Growing Mushrooms with the MYG Kit ( Mega-You-Grow )

This method for growing mushrooms has been around for many years and there is several websites claiming to be the original creator but in truth there is only one original Mega You Grow kit and it can only be found at Mushbox.com or Megayougro.com . You can do it yourself or just get the original MYG kit in one simple package. There is many ways to get results when you grow mushrooms, but this is one technique that has a huge success rate and is easy to do, even for beginners.

Picture of MYG Kit

MYG kit requires these items:-1 Grow box with a dome lid, dimensions are 22”L X 12”W X 12”H.-1 large pot or canner 20L or more.-1 large clear plastic mixing bag.-1 kg bag of casing soil.-1 vial of casing starter mix.-1 spray bottle.-1 ½ gallon jar of pre-sterilized rye grain (you must get your own spores to inject into the jar)-Sterilization products such as: Lysol, alcohol wipes, hand cleaner, gloves, air cleaner, and any extra equipment that will help maintain a clean working area.

Most of these supplies can be found at your local hardware store or you can get it all in one sweet package shipped right to your door from www.mushbox.comWhy re-invent the wheel? When something works, go with it. This technique has been around for many years and it produces great results if you follow the instructions and stay clean. YES cleanliness is godliness especially when it comes to growing mushrooms or anything to do with mycology. I can never stress it enough to be in a sterile environment and clean your body before working. Take a shower and be extra anal about spraying air cleaner and washing your tools and equipment before use. It only takes a small contamination to ruin your entire project and it is not that difficult to stay sterileThe first step is to grow mycelium. Inoculate the pre-sterilized grain jar with spores of your choice from a reliable spore vendor such as www.spores101.com. There is some excellent videos on inoculation procedures at this website also.

After inoculation place the grain jar in a warm dark place at 80 - 84 degrees for approx. 2-4 weeks. An incubation system is recommended to ensure the correct temperature is maintained, this will produce the fastest growth. If the temperature changes low the growth will stunt and contamination can take hold. If the temperature gets to high the mycelium will not be able to grow, also leading to possible contamination. There is a variety of growing chambers and incubators available at www.mushbox.com or you can go online at www.shroomtalk.com to learn how to build your own system.After about a week of incubation you should start to see small, white, fuzzy patches appearing in the grain. This is the beginning of the mycelium colonizing inside the jar, and is a very good sign that you are on the right track.

Picture of Mycelium growing in Rye grain jar > picture 2 > fully grown healthy mycelium

Before the grain jar is ready for the next step it must be 95-100% colonized and takes anywhere from 2-4 weeks to get full colonization depending on your incubation system and how potent your spore syringe was.

You will know the mycelium is fully colonized then the jar appears to be fully white and fuzzy with no signs of discoloration or contamination. It is ok to see small drops of yellowish liquid, this is the waste product the mycelium secretes and is sometimes called “myc-piss”, it’s harmless and shows that the mycelium is healthy.

Before you can use the mycelium you must pasteurize the straw and prepare it for mixing with the mycelium. Pasteurizing will kill any remaining bacteria or contaminates in the straw and provide a nutrient bed for the mycelium to colonize. Get your large pot or canner and fill it ¾ full of water and set it to boil.When it’s reached boiling point turn of the heat and place the entire burlap sack full of straw into the pot. Be sure to remove the plastic from the sack first, this is why you need such a large pot it needs to be large enough to fully submerge the straw sack into the water. In most cases you will need to add some kind of weight to the sack to ensure all the air bubbles are pushed out and the sack is fully submerged. I have used a big rock before as long as its clean of course. At this point you should just take a break and roll up a killer joint, leave the straw soaking with the heat off for about 25 minutes.When your done puffing, turn the stove back on LOW heat so it will simmer but not boil. Push down on the weight to release any remaining air bubbles and leave the straw like this for another 35 minutes. After your 2nd smoke session turn off the heat and prepare a strainer in your sink to hold the straw bag. Remove the straw from the pot and place it in the strainer, draining all the water into the sink, it should look pretty dark like tea and have a strong odor that will make your kitchen smell like a farm. Just leave the straw to drain and cool to room temperature, this takes about 2-3 hours, do not rush it if you add the mycelium and the straw is still hot it could risk killing it before it has a chance to colonize.After the straw has cooled to room temperature and you can hold the bag without burning your hands its ready to mix with the mycelium, but do not get excited and rush this part it takes patience to not make a mess and get it contaminated. Make sure your work area is clean, wash your hands again, spray the air cleaner around, and then grab the large plastic mixing bag and your fully grown mycelium jar placing them on your work space. Open the straw sack and carefully dump all the steamy straw into the clear mixing bag, try not to spill any as it is not fun to clean up later. Now you want to open your grain jar to break up the spawn into smaller chunks so that it will easily come out of the narrow jar lid and into the clear mixing bag with the straw. If your confident your hands are clean or if your wearing gloves you can just use your finger to break it up and dump it in the bag, as you get more out it will break up easier until all of the little pieces of grain are inside the clear mixing bag with the straw.Now you want to close the bag and mix it up very well so that the colonized rye grains will be evenly distributed throughout the straw. It is easiest to just hold the bag up and mix it around flipping the bottom onto the top, but make sure the bag is closed, if it spills open anything that falls out of the bag is garbage.Now place the mixing bag full of straw and mycelium into the grow box ensuring that it is taking up as much space as possible in the grow chamber. Level off the surface so that no pieces of straw are sticking up but do not pack it down tightly as the mycelium needs a light, airy space to grow easily.Now you should have a box with a plastic bag in it full of straw and mycelium. The excess plastic from the bag should be sticking up in a mess, just fold the remaining plastic bag down loosely over the outer edge of the growing chamber so that there is enough to cover the top but the rest is snugly fitted around the box. Then just fold the opening of the plastic bag so that the straw is not exposed to open air.

picture of colonizing straw

Place the MYG kit in a warm, clean, dark place. This is the similar to the previous stage were the spores were growing in the grain jar, now we have mycelium growing into the straw bed. An incubation chamber is very useful at this point. It is very important that a constant temperature between 79-81 degrees F is maintained and there is no light. This will ensure fast colonization without contamination. You’re done for a bit now so go roll another joint.After about 12-14 days the kit should be ready for casing. To be sure the straw should be fully grown through with mycelium and will appear white and fuzzy, similar to how it appeared in the jar. There will still be straw showing in some areas but it should be at least 90% colonized across the surface before proceeding to the casing step.Open your plastic bag of casing soil and add 1.2 liters of water to the bag, mix it up for 3 minutes. Mix it again 3 hours later, and then let it sit overnight in a clean area.To ensure a successful crop you must sterilize your wet casing soil before applying it to the straw. The most effective method for sterilization is in a microwave oven. Cook on HIGH for 2 minutes and allow it to cool back to room temperature before applying it to the straw. After cleaning your hands and work area again get your grow box with the straw / mycelium growing and the casing starter vial ready. Add the casing starter vial to the soil and mix it well. This is a secret ingredient that helps combat fly larva that can come to life in the soil. Before adding the soil to the kit take a handful and lightly squeeze it over the bag or sink, if any water comes out then you need to continue squeezing each handful before applying. You want the soil to be wet but not soaking wet. Too much water will cause contamination, and too little water will make it dry out stunting the growth. You want about a ½ inch of soil covering straw so add it to the middle and spread it outward until the entire surface is covered. Again you do not want to pack this down in any manner; it needs to be light and fluffy to allow the mycelium to colonize easily.Using your spray bottle lightly mist the inside of the dome lid with clean water and fit it on the grow box. To create a good seal you can use duct tape around the edges of the grow box were it connects to the dome lid creating hinges on the back for easy access.Put the grow box back into your clean, dark place and maintain a constant temperature of 79-81 degrees F. for 5 days. Do not open the lid or allow any contaminated air to gain access to the grow box for the next 5 days and the mycelium will now grow up into the soil just like it did into the straw. If you do notice an excess of moisture building up then open the lid and fan out the excess humidity quickly and put the lid back on. This is the final step before the mushrooms start to grow. After the 5 days there should be signs of mycelium growth showing throughout the soil. This is the sign to induce fruiting.Now you can expose your grow kit to light for 12 hours a day and maintain the temps of 79-81 degrees F. for another 15-25 days, this will give the mycelium the signal to start fruiting and mushrooms will begin to grow. The amount of light is not important so a regular 25 watt bulb will do just as good as a bright LED.You will start to see small pinheads forming on the surface that will quickly sprout into mushrooms. It is important to keep the temperature maintained and the humidity between 75-90%, a daily spraying of clean water should help keep the humidity up. If it gets to wet just fan it out as necessary.
The mushrooms usually start around the edges of the kit and grow in towards the center eventually creating a full, even flush of mushrooms. You can get several flushes from 1 MYG kit before it dries up and the mycelium can no longer feed on the nutrient bed. After your first flush add more water to the casing layer and more harvests will appear every few days. Remember to only pick the mushrooms that are ready, always leave the smaller ones as they are your next flush already coming up. You can tell when a mushroom is ready to be picked when the veil is broken or just about to break. The veil is the layer of skin that seals the cap to the stem holding in all the spores. When the veil breaks you should pick the mushrooms as they will release there spores dropping them on other mushrooms or into the casing layers, possibly creating contamination and stunting any future flushes.

Mushrooms showing and pins starting to grow

If at any time during early growth or colonizing you notice an emerald green spot forming this is not a good sign. It is probably green mold forming and your kit is going to die. This is due to lack of sterile procedures or contamination in the air around the kit. Sometimes you can save the kit if the green mold is spotted very early by cutting it out with a sterilized knife. You can also try to stop the spread of the mold by applying salt around the edges were it is trying to grow.

Learn more about green mold in our next Blog! You can also visit the www.shroomtalk.com forums for conversations with like minded people in a full mycommunity!

More MYG kit pictures > Mushbox MYG Mushroom Kit > MYG shroom kit from Mushbox

TONS OF SHROOMS! - Beautiful Harvest of Mushrooms