So, you have a bag of sterilised grain at the ready, and you want to learn how to grow mushrooms. But where do you start? Not to worry! This guide will give you the lowdown on how to ‘inoculate’ your grain.

As one of the first steps towards growing healthy mycelium, you'll need to take a little extra care with this stage, compared to some of the later processes.

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Sterile Grain & Grain Spawn, What's The Difference?

What do you get when you inoculate sterile grain and leave it to colonise? Put simply, spawn!

Grain spawn is the fully myceliated version of sterile grain, so once mycelium start to take a hold of the bag, you can stop calling it grain and start calling it spawn – neat.

Grain spawn is still a substrate and is used specifically for ‘spawning’ (the process of expanding your genetics) to bigger, bulk substrates that are more suitable for fruiting.

If you're asking yourself, 'If grain is a substrate, why not fruit from grain?' Well, whilst you CAN grow mushrooms directly from grain spawn, the yields are so low, that you’d be better off splitting the spawn into multiple grain bags.

From there, you'd pour it into bulk substrate blocks etc...but we'll get into that in a separate guide! 

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colonised mushroom grain spawn spore supplies

How Do You Know If Your Grain Spawn Is Good?

We like to think of sterile grain as baby food for mycelium . Grain, allows your mycelium to grow a strong and healthy network that's better equipped to properly digest larger meals, like bulk substrates, later on.

A good grain bag is not only 100% sterile, but it should also be designed to deliver high amounts of nutrition for the spawning stage, without compromising on moisture, surfacer area, or 'inoculation points'.

A higher surface area is good for spawn, as it means more grains can be inoculated per area/mass and since each grain is a 'point of inoculation', that means your mycelium has more chances to spread its genetics when added to your final substrate.

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Proper Aseptic Technique:

Now that we’ve covered what grain spawn is, it’s a good idea to go over the broader points of 'aseptic technique'.

As always, the inside of our grain bags are sterile products but should be treated with caution to ensure contaminants aren’t introduced during the inoculation process.

To avoid this, we recommend following the best aseptic techniques possible in your workflow.

Aseptic Starter Kit
  • an aspetic technique kit for mushroom growing, hand wipe, skin wipes, surface wipes, isopropyl spray bottle, gloves and mask
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Aseptic Technique Starter Kit

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The Key Things To Follow Are:

  • isopropyl alcohol spray bottle, 5 litre bottle and squeeze bottle

    Use Isopropyl

    Isopropyl is a mycologist's right-hand guy when it comes to killing contamination. Grab a 70% Isopropyl spray bottle for best results.

  • isopropyl alcohol with kitchen roll for wiping

    Clean Everything

    Using your new Isopropyl, spray down a couple of kitchen roll sheets and use them to wipe down surfaces, equipment and beyond. Wash yourself beforehand whilst you're at it.. smelly (just kidding).

  • cleanroom HEPA filter fan blowing clean air

    Minimise Airflow

    To make all the previous steps worthwhile, find a small space to work in, close windows, doors etc and check for drafts that could introduce airborne contamination to your genetics.

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What You'll Need:

Once you’ve worked your way through the list above, wipe your space down and get set up, you're nearly ready to start! For the best results, you’ll need a pair of disposable gloves- ideally nitrile (or very clean hands), a lighter (if you're in an open space and at your own risk!), some isopropyl spray and your spores or liquid culture.

If you find yourself needing genetics or supplies, just follow the links below and come back later on!

Aseptic Technique KitMushroom Genetics

Now You're Ready, Here's The Process:

  • spraying hands with isopropyl alcohol

    Spray Hands

    Spray your gloves or hands down with your isopropyl and give them a good rub together, as if you were washing them with soap.

  • spraying sterile grain bag with isopropyl alcohol

    Spray Grain Bag

    Avoid the white filter patch and spray the sterile grain bag down. Since the outside isn't sterile, it's a good idea to make sure you don't introduce any into the bag from the outside.

    If you've got any isopropyl wipes or any sprayed kitchen towels, it's always a good idea to spread the alcohol around to kill off any leftover contamination

  • mushroom liquid culture syringe with luer lock cap on being sprayed with isopropyl alcohol

    Spray & Wipe Genetics Syringe

    Alongside both the outside of the syringe and the packaging of your sterile needle, spray it down for good measure.

    Don't open your needle yet though, you'll need it shortly.

  • opening sterile luer lock cap packaging

    Open Needle Packaging

    Without touching the inside of the needle or its packaging, peel it open, kind of like a banana peel.

    hold the 'peels' back so you don't have to put your fingers near the lock of the needle.

  • removing luer lock cap from mushroom liquid culture syringe

    Remove The Cap Of Your Syringe

    Here's the tricky part! Using your spare hand, pick up your syringe and hold it firmly, then twist the cap off of the syringe using the leftover fingers from your needle-holding hand.

  • mushroom liquid culture syringe with needle on

    Pop Your Needle On

    Pop the end of your needle onto the end of your syringe and twist it into place. The luer lock connection from each will do the rest from there.

    Well done for getting this far! You're half way there to inoculating your first bag of grain!

Now That Your Syringe Is Ready

Before moving on, it's worth spraying and rubbing your hands down again. Then, just take the cover of the needle off and wipe it with the isopropyl wipe that came with your sterile grain. Be careful not to touch the end as it's sharp.

Using another wipe, give the self-healing injection port a quick clean and insert the needle inside the port of the sterile grain bag.

liquid culture syringe inoculating sterile grain injection port

The Final Step!

Squeeze up to 5ml of liquid culture inside the grain bag whilst changing the angle of the syringe to evenly spread the liquid around. To inoculate more bags, just repeat the steps above and re-clean the needle with a fresh wipe and you're all good to go!

The Summary:

Congratulations! We hope you enjoyed the process. Just head back to these instructions any time you need a little refresher. Otherwise, it's worth reading on to find out what's next on your journey to growing fresh mushrooms..

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