Substrate
Straw, sawdust, grain, coir, manure — how to treat each one, what to supplement it with, and how wet it should actually be.
6 pages
Sterilisation vs pasteurisation
Which treatment a substrate needs, why, and the single rule that decides it: how much nutrition you've put in.
Straw
The cheapest bulk substrate that works, and the three ways to pasteurise it — hot water, lime bath, and cold ferment — compared honestly.
Hardwood sawdust and Master's Mix
Supplemented hardwood sawdust is the highest-yielding substrate for wood-loving species. The standard ratios, why soy hull works so well, and why it must be sterilised.
Coco coir, vermiculite and gypsum (CVG)
The standard bulk substrate for monotubs. Cheap, consistent, nutritionally inert on purpose, and pasteurises with nothing more than boiling water.
Hydration and the field capacity test
More grows fail on water content than on sterile technique. What field capacity means, how to test it in five seconds, and the target numbers by substrate.
Grain: rye, millet, oats and bird seed
Which grain to use as spawn, how they differ in practice, and why the choice matters less than getting the hydration right.