I got a spore syringe with shrooms of my choice and some uncle bens rice bags a while ago. One guy I watch shows off a super easy method of injecting into the bags and fruiting directly from there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cZe1Og2tro
But then I go on the unclebens reddit and read through shroomscouts guide with dubtubs and putting space heaters with thermostats in a closet and coconut coir mixing with spawn and it starts to make me feel anxious like maybe this isn’t for me. I just want some mushrooms man why does this have to be a 20 step process from innoculation to fruiting. And then everyone hypes up contamination like unless you make an air controlled still box its gaurenteed to get contamination, and how the uncle bens ready rice I got is too watery compared to alternatives, and how fruiting from bag is so much less yield than the tub spawning method, and on and on and on. Am I reading too deep into it and should just shove the syringe in and tape over and see what happens? Is it okay if I just go with the first guys method and not worry about the tubs and maintaining water droplets and all that?
I feel ya. It is a lot of details. Some details are more important than others. The very demanding guides out there are maximizers. Not all of that is absolutely necessary, especially if you’re growing a faster species like Golden Teachers. Basically every mushroom grow is a race against contamination. Every batch will eventually show contamination. The better the methodology you use, the more time you get until contamination. Practicing and experimenting with your methodology will reveal what steps are important for your situation and species. There are many ways to manage contamination and each guide is just one way to do it.
I say, give it a go and do what you can to inoculate in a sanitary environment. I’ve had some luck with those pouches without a perfect SAB. Maybe 50/50 and it depends a lot on the strain you’re using. I’ve had better luck with inoculating straight to BRF cakes.