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Sterile grow kit Injecting a PF-Tek MycoPot: a gloved hand pushing a syringe needle through the port in the lid

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Show: Injecting a PF-Tek MycoPot: a gloved hand pushing a syringe needle through the port in the lid

Show: Illustration of a mushroom grow tent, a tall clear bag with white filter strips

Show: Medium grade vermiculite: coarse gold-brown mineral flakes

Show: Several sealed blue Clinell antibacterial hand wipe sachets fanned out

Show: Three sealed packs of sterile medical gloves in sizes small, medium and large

Show: Perlite: irregular chalky white granules of expanded volcanic glass

Show: Several sealed green Clinell sachets of 2% chlorhexidine in 70% alcohol wipes

Show: A blue disposable pleated face mask with ear loops on a white background

Mushroom grow kit

PF-Tek MycoPots

The classic 1990s beginner method, three sterile cakes you inoculate yourself. Inject, colonise, dunk and roll, then fruit all three in the included tent.

Made to order - usually dispatched same or next working day when paid by 1pm.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Liquid cultureKing OysterInoculate with this Liquid cultureLion's ManeInoculate with this Liquid culturePink OysterInoculate with this Liquid cultureShiitakeInoculate with this

Risk, reversed

The Sterile Guarantee

We guarantee the kit, not the grow.

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.

The full step-by-step lives in the PF-Tek MycoPots grow guide, and the grow-kit troubleshooting guide goes deeper on contamination and temperature.

Other kits

Not sure this is the one?

One boxMycoBoxInject the box, single stage Bigger harvestMonoBoxGrain into bulk, more yield All in one bagMycMonster XLInject and fruit in the bag

What customers say

Reviews

★★★★★ 4.9 from 7 ratings · 4 written reviews ✓ All from verified purchases

★★★★★✓ VerifiedOrdered 5 Apr 2021 · Reviewed 2 Jul 2021

In perfect condition. Instructions clear to follow.

★★★★★✓ 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

★★★★★✓ VerifiedOrdered 27 Jun 2021 · Reviewed 10 Jul 2021

As simple and straightforward as ever!

★★★★★✓ VerifiedOrdered 25 Jun 2021 · Reviewed 5 Sep 2021

Easy to use

For cultivating legal gourmet mushroom species only.Sold as a sterile substrate kit for home cultivation. We trust you to be responsible.