The classic 1990s beginner method, three sterile cakes you inoculate yourself. Inject, colonise, dunk and roll, then fruit all three in the included tent.
For cultivating legal gourmet mushroom species only. A gourmet liquid culture or spore syringe is not included.
Made in the UK filled and sterilised fresh to order
Sterile guarantee arrives sterile or we replace it
You inoculate it any gourmet species, your choice
Three separate cakes lose one pot, keep the grow
DifficultyBeginner, the classic first kit
Time to harvestAbout 3 to 5 weeks
YieldAround 250 to 300g
GrowsGourmet species, your choice
The short version
A PF-Tek kit with three small brown-rice cakes that you inject with your own gourmet culture, one at a time. Each colonises in its own pot, then you dunk and roll the cakes and fruit all three together in the included tent. The recipe adds gypsum and coffee to the classic mix, and it yields around 250 to 300g of fresh mushrooms over two or three flushes.
How it works
How a PF-Tek MycoPots grow goes
This is the original beginner method, the one most people cut their teeth on. You inject three small cakes, let each one colonise, dunk and roll them, then fruit all three together in the tent. No grain stage, no mixing, just the cakes.
1
Inject the pots
Fit a fresh needle, wipe the grey rubber port on each lid, and inject your gourmet culture straight into the substrate. The pots arrive sterile and the ports re-seal themselves after the needle comes out. Leave the white filter strips alone, they are doing the breathing for the cake.
1ml into each pot, 6ml across all three.
2
Colonise the cakes
Keep the pots somewhere steady. Aim for about 24 degrees, though anywhere from 18 to 24 is fine as long as it does not swing about, and watch for condensation. No heat mats. Leave the lids on until each cake is solid white all the way through.
Around 1 to 3 weeks.
3
Dunk and roll
Once a cake is fully white, pop it out, submerge it in cold water for 6 to 24 hours with a plate to hold it under, then rinse, let it drain, and roll it in the supplied vermiculite until the whole surface is coated. The water it drinks up is what fruits the mushrooms later, so do not skimp on the soak.
4
Set up the tent
Rinse the perlite until it is soaking wet, let it stop dripping, and tip it into the grow tent floor. Lay a piece of foil over it so the cakes never sit on wet perlite, then stand all three coated cakes on the foil. Fold the top of the tent over to hold the humidity in.
5
Fruit your mushrooms
Drop the temperature slightly, to around 20 to 22 degrees. The wet perlite and the soaked cakes supply the humidity, so you do not mist this kit. Cut a small slit each side of the tent near the top and run a low room fan for fresh air. Harvest each mushroom as the veil under the cap starts to tear, then dunk the cakes again between flushes.
First pins in 3 to 7 days, mature 4 to 5 days after.
Why this one
What makes the MycoPots recipe different
Classic PF-Tek is brown rice flour and vermiculite, and it has fed beginners since the early 1990s. We have kept that recipe and added two things to it: gypsum and coffee. It is a small change that earns its place.
PF-Tek MycoPotsPlain PF-Tek cake
SubstrateBrown rice flour, vermiculite, gypsum and coffeeBrown rice flour and vermiculite
GypsumAdds calcium and keeps the cake from going gloopyNone, cakes can get sticky
CoffeeSpent grounds for a little extra nitrogenNone
VesselsThree separate pots, three small cakesUsually jars you prep yourself
PrepNone, the pots arrive sterile and readyYou sterilise the jars yourself
Three pots rather than one block is part of the appeal. If one cake picks up a contaminant you bin that pot and carry on with the other two, instead of losing the whole grow.
Why it works
How we make it sterile
The cake is the part that has to be clean, because once you inject your culture it is a sealed little world for a few weeks. This is how each pot gets there.
Autoclaved
Each filled pot is sterilised under pressure at 121 degrees, long enough to clear the dense brown-rice substrate, not just the surface.
Cleanroom sealed
It is handled in a cleanroom in front of a laminar flow hood, so nothing drifts in while it cools and gets bagged.
Filtered, not open
The lids carry a HEPA filter strip and a self-healing injection port, so the cake breathes clean air and you never have to open it to inoculate.
Worth noting
No sterilising run is ever perfect, which is exactly why every kit is backed by the Sterile Guarantee further down.
In the box
What's included
Everything for the grow bar the culture, which you add yourself.
The kit
Needs a 6ml gourmet culture or spore syringe
3 HEPA-filtered, injectable MycoPots
Each filled with 280ml of organic brown rice flour, vermiculite, gypsum and coffee
XL grow tent with clean-air filters
1.5 litres of perlite for tent humidity
250ml of vermiculite for the dunk and roll
3 sterile needles
Hygiene kit
For a clean injection
3-ply surgical face mask
2 anti-microbial hand wipes
3 chlorhexidine alcohol wipes
Online grow guide, step by step
The one thing you add
What you'll need
The culture is not included.
The pots arrive sterile and ready to inject, so you supply the living part: a gourmet liquid culture or spore syringe holding about 6ml, which is 1ml per pot. We make gourmet liquid cultures you can inoculate it with.
Liquid culture has known, predictable genetics, so it tends to colonise faster and more reliably. Spore syringes are cheaper and offer more variety, but no spore syringe is ever fully sterile, so keep the cakes on the cooler, steadier side to let the mycelium outrun any stragglers.
Either way, give the cakes a clean start: wipe each rubber port, work in still, draught-free air, and flame the needle between pots. 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.
Every kit is made fresh and arrives sterile and sealed. If a pot shows contamination on arrival, before you have inoculated it, send us photos straight away and we will replace it. What happens after you inject comes down to your technique and conditions, which no reputable seller can promise for you. So we stand fully behind the pots reaching you clean, and the troubleshooting below helps with the rest.
At a glance
The spec sheet
Kit type
PF-Tek, single-stage brown-rice cakes, dunk and roll to fruit
Vessels
3 HEPA-filtered MycoPots, plus an XL grow tent to fruit in
Substrate
280ml per pot of organic brown rice flour, vermiculite, gypsum and coffee
Inoculation
Inject each pot's self-healing rubber port, no mixing or grain stage
Culture needed
About 6ml total, 1ml per pot, 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 1 to 3 weeks to colonise, then a week or so to fruit
Yield
Around 250 to 300g of fresh mushrooms over two or three flushes
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.
One pot, no growth
Often just patience or a cold spot. The other two can carry on regardless, which is the point of having three.
Green or grey mould
That is contamination. Bin the affected pot and keep it well away from the healthy ones.
Cake floats when dunking
Normal. Weigh it down with a plate so it stays fully under for the whole soak.
Thin stems, few pins
Not enough fresh air. Widen the slits in the tent a little or add more airflow in the room.
Aim for about 24 degrees while the cakes colonise; 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.
Once a cake is fully colonised you pop it out, soak it underwater for 6 to 24 hours so it drinks up water for fruiting, then rinse it and roll it in the supplied vermiculite to coat the surface. You repeat the dunk between flushes to rehydrate.
Any legal gourmet species you have a culture for. It suits oyster mushrooms, Lion's Mane, Shiitake and similar. We sell gourmet liquid cultures you can inoculate it with.
No. You add your own gourmet liquid culture or spore syringe, about 6ml total, which is 1ml into each of the three pots. We stock gourmet liquid cultures separately.
Roughly 1 to 3 weeks for the cakes to colonise, then a week or so to fruit once they are in the tent. So around 3 to 5 weeks from inoculation to the first flush, depending on species and temperature.
Send us photos before opening it and we will replace it, that is our Sterile Guarantee. Contamination that appears after you inoculate comes down to technique and conditions, so check the troubleshooting first.
With good conditions you can expect around 250 to 300g of fresh mushrooms over two or three flushes. The first flush is always the biggest, and dunking the cakes between flushes helps the later ones.
What customers say
Reviews
★★★★★4.9 from 7 reviews ✓ All from verified purchases
In perfect condition. Instructions clear to follow.
0
★★★★★✓ VerifiedOrdered 25 May 2021· Reviewed 2 Jul 2021
Great quick service and product was very well packaged. Good communication with the team and they answered my questions quickly and thoroughly. Very happy customer
0
★★★★★✓ VerifiedOrdered 27 Jun 2021· Reviewed 10 Jul 2021
As simple and straightforward as ever!
0
★★★★★✓ VerifiedOrdered 25 Jun 2021· Reviewed 5 Sep 2021
Easy to use
0
Ask the community
Questions and answers
Q
My room temperatures is always around 17°, is this too low when using spores and if so what should I use to increase the temperature of hot heat mats?
Dylan ··
A
It’s doable at that temp. It will be slower, but at least the fruiting bodies will be more dense. Keep away from heat mats, so many people ruin our kits with heat mats - they are terrible advice which just will not leave the internet. The heat is not roundly balanced, creating everything from cakes drying out, cracking, stalling, excessive condensation leading to easy pathways for contams to get in.
Nick Store team
Q
How many grams can I expect from this pot?
Dylan H. ··
A
100-180 grams of fresh mushrooms per PF-Tek MycoPot is common :)
Nick Store team
Q
What is the solution required? Can we use water?
jennifer ··
A
As it says on the product information; gourmet spores or liquid culture solution.
We don’t have gourmet species available but are working on them as we speak.
Nick Store team
For cultivating legal gourmet mushroom species only.Sold as a sterile substrate kit for home cultivation. We trust you to be responsible.
