and moisten the substrate.
- Spray once or twice against the inside of the cover and put the cover back.
- Lay the cloth over the holes, leaving only the top one uncovered.
- When the first caps appear, stop watering and slide the cloth back a little further each day.
Keep the kit somewhere bright but out of direct sunlight, at a temperature between 18 and 30 degrees Celsius. Around 23 degrees usually feels right. If you are not ready to start, store the kit in the fridge rather than the freezer so the mycelium stays dormant.
Harvesting
Wash your hands first. Hold each mushroom at the base, twist it loose and touch the white mycelium as little as you can. Use sterilised tweezers for specimens along the wall and never dig with your fingers, since that spoils the next flush. Store the harvest cool and away from light, or dry it if you want it to keep longer.
Avalon Magic Plants also stocks the Uranus, Venus and Titan kits from the same series, plus vermiculite, perlite and alcohol wipes for anyone who wants to keep growing. All orders leave in discreet packaging.
