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Seasonal mushroom grow kit
Halloween Special
A simple, all-in-one seasonal kit. You inject the sterile tub with your own gourmet culture, let it colonise, then fruit it in the included tent. Available until 1st November.
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For cultivating legal gourmet mushroom species only. A gourmet liquid culture or spore syringe is not included.
filled and sterilised fresh to order
arrives sterile or we replace it
any gourmet species you have a culture for
available only until 1st November
The short version
A single-stage seasonal grow kit. You inject 3ml of your own gourmet culture into a sterile 1L tub that is already two thirds full of Cylocybe Special substrate, let it colonise white, then pop the lid off and fruit it in the included tent. It is the cheapest, simplest way to try the inoculate-it-yourself method, and it is here only until 1st November.
How it works
How a Halloween Special grow works
This is a one-injection kit. The substrate is already in the tub, sterile and ready, so you add your culture, let it go solid white, then move it into the tent to fruit. No grain stage, no mixing, no dunking before the first flush.
Inject the tub
Wipe a spot on the tub with one of the included alcohol wipes, fit the sterile 18G needle, and inject 3ml of your own gourmet culture into the substrate. Work somewhere clean and draught-free, away from open windows and fans.
Colonise
Put the lid back on and leave the tub somewhere steady and warm. Aim for around 24 degrees, though anywhere from 18 to 24 is fine as long as it stays consistent. Skip the heat mat. Leave the filters alone, they let clean air in, and do not open the tub until the substrate is white all the way through. This takes roughly 2 to 4 weeks.
Move it to fruit
Once it is fully colonised, pop the lid off and stand the tub inside the included tent. Drop the temperature a touch, to around 20 to 22 degrees. The humidity comes from the substrate itself, so you do not need to mist it unless the surface looks dry.
Harvest
A small slit in each side of the tent plus a fan moving air in the room gives the mushrooms the fresh air they need to pin. Tiny white dots become pins in a few days, then mature over the next week. Pick each one just as the veil under the cap begins to tear. First pins usually show in 3 to 7 days.
Why this one
What makes the Halloween Special different
It is the seasonal kit, here only until 1st November, and it is built to be the easiest and cheapest way to try the inoculate-it-yourself method. Most grow kits arrive already colonised, so all you do is mist and wait. This one arrives sterile and you do the injection, which is where the real growing happens.
It is seasonal. The Halloween Special stays available until 1st November, then it goes. If you want the same single-tub method year round, the Cylocybe Special MycoBox uses the same substrate and the same inject-the-tub approach.
Why it works
How we make it sterile
The whole point of the kit is that the substrate reaches you clean, so the mycelium you inject has a clear head start over any contaminant. Here is how we get it there.
Autoclaved
The substrate is sealed and sterilised under pressure in an autoclave before it ever reaches the tub.
Cleanroom sealed
It is handled and sealed in a cleanroom, in front of a laminar flow hood that keeps the working air clean.
Filtered tub
The tub has its own filters for clean air exchange while it colonises. Leave them in place, they are doing the work of keeping stray spores out.
Worth noting
No process is ever perfect, which is exactly why every kit is backed by the Sterile Guarantee further down.
In the box
What's included
Everything bar the culture, which you add yourself.
The kit
Needs 3ml of culture
- 1L injectable tub, prefilled two thirds with sterile Cylocybe Special substrate
- Filtered lid for clean air exchange
- Grow tent to fruit in
Hygiene kit
For a clean injection
- 2 isopropyl alcohol wipes
- 1 hand wipe
- 1 sterile 18G needle
The one thing you add
What you'll need
The tub is sterile and ready to inject, so you supply the living part: a gourmet liquid culture or spore syringe. You need exactly 3ml. We make gourmet liquid cultures you can inject it with.
Liquid culture has known, predictable genetics and can be incubated a little warmer, so it tends to colonise faster and more reliably. Spore syringes are cheaper and offer more variety, but are never fully sterile, so incubate them slightly cooler to let the mycelium outrun any stragglers.
Whatever you inject with, give the mycelium a clean start: wipe the surface, work in still, draught-free air, and use the sterile needle straight from its packet. Most failed grows trace back to a sloppy injection rather than a bad kit. We stock the sterile gear for it (a still-air box, wipes and gloves) in sterile and lab equipment.
Risk, reversed
The Sterile Guarantee
Every kit is made fresh and arrives sterile and sealed. If one shows contamination on arrival, before you have injected it, send us photos and we will replace it. What happens after you open it comes down to your technique and conditions, which no reputable seller can promise for you. So we stand fully behind the kit reaching you clean, and the troubleshooting below helps with the rest.
At a glance
The spec sheet
- Kit type
- Single-stage, inject the substrate tub directly, fruit in the tent
- Vessel
- 1L filtered injectable tub, plus a grow tent to fruit in
- Substrate
- Sterile Cylocybe Special substrate, tub prefilled two thirds full
- Inoculation
- Inject 3ml into the tub, then re-fit the lid
- Culture needed
- Exactly 3ml of gourmet liquid culture or spore syringe, not included
- Colonisation temp
- Around 24 degrees, 18 to 24 is fine if kept steady
- Fruiting temp
- A little cooler, around 20 to 22 degrees
- Time to harvest
- About 3 to 5 weeks from injection to the first flush
- Availability
- Seasonal, available until 1st November
- Storage
- Best injected within 4 weeks of arrival
- Made
- United Kingdom, fresh to order
- Suited to
- Gourmet species: oyster, Lion's Mane, Shiitake and similar
When things look off
Common issues
Because you do the growing, the odd thing can go sideways. Here are the common ones and what they usually mean.
Nothing happening
Usually patience or temperature. Trace the mycelium edge with a marker and check again in a few days. Cold slows it right down.
Yellow liquid
Normal. That is metabolites, the mycelium's own waste, not contamination.
Green, grey or sour
That is contamination. Do not open the tub before it is fully colonised, since opening early is the usual cause. Bin an affected kit and keep it away from your others.
Thin stems, no pins
Not enough fresh air. Widen the slit in the tent or add a little more airflow in the room.
The full step-by-step lives in the Halloween Special grow guide, and the grow-kit troubleshooting guide goes deeper on contamination and temperature.
Other kits
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Common questions
Frequently asked
Aim for about 24 degrees while it colonises; anywhere from 18 to 24 is fine as long as it is steady, and keep an eye out for condensation. Drop it a couple of degrees, to around 20 to 22, for fruiting. Avoid heat mats, they cause condensation.
No. You add your own gourmet liquid culture or spore syringe, and you need exactly 3ml. We stock gourmet liquid cultures separately.
Any legal gourmet species you have a culture for. It suits oyster mushrooms, Lion's Mane, Shiitake and similar.
Roughly 2 to 4 weeks for the tub to colonise, then a week or so to fruit, so around 3 to 5 weeks from injection to the first flush, depending on species and temperature.
No. A clean, draught-free room and the included wipes and sterile needle are enough for most people. A still-air box lowers the risk further if you want one, but plenty of growers manage without.
The filters let clean air exchange in and out while the substrate colonises, without letting stray spores in. Leave them in place, removing them invites contamination.
It is a seasonal Halloween kit. After that it goes, but the Cylocybe Special MycoBox uses the same substrate and the same inject-the-tub method all year round.
Send us photos before you inject it and we will replace it, that is our Sterile Guarantee. Contamination that appears after you inject comes down to technique and conditions, so check the troubleshooting first.
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Questions and answers
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For cultivating legal gourmet mushroom species only.Sold as a sterile substrate kit for home cultivation. We trust you to be responsible.