April 2010

PF INVITRO TEK

This is a photo showing a cake grown in a glass jar that was allowed to fruit invitro. It is the standard PF TEK but with a little difference in the approach.

From the beginning (since 1991) of the essential PF TEK, PF has shown the importance of the appearance of primordia while the cake is still in the jar. Invitro "primordiation" is one of the fantastic attributes of the PF TEK. This invitro "primordiation" is not a feature of any other growing tek, but it is with the PF TEK.

Letting the primordia grow inside the jar (invitro) is a great way to grow these shrooms on the simplest level. Birthing is eliminated (accept for harvesting) and terrariums are eliminated. One of the really excellent attributes of PF INVITRO growing is what is being called "STEALTH". Stealthy growing is becoming very popular because one can hide the grow op. There was a posting on the net that someone did where he put the jars in an old dirty 5 gallon white bucket and on top of the jars, he placed old microphone cords and speaker cables, totally concealing them. An interesting thing he did, was that he birthed the cakes before they fruited or formed primordia invitro and cut them in half (1/4 pint sized cakes). He then filled the jar caps with vermiculite, soaked the vermiculite, placed the small cakes on the wet verm and placed the jar over the verm filled jar caps and cakes. He got a decent yield of quality shrooms, and he did it while they were all concealed in the white 5 gallon bucket and in the paranoid days we all live in, smart.

THE HEARTBREAK of mega cultivation

When one is experienced in the different styles of shroom cultivation, a similarity of results is seen. A pile of dried and shriveled shrooms from a mega beautiful elaborately set up shroom cultivation, looks no different than a pile of dried and shriveled shrooms from a less than mega beautiful shroom cultivation. In other words, the beautiful full sized perfect looking specimens from a mega cultivation (trays - compost - ect), dry down and actually look no different than the little "ugly" convoluted shrooms from such a TEK as the PF invitro tek. The real difference is the emotional impact of "destroying" a shroom fruiting that one has worked on for a couple of months. When the shrooms begin to attain full size, there are two choices, either to pick them before they reach maturity (full size) for max quality, or to let them grow to maturity for spore printing. Whatever the case, the shrooms are doomed to be picked and then they aren't so pretty anymore, but become a pile of shriveled shrooms.

The real difference in this interpretation of the PF TEK and a mega cultivation (traditional teks) is that there is no "heartbreak" when harvesting the shrooms from a micro tek where the shrooms don't attain the magnificent stature of mega cultivation (traditional ways). When the shrooms appear inside the jar (PF invitro tek), it is easy to just take them and dry them. There is no "destroying" months of work or "ruining" a magnificent stand of shrooms before you get to even know them. There is only the harvesting of powerful psychedelic fungus, APPEARANCES BE DAMNED. That is really what the invitro PF TEK is all about. But then, if good looking specimens are desired, the PF TEK with a good casing procedure (PF double ended cake casing tek recommended) delivers the goods there also.

DUNKING THE CAKE

Another PF style grower added to the PF invitro style tek, and that is what is called "DUNKING". This is where the cake, after it is birthed and the invitro shrooms are harvested, is dunked in water for about a day or less. The cake will float and it has to be weighed down so that it goes under water all the way. The best way to do that, would be to take a cleaned cake (all shrooms and aborts harvested), fill the grow jar with water, put the cake in and put the lid on so that the excess water comes out. Let it sit for no longer than a day, and start the process over again by putting the dunked cake into a new jar for another flush. This can be repeated until the cake turns green with mold. Several flushes can be had this way and the yield can be about 6 dried grams total or more per invitro cake. This dunking technique is well established in the realm of growing normal shrooms. Shitake inoculated logs are routinely submerged in water to stimulate fruiting as well as other types of growing styles.

It is important to not let the shrooms grow to full size or even near full size invitro, but to take them before the caps TRY to open. Check the photo for what it can look like. It is not pretty, but the shrooms are of excellent quality and with good potency.