B Traven said:

My technical first attempt, which ended in utter failure, involved trying to follow the instructions in the Magic Mushroom Grower's Guide by Oss and Oeric (aka Stamets and Mckenna) which I ordered from the Loompanics Unlimited catalog. We ordered spores from Fungi Perfecti. I was 16 and knew absolutely nothing about sterile technique, or trying something over and over and over again as a strategy for either success or some sort of useful lesson.

My first actual grow was with a syringe and instruction booklet from Psilocybe Fanaticus (Bob Mcpherson) a year or so before he got raided by the DEA. I ordered them from an ad in High Times.

This was all effectively pre-internet for me, and these two leads were the ONLY information I had access to. I'm sure I would have done Uncle Ben's tek if microwaveable rice and Reddit were actually major things in the 90's.

Though my initial attempt was a failure, I did read and digest a book about spore prints, agar, and grain jars very early in my life. So after that, I had a frame of reference to place any additional information into, and when I tried PF, I immediately got why it was so epic for the small personal grower. After that, I wouldn't have fallen for UB tek or any of this youtube bullshit. But if 16 year old me had encountered Boomer Shroomer first, I probably would have had a wank over her and then taken it all as gospel. If I had seen one of the janky High Times ads first, I totally would have gone down that rabbithole, too.

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Dude, yeah. A golden rule that applies to UB and a lot of those lazymode kits is that if it looks too good to be true, it probably is! At this stage in my life I have room for a big methodical hobby involving a lot of research. I always knew I wanted to cultivate these mushrooms even if tripping isn't the main reason for it. The reason is simply to investigate and spend hours researching right here.

And the things people have figured out, man... what you can do with some gifted spores from the community and a few trips to the grocery store, local markets etc. My grow is going to cost me about fifty bucks, mostly because my PC was a second hand deal, well under the cost of a lux "growkit" and with far lest waste than UB broke boi. Wasted time and materials.
If I were 16 though, I'd probably skim the reddit and it would be no question

Screwup said:

Hey guys just opened this agar plate. It smells great! Cant wait to transfer it once it grows out more. I ate a piece to ensure it’s myc and it sure is!



Another confession….I don’t think I’m gonna use plastic gloves anymore.

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Sockadin said:

I use to beat the shit out of my AA to get it to open after a pc cycle, then one day thought about using a flat head screw driver to click the lid up and slide it open.

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HILLBILLY OUTLAW said:

I confess I learned how to grow by reading these books.

Hadn’t come across this amazing site yet. Never dabbled uncle bens or BRF/PF Tek but the books did suggest it.  I dove in deep and went straight  66qt mono growers using LC made from luckily a very reputable vendor. That’s right SS to LC. Fortunately for me it worked and I had many successful grows this way. Of course I had plenty of cantam as well. Tried this process with exotics and hahaha it was a shit show. Thankfully I have since learned the ways of the cult and now am loving my agar work. Such a fun part of the process that I was so afraid to try for a long time.

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HILLBILLY OUTLAW said:

For somebody that knew nothing that one was my favorite. Lots of pictures and step by step procedures for everything. Reading is hard I need pics. Lol

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