Mushroom Grow Bags, BRF Jars & BRF Bags — Ready-to-Inoculate Substrate

Pressure-Sterilized in California • Lab-Made Substrate • Call (530) 300-9292
Mycology-Supply • Ready-to-Inoculate Substrate

Grow Bags, BRF Jars & BRF Bags

Three pressure-sterilized substrate formats, all ready to inoculate the day they arrive. All-in-one mushroom grow bags for bigger flushes, BRF jars for classic PF Tek, and BRF bags for higher-volume PF Tek grows. Lab-made in Northern California.

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3
Substrate Formats
5 lb
Per AIO Bag
$20+
Starting Price
All-In-One mushroom grow bag with self-healing injection port
AIO Grow Bag
BRF / PF Tek mushroom substrate cake jars
BRF Jars
BRF / PF Tek substrate bag
BRF Bags
🔥
Pressure-Sterilized at 15 PSI
💉
Self-Healing Injection Port
🔬
Lab-Made in California
🧪
Sterility Guaranteed

What Is Ready-to-Inoculate Substrate?

A pre-sterilized, pre-packaged mushroom growing medium with a self-healing injection port. You inject your spore or liquid culture syringe, incubate, and grow.

A ready-to-inoculate mushroom substrate is a nutrient-rich growing medium — typically a blend of grain, brown rice flour, vermiculite, or supplemented hardwood — that has been pressure-sterilized in a commercial autoclave at 15 PSI and packaged in a sealed container with a self-healing rubber injection port and a gas-exchange filter. The end user simply wipes the port with isopropyl alcohol, injects 1–3 cc of spore or liquid culture syringe, and incubates the substrate at 70–80°F until the mycelium fully colonizes the medium.

Mycology-Supply offers three distinct formats, each optimized for a different growing style. All-in-one mushroom grow bags contain about 5 lb of supplemented grain and substrate inside a single self-supporting bag with a filter patch — inoculate once, colonize, then break and shake for a bulk fruit. BRF jars (Brown Rice Flour cakes) follow the classic PF Tek method developed in 1992 — half-pint sterilized cakes that birth, dunk, and fruit individually in a shotgun fruiting chamber. BRF bags apply the same PF Tek substrate formula in a larger, supplemented bag format for growers who want PF Tek genetics at a higher yield-per-inoculation than jars allow.

What unites all three: no pressure cooker, no substrate prep, no sterilization step required on your end. Every product ships pressure-sterilized in our Northern California lab, ready to inject the day it arrives.

Which One Is Right For You?

Three formats for three different growing styles. Match your skill level, yield goals, and workflow to the right substrate.

BRF Jars

BRF Jars

From $20 (2-pack)
Best for First-Time Growers
  • Classic PF Tek workflow — the easiest entry point to mushroom cultivation
  • Half-pint cakes you can birth and fruit one at a time
  • No special equipment beyond a shotgun fruiting chamber
  • Forgiving with contamination — lose one jar, keep the rest
Deep Dive on BRF Jars
All-In-One Grow Bag

All-In-One Grow Bags

From $20 (single bag)
Best for Bigger Yields
  • 5 lb of supplemented substrate per bag — much larger flushes than jars
  • Single inoculation per bag — less hands-on time per pound of mushrooms
  • Bag is the fruiting chamber — no separate setup required
  • Wood Lover and Generation 2 supplemented options available
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BRF Bags

BRF Bags

$30 (single bag)
Best for Scaled-Up PF Tek
  • Same proven BRF formula — in a larger bag format
  • Higher yield per inoculation vs. jars
  • Self-supporting bag with filter patch — no transfer needed
  • Stepping stone between BRF jars and bulk substrate work
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All-In-One Mushroom Grow Bag Generation 2
All-In-One Grow Bags

Big Yields, One Inoculation

Our all-in-one mushroom grow bags hold 5 lb of pre-sterilized supplemented substrate — grain plus a humidity-retaining bulk component — ready to inoculate through the self-healing injection port. After full colonization in 2–4 weeks, you break up the cake, shake to distribute mycelium, and the bag itself becomes the fruiting chamber.

  • Weight: 5 lb per bag
  • Format: Self-supporting filter-patch bag
  • Species: Most gourmet & medicinal varieties (Wood Lover option for hardwood-loving species)
  • Versions: Generation 2 supplemented blend or original formula
  • Pack sizes: 1, 2, 3, 5, 10, 24, 36 bag bundles
1
Bag
$20
3
Bags
$57.04
5
Bags
$90.37
10
Bags
$159.25
Shop Grow Bags Inoculate With LC
BRF PF Tek substrate jars
BRF Jars (PF Tek Cakes)

The Classic PF Tek Foundation

Half-pint glass jars filled with the original PF Tek substrate — organic brown rice flour, vermiculite, and water at the ratio Robert McPherson dialed in back in 1992. Pre-sterilized in our commercial autoclave at 15 PSI, modified lid with self-healing injection port and gas-exchange filter. Birth, dunk, roll in vermiculite, and fruit in a shotgun fruiting chamber.

  • Format: Half-pint (8 oz) glass jar with modified lid
  • Substrate: Organic brown rice flour + vermiculite
  • Colonization: 3–5 weeks at 75–81°F
  • Species: All gourmet & medicinal varieties
  • Best for: Beginners, individual cake control, lower contamination risk per unit
2
Pack
$20
6
Pack
$24.99
12
Pack
$39.99
Shop BRF Jars Full PF Tek Guide
BRF PF Tek substrate bags
BRF Bags (PF Tek Substrate Bags)

PF Tek Substrate, Bigger Format

The same proven brown-rice-flour-and-vermiculite substrate that defined PF Tek, scaled up into a self-supporting filter-patch bag. Single inoculation per bag delivers significantly more substrate — and more potential fruit — than a single jar. Pressure-sterilized at 15 PSI, self-healing injection port, ready to inject and incubate.

  • Format: Filter-patch bag with self-healing port
  • Substrate: Same BRF + vermiculite formula as our jars
  • Yield: Significantly higher than a single half-pint jar
  • Best for: Growers stepping up from jars; PF Tek loyalists who want bigger flushes
  • Inoculation: 1–3 cc spore or liquid culture syringe
1
Bag
$30
Shop BRF Bags Inoculate With LC

How to Inoculate Any of Them

The workflow is the same whether you're injecting a grow bag, a BRF jar, or a BRF bag. Four steps from sterile substrate to colonized mycelium.

Sanitize & Inject

Wipe the self-healing injection port with 70% isopropyl alcohol. Inject 1–3 cc of spore or liquid culture syringe through the port. Work in front of a flow hood or inside a still air box for cleanest results.

Day 0 • 5 min

Incubate

Place the substrate in a dark, still location at 70–80°F. Liquid culture colonizes faster than spores. Check every few days for white mycelium spreading evenly through the substrate.

Days 1–21 • Hands-Off

Verify Full Colonization

Wait until the substrate is fully white before moving to fruiting. Any green, pink, gray, or yellow staining signals contamination — discard rather than risk the whole flush.

Week 2–5 • Visual

Fruit

BRF jars: birth, dunk, fruit in a shotgun chamber. Grow bags: break up the cake, shake, the bag is the chamber. BRF bags: break up, shake, fruit in the bag or birth into a chamber.

Week 4–7 • Pin to Harvest

Substrate Comparison

Pick the format that matches your skill, goals, and bench space.

Factor AIO Grow Bag BRF Jar BRF Bag
Starting price $20 (1 bag) $20 (2-pack) $30 (1 bag)
Substrate volume per unit 5 lb supplemented Half-pint (8 oz) Filter-patch bag
Beginner-friendly ✓✓ ✓✓✓ ✓✓
Yield per inoculation High Low (per jar) Medium-high
Colonization time 2–4 weeks 3–5 weeks 3–4 weeks
Needs a fruiting chamber No ✓ Yes Optional
Pressure cooker needed No No No
Self-healing injection port ✓ ✓ ✓
Best for Big single flush First-time growers PF Tek scale-up

Frequently Asked Questions

Common questions about grow bags, BRF jars, and BRF substrate bags.

All three are pressure-sterilized, ready-to-inoculate substrates with self-healing injection ports. An all-in-one (AIO) grow bag holds about 5 lb of supplemented grain-and-bulk substrate inside a self-supporting bag — you inoculate once, colonize, then break up the cake and the bag itself becomes the fruiting chamber. A BRF jar is a half-pint glass jar of organic brown rice flour and vermiculite, the foundation of the classic PF Tek method — you birth the cake after colonization and fruit it in a shotgun fruiting chamber. A BRF bag is the same PF Tek substrate formula in a larger bag format for growers who want PF Tek genetics at higher yield per inoculation than a single jar provides.
For first-time mushroom growers, BRF jars are the standard recommendation. The PF Tek workflow is well-documented online, the per-jar contamination risk is contained (lose one jar, keep the rest), and you can practice birthing and fruiting on a small, manageable scale. A 6-pack at $24.99 gets you six independent attempts. Once you've successfully fruited from BRF jars, all-in-one grow bags are a natural step up to bigger flushes.
No. Every grow bag, BRF jar, and BRF bag in our catalog ships pressure-sterilized in our commercial autoclave at 15 PSI and 121°C. There's no boiling, no pressure cooker, and no sterilization step required on your end. Wipe the self-healing injection port with isopropyl alcohol, inject 1–3 cc of spore or liquid culture syringe, and incubate.
For a first PF Tek run we recommend a 6-pack of BRF jars. For a first all-in-one bag run, start with 1–2 bags so you can practice the break-and-shake step without a large stake on the line. For BRF bags, a single bag gives you a meaningful flush while you dial in your inoculation technique. Scale up to multi-packs once you've successfully fruited.
Yes. A single 10ml liquid culture syringe inoculates roughly 3–10 substrates at 1–3 cc each, regardless of whether they're grow bags, BRF jars, or BRF bags. Liquid culture colonizes faster than spores because the mycelium is already alive and vigorous. For larger projects, our liquid culture expander kit turns one syringe into 40 inoculations.
At 70–80°F: all-in-one grow bags fully colonize in 2–4 weeks; BRF jars in 3–5 weeks; BRF bags in 3–4 weeks. Using liquid culture instead of spores shaves 1–2 weeks off any of these timelines. Wait for the substrate to turn entirely white before moving to the fruiting stage — partially colonized substrate is the most common cause of contamination during fruiting.
Every substrate product runs through our commercial autoclave at 15 PSI and 121°C in our Northern California lab. This is the same sterilization standard used in microbiology labs and exceeds what a home pressure cooker can reliably achieve. Each unit ships in its sealed sterilized state with a self-healing injection port for clean inoculation.
BRF jars and BRF bags support virtually every gourmet and medicinal mushroom species (Lion's Mane, Reishi, Turkey Tail, Cordyceps, Chestnut, and many more). All-in-one grow bags work for most species in the standard supplemented formula; for wood-loving species (Chicken of the Woods, certain oysters, and other hardwood specialists), use the Wood Lovers variant of the AIO grow bag, which substitutes a hardwood-based bulk component.

Skip the Sterilization. Start Growing.

Three pressure-sterilized substrate formats. One workflow: sanitize, inject, incubate, fruit. Lab-made in Northern California, ready the day they arrive.

Shop All Substrate