I started growing mushrooms about four years ago, and honestly, the first six months were a disaster. I'd bought a spore syringe off the internet, watched a couple of YouTube videos that made it look dead easy, and assumed I'd be harvesting within a fortnight. What I actually got was three contaminated jars, a monotub that never pinned, and a growing sense that maybe I was a bit thick.
Turns out I wasn't thick. the information was just scattered across a hundred different forums, Reddit threads, and Facebook groups, and half of it contradicted the other half. One person swears by rye grain, another says wheat berries or nothing. Someone tells you to mist four times a day, someone else says you're overthinking it and to leave the lid alone. I spent more time trying to figure out who was right than I did actually growing anything.
Eventually, through sheer stubbornness and far too many bags of coco coir, things started clicking. I figured out what worked in my little spare room setup here in the UK. not in some temperature-controlled lab in California, but in a draughty terraced house where the heating goes off at midnight and the humidity swings wildly depending on whether it's raining (so, constantly).
Photo coming soon. probably one of me looking bewildered next to a shelf of colonising grain jars.
That's why I started Magic Mushroom Tutorials. Not because I'm some expert mycologist. I'm really not. but because I reckon there's value in someone writing up what actually works from the perspective of a normal person doing this at home. No fancy equipment, no sterile flow hoods (though I'll admit I caved and built one eventually), just practical advice tested in real conditions.
Every guide on this site is something I've done myself, usually multiple times. When I write about grain spawn preparation, it's because I've prepped hundreds of jars and messed up in every conceivable way. When I talk about contamination, it's because I've had every colour of mould you can imagine show up in my grows. I photograph my own tubs, document my own yields, and note down the temperatures, timings, and methods that produced results.
I focus on gourmet and medicinal species. oyster mushrooms, shiitake, lion's mane, king oysters, and a few others. The kind of stuff you can grow legally anywhere and actually want to eat. These tutorials are aimed at people growing food, full stop.
If you're just getting started, have a look at the beginner's guide. I put everything into one place so you don't have to do the same trawling through contradictory forum posts that I did. And if you've already got a few grows under your belt, the more specific guides on substrates, grain spawn, and contamination might be more your speed.
Got questions? Drop me a message. I'm always happy to chat about mushrooms. my friends and family are sick of hearing about it, so I might as well talk to someone who's actually interested.