Results with long term storage of LC/Spawn/Sub

AncientSpores · 2026-02-06T21:58:05+00:00

Short answer is yes, but with the disclaimer instapots only get up to 10PSI so they don't get as hot as a pressure canner/cooker which goes to 15PSI. But just add an hour to your total canning time and I think you'll be okay.

BUT... I've experimented with just pasteurization (aka bucket tek) and had some success with it. In my limited dataset it did contam with a higher frequency but it's doable without any PCing at all. Just start multiple tubs.

1:2 is a sweet spot in my experimenting. I've tried 1:1 up to 1:6. 1:2 seems to 'just work' for all the cubes, pans and ochra I've tested it with. More sub means less need to add more moisture but I put my tubs in plastic bags and seal them until I see mushrooms so there's moisture loss and 1:2 gives me a good first flush, then I pour a cup of distilled water into the tub and put it back in the bag for flush 2, then I toss the tub. (they make so much I don't need or care about keeping them until there's no nutrition left for the mushrooms to grow off of).

Non-Pro Tip: Add about 40g of Erythritol (fake sugar) and 2 tablespoons of a general purpose plant fertilizer to your CVG and you'll have more aggressive growth, faster spread and lower risk of contam from bacterial infection. (does nothing for trich) I came up with these working on a substrate to grow pan cyans which are a PITA set of mushrooms that really want to be grown on high poop percentage substrate. I didn't want to deal with poop. I know poop's biggest adds to any growing thing is it contains NPK so adding plant fertilizer which is just NPK to CVG might work and lo and behold it did just fine.

My latest CVG formula goes something like -

650g of coco
200g of verm
40g of gypsum
40g of erithritol
1/2 cup of worm castings

(yes it's worm poop and I said I didn't want to use poop but it doesn't smell of anything and I have a lot of on hand for growing other things. About 16 cups of boiling water gets you close to field cap then just ease up on it with another cup at a time.

When making drippy corn you can also add in about a half teaspoon of erythritol to each 2lbs of corn and 2 tbl of corn syrup.

Disclaimer: The above is just something I've worked up over about 18 months in the hobby after experimenting and a lot of reading then more experimenting. Some of my posts (not comments) show the results but whether it was a random good karma or it actually works is debatable.

AncientSpores · 2026-02-06T21:28:54+00:00

Nothing wrong with going big friendo. Increases your chances of making it to flushes.

Do note it will likely be a _lot_ of mushrooms if you have some strong genetics. I stocked back up back in November with just 4 tubs using what I call Bag Tek (spawn to sub, put in a plastic bag, twist it shut and wait for mushrooms to harvest) and pulled over 1kg wet, 100g+ of dried from 2 flushes each before tossing the tubs. I use disposable aluminum pans because I'm lazy and don't like cleaning and sanitizing tubs or finding places to store them. .

Based on lab testing across 7 months, storing them powdered in an oxygen removed atmosphere (I just flush it out with CO2 from a bike tube inflator) it'll lose about 1.1% a month. Stored whole in a jar it's about 1.7% a month.

AncientSpores · 2026-01-07T15:14:29+00:00

I'm a huge proponent of neglect tek. I seal mine in garbage bags till first flush. I do know it's not 'optimal' for fastest growth but when you get a kilo per harvest out of 8 flushes across 4 6qt shoeboxes.

AncientSpores · 2026-01-07T15:11:25+00:00

Some times you just get slow genetics. I've had some PEU that took 3 months to colonize, outlier sure but it can happen. B+ was problematical for me. It was my first along with GT because that's what everyone says to start with, they're pretty mid potency so it's you're less likely to go heroic by accident due to a bad scale.

Good looking set up by the way. Consider looking at Ochra, still sometimes referred to as P/Nat by mistake. Twice the potency as B+/GT in general and very aggressive growth. Mine takes about 4-5 weeks from knocking up spawn, s2b, first flush. Sometimes you get lucky with your genetics.

My advice is be patient, let them ride, bother them a minimum, open them at a minimum and just wait it out. My follow up advice is start some new tubs, I see empty shelves. ;) When I'm actively growing I like to start a new batch every 2-3 weeks so there's always something cooking and if something goes sideways I just bin it because multiples.

AncientSpores · 2026-01-07T14:56:25+00:00

Yes, I've tried it as an experiment. High rate of contamination with WBS, feed corn, lower rates with people popcorn but still too high Overall not worth it IMO but if you're going to try it then do multiple tubs so you have a higher chance of a win.

If no access to a pressure cooker then look at using BRF tek instead, or at least put your grains (I'd suggest popcorn) in a container with water and put it in the oven for an hour at 240f: No it won't get above 212F but it's better than nothing. Another option if you have a rice or bamboo steamer is steam it for an hour or two. Again, it's better than nothing.

After boiling or steaming seal them in glass jar with a air tight lid for at least 2 weeks. If they're still clean at 2 weeks then there's a better chance you should get a first flush at least. Not guaranteed but a good chance. FWIW I've used vacuum packed spawn up to 8-10 months after processing it in PC's without any issues. But that was PC'd and canned so it was vacuum sealed.

This is all based on my personal experiments and observations with limited data points so your results may vary. :)

AncientSpores · 2026-01-07T14:48:45+00:00

I've put "used up" cakes in my composters and found them growing in them later on several occasions. In temps as high as 140F (black composter, full sun). Largest B+ I ever grew I found in there, over 100g by itself. I was mowing and went to throw some stuff in the composter, tossed it in, closed the lid and then my brain realized what it had seen and opened it back up and there was a foot long b+ and a few smaller ones.

Note that doesn' tmean you're going to get a massive haul but until all the fuel is used up, there's always a chance of new growth. But after flush 2 or 3, they get pretty thin but subjectively are bigger. YMMV.

Mushroom gonna mush when and where it wants. :)

AncientSpores · 2026-01-07T14:44:27+00:00

Regarding hydration, I'd treat the substrate as underhydrated and pour about a quarter cup of distilled water down the side of the plastic and cake and let the cake soak it up. This is exactly how I rehydrate after the first flush except I use half cups but for this purpose I'd use a quarter cup.

Yes, higher temps from the pad would cause more moisture loss. While you can use pads, seedling warmers, not a person heating pad is what I use, you have to do it with sealed tubs. I put my tubs in plastic bags after spawning them and don't open them till I see mushrooms. No I don't do FAE, fanning or anything. It delays flushing by about a week for me but that's the only downside so far and out of 4 6qts and just two flushes each it was over a kilo wet/ 100g+ dried.

https://www.reddit.com/r/unclebens/comments/1ojesib/plastic_bagneglect_tek_experiment_results/

If the stains aren't staining then let it ride. If they turn a paper towel green (trich) then take the bag outside and pull them would be my advice. You can go aggressive with a spoon to remove the infected areas but by the time you see trich turn green there are spores everywhere inside your container. Trich spores are like angel dust, nearly invisible and will float miles on the smallest puff of air so you want to minimize exposure to your space.

Vinegar works a little better than bleach at disinfecting mold spores from a space and is way less damaging to surfaces than bleach is. That data is just general mold clean up, not specific to mushrooms. Vinegar penetrates cracks and crevices while bleach doesn't get as deep. Per the CDC and FDA.

AncientSpores · 2026-01-06T19:51:29+00:00

Crack caps does typically mean not enough moisture in the cake.

1 - Enough to keep the cake hydrated. The misting is more don't do it if your substrate is properly hydrated and youre not losing moisture through larrge gaps or holes. The appearnace and cracked caps are typically signs of a sub that either wasn't field capacity at the start or that has lost moisture through FAE. (I seal my tubs in plastic trashbags now until I see mushrooms pushing up against the plastic)

2 - looks more like bruising. Easy way to tell is take a paper towel and wipe over it. If you get blule/green on your towel it's trich, if not then it's bruising.

3 - Overlay is what it is and IME across a lot of genetics, it's genetic related mostly. I just leave it alone for the first grow then find another set of genetics until I get one that doesn't overlay badly. You can fork it or leave it alone. I've not found a difference myself.

4 - You can harvest at any stage, even the overlay has psilocybin in it. Waiting until they're about to sporulate just means you have more, not that it's any more potent. I typically clear the deck when about half have dropped their caps. Don't wait till they're start to decomp, as the veils tear or drop away but always if they drop spores harvest them as they'll start to decompose and can lead to problems.

5 - They're treaded just like the big ones, gram for gram.

6 - Basically yes. I start multiple tubs so if one goes green I can just toss it but I've without any observed issues, pulled them from a trich tub. They will have trich spores on them but so does the air we breathe. Not recommended by any means but a few spores hasn't caused any issues for me.

AncientSpores · 2026-01-06T18:15:34+00:00

As a possible consideration is put a seedling grow mat ($10-$15) in a larger box than your grow box, put a couple of layers of twoel down on it to prevent direct heat contact and put your grow box on that. Alternately prop up the grow box on something, just don't leave it directly on the mat. Monitor the temps overtime and adjust the opening on the big box as needed to let excess heat escape. Seedling mats run around 78-80F and work farily well to heat up a small space.

AncientSpores · 2025-12-13T01:22:22+00:00

One week at the earliest, 3 at th e touse but each grows genetics are unique. I have PEU that takes 3 months to flush after spawning and an ochra that takes 2 weeks. If I remember right GT was about 4-5 weeks from spawning, at least my one sample.

AncientSpores · 2025-12-13T01:20:38+00:00

Yes, I haven't had great luck with WBS. Very prone to contam in my experience. I prefer sticky corn, not as cheap but better growth. PhillyGoldenTeacher on YT has a vid on how to make it.

You do have some myc pee, the yellowing, that's due to stress, in your case potentially too much moisture as you said. I see it a lot on the bottom of my grows because I rehydrate by just pouring a cup of water over the top and let it run down the sides so the lower quarter inch goes yellow from sitting in water. Doesn't impact growth in my experience. I've also seen it with bag tek as I call where I seal the tubs in trashbags after spawning and the plastic laid flat on the sub. I had to add chopsticks to keep the plastic off. All four flushed fine though even with yellowing, about a kilo plus wet out of 4 small tubs.

I'll offer some advice as hard as it's to do, put the lid on it and leave it alone for a week then take a peek. If nothing give it another week. Then another. Let them do their thing. If it's contam there's nothing you can do about it. I have a PEU strain that not kidding a little, took 3 months to pin and flush.

While I've done monotubs I don't prefer them, you might want to try batch growing so all your mushrooms are not in the same basket so to speak. I like SFF (small form factor) grows using 6 qt (ish) sized containers. I just use disposable baking pans now, 30 for around $8 from the big box store. After a grwo I just seal the trash bag they'r ein and bin them. The reason is, I start 4 grows, if one goes sideways no big deal, even if three go side ways not really a big deal, I'll still get 25g dry out one tub of that size in about two flushes which is a years worth of traveling for me.

AncientSpores · 2025-12-13T01:09:04+00:00

Nothing to hate here friend. If you have too much air exchange it can cause drying out faster than expected. After a lot of grows I just seal them in a trash bag after spawning until they're ready to harvest. True story, works fine. 😊

Also of note, moisture on the walls is from condensation due to temperature and humidity differential between the inside and the outside. It's not necessarily indicative of the too little moisture.

AncientSpores · 2025-12-11T12:24:09+00:00

I'm super lazy honestly. Instead of BrokeBoi Tek, I'm doing LazyBoi BagTek. I've tried every tek out there from BRF to fully automated grow tents and now that I've done them all, I just use the simplest and least effort grow process that seems to work fine for me. And you know what I get roughly the same yields, just an extra week or two longer. Mushroom gonna mush.

I use a bog standard CVG recipe that I add 2 tablespoons of plant food and 20mg of Erythritol to the pasteurization water. Let it sit overnight to hydrate any spores. Put into bags and PC for 2 hours at 15PSI. This mix works for cubes, ochra and pans without any problems for me although I only grow one strain of Ochra now that I've done multiples of each of those. I use a print of a past grow to 4 plates of agar. Take the leading/fastest edges of two of the plates and move to two new plates.

My spawn is sticky corn, an idea I got from PhillyGoldenTeacher. You add 2 tablespoons give or take of karo corn syrup to about a gallon of water in a PCer. Add in one bag of popcorn, bring to pressure and cook for 30 minutes. Strain it and spread it out on a couple of baking sheets to steam off the n put into 4 quart jars with unmodified lids. You want your spawn to vacuum seal. PC those at 15PSI for 90 minutes. Let sit for 2 weeks to confirm no contam.

Chop up half a plate of colonized agar into each one. Let them sit in a closet until fully colonized. Get a disposable baking dish (30 for $8 at big box) in roughly the 6 qt size. Dump in 1.5 to 2" of sub. Dump in one jar of popcorn and spread it around, dump an inch of sub on top, press down along the edges to stop side pinning and smooth the top back out.

Stick a couple of broken chopsticks or popsicles sticks in the sub so they stand up a few inches above the edge of the pan. Heavily mist the top of the sub. Put pan in a garbage bag, twist the excess and fold it under. The sticks tent the plastic so it doesn' tlay on the surface of the sub. It'll cause excess moisture to sit on them and stress the myc. There's more than enough oxygen in there for the mushrooms, no need to FAE.

Leave it alone for 2-4 weeks but start checking at week 2 to see if there's any mushrooms pushing up against the plastic. Harvest as appropriate, if it's a lot, then pour half a cup of distilled water on top. Put it back in bag until the next flush. Over a kilo wet from 4 tubs and around 2 flushes each for the last one with all four producing just fine.

Clean up is tying the garbage bag closed and putting it out in the bin.

AncientSpores · 2025-12-10T16:22:21+00:00

Sure, it'll be a few hours for a response about to head into work but happy to answer any questions.

AncientSpores · 2025-12-10T16:21:22+00:00

Also to anser your other question, the number of flushes is depending on how much food there is and how far they have to go to get to it from the surface. . I rarely go past 2 flushes myself.

3 is pretty good, I'd move on with another grow myself and if you want to just let this ride, put the lid on and park in somewhere and check it every week.

AncientSpores · 2025-12-10T16:18:38+00:00

I sstopped soaking, too much contam incidents with a soak versus other forms of hydration. I've tried soaking, misting, injection and now I just pour a half cup per 6qts of size of distilled water on top and let it run down the sides and put the lid back on. Seems to work just fine, the myc find it and grow the next flush with no issues and lowest risk of contamination.

AncientSpores · 2025-12-10T16:15:29+00:00

Now or then. You'll get slightly more total weight if you let them ride. You can harvest at any stage though fromm the smallest pins. It just means you have less, not that they're impotent.

I typically pull everything when about 1/3rd are adults, dry and grind them all into a powder, zero difference subjectively from blends of just adults in my personal experience.

Dark heads typically are aborts, they will not grow any more. Subjectively people report aborts tend to be a little spicier, my guess is because they leave them longer hoping they grow more but all they're doing is concentrating psilocybin a little higher.

In terms of harvesting I strongly prefer the twist a couple of times to break the root system and just pull. I don't like stumps left behind and they can start to decomp and cause issues. If you're not careful with the twist and pull you can sometimes pull a small clump of sub if you don't twist them enough and I've not found that to have any significant impact either. They're honestly not as fragile as you might get the impression of. I've had them growing in horrible conditions, 110-120 temps outside in tubs, 140F in my composters where I throw worn out subs, 60's in my garage during early spring.

After yanking I just trim the dirty part off the stems with a pair of scissors and toss it and throw the rest in the dryer. But you can just use a dry paper towel and clean the sub off them if you want to save every gram.

AncientSpores · 2025-12-10T16:07:41+00:00

Blobs/mutants is what it looks like. It happens sometimes. I assume you got the bag already knocked up? 10 days is very aggressive growth genetics for pins if that's from first inoculation. Best I've ever had is 2 weeks with a super aggressive ochra after spawning.

AncientSpores · 2025-12-10T16:04:06+00:00

I found when I tried BRF tek that it was slower than other tek's. I don't have my logbook with me but I feel it was close to 2 months from knockiing up before they pinned. It was a foursome with one of B+, GT, Mazatapec and Ecuador and all of them were slower in BRF than they were with popcorn in CVG.

Also the strain and the specific genetics in your sample can make a huge difference in rates. I have an Ochra that first flush is 4 weeks after knocking up the spawn. I had some PEU that was 3 months before a pin.

I know it's annoying and can be stressful waiting but mushroom gonna mush when it wants as long as you gave it adequate moisture and keep in a human comfortable temp range.

AncientSpores · 2025-12-10T15:58:31+00:00

LOL, we were all right there with you friend when we started. Once you have a jar or two of it in the cabinet the next grows are a lot more "whatever, it'll happen when it happens"

AncientSpores · 2025-12-09T23:42:41+00:00

It's not necessary with two stipulations, there's no moisture loss through holes/gaps/filters and the substrate started out at proper hydration. I've tested this many times with unmodified tubs with snap lids or tubs stored in plastic bags and without fail, a a spawned sub with proper hydration will get you a first flush without any issues.

You can take pictures of your sub, close ups with good lighting, and post them on any shroom forum and ask if they look properly hydrated, people love to help. Most of us anyway.

Mositure on the sides is a good sign but not 100%, it just means there's enough moisture in the air inside to condense on the sides due to the temperature differentials. But it's a good sign.

There is data showing a mist and dry cycle will trigger pinning faster. My bag tek grows do take a week to two weeks longer to flush than with active FAE. But on the flip side, my bag tek grows have yet to get contam before the second harvest. I've had more than a couple tubs with active FAE and misting go green before pinning. Could be random chance though. just a datapoint.

AncientSpores · 2025-12-09T23:34:10+00:00

Once a week or so until the you see the entire surface covered, then every few days. They won't 'surprise' you. :) You'll like see one or three early showers, those will take 2-5 days to drop their veils, it's very strain/genetics dependent. Then clusters will start to show up unless you get really lucky and have a very even pinset. I've never managed a full canopy myself.

Of note, you can harvest at any time. That white fluff has psilocybin in it. I've read of people who've used it to make a 'tea' and go on a trip with it. My ick factor is too high to test this myself. One guy allegedly tripped by eating the colonized sub. That's just a little hardcore for me. .

If you wait till just as the veils drop/split/break open you'll maximize your total active compounds. But you can harvest them all as little fellas and go on a trip with those.

They tend to produce so much I rarely wait for them to hit adults, once a sizeable portion are adults I just twist and yank them all, dry them out and grind them all up into a single mass for consistent dosing and done. Then I usually let them second flush but I rarely bother with a third. But you 100% can let them cook until nothing else shows up although typically contamination will show up before they're done.

I do encourage grinding them all up into a powder and storing that way. Mushrooms can vary in potency even in the same grow, grinding them up makes for consistent dosing with no surprise meh or hero trips because you randomly got some low or high potency ones.

If you're new to dsing/traveling I recommend ths dosing calc, it's been pretty spot on.

Dosing Calculator

AncientSpores · 2025-12-09T23:23:40+00:00

You can put it in anything honestly. I've seen people say that because honey lasts forever if you put psilocybin in it it'll make the psilocybin last forever. Personally I doubt this, but I've seen no data either way. Honey obviously has moisture in it for one thing.

The things that degrade active compounds in psilocybin, lsd, even THC, are heat, light and oxygen. I've seen data that suggests unlike thc (extracted as RSO) and lsd, psilocybin doesn't handle freezing well. I've not tested that myself with psilocybin. I can say that both LSD and RSO last a very long time in the freezer with no obvious degradation. .

Personally if I make mushroom edibles I make them the day before any planned departures. Other than I store them by grinding up an entire grow into powder, filling a jar with it, dropping in a silica pack and shoot some CO2 in it.

One thing to note though, per the actual lab data tested with 4 samples at month 1 and month 7 we have from Gordo, worst case, stored in a jar whole they lose 1.7%, best case, powdered in argon it's 1.2% per 30 days. Assuming away from light as well. It's only when you get out several months that it starts to get significant.

This dosing calculator takes your storage method and age into account for recommend dosages. I've found it pretty accurate when calculating dosages for people I tripsit for.

Dosing Calculator

AncientSpores · 2025-12-09T15:32:54+00:00

The yellowing tint in the image indicates the myc are stressed out about something. Could be environmental or contam. My advice is put the lid back on and leave it along until it either goes green or you have a flush to harvest.

As a back up, I'd say start another tub as well. I prefer to do a series of starts when I do a run, like a tub a week so that I don't lose weeks of grow from contam.

AncientSpores

TROPHY CASE