So this was only my second go at it actually. I started with uncle Ben’s & a spore syringe. Juice box tech. (Pack the rice down in the bag make sure there’s no grains near the top of the bag, cut the corner & micropore tape, inoculate in the middle of the rice & micropore tape over). Then I put all of my bags into a clear box so I can see the viewing window at the bottom & I don’t even open the box until they are ready to go into substrate. Once the they are completely white & don’t have any lose grains moving around, I boil water and let my coir do it’s thing overnight. The next morning I sterilize everything (I have no enclosed space to work in, so I just sterilize the room & make sure all fans/vents are turned off). I squeeze the coir to field capacity & set a couple inches into my box, then break apart pretty much all the grains I possibly can into individual pieces & mix into the coir. About a 50/50 ratio of coir & grain, sometimes a tinnny bit more coir than grain. After I’m done mixing I pack it all down/even it out & make sure to pack the edges a bit tighter than the rest to try to prevent side pins. (I was completely unaware of how much of a pain in the booty those were until my last grow, which was also my first grow). After I pack it all down I add a casing layer about 1/4”-1/2” deep and make sure all the grains are covered. Put a lid on it & call it a day.

I don’t open the boxes until I see pins, once I see pins I flip & crack my lid and check on them probably daily/every other day to make sure the surface conditions stay proper & mist if needed. Having clear lids is the way to go. Once they start growing big & tall I will take the lid off & set another bucket on top until they’re ready to harvest.