Description

Organic Rye Grain Spawn Bag for Mushroom Cultivation

Pre-sterilised and ready to inoculate with spores or liquid culture. Enjoy these clean, organic rye berries for your mushroom cultivation. Rye is one of teh most nutritious and thick grain and can retain moistur ereally well.

Density of hydrated rye: 0.9 kg/L (or 900 kg/m³)

Despite taking great care during processing, it is possible for some fibres or plastic from the bags to end up on the grains. The grains are also processed alongside other types of grains and may contain pumpkin seeds or other seeds. However, everything is sterilised, so it will not affect your growth.

Before you order

Test your spore syringe or liquid culture before your bag arrives. This is the single best way to avoid a wasted bag. If your culture turns out to be contaminated and you only find out after the bag has landed, you are left with a clean bag and nothing safe to put in it, and the 14 day window will not wait.

Always plate on MEA medium  not MEAG. MEAG is anti bacterial so it wont grow bacteria, so you wont know if your culture is contaminated with bacteria.

Read the plate at day 7 to 10. Healthy mycelium is usually visible by day 3 to 5, but bacteria and slower moulds often do not show until the end of that window. Seeing growth at day 4 is not a green light. Give it the full time before deciding.

When the bag arrives

Rootlab ships the bag taped inside a box. Remove the tape carefully, unfold the bag and stand it upright.

Check it straight away. You are looking for green or otherwise coloured patches, wet spots, or an off smell. If anything looks or smells wrong, contact us before going any further.

Hold the bag for at least 5 days and check it again. Contamination is not always visible on arrival, and this holding period gives anything latent a chance to show itself. It also protects you, because once a bag is inoculated it can be hard to tell whether a problem originated with us, with your syringe, or with your technique and environment.

Use the bag within 14 days of arrival. Past that, the bag starts to dry out and the contamination risk rises.

Inoculating

If your culture has already tested clean and the bag passes its day 5 check, inoculate any time between day 5 and day 13.

If you have not tested your culture in advance, plate it on MEA the day the bag arrives, read it at day 7 to 10, and inoculate between day 10 and 13. This works, but it is tight, and if the plate comes back contaminated the bag may be past its best by the time you have a replacement culture.

Inject through the injection port wherever possible. If you choose to open the bag instead to inoculate with agar wedges and not using a syringe, do so inside a still air box or in front of a flow hood. Note that opening the bag voids the sterility warranty, as we cannot guarantee sterility once a bag has been opened.

Never reuse needle is inoculating multiple bags.

Colonisation

Keep the bag somewhere with a stable temperature, out of direct sunlight and away from any direct heat or cold source. Do not place it on a heat mat, and avoid fully enclosed spaces such as wardrobes, where stale air and trapped humidity can encourage contamination.

If something goes wrong

If the bag arrives with visible contamination, or contamination appears during the holding period before you inoculate uptill day 14 from receiving it , contact us with a full photo of the bag showing the air filter, the injection port and the heat sealed section. Refunds/replacement  can only be issued for uninoculated bags, which is another reason to check carefully and test your culture before you commit the bag.

If contamination appears after inoculation, during colonisation, please still send us a photo of the bag showing the air filter, the injection port and the heat sealed section, along with the contaminated area. We cannot refund an inoculated bag, but the photos help us track patterns across batches and identify where the problem is likely to have started and guide you so you do not make any mistakes again.

You Might Also Need

• Small Sealing Bag Clips, handy if you don’t use all the spawn in one go, or if you’ve cut a bag open to inoculate with agar and need to reseal it. Please note we cannot accept warranty claims on bags that have been opened.
• Disposable Gloves and Masks, for maintaining sterile conditions in your mycology projects.
• Biodegradable MEA Agar Cups, ideal for testing liquid cultures or spore syringes before inoculating your bags.
• Still Air Box (SAB), if you need a sterile workspace.
• Sterile Water Syringe, if you need to rehydrate the bags.

General Information

We use microplastic-free Unicorn Bags with this product to ensure cleaner and safer cultivation.

Your kits are made with Unicorn grow bags (USA). Unicorn is the only bag in the world that has been tested by Eurofins, a third-party lab in Europe, and passed the stringent EN 1186 and US FDA 1520 standards for plastic migration into the substrate (microplastic). Unicorn PP bags were tested at the highest levels of 121 °C for 3.5 hours. No PE bags or other manufacturers’ PP bags have achieved this important food safety criteria, so rest assured you are not getting any microplastics from our kits.

When we make our grains, every step of the process has been carefully thought out to ensure the highest rate of success.

Why Buy From Us?

• 100% clean and reputable grains.
• Soaked for 12 hours in chlorine-free water.
• Washed 5 times to ensure thorough cleaning.
• 5% gypsum is added to avoid clumping.
• Simmered for 10 minutes to soften the grains and make it easy for the mycelium to digest them.
• Cooled down slowly for 5 hours to prevent the autoclave from sucking up contaminated air when equalising the pressure.
• Autoclave tape used to ensure the sterility process has been effective.
• Ensured grains have not been sprayed with fungicide. We obtain them from a reputable supplier.
• Grains prepared at optimum moisture field capacity of around 50 to 55%.
• Self-healing injection port included with every bag.
• Thorough inspection of bags before shipping.

These pre-sterilised rye mushroom grain bags are assured 100% contaminant-free due to their sterilisation process of 2 hours at 15 psi in a commercial autoclave. Under certain circumstances, there can still be contamination, which could have occurred while the product was being shipped. In the unlikely event that you see contamination in your bag that may be due to shipping, please send us a photo within 2 weeks of receiving the item for a full refund or replacement.

Bag Details

• Bag size: 10.16 cm x 7.62 cm x 45.72 cm
• Brand of the bag: Unicorn USA (4-T-INJ)

What’s Not included
This item does not include mycelium (LC, Spore syringe, Spores or agar plate) or needle.

FAQ

What are white marks on the grains?
We use calcium carbonate in the grains, it is like a white powder. Sometimes you will see white marks in your grains, they are completely harmless and nothing to worry about.

What is the grainy substance at the bottom of my grains?
That is gypsum, a supplement we add so your grains break up easily while providing calcium and sulphites. It sometimes settles at the bottom and is completely harmless.

Why do I see condensation?
Condensation happens due to the temperature difference between the bag and the outside. Mix the bag thoroughly and the moisture will be reabsorbed by the grains. If the grains still seem moist, leave it 1 to 2 days before inoculation or reduce the culture injected.

How long do grains take to colonise?
Generally 8 to 30 days. Colonisation is slower in winter than summer, and different species grow at different rates. Reishi may fully colonise a 1kg bag in about 8 days, while Almond mushrooms can take up to 30. Most mycelium thrives at 22 to 24°C. If hotter than this contamination can take over.