Growing Shrooms with PF Tek

• PF Tek Materials
• PF Tek Substrate Preparation
• PF Tek Substrate Sterilization
• PF Tek Inoculation
• PF Tek Incubation
• PF Tek – Fruiting Magic Mushrooms
• Using Magic Truffle Grow Kits

PF Tek is a popular method for cultivating magic mushrooms at home. This is an easy, simple, inexpensive, and reliable way to grow psychedelic mushrooms. PF Tek was developed by Robert McPherson who also goes by the name Psilocybe Fanaticus.

As you will read later on, PF Tek enables you to grow magic mushrooms indoors on nutritious substrate. However, these conditions encourage the growth of both magic mushrooms and other less appealing microbes. To make sure only magic mushrooms grow, observe sterile techniques.

Keep the work area clean. Wash your hands with soap and water before and after handling equipment. Use Lysol or isopropyl alcohol on your work surfaces. Keep the work area free from dust. You wouldn’t want to introduce anything that would turn your grow space into a hotbed for unwelcome organisms.

PF Tek Materials

Most of the materials used in PF Tek are readily available in most shops.

Vermiculite. This is made from naturally-occurring mineral called mica. Vermiculite can hold several times its own weight in water thus giving the substrate an airy structure.

Brown Rice Flour. BRF is readily available in shops but if only whole brown rice is available, you can grind it using an electric coffee grinder.

Water. Tap water is all right but if you’re not sure about the water coming out of the faucet, use bottled drinking water. The water used in preparing substrates using the PF-Tek should have quality comparable to drinking water.

Spore Syringe. A plastic 10cc syringe containing magic mushroom spores is vital to cultivating psychedelic fungi. This can vary in color from translucent to slightly purple depending on the amount of spores suspended in the solution.

Jars. Magic mushroom jars should contain half a pint or 240mL. The jars should have little to no shoulders so that the cakes can be slid out of it in one piece once it’s colonized. Bigger jars are not recommended because they will take longer to colonize.

PF Tek Substrate Preparation

For every half pint jar, you will need 140mL vermiculite, 40mL brown rice flour (BRF), an additional 20mL of vermiculite to fill the jar to the top, and water.

Put the recommended quantity of vermiculite for your batch into a bowl.

Pour water over the vermiculite while gently stirring the mixture with a spoon so that the vermiculite is evenly soaked. The amount of water you pour in should not be more than how much the vermiculite can absorb.

You would know you have achieved the right water content when tilting the bowl allows a small amount of water to come out of the vermiculite. If you poured in too much water, strain the vermiculite to drain excess water.

Put the recommended amount of BRF into the wet vermiculite quickly then mix with a spoon. The goal is to have a layer of BRF coat the wet vermiculite.

BRF coat | Image powered by fungifun

Put the mixture inside the jars until they are just under 1cm near the top. Be careful not to pack the mixture too tightly. It should stay airy and loose to allow mycelium to develop later on. Wipe the edges of the jar to remove any traces of substrates to prevent contaminants from growing at those spots and working their way deeper into the jar.

Fill up the remaining space with dry vermiculite. This additional later of dry vermiculite prevents airborne contaminants from reaching the underlying substrate and protect it from microbes throughout the inoculation and incubation period.

underlying | Image powered by fungifun

Take a 5-inch wide strip of aluminum foil and fold it down the middle. Put the foil on top on the jars as shown below.

wide strip | Image powered by fungifun

Fold up the edges and press them together to create a lid made of aluminum foil.

fold the edges | Image powered by fungifun

Take a piece of foil measuring 5 x 5 inches and put it over the first two layers to leave the edges of the foil reaching downwards to allow it to be freely lifted during the inoculation. Now, there are three layers of foil over the opening.

the opening | Image powered by fungifun

PF Tek Substrate Sterilization

Pour an inch of water into a pressure cooker. Use a platform such as a rack to help the jars avoid touching the bottom of the cooker. Put on the lid and bring the pressure cooker to 15psi for 15 minutes over medium heat.

pressure cooker | Image powered by fungifun

If you heat up the cooker too fast, the jars may crack so when steam starts escaping from the vent at the top of the pressure cooker, turn the heat back so only a small, steady stream flows from the vent. Once you reach this point, maintain this set up for 45 minutes.

PF Tek Inoculation

Once the pressure cooker is cooler to the touch, take out the jars and place them on a clean surface. Have these three materials ready: an alcohol lamp, lighter, and spore syringe. Break up the spore clumps by gently shaking the spore syringe.

PF Tek Inoculation | Image powered by fungifun

Loosen the top layer of foil from the jars so it will be easier to lift it up when you inoculate.

Loosen the top | Image powered by fungifun

Uncover the needle and heat it over the flame until it glows red then let it cool.

Uncover the needle | Image powered by fungifun

Take the upper layer off and set it aside by placing it upside down.

Take the upper | Image powered by fungifun

Using the spore syringe with a needle, poke the foil at the edge of the jar and push the needle 1 inch deep and inject the spore suspension towards the inner jar surface. You should see the solution trickling towards the bottom. Inoculate each jar on 4 equally distant points. Each jar should use up 1mL to 1.5mL of the spore suspension. Replace the top foil layer.

the top foil layer | Image powered by fungifun

Once all the jars are inoculated, fold the edges of the top foil up and press them firmly to recreate the aluminum foil lid.

the opening | Image powered by fungifun

PF Tek Incubation

Store the jars at 21 to 27 degrees C. Warmer temperatures are better as long as it doesn’t exceed 27 degrees Celsius. If you don’t have this these temperatures at home, you can construct your own magic mushrooms incubator.

A magic mushroom incubator will make psilocybin fungi develop faster. An effective incubator can be assembled right at your own home using a submersible aquarium heater and two plastic boxes of the same size.

Attach the heater to the bottom of the first box and pour in approximately 27 degrees C of water to immerse the heater completely. Adjust the heaters so that the heater shuts off at 27 degrees C.

27 degrees | Image powered by fungifun

Afterwards, place something at the bottom of the first box to prevent the second box from touching the bottom of the first box. In the photo above, 4 glass jars of the same height are used. You can use bricks or something similar.

something similar | Image powered by fungifun

Put the second box inside the first one. The water level in the first box should reach about 2/3 of its height.

height | Image powered by fungifun

Place the inoculated jars inside the box and cover with a blanket to prevent heat from escaping. Remember the water level will decrease overtime due to evaporation. Replenish with fresh water to maintain the ideal water level.

ideal water | Image powered by fungifun

When the jars are kept warm enough, you will see the first signs of mycelium as white specks which will emerge in 3 to 5 days. You should only see white-colored growth. If you see anything green, black or pink, discard the jar. Other colors are a sign of contamination and should not be taken for granted.

Within the next 2 to 4 weeks, the mycelium would have colonized each jar. After all your jars are fully colonized, remove them from the incubator and place them at a space with normal room temperature. Don’t expose the jars to direct sunlight either. Light exposure under a low wattage lamp for 4 to 12 hours a day is ideal for the mycelium to grow.

mycelium to grow | Image powered by fungifun

Between 10 to 30 days, pinhead-sized accumulations of mycelium will form. These pins are the start of magic mushroom growth. In the next few days, small mushrooms with brown heads will start showing up.

Between 10 to 30 days | Image powered by fungifun

PF Tek – Fruiting Magic Mushrooms

Fruiting the cakes can be done using any type of container as long as it’s sealed with a translucent side. A Rubbermaid container will do but so will a plastic bucket, terrarium, and aquarium.

Put half an inch of moistened perlite at the bottom of the container and birth the cakes onto this later by allowing them to slide from the jar.

PF Tek – Fruiting Magic Mushrooms | Image powered by fungifun

Place the cakes at least a couple of inches apart to allow the magic mushrooms to grow. Cover the opening with a translucent plastic. Remove this plastic sheet once a day for several minutes to allow the magic mushrooms to breathe. You can even take this further by fanning the air out with a piece of cardboard.

When the bottom layer looks dry because of the fanning, spray with some mineral water to keep it moist. Avoid spraying directly on the cakes. Try not to handle the cakes directly and when you do, always wash your hands before and after touching them.

touching them | Image powered by fungifun

Within the next couple of weeks, the cakes will develop small magic mushrooms which will grow even bigger in 2 to 5 days. When the caps have opened up, they can finally be harvested. The immediate maturing of the shrooms is called a flush.

called a flush | Image powered by fungifun

Harvest all the magic mushrooms by twisting and tearing them off the cake. You can submerge the cakes for 12 to 24 hours to increase the size of the next flush.

called a flush | Image powered by fungifun

After a week, more small magic mushrooms will begin to form. This cycle will repeat naturally up to four times.

repeat naturally | Image powered by fungifun

This is how an exhausted cake would look like after the 4^th and final flush. Subsequent flushes increase the chances of developing green mold. When that happens, discard the contaminated cakes.

contaminated cakes | Image powered by fungifun

Using Magic Truffle Grow Kits

Using Magic Truffle Grow Kits | Image powered by fungifun

As simple as the PF Tek may be, not every person is capable of following instructions to the letter and successfully cultivating magic mushrooms.

If you don’t have a green thumb for growing magic mushrooms, you can choose the alternative route and use magic truffle grow kits.

Truffle grow kits save you lots of time and effort. By following a series of easy steps, you will have grown your very own magic truffles inside your house!

Magic truffle grow kits from Truffle Magic guarantees you will have psychedelic truffles on your hands in as little as three days. These magic truffles also come in different varieties to suit your mood!

Order magic truffle grow kits online today!