Hello, Reader

Welcome to the third edition of my Digital Fortress newsletter!

Before we jump in, make sure to bookmark my official archive link so you can catch up on previous broadcasts anytime: 90smmedia.com/newsarchive.

Every new person joining this list helps strengthen my direct line of communication. Social platforms and heavy AI moderation algorithms can wipe out accounts or hide content overnight, but this inbox connection ensures that the 90SM community stays resilient, connected, and independent.

As a reminder, this newsletter drops on the 9th of every month at 9:00 AM Eastern. It serves as your primary, direct hub for updates, but also be sure to keep my two main official websites bookmarked: 90secondmycology.com and 90smmedia.com (and remember, impersonators and scammers will never direct you to these verified links!).

In this edition, we’re taking a look at a legendary piece of mycology history; the chaotic 1971 Amazonian expedition that set the stage for modern home mushroom cultivation decades before PF Tek or Uncle Ben Tek hit the scene.

🌴 Before PF Tek: The 1971 Amazon Expedition That Started It All

In February 1971, brothers Terence and Dennis McKenna trekked deep into the Colombian Amazon near a remote settlement called La Chorrera. They were not looking for mushrooms. Their original goal was oo-koo-hé, a rare, orally active DMT preparation made from Virola tree bark resin.

The expedition’s original objective fell apart almost immediately, but what they stumbled into along the pasture lands of the Igara-Paraná River changed mycology forever.

Stretching across the fields were massive flushes of Psilocybe cubensis, thriving naturally on Zebu cattle dung. Realizing the significance of what they had found, Dennis took spore prints directly from these wild Amazonian specimens, carefully folding them into paper sheets to carry back to North America.

When the spores made it back to the United States, home cultivation as we know it today did not exist. Early underground pamphlets in the late 1960s attempted to describe growing mushrooms, but they relied on complex lab agars or messy 19th-century horse manure composting techniques that were far too unreliable for the average person in a home setting.

The brothers set out to democratize and simplify the process. Working out of makeshift spaces, Dennis systematically stripped away the complex additives and specialized equipment. He substituted rare lab media with cheap, widely available whole rye grain in mason jars, sterilized them with basic household pressure cookers, and mapped out a straightforward, repeatable routine that anyone with basic cleanliness could execute.

In 1976, they published their streamlined method under pseudonyms through And/Or Press. Dennis wrote as O.T. Oss, and Terence wrote as O.N. Oeric. Titled Psilocybin: Magic Mushroom Grower's Guide, the small manual became a massive underground hit, selling over 100,000 copies.

Just a year later in 1977, mycology researcher Dr. Steven Pollock published Magic Mushroom Cultivation. Pollock discovered that brown rice served as a selective, nutrient-dense medium specifically suited for P. cubensis. He began developing early brown rice cake techniques, introducing rice into the amateur grower's toolkit for the very first time while also proving that it produced exceptionally potent mushrooms.

These breakthroughs set the stage for the next major leap. In the early 1990s, Robert McPherson, writing as Professor Fanaticus, combined the McKenna brothers' simple jar and syringe inoculation system with Pollock's brown rice concept. By mixing finely ground and hydrated/pasteurized brown rice flour (BRF) with vermiculite and adding a separate, dry protective vermiculite barrier on top, he created PF Tek.

That single synthesis revolutionized beginner growing, making steam sterilization/pasteurization without a pressure cooker possible and directly paving the way for today's low-tech methods, including Still Air Box workflows and pre-sterilized 90-second rice pouch techniques.

What began as a failed search for a tree resin in Colombia ended up building the entire infrastructure of modern amateur mycology. 'PF Tek' and 'Uncle Ben Tek' paved the way for hobbyist mycologists all around the world for all species of mushrooms, not just Cubensis alone. The transition from manure to brown rice and vermiculite to then just coco coir-based substrates alone is another story!

🎂 The Birth of 90 Second Mycology

Yeah, my name technically should have a hyphen, right? '90-second mycology' is how it should be laid out. However, proper grammar is not the foundation for my branding. Writing and researching this particular newsletter edition really brought me back to the roots of my own mushroom cultivation journey that really started around 2014/2015 when I first gave the 'PF Tek' a go with spore syringes from Sporeworks.

It brought me back to my original apartment kitchen where I started this content creation endeavor. In late 2019 after a large cultivation/research break, after having so many successful tries at growing mushrooms with this newly emerging 'Uncle Ben Tek', I decided I would start recording my research findings for others. I had to think of a name.

I stood in that outdated apartment kitchen in central Florida holding an original bright orange Uncle Ben's Brown Ready Rice Microwavable Rice pouch in my hands. Uncle Ben was staring up at me; his portrait still displayed on the package with his familiar warm smile. I happened to glance at the icon of the microwave on the package. That microwave was well-endowed with the famous digital ':90' numbering. That's when it hit me - '90 Second Mycology'.

The rest is history.

🌐 Around the Mycosphere

Here are a couple of interesting reads and updates from across the mycelial network this week:

Amateur Mycologists Are Now Sequencing Mushroom DNA From Home: A massive shift is taking place in citizen science. Home foragers and independent researchers are moving beyond basic field guides and establishing garage-level DNA sequencing setups using affordable benchtop tools to catalog wild fungal biodiversity.
- My take: This proves exactly what we always talk about. You do not need a massive university lab to do real science. The fact that everyday enthusiasts are pushing the boundaries of mycology from their own garages is a huge win for the independent community. It all starts with a simple spore print or a piece of agar, and now it goes all the way to DIY sequencing. We joked on last month's PT: SporeCast podcast takeover that DNA sequencing machines could end up on everyone's kitchen counters and now it looks like we could be one step closer to that! Listen to the full episode at the end of this newsletter.
Space Mycology - Fungi Tested to Create Soil on Mars and the Moon: A late September 2026 study explores how specific beneficial fungi could be used in future space missions to convert nutrient-poor lunar and Martian regolith into viable soil capable of supporting crops and self-sustaining off-world agriculture.
- My take: We already know fungi run the show here on Earth, but taking mycelium to space to build alien soil is next level. It highlights just how resilient and foundational these organisms really are. Whether it is breaking down a Ben's Original Brown Rice pouch in a closet or breaking down space dirt on Mars, the natural mechanics are beautifully similar. We also touched briefly on fungi's role in soil health on last month's PT: SporeCast podcast takeover. This is a beautiful continuation.

🏰 Inside the Fortress

Here are some things that I've been up to in case you've missed them:

We've recently done a small mycological research material drawing sponsored by a community member who plans to sponsor a couple more in the private 90SM Luxury Penthouse Discord Server, and I'm planning some 90SM merch drawings in the future once the FREE private Discord grows big enough! (Staying resilient against AI moderation means avoiding the words "giveaway" or "win" across platforms. Thinking outside of the rice pouch, here. Cut me some slack.)
- If you are on this email list but haven't considered doing anything with your invitation link to the FREE private 90SM Luxury Penthouse Discord server, I suggest you join it! You received the link when you verified your email for this newsletter, and I'm available there directly at any time. I also rotate the invite link out at random intervals, so act fast! If you decide to join later and the link doesn't work, just reply to any one of these newsletter broadcasts to let me know. I can make you a custom link. I also ask that you encourage others to join by simply sharing this newsletter signup at 90smmedia.com/newsletter.
I'm just waiting on fruits to flourish to finish up the filming for my 'ziploc tek' video, and then it can finally go into editing. It doesn't need such heavy editing as my 2026 comeback update video, so it shouldn't take me too long to finish the masterpiece!
We had a great show last month on the PT: SporeCast takeover hosted live on thecultivr.app - available in your browser or as a mobile app in the Google Play Store on Android. We discussed the second edition of my newsletter, fully highlighting the strange unsolved murder of Dr. Steven Pollock and continuing the conversation with interesting myco news stories and my personal experience with losing my best friend to synthetic cannabinoid blends back in 2014. It was a super cool deep dive. We listened back to it once it was available on the podcast platforms and we were STILL hooked and drawn into the conversations, even though we were THERE PUTTING ON THE LIVE SHOW WHEN IT HAPPENED!! It's a wild experience. Give it a listen below and stay tuned for the conversational breakdown of this edition of my Digital Fortress Newsletter on the October 23rd episode of my PT: SporeCast takeover.

PT: SporeCast - 90SM TAKEOVE...

Sep 28 · PT: SporeCast

186:28

🛒 Mycological Material Vendors & Research Equipment

I still have logo stickers available at the ITW warehouse when you purchase from Inoculate the World using my affiliate link and discount code. 90secondmycology.com/ITW and 10% off with research code 90SM - if you do not receive a 90SM sticker with your order through this process, please reach out to ITW support and CC me on the email! We will get it taken care of.

For the best list of other reliable vendors in the community, visit 90secondmycology.com/sponsors and jump to the corresponding section to browse around. Tell everyone that 90 Second Mycology sent ya!

I've also updated my Amazon Creator Storefront if you'd like to continue supporting 90SM at no extra cost to you by purchasing your rotating restocks through my link at 90secondmycology.com/amazon.

This October edition isn't fully Halloween themed, but I would still like to wish everyone a safe and happy Halloween! It's one of my favorite holidays. 🎃 OG 90SM fans know that common sense will almost always prevail, so share my new official media hub for quick links to all things 90SM & more at 90smmedia.com!

Love,

Frank

Creator of 90 Second Mycology and founder of 90SM Media