When I first started it was like a maze of names and phrases I had
never heard of before in my life. When the veil breaks, inoculation,
fruiting, pins, vermiculite, mycelium, perlite were all words I never
associated with tripping.
I stumbled on mushroom spores and kits while looking at other
substances available on line and I was hooked straight away. I never
new much then but decided to take a chance and send for a kit
containing 10 plastic 250ml containers, syringe and substrate.
When it arrived I was like a kid with a new toy, I quickly got
everything together and before I new it the first spots of mycelium
were showing after a week and within another 2 weeks I had my first
flush. Then the learning process really started because everything I
needed to start was in the well-equipped kit, so I decided to try and
find everything I needed to be self-sufficient.
Canning, the art of getting jam and fruit into jars is massive in
America but practically unheard of here in the UK and as some equipment
associated with canning is used in growing mushrooms, canning jars I
had a hard job finding the best equipment for the job in hand.
I had the 10 jars I received with my kit, they are good plastic jars
and I still use them but there only good for semi sterilization,
boiling jars in a pot not a pressure cooker and as I never had a
pressure cooker at this time it was plastic containers I was looking
for.
Jars (glass and plastic)
After a lot of searching I found that Asda supermarkets
sells good plastic Tupperware containers with good tapered lids and
their 250ml about 40p each. Some of the lids were looser than others
but when making your jars up put a layer of foil over the container
before you put the lid on, this helps make the tighter.
If you have a pressure cooker and your looking for glass jars you can
forget about finding any canning jars in the UK , we don't sell them
because as I said earlier we aint into canning the way they are in the
USA but alternatives can be found.
Bonne Maman jam is available in a lot of Tesco
supermarkets and these make ideal glass containers for using for
your pressure cooker also in Tesco Princes Finest Continental Pate
make just as good jars, both are dearer than the plastic containers but
are sound investments for the pc user.
by Jackal
I too had a lot of trouble finding canning jars in the UK, and had
given up when I accidently stumbled across some in a chain-store called
Farnworths. They do mainly sell craft-supplies, but yes they
do also stock canning jars
Vermiculite
Used in the gentle art of cake making, used in gardening and
available in any BnQ, Homebase and most garden centers.
Perlite
Used for humidity and available at BnQ, Homebase and most garden
centers.
LECA
Used for humidity and availabl eat
most garden centers under the brand name Hydroleca.
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Terrarium or Fruiting Chamber
BnQ again do a wide range of plastic containers is all
shapes and sizes. Pick a dark one and make sure you get a clear lid,
this saves you cutting the lid later to let light in. They do a 40litre
one that holds about 15 cakes they also have ones that have wheels
about 75 litre both are good and have good fitting lids.
Brown Rice or Brown Rice Flour
Well I have never been able to find BRF I just go for the brown
rice and then put it in the coffee blender to make it into flour, try
to get organic brown rice.
Temp Gauge, Humidity Gauge
Both available in BnQ, Homebase and all garden centers.
Spores and Spore Syringes.
The tricky part, who do you trust your money to? Well I started
with a kit but don't recommend them because you can make you kit
yourself cheaper.
I will
give the sites I have bought off and have had no problems
www.smartbotanics.com are a well established site who deal in good
quality spores, kits and equipment and if your not happy you get a
refund.
Also
www.ralphstersspores.com is a top spore supplier run by Ralphster a
well established member of the online mushroom community, these are
only a few there is many
to choose from but I had no problem with these two sites.
Desiccant
Used for drying mushrooms, this can be found again at BnQ
and Homebase at the plumbing section, Kilrock refill
for moisture traps.
Well there aint much else you need to set your self up except a
little skill and a little luck and once you get started you can take
your own prints and trade them , so good luck and happy tripping.
by scotsman
Just a lil note by acneman. Check out
micro-science. They provide a large variety of mycological supplies, its pretty much a 1 stop shop!
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